#So in the final version there were only dark eyes without lenses and ??it seems¿¿ the absence of eyeliner

[breadmecoshy]

I drew myself a wallpaper with a morning Souda, because who, if not me

You also can use them as wallpaper on your phone if you want, I don't mind♡

The regular and slightly more vintage version is at your service

Tumbler greatly spoils the quality of the picture, so I uploaded them in their original quality to Google drive (sorry if this is inconvenient, I don't really understand such things)

[kokofromwattpad]

Dearest tutor

Plot: Star student of the Royal Academy has been sent to tutor the only Prince of the Imperial Royal family of Lilabett Corona. They then somehow enrapture the interest of the prince and his elder sister, the Crown Princess.

Cw: Crown princess! Female! Yandere x Tutor! Gn! Reader x prince! Yandere, mentions of torture, mentions of cult(briefly), blood, yandere tendencies.

A/N: Holy fucking shit it's finally out, I'm sososo excited.

Word count: 5.3k

The student stood outside the gate of the Imperial palace with sweat streaking down the side of their face from the harsh blaze of the sun. They had textbooks held under their armpit, tightly to their right side as their left had awkwardly tried to fix the hair that had begun to fall into their sightline.

[Name][Lastname] was an extraordinary person when it came to academics. They excelled in any subject they were put in and always came out on the very top of the board when the exam results had been revealed.

But they were born with common blood flowing through their veins. Their father was a poor baker and their mother was a school teacher for the orphans by the local children's home. Because their mother had always prided herself with the fact that she believed that knowledge was a better virtue than beauty, their mother would make [Name] read and memorise any textbooks she could get her hands on.

While [Name] considered it good luck that they were able to enrol in the royal academy and had gotten a full scholarship, they were petrified when they found a neatly folded envelope on their dorm bed with a wax seal baring the Imperial family's coat of arms.

The summarised version of the letter read that the imperial advisor acknowledged their extreme academic prowess and wanted them to visit the imperial palace to tutor the empire's only prince in the few subjects he had been recently struggling with in his own classes.

Terrified out if their mind, [Name] agreed in the most cursive calligraphy they could muster with their violently shaking hand.

And now, every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, the young student will have to spend their afternoon tutoring a bratty prince. Honestly, they were shaking in their boots from the mere thought of having to interact with royalty.

A cough abruptly interrupted the student's thoughts and made them shoot their head up in surprise. A tall man with long midnight black hair stood on the other side of the twisting gate. He looked to be in his late 30s, with a face and aura that screamed 'strict' and 'do not get me mad'. His dark hair was swept up to a waterfall like pony tail at the back of his head. He wore thin lensed glasses that seemed to be nearly falling off the tip of his nose. Hie eyes however were a lovely soft sage colour.

The man placed his right hand above his heart and bowed only his head at the young student. "Good evening mx.[Lastname]. My name is Von Alaric-Holloway. It is the Koinig family's honor to have you tutor your young master." he greeted. His voice was as smooth as his hair. The student nodded at his words. "The honour is all mine Mr.Alaric-Holloway." they said back, not trusting their voice to say anything else without stuttering, or falling over their own words.

Von nodded his head at the guards, giving them the silent order to open the sill closed gates.

The gates swept open as swift as the wind, letting the advisor and the student stand in front of each other face-to-face. Von nodded his head again at the student, signaling them to follow him as he pushed his falling glasses back up the bridge of his nose. He walked gracefully, with both of his hands held tightly behind his back and his head raised high in pride. The student trailed after him, struggling to keep up with his pace.

"The young master is about two years younger than you are, so he is around your age. The empress hopes that you and her grandson will become good friends with each other." Von said in quick voice, not giving [Name] the chance to actually process the words he was saying.

The student nearly nodded their head at his words and kept their head down. Every guard or maid that the pair walked past, bowed their head down, and gave sympathetic looks towards the two. Obviously, [Name] was going to notice by the third or fourth time that they had done this.

"Mr.Alaric-Holloway, why is everyone giving us such pitiful looks?" they asked the him.

Von cocked his eyes towards the sound of [Name]'s question. "I suppose it is because of the rumour that the young master is a troubled child." Von pushed his falling glasses back up the bridge of his nose. [Name] nodded at his words and continued to follow his pace down marble walkway.

Finally the two came to a grandiose staircase with gold linings that supposedly lead to the prince's study.

A young girl stood at the very top of the stairwell.

She looked around a year younger than [Name], so possibly 17 years old. She was short but not too short. She had long golden, nearly glowing blonde hair that was tied into a flattering bun to the back of her head. She wasn't wearing any makeup, which was odd for a noble to do. Her eyelashes were blonde as well. She was also wearing what seemed to be a military training uniform. [Name] noted to themself that this woman looked like a sinister fairy. The only reason she seemed sinister was from the deep red eyes that was embedded into her sockets and the very real and very sharp sword being held in a leather scabbard attached to her left hip.

"Von, may I ask who this commoner is, who is trespassing into my home?" she quipped at the advisor.

Von kneeled on his right knee with his right hand covering his heart again. His face had a thin layer of sweat covering it as he stared intensely at the ground.

"Crown princess, Frieda. The commoner behind me is prince Beta's new tutor. They are here to assist the prince in a few academy subjects that he is having trouble grasping." Von answered in a wavering version of usual tone of voice.

'Wait... what did he say? Crown princess...?' thought [Name] as they stared blankly at the blonde woman.

'SHIT!'

Once they're sense of self preservation finally returned to them, [Name] fell to their knees and buried their head into the cold flooring.

The Crown princess stayed silent at the student's sudden movements. She gracefully walked down the flight of stairs, and stood infornt of [Name]'s bowing head.

"Please raise your heads you two." she commanded in a gentle but firm voice.

[Name] raised their head, only to see that the princess was kneeling infront of them. She held the student's jaw in her right hand and lifted it higher. She turned their head left and right, checking both sides of their face.

She then got back on both of her feet and looked down to the student with a grin. "Take good care of my little brother, alright?"

The student was stunned into silence, but quickly shook their head in agreement. Satisfied with their answer, the princess strieded away, down a seperate hallway from the pair and disappeared from their line of sight.

Von let out a what sounded to be a strangled out sigh of relief. He then whipped his head to look at [Name] with an odd look to his face. He then got up and helped the student back to their own feet, while their feet wobbled from how scared they were from the encounter.

Surely the prince couldn't be that bad if that was the CROWN princess?

He wasn't as bad as they had originally thought.

[Name] had introduced themself to the Sixteen year old prince of the empire, with no response.

He looked nearly identical to the Crown princess. Same glowing gold hair, same deep red hair. His skin wasn't tanned, rather it was a pale white colour, showing how little time he spent outside, the complete opposite of his sister.

The prince was quiet, scarily so. Whenever he was finished answering an exercise, he would look ominously at the young student until they noticed and would mark it for him and then explain how he got whichever answers wrong.

"Do you understand Prince Beta?" [Name] would ask.

The prince would then just nod at their words and write down his corrections next to his wrong answers.

The main sound that echoed throughout the study was the grandfather clock that stood in the corner, signaling the end and beginning of every second. [Name] almost every ten minutes would quickly whip their eyes towards the clock, checking to see when they could leave and run back to their dormitory back on school campus.

Once the Prince was finished with his exercises, he pulled out a thick, leatherback book from a drawer in his office desk. The lettering on the front read in gold cursive 'The rise and fall of cults.'

'Holy fucking shit. This brats' into cults' thought the student.

Instead of feeling an impending sense of neverending doom, they almost squeeled in absolute delight.

[Name][Lastname] was a true crime junkie.

Every murder mystery case, every cult, they knew all about it. The reasons as for the murders, the childhoods of the cult leaders. They. Knew. Everything.

The student cautiously stalked closer to the Prince, like how naive prey checks to see if it's predator is asleep. The Prince lifted his head from the inside of his book to look at the person coming closer and closer to him.

The student asked prudently, "Prince Beta, are you a fan of true crime?"

His eyes almost immediately grew a light in them that was not there before. His cheeks tinged a bit with pink as he looked curiously at the young student. "Are you?" he asked back.

Quickly, the student nodded their head aggressively, agreeing with the prince's question.

A smile stretched onto the boy's face almost immediately. "You are?! You don't think it's an odd interest?!" he screamed out.

[Name] nodded again with an even larger smile on their face. "Yes of course! I find true crime ever so fascinating! I'm even studying to go into criminology when I graduate!"

The Prince's eyes nearly sparkled like a small child's. He immediately got up from his chair and ran up to the young student. He wrapped his fingers around [Name]'s hands and brought them up in a clasp.

He then burst out in exclamation, "You, as of now, are my best friend!"

Being the new best friend of the only Prince of the Empire came with a lot of responsibilities. He now follows the commoner student around the academy grounds like a lost puppy. People had begun to whisper about how [Name] had cast some sort of spell on the prince to make him lighten up so much.

Because of his much more friendly nature, a lot of people had begun to approach him, hoping to become as close to the prince as [Name] did, but all he would do is wrap his arms around [Name]'s left arm and drag them away as he ranted away about a new cultist book he got his hands on a couple days ago.

At the end of the school day, [Name] went back to their dorm room to rest until dinnertime. They did not have to tutor Prince Beta that day since it was a Thursday, so [Name] was able to catch up on their loss of sleep.

They fell onto their creaky bed and groaned from the ache they felt in their bones. The young student shoved their head into the sunken-in pillow and nearly fell asleep.

Suddenly, a loud knock echoed throughout the small bedroom. [Name] groaned loudly again and got up to answer the person outside the door. The student opened their dorm door to be met with a maid in her early thirties. "Mail." she stated and then gently handed the student a neat envelope. That was unusual. Usually, the maids would shove their mail, tear it up, they would even spit on their mail. They did all of this just because the student was a commoner.

The maid walks away from the open doorway, leaving [Name] alone with their thoughts. They closed the door and stalked back to their small, wobbly desk.

The envelope was sealed with a ruby red seal, bearing the seal of the Imperial family. [Name] fingered the envelope open and took the letter out with soft fingers. The letter was written by the Crown princess, written in curly and swirly handwriting. It was an invitation to a small tea party with a couple of other noble ladies who were friends with the Crown princess.

[Name] wrote in simple print lettering a thanks and acceptance to the invitation. They licked and sealed it closed. The student then left to go to the on campus post office to send it to the Crown princess.

The student then went back to their dorm to go and try to fall asleep again.

[Name] stood outside the large glass greenhouse in the back garden of the Imperial palace. Abruptly, a young maid opened the door of the greenhouse to let the student enter.

"Welcome Mx.[Lastname]. The Crown princess has been waiting eagerly for you. Please follow me." greeted the maid as she bowed shallowly. [Name] nodded as well in greeting and followed behind the maid as quickly as they could.

The maid lead the young student through different sections of flowers ranging in shapes, sizes, and colour. What specifically caught [Name]'s attention was a small patch of pink Azaleas. 'How lovely.' thought [Name]

After a little bit more walking, the maid had lead the young student to an elevated seating area, where several tables and chairs were sprawled about.

The Crown princess sat at a table right in the middle. She was wearing a lovely red dress, with a cascading skirt that swept below her ankles. It had puffed out, see through red sleeves thst reached up too her knuckles. Her hair was tied up in a pretty up-do hairstyle, leaving little bit of hair hanging on her shoulders. Overall, she exuded an air of elegance and superiority.

Crown princess Frieda noticed that [Name] was standing on her left side, making her sweep her head in her direction. A small smile graced her face as she welcomed the student, "Good morning Mx.[Lastname], a pleasure to see you once again."

Frieda then stood up, showing her velvet red heels with a large diamond studded into the front of it. The princess pulled out the empty chair that was next to her, and gestured for them to sit down next to her. Understanding her intention, [Name] sluggishly walked up to the princess and sat down in the seat she wanted them to sit in.

The Crown princess sat back down in her original chair and sipped on her tea. Slowly, [Name] reached out and took a cookie from the large platter of baked goods. A maid came to the student's side and poured some tea into their cup as they nibbled on the sweet treat.

"So Mx.[Lastname], you are the commoner who attends the royal academy, correct?" quipped a young daughter of unnamed Baron. She placed her teacup back down in the saucer and with a smile, rested her smiling face on her intertwined fingers.

The student looked up from their cookie with a confused expression painted on their face. Recovering quickly from their confusion, they answered in shaky voice, "Indeed. I am able to attended the Royal Academy due to a scholarship I was gifted on my 16th birthday."

The baron's daughter giggled and whispered something into the woman's ear right next to her. The commoner looked down embarrassingly into their lap, wondering what they had said to warrant such a reaction from the other woman.

The Crown princess was sitting at the head of the table, her head held high, making everyone aware of her presence. The tutor sat on the seat on Frieda's left side, which definitely caused some stares from the other attendees. Definitely wasn't a good look for the poor tutor.

Frieda coughed into her clenched fist and looked at Alicia with a blank look on her face. "The honourable Alicia Crusainia. Please mind your manners towards my guest. Don't forget your place here."

Alicia's face became a bright, hot tomato red and looked down at her lap, similarly to the young student. "Mx. [Lastname]. Lift your head."

Almost under a spell, [Name] lifted their head from their lap and looked at the Crown princess in awe. Frieda was looking at [Name] with an odd looking face with her eyebrow raised. It was a mix of boredom and curiosity.

"You are my honored guest. My little brother treasures you quite a lot, therefore, so must I." She stated as if it was a well known fact.

"Yes, your royal highness." They said in a calm and deft tone.

Freida nodded her head, making her golden curls bounce. She then turned and took another sip of her tea.

"So, [Name]! How was the tea party with my sister?" questioned Beta during one of his and the student's tutoring sessions.

The student looked at Beta with a confused look on their face. "It was alright, nothing special happened." They answer the prince.

Looking confused, Beta's head knocked to the side. "Really? Because from what I heard, my sister ripped some Baron's daughter a new one for making fun of you!"

'Making fun of me? Was that what she was doing?' [Name] thought to themselves.

"It seems that you were unaware. Maybe I could ask my sister to invite you to balls more often so that you can get better at catching on to these things!" Beta suggests with a large smile on his face, proud of his brilliant idea.

"No no no no no! I could barely handle a simple tea party! No way I'll be able to survive a ball where I have to dance!" [Name] panicked.

The prince pouted at their words, disappointed in their answer. He slumps over his desk and makes his head fall into the crook of his arms. His blonde hair fell over his arms, looking like a veil over his arms.

"Mhm.... I mean.... if you can convince your sister, and I don't have to dance... then I'll agree." [Name] softly said, scratching the back of their neck in nervousness.

Beta's head immediately shot up and with an absolutely large smile, he nodded aggressively convincing the student that he may be half bobble head.

"Then you will come to my birthday ball, right?"

[Name] answered, "Of course your majesty."

The student then sat down across from the young prince with their textbook and continued on with their lesson.

After the lesson was completed, [Name] was walking steadily through the velvet covered floors of the castle's hallways. The student placed their hands on the back of their neck and rubbed tough circles into the nape of their neck, relaxing their muscles after two and a half hours of being on the tip of their toes. Even though Prince Beta had claimed them as their best friend, [Name] still stayed on guard around him, just incase he was the type to have extreme mood swings.

[Name] groaned in pleasure as they passed through another hallway of the residential wing of the Imperial castle.

"Mx.[Lastname], have you finally finished your lesson with my brother?" a voice asked behind the student.

The student whipped their head around and caught the eyes of the young Crown Princess.

The Crown Princess was wearing a light cream colored dress with many flowy layers that what [Name] assumed was to let wind in more easily to cool the princess down.

"Your Royal Highness, you are correct. I have just finished mine and the prince's tutoring session." answered the student with a cautious look on their face.

Frieda giggled maturely at the look of [Name]'s wary expression. "Have no worry Mx.[Lastname], I don't bite." she joked.

They nodded at the Princess's words.

"Then why don't you join me in my office for some tea? I'd like to discuss something of importance with you." she proposed.

The student nodded, making the princess walk past their side and leading them towards the direction of her office. The pair walked past several paintings of similar blonde haired individuals, who the student assumed was members of the Imperial family who had unfortunately passed.

The two came to two large wood doors that lead to Frieda's office. One of the guards who were standing on duty, opened the doors for the pair to let them in.

[Name] realised that the Crown princess' favourite colour was a red and gold. Many of the furniture was lined with a deep velvet including the long curtains with gold linings and stitches. The only things that were not those two colours were the floor, her desk and her book shelves that lined every wall of the office.

In the middle of the room were two overstuffed couches with a coffee table in the middle, most likely to hold meetings such as the one the student and princess were about to have.

"Tell Isabella to prepare some tea for my guest and I. Also tell her to bring some of the new pastries we received from the Levan kingdom." The princess ordered one of the knight, making him turn is tail and gallop to where [Name] guessed was where the maid was.

"Please Mx.[Lastname], take a seat." Frieda says while gesturing to the couch.

With unprecedented caution, they shift over to the sofa and sit down and nearly sink in due to cushiness. The princess giggle from their distress as they tried to sit up in the embracing seat.

A maid enters the office with a cart being pushed by her. Ontop was a large teapot and two teacups with saucers. On the level below it was a tower of pastries which [Name] recognised from it's appearance at the tea party from the day before.

The maid sets the teacups and saucers down in front of the pair and quickly prepares the tea and pastries. She then curtsys to the Crown princess, bows her head at the young student, turns on her heel and leaves.

Frieda languidly picks the teacup up and takes a long sip of the steaming hot tea. While [Name] is wandering how the princess is not reacting to the pain of the most definitely hot beverage, Frieda speaks up, "I have asked you to come here with me today because I would like to apologise to you."

She places the teacup down in it's saucer and looks and [Name] with a sympathetic look on her face. "What the honorable Alicia Crusainia did at my tea party was extremely rude and uncaring. She simply has no idea how tough one's life can be."

[Name] stunded in silence. Why was the Crown princess apologising to a commoner like them? Not wanting to deny the princess' words, the student looked down into the light brown of their tea and said, "It's alright. Honestly speaking, I didn't even understand what she had said, so I didn't feel anything."

Frieda looks surprised at their words. "But aren't you the top student at the Royal Academy? How could you not know?" She questioned.

They look embarrassed as they quickly answer, "I am just book smart! And I honestly have a lot of trouble applying my knowledge in real-life situations. I read a royal etiquette book before I left for the palace, but it honestly didn't come in very handy..." they muttered off.

The Crown princess' face morphed into a look of conviction. "Then, after school every day when you don't have to tutor Beta, you will spend it with me, and I will teach you everything you need to know about social cues, etiquette, conversations, everything!" the princess says in a voice that screamed determined.

Nearly jumping out of their chair, [Name] tries to plead that the princess did not need to go out of her way to teach a commoner. The princess merely ignored them and gently ordered them to eat the prepared pastries.

Now the young student's weekly schedule would consist of every Monday, Wednesday and Friday being spent tutoring Beta, and every Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday being tutored by the Crown princess. They would almost always leave the palace absolutely drained of their energy, a mere husk of their former self as they rode the carriage baring the Imperial coat of arms back to the dorm houses on the school campus.

The days were feeling longer and longer as Beta's birthday ball's date came closer and closer. The blonde prince would chat with the young student about anything and everything that came to his mind. The friendship between the two of them had become even stronger than before for no particular rhyme or reason. Beta would lug behind them during school hours, despite not being in the same year, and would frighten off the little amount of friends that the student would have had before the prince.

Soon enough, Beta's birthday ball came up.

A formal invitation had already been sent to them, written personally by the spry prince himself in loopy lettering.

The student got dressed in the most formal clothes they had on hand. Sure it was a bit tattered and a few small holes were sprinkled on the ends, but it would be fine as long as no one looked at them! And besides, they're a commoner! They are probably just going to sit in the corner of the hall and only get up to get more food and drinks.

With that plan in mind, the student climbed carefully into the imperial branded carriage once again and rode off to the party.

Soon enough, the young student arrived at the Imperial palace. They stumbled out of the carriage and brisket walked into the large building, not wanting to be noticed by the announcer so that they could hide away as best as can from the nobles attending the ball that night.

They had finally reached the banquet hall, entering and hiding away from plain sight from the noblesmen and women.

"Now then! Announcing the entrance of Crown Princess Frieda Köinig and Prince Beta Köinig!" announced a high ranking servant from the top of the large staircase in the middle of the banquet hall.

The entire hall was decked to the nines with red, gold and white. The diamonds hanging from the chandelier were burning even more brighter than what the young student assumed was usual. Long banquet tables were lined with finger foods of all varieties.

A servant walked up to the scholar and offered them a tall flute of champagne. Gingerly, they took the glass off the tray, making the servant walk away, and taking a few sips and proceeding to nearly lurch it out from the taste. Okay, they are definitely not a fan of champagne, duley noted.

In that moment, the Crown Princess and the prince entered through the doors at the top of the stairs. Beta held his elder sister's hand in his as he lead her down the stairs. All of the noblemen and women stared in awe of the siblings.

Beta was wearing a lovely white suit with light red and blue jewels sprinkled all of the jacket. He wore blue cufflinks and large rubies were studded into the edges of his collar. This was a big upgrade from the white tunic and black pants he wore during their tutoring sessions, or the navy blue military styled uniform they wear at the academy.

Frieda looked stunning as usual. She was wearing a new cream coloured ball gown, embedded with small diamonds across the fabric. Elbow length gloves covered her arms and gold sleeper rings were slid up her fingers, making them glimmer in the chandelier light. A floral styled tiara sat on top of her head, the same coloured diamonds were set in it as well.

The siblings came to the end of the staircase and gracefully smiled at the crowd. Frieda and Beta were quickly surrounded by the stuffy noblemen and women. [Name] stood aside and stayed out of sight of the siblings.

Beta leaned into Frieda's ear and whispered something to her. His words made the princess look around, almost frantically. The curls in her hair bounce from the movement of her head. Frieda quickly caught the eyes of the commoner, making a graceful smile spread onto her face. She tapped Beta's upper arm and pointed into [Name]'s direction, whispering something into his ear. All of this happened while the said student was slowly sipping on their champagne and gazing outside the stained coloured window.

Frieda and Beta walked past all the noble people, making them gasp and quiet down immediately. "[Name]! You're really here!" announced Beta as he unhooked his sister's hand from his arm.

Frieda smiled in happiness from the sight of Beta speaking animatingly with his tutor. "I am quite glad to see you here Mx.[Lastname]. I hope that you have so far been having a good time."

[Name] nodded at the Princess's words with a chuckle. "I have. No need to worry your royal majesty." Frieda nodded at their words and let her younger brother control the way the current conversation is going.

The cusp of the birthday ball was on it's way. Everyone was jovial and talkative. Frieda had left [Name] and Beta to themselves to that she could converse with the other invitees. Beta stuck to [Name]'s side like usual.

The duo had moved closer to the end of the hall, nearer to the food lined banquet table.

Suddenly, a loud trumpet sounded through the hall, bringing attention to a well dressed servant standing at the end of the staircase. Frieda stood in the middle of the staircase, her dress flowed down the stairs like a flowing river.

Frieda with a calming smile, announced, "I would like to present my gift to my little brother. He and I had a long discussion together about what would be the best present for his birthday. And I would like to present to you all what I had come up with. But first, I would like [Name] [Lastname] to come near the front."

[Name] stood in fear from the sound of their name leaving the princess' lips.

'Shitshitshitshitshitshit.' thought [Name] while they cautiously approached the front of the thick crowd of loudly dressed nobles. When the commoner finally reached the front of the crowd, they stood there, shifting there weight from foot to foot, shivering under the eyes of the Crown princess.

Soon enough, the princess signals at someone from behind her to do something. The large doors open up and a young woman comes tumbling out. An imperial guard grabs what little left of her brown, wet hair and roughly shoves her down the stairs. She stops rolling conveniently infront of [Name]'s feet, dirtying it with blood from a large gash on her right cheek.

Frieda climbs down the stairs and grabs the girl's hair and forces her head up to look into [Name]'s terrified eyes.

"Do you remember this girl Beta?" questioned the Crown princess, looking at her younger brother who was standing right next to his tutor. Beta looked down in awe at the beaten and bruised girl kneeling infront of him and [Name]. He then leaps from his tutor's side and falls into his sister's embrace. "Thank you thank you thank you! Oh, I love this present so so much!"

The young student stared at the bloodied girl with a look of terror in their eyes. This girl looked so oddly familiar. As if they had seen her before.

"Who is this girl, may I ask your royal majesty?" asked the tutor, not looking away from the nearly catatonic girl.

"This, my dear, is the honorable Alicia Crusainia, the one who had made fun of you at my tea party two months ago." answered the princess in a matter of factly tone of voice.

'Holy fucking shit she's fucking crazy!'

Beta made a nearly inaudible squeeling noise of happiness and quickly when back to [Name]'s side. "Now I get to take care of her properly for making fun of you! Aren't you so excited!?"

A thick sheet of sweat covered [Name]'s face as they stared down at their bloodied shoes. Frieda took notice of this action and nearly flung herself to [Name]'s side when she saw the blood on their shoes.

Frieda stomped on Alicia's head making her lower her head for the commoner.

"Now then, let's discuss our future from this time onward. How about we begin with giving you a proper title and moving you into the palace with my little brother and I"

Posted on: 30 August 2024 23:46

[love-little-lotte]

Films and Books That Made 2022 Worth Living

Happy New Year's Eve! Last year, I did a Twitter thread about films, books, and TV shows that I loved in 2021. While I'm still very much active on Twitter these days, the new features are annoying me (especially that cursed "views"), so I'm not tweeting as much as I used to.

As such, I decided to post my favorite films and books on Tumblr instead. I realized I hadn't watched a lot of TV shows this year (or I hadn't watched enough shows that I like to be considered a "favorite"), so this year, I'm only posting films and books.

These films and books were not necessarily released in 2022, but 2022 is the first time I've ever watched or read them. Also, it's worth noting that there are so many 2022 films I haven't watched yet, including Women Talking, The Eternal Daughter, and more. It's either I cannot find a copy online or it didn't show in my local theatres. Maybe I can watch them next year and include them in the list then!

Now that's out of the way, let's get started! Here are 10 films and books that I loved in 2022:

FILMS

Hello, Dolly! (1969) — I've loved the stage musical for so long, especially the revival with Bette Midler, but I haven't watched the movie version of it. This film is one of the best musical adaptations I've ever seen, and it's so brilliant from start to finish. Barbra Streisand is a star, and I fell in love with all the characters, dances, and songs. It's been months since I've seen this, but I still memorize the entire "Put on Your Sunday Clothes" and "It Only Takes A Moment" sequences.

West Side Story (2021) — Another musical film made it to my top 10 list. I loved the first movie adaptation, but it had glaring issues that Steven Spielberg corrected for the most part. Everything about this movie is simply wonderful, and I rewatched this movie more than I care to admit. I love Rachel Zegler, Mike Faist, and Ariana DeBose, but it's a shame the leading man is a disgusting pig, though.

Mary and Max (2009) — I was expecting a fun, carefree animated film prior to watching this, but it broke my heart in the process. The film spoke so much about loneliness, mental health, and friendship through such tender and careful lenses. Philip Seymour Hoffman also gave a terrific performance voicing Max.

Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022) — I'm not a big fan of science fiction fantasy movies, but this one got me. Maybe because it's Michelle Yeoh's stunning performance, or the generational trauma theme. I love how this film captured a mother-and-daughter relationship uniquely and creatively. I still couldn't get through the ending without getting tears in my eyes.

Tár (2022) — I thought Women Talking would be my favorite film of the year, but I haven't watched that yet, so for now, it's this one. I love films that feature an anti-hero because it makes it easier to feel grounded in reality. It is captivating from end to finish, and I can't help but be immersed in Lydia's obsession with greatness. Cate Blanchett is a goddess.

Pride (2014) — One of the best feel-good movies I've ever seen. There are movies based on real events that get you questioning whether they're just bullshitting you, and while I did question this movie as well, it still succeeded in telling its message: the importance of unity. What more can I ask for? Also, this is going to be adapted into a musical soon, and I cannot wait!

Dancer in the Dark (2000) — This is another musical movie on this list, but it couldn't be different than the previous two. As expected from Lars von Trier, this movie is dark and twisted. The final scene took me so much by surprise that I sat there in my seat with my mouth hanging open as the credits rolled. This may seem like a "manipulative" film, but the character of Selma, superbly portrayed by Björk, saved the film for me.

Drive My Car (2021) — The first movie I've seen of the year. I wanted to start 2022 with a good one, and this one didn't fail. It's intimate and profound in a very subdued way. Although this was almost three hours long, it honestly never felt draggy. I hung on to every scene as if my life depended on it. Regret is one way to express grief, and this movie depicted it perfectly.

The Banshees of Inisherin (2022) — Another surprise of the year. I didn't expect to like this movie that much, but here we are. I should've known not to doubt Martin McDonagh, especially as a huge In Bruges fan. This film is so well-written with wonderful characters - even the animals are great! Colin Farell's Pádraic and Jenny is my favorite duo of the year.

C'mon C'mon (2021) — As for my second favorite duo of the year, it's Joaquin Phoenix and Woody Norman as uncle and nephew in this touching movie. This film made me laugh and cry and genuinely captured the complexity of family relationships. This is a very heartwarming, compelling, and human film, and I love everything about it. 

BOOKS

Pachinko by Min Jin Lee — I read this early this year, but I knew then that nothing could ever top it. It's a beautifully-written novel featuring a large set of characters with different personalities, stories, and backgrounds. This novel is also a great learning experience on Korean-Japanese culture, politics, and history. It's a completely immersive story, and it felt like I was transported back to that time. I also highly recommend the Apple TV+ adaptation of this!

A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman — I've only read two novels from Backman, and yet, I can confidently say that he's my current favorite author. While some people may find his writing too quirky and over-the-top, I find the sweetness and wit just the right amount. It's the perfect read when you feel dejected and overwhelmed by the negativity of this world. The simple human interactions in this novel absolutely make you feel hopeful and loved. 

A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara — Okay, now this one... I was so scared to read this because I heard countless reviews that say this is a harrowing read. And they were right. This is a terrifying book that almost gave me a panic attack. Many people have depicted this book as "misery porn," and while the thought did cross my mind, I don't think it glamorizes misery. Instead, it sheds light on the long-term effects of trauma, showing how people handle trauma and how, sometimes, there's no light at the end of the tunnel.

Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk by Kathleen Rooney — This feels timely. In this book, the main protagonist walks the streets of New York on the last day of 1984 while also reminiscing about days gone by. Lillian Boxfish is an astounding protagonist; she's witty and relatable, and I want to be like her someday (hopefully, minus the bad parts). It's mostly told in flashbacks, so we also got a glimpse of New York in the 20s and 50s, which is pretty interesting to me!

The Dutch House by Ann Patchett — The story had a very Cinderella-like spin, complete with a dead father, an evil stepmother, and two (though they are neither mean nor ugly) stepsisters. This novel especially enraptured me through its supporting character Maeve. I didn't care much about the protagonist, but his sister was the one that made me love this book so much. I see myself in her, but also the person I want to be.

The Sandman by Neil Gaiman — If I made a top 10 favorite TV show list, the Netflix adaptation of Gaiman's popular comic book series would be number one. The show is incredible, and now I'm making my way into the Sandman universe one graphic novel at a time. I just finished A Game of You a few weeks ago, so I'm pretty excited to read more. I love how Gaiman builds the Dreaming universe and shows the power of dreams and imagination.

The Woman at 1,000 Degrees by Hallgrímur Helgason — It took me so long to finish this one because it's super complex, especially since I am unfamiliar with Iceland's history, but it's still terrific. The quirkiness in the story and characters reminds me of Backman novels, but this one is much darker and heavier and written in a very ironic tone. I can't wait to read this again!

Tuesday Nights in 1980 by Molly Prentiss — If I'm given the choice to write a book, I just hope it's going to be something like this one. Some may call this novel slow and pretentious, but the writing is so good that I forget I'm actually reading it. The novel is able to bring me to New York and meet all these characters. It's very far from perfect, but it's one that I couldn't stop reading.

Every Note Played by Lisa Genova — I'm used to reading sad stuff, but I didn't expect this one to completely break my heart. The main character of this book follows a concert pianist who suffers from ALS. Based on that, I think you know how heavy this is going to be. One thing that struck a chord with me in this novel is how it's okay not to tie loose ends with other people, and some things are better left unsaid. 

Book Lovers by Emily Henry — It's ironic that the title had "book" on it, but it's the only one in Kindle format in the collage. Hmm, maybe I should buy a physical copy of this book. After all, Henry is my new Sophie Kinsella. I'm a huge fan of Kinsella when I was in high school, and I never thought I could feel giddy with romance novels again, but Henry was able to bring back that feeling. That's how good she is as well as this novel.

______________________________________________________________

And so there you have it: the top 10 films and books that made 2022 worth living. As someone who always uses media to distract myself from reality, I'm looking forward to more media consumption next year!

[judasiskariot]

RE: Umbrella Asylum Chapter 3: The Beginning

Albert Wesker Umbrella Laboratory

Story: Are you interested in what everyday life was like for the Umbrella scientists? The daily routine in the laboratory? The daily routine and fate of the test subjects with no hope of rescue? The true horror in an Umbrella laboratory or just the price of progress...

Category/Content: Accompany Umbrella scientists on their latest experiment

Long fic with more chapters to come, Chapter 1 Prolog, Chapter 2

w/c: 1,036 words in this chapter;more to come . ao3 . 18+ only . nsfw (to come) . german version(also on AO3)

tags:     Resident Evil, Biohazard, Umbrella Corporation, Dr. Albert Wesker, Smut, Female/Male, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Horror, Drama, Thriller, Angst

The beginning The lines between humanity and emotional cruelty blur under the neon light of the oppressive atmosphere of the laboratory. The sterility of the objects, surfaces and walls could not disguise the horrors they must have already seen, and their cold surfaces reflected admonishingly and then faded away. Screams and witnesses forever barking and yet unheard of. The medical cutlery was not smeared with blood, but accurately arranged, but even the smell of disinfectant could not disguise the cutlery’s silent cries for blood. “What kind of facility is this? Who owns it?” the new subject’s questions trickled down to the virologist. “Any pre-existing conditions? Allergies?” His voice was still reserved as he proceeded according to protocol without looking up from the clipboard. “What is this research about? You can’t just put people in asylums against their will, to do illegal experiments on them. That will become public!” she decided to ignore his words just as he did with hers. The man in his lab coat let out a brief sigh and slowly took off his black sunglasses – every move seemed to have been planned – before he lifted his athletic figure from his desk and sat down on the chair next to the test rig and now for the first time properly looked at her: Icy blue eyes that were at least as cold as the black lenses of the glasses. “Just answer me the questions; it saves me time. Then I’ll be in a better mood and it could save you extra pain around the turn. ” It was a fact he stated here, but given the coldness of his eyes, it might as well have been mistaken for a threat. He made it clear who was in charge here and what would happen if his orders were not followed. The scientist managed to straighten her arm, but only after stroking latex examination gloves over his own hands. Everything was cold and sterile. For him simply correct, proper, clean. And in the end, always more efficient. Experienced and savvy, his fingers reached for a vein and finally fixed her right hand in the right position. He had quickly put the instruments together on the metal side table and, just as quickly, a needle landed in her arm to draw blood. “I don’t want to spend hours looking for diseases in your blood that could negatively affect my research and waste my time. So I ask again: Pre-existing conditions? Allergies?” “You can’t do this! This is all wrong and OUCH!” she breathed and shrugged as he painfully pulled the needle from her arm, interrupting the protest. This had been pure intention, since his trained hands otherwise worked with perfidious perfection, which the young woman in front of him understood at once. His subject fixed him with her suddenly extremely stubborn eyes, and seemed to understand that if she did not obey him, it would be like this. What had become of the previously embarrassed little mouse? The guards had not yet shocked her body and soul. “No, nothing,” she finally pressed out between her teeth. At least the annoying winks, beggings and appeals to his humanity had probably already driven her out in the Asylum. She and her brother seemed to have understood that there was no humanity in this place, and a plea for mercy passed only meaninglessly, unheard in the dark, like a whisper in the wind. “What is this about? What is this research about?” Curiosity seemed to remain. "You're an experiment, you don't talk to me if you're not asked," came the blonde scientist's cold and hard response. Slowly he felt a slight irritation. He wouldn't argue with an experiment, it wasn't worth his breath. Quickly, his subjects were wired via electrodes so that he could closely monitor their vital signs via a screen. Routine, precision was in every of his moves.

An elongated ampoule was then extracted from a sealed container from the cabinet. The blonde woman in the operating chair became visibly more nervous at the sight of the ominous green liquid, which the ECG alone showed. The minimal room for manoeuvre she had left was used to push herself in the other direction. "What's this stuff?" she asked in panic, her pupils dilated with shock. “I don’t have to explain its purpose before my experiment. ” "No!" she exclaimed as he approached her with the injection and began squirming as she could. “All right, then. ” The scientist fixed her with another strap to her head and around her torso. “And if you don’t remain a good girl now, then I have a wonderful treatment of Curare here. I can give it to you so that you are trapped in your own body: no way to communicate anymore, but you feel everything exactly. Do you prefer that?” She remained silent. He no longer expected a fightback. Although, most people could be so improbably stupid and preferred to complicate everything. It would be better for everyone not to upset him. His subject's big brown eyes widened with fear as the injection shot into her arm. It took only a few seconds after the plunger was fully pressed through and all the contents landed in her vein that the veins came out blue and a jolt went through her body. A scream of pain echoed through the room as she pressed her back in agony, pressing her chest so far up that her slender body almost tore through the strap. The beeping of the ECG almost went through the ceiling. At some point, she didn't know what her painful screams were and what the device was. Or were the screams of the agony of other subjects mixed in? In the end, she didn’t even know where her body began and the pain ended. They were one, as if this would go on forever. Wesker observed everything in a cold calculated manner and recorded the values from the electrocardiogram under Experiment 84721. The battle between body and injection should go on for a while. For him, it was data. For the young woman who was now doomed to be his subject, it was a nightmare that only reality could so cruelly and painfully realize.

[kaaytea]

Helloooooo~~~~ how are you doing? uhm,if it's not much, can you do hcs/drabble angst miyuki kazuya x reader where they were fighting and he said something that makes the reader insecure/upset? and can it ends with fluff, please? it doesnt matter if the reader is fem or not hehe. thank you in advancee! <33 have a nice day and i love youuuu~~~ ❤️❤️❤️❤️

Conflicts

A/n: hello lovely! I'm doing very well, thank you for asking 💕 I'm so sorry this took a bit to get out, I couldn't find any inspiration to write for high school Miyooks so instead I went for an older version of him! I hope you enjoy!

(P.s. I love you too 😤♥️)

----------------------------------------------------------

You could never really recall a time that you and Kazuya had a serious fight. Sure there were squabbles here and there, tedious things that were forgotten the next day, but never anything like this.

"Look (y/n), there's nothing we can do about it, I can't control when the league plans games. I'll make it up to you."

'I'll make it up to you' was a phrase you were painfully familiar with. Countless missed dates, phone calls, and family events have been followed by that dampening string of words ever since Miyuki entered the pro league three years ago. You always had to settle for something else; most plans or invitations you had gotten were either canceled or politely declined. Kazuya just didn't seem to notice that no amounts of dinner dates, gifts, facials, or massages would make up for the lost time spent together.

Miyuki sent you a sympathy smile as he turned his attention back to the scorebooks he had laid out on your kitchen counter. In his mind, the conversation was done and dealt with while you were simmering in a pot of emotional turmoil.

"I don't want you to 'make it up to me' Kazuya," your voice cracked as tears began to prick at the corners of your eyes. Miyuki reluctantly met your gaze again with a bored look at your prompting; somewhere inside him he felt a pang at the sight of your glossy eyes. It had never been easy for him to watch people cry, especially when that person was you. "I can overlook missed dates but our Wedding anniversary?!"

The man ran his hand through his hair with a tired sigh. Miyuki didn't have the energy to keep talking about this, the dates were already set so you just had to accept it and move on.

"I can't skip games, you know that. It's just a date anyway, we can plan something that weekend." Miyuki's voice teetered off into a mumble at the end of his sentence, it's like his subconscious knew his words were wrong but you still heard them and they stung like hell.

"Does that make our marriage just some arrangement then? When did you start letting a sport dictate our love life?!" Tears were flowing steadily down your face at this point as you and your husband stood your ground. The building tension in the room was suffocating you slowly. Your heart desperately screamed at you to flee from Kazuya's dangerous eyes as it broke more and more with each minute.

Miyuki's jaw clenched at your words. The irritation was finally starting to get at him and while he was generally a level-headed guy, his temper could be shockingly short when pushed enough.

"This is my career, (y/n)! We both knew how difficult me going pro would be. This isn't Seidou, I can't just ask our coach to reschedule things because you're upset!"

Miyuki's eyes never left you as he spoke, like a predator stalking its prey he watched your every move and minuscule flicker of emotion. His words were cold and just short of a yell, "If you've had this much of a problem with my career choice before maybe you shouldn't have agreed to marrying me."

The tension in the room evaporated the second those words left his lips. At that moment you didn't care about your anniversary. You didn't care about baseball. You didn't care about how the aggression in Kazuya's face melted from shock to fear as he processed what he had just told you. What you did care about was the overflowing dam of pent-up emotions finally cracking as you hurried off to your and Kazuya's bedroom.

Miyuki flinched at the sound of you slamming your shared bedroom door shut. The fridged silence that now hung in the apartment was deafening as the man sat rigidly at the kitchen counter, staring at the small glittery object you had ripped off your hand and slammed down in front of him when you left the room. Hesitantly he reached forward and held the ring between his thumb and pointer finger. The catcher’s hand trembled as he held the small trinket. Flashes of your happy smile from when he proposed were haunted by the vision of the angry tears he had seen sliding down your face just moments ago.

For once, it seemed, that you had instilled a sickening fear into Kazuya as he was forced to sit with his head in his hands at the kitchen counter, tears slowly dripping down onto the lenses of his glasses while listening to your muffled sobs in the next room over.

----------------------------------------------------------

You had eventually passed out from fatigue after crying your eyes out only to wake up feeling empty. Your body was tangled in a mess of sheets as you laid on your back blankly staring up at the ceiling in the dark. Your bed felt oddly large without Kazuya sleeping in the space beside you, the bitter feeling of loneliness clawed at your chest as your mind floated in a void of stale emotions.

The metallic sound of the room’s doorknob shaking pulled you from your thoughts and on instinct you flipped onto your side facing away from the door, pulling the sheets tighter around your shoulders in a last-ditch effort to hide yourself. There was a pause in the advances followed by a soft click! and a small trickle of light pouring in as the door crept open.

You heard the door close gently then soft padding of feet across the carpet. Another soft click! resonated in the quiet room, followed by the soft glow of light over your shoulder. The mattress creaked at the added weight of your husband as he sat down near the edge of the bed.

You didn't want to look over at him so you could keep up the act of being angry but curiosity mixed with the need to be near him resulted in you hesitantly peeking over your shoulder to look at him.

In the dim light you could just make out the frown etched onto his face, as well as the redness around his eyes and at the tip of his nose. Miyuki looked a mess but you didn't have much room to talk as you're sure you looked just as bad right now.

You could see the pain and regret swimming in his eyes when he caught you staring, in seconds he was cradling you in his arms and burying his face into your hair. It was like a magnetic force had pulled the two of you together, clinging onto one another in fear that the other would leave.

"How did you get in?" You said, your voice coming out muffled from where you had pressed your face into his chest, "I locked the door."

"You get free courses on lock picking when you're friends with Kuramochi."

His response lightened the mode as you let out a weak laugh, curling further into Kazuya's touch as his hand ran up and down your back.

"I'm sorry for what I said earlier."

You lifted your head from Miyuki's chest and looked up at him. His gaze was focused on your hands, letting his own slide down your arms to loosely link your fingers together. He refused to make eye contact with you as he twiddled with your hands.

"Our anniversary isn't just a date to me, I'm sorry that I made it seem like baseball is more important than our marriage....like it's more important than you," Miyuki said in a low tone. You could hear the shame over his actions with every word and the lone tears silently slipping down his face reinforced just how torn up he was. Kazuya wasn't a crier and he definitely wasn't someone who enjoyed apologies. It was rare for him to outwardly express his emotions this harshly.

"You can't just blame this fight on yourself when I was at fault too," you pulled your hands from his and cupped his face, lifting his head up to look at you as your thumbs brushed away any remnants of his tears. "I'm sorry for making a big deal out of something you can't control, it was immature."

Miyuki turned his head to the side and pressed a kiss to your left hand before slowly guiding the both of you to lay down. Tucked safely into your husband's side and head nestled in the crook of his neck, you breathed in his comforting scent as you twirled his short hair around your finger. His hair was significantly shorter than it was in high school but just long enough for you to run your fingers through it.

Miyuki shifted slightly before guiding your hand away from his silky locks. A warm feeling bloomed in your chest as you watched him slip your wedding ring back onto your finger. He looked down at you with a soft expression and kissed you gently on the lips.

Eventually, you both fell asleep with you clinging to Kazuya's side and him rubbing his thumb over your wedding ring.

[luv-eddiediaz]

Hi. Me again, with my obsession of cowboy Eddie and city Buck. 

I was driving around the country last night looking for some cool rocks to put in my yard (I live in town, but like 20 minutes from all the ranches and wide open spaces), and I had like a Buddie version of a Hallmark movie playing in my head the whole time. 

Imagine with me:

Buck has been living in NYC. He’s been working at some art gallery and dating Abby and living with her in her fancy loft while she sculpts, but something happens and she still needs to go find herself, so off she goes to abandon our boy, who, after a couple of months, and some conversations with his friends, realizes she isn’t going to come back, and he sets off to start over. 

He basically throws a dart at a map, and it lands on El Paso, and so that’s where he packs his bags to go. He gets a job at a local bar, and rents a room in the back. He doesn’t think El Paso is going to be for him, so he’s just going to work a few weeks until he can figure out where he wants to go and has some more money saved up to get there.

He notices that every other night, a dark haired man comes in and orders a whiskey, neat and two beers. He sits alone and doesn’t talk to anyone except the girl who works at the bar with Buck at night (I’ve named her Desiree). To Buck, he seems kind of sad. 

One night, Desiree is off, and it’s Just Buck. The guy comes in and Buck brings him his whiskey without him having to order. The man tips his hat, and Buck smiles, but they don’t say anything. When he’s finished his whiskey, Buck goes back to him with his draft of Budweiser, and again he tips his hat, and Buck smiles. They don’t talk until Buck brings him last beer. 

“It’s Buck, right?”

“Uh, yea, how did you know?”

“Desiree is my cousin. She’s mentioned you a few times. Doesn’t like you very much.”

Buck laughs, “I didn’t think she did.”

“It’s your shoes. They’re too shiny, and she says you smell too nice.”

“How does someone smell too nice?”

“Girls here are just different than where you come from.”

“Everyone here is different than where I come from.”

And the man laughs so quiet Buck isn’t even sure he’s laughing, and then he holds out his hand, “I’m Eddie.”

“Nice to meet you.” Buck meets his hand, and it’s softer than Buck would have thought given his dirt stained jeans, and his small drawl, and the cowboy hat he never seems to take off his head. 

So, now whenever Eddie comes in, Buck waits on him, and as the customers dwindle down, Buck ends up sitting in the corner booth with him, and they talk. About New York mostly, about Abby and art, Eddie’s son, and how Buck thinks he might do better in Austin if he was going to stay in Texas. 

“If you change your mind, and want to stay,” Eddie says one night, “I have a shed I converted to a guest house. I’d be more than happy to rent it out to you.”

Buck isn’t sure why, but the thought of Eddie wanting him to stay makes him feel good, and so he decides to take him up on the offer. He meets Eddie at his place one Sunday afternoon, which is this sprawling ranch, and a large, gray stucco house. Eddie shows him around the grounds.

“So, these are Greg and Elizabeth,” he says of two goats nosing at Buck’s shoes, “those are the three Rosies,” he points to three brown cows, “the chicken coop is in the back, but you’ll have to ask Christopher their names, because honestly, I don’t know. I think he keeps changing them.”

“All these animals are yours?”

“Uh, the goats and chickens, yes. One Rosie is a boarder, and the other two are ours until I find them somewhere else to go.” 

“Do you like rescue animals?”

“Sort of. I’m a large animal vet.”

“How did you not tell me this?”

Eddie shrugs and smiles this little half smile Buck has come to adore, “I don’t like talking about myself. And you love talking about yourself.”

“Do not.”

“You really do.”

Then Eddie shows him the shed/house, and Buck decides he’s going to stay there. Eddie also asks if during the day Buck wants to help out answering phones and stuff in the clinic.

Hilarity would ensue with Buck in his fancy sweaters and nice shoes trying to help wrangle the goats and the cows. Sweetness comes when he’s out feeding the chickens with Christopher, and eating sandwiches with him at the reception desk of the vet clinic. 

At some point, he starts wearing flannel shirts, and faded denim. Eddie even buys him his own cowboy hat the day he takes him out horseback riding. 

That same day, they sit by a creek, underneath a tree while their horses graze, and have a more serious conversation. Eddie opens up about his wife’s recent death, but how they had been on the rocks for a while, and Eddie thought maybe they were going to work things out, but she said she didn’t want to and then she had an accident in town. 

Buck doesn’t think he’s crazy when Eddie puts Buck’s hat back on his head and he feels this electricity as they stare at each other, close enough to smell what the other had for breakfast on their breath. He thinks maybe Eddie is going to kiss him, but he doesn’t. And it leaves him disappointed. 

So, of course. with the two of them on this precipice of something, Abby comes back! 

She finds out where Buck is, and goes down to Texas. It’s a Saturday night, and Buck is working at the bar, and it’s a little bit busy, but Christopher is staying the weekend with his aunt and cousins, and Eddie is down there, and between serving Buck lets Eddie try and teach him to line dance, and they shoot a round of pool that lasts forever because Buck keeps having to go work, but it doesn’t matter, because he is having the best time, and he’s seeing Eddie laugh with his whole face, and he knows, he just knows he is falling in love with this man, and only hopes he’s falling in love back. 

They are literally just about to kiss in a dark corner when Buck sees Abby in the middle of the bar, and says her name. He doesn’t forget Eddie is there, but he kinds forgets Eddie is there and walks over to her, gives her a hug.

“What are you doing here?”

“I missed you too.”

“Can we talk?” she asks, “are you busy?”

“I’m working, but I can take a minute; here.” He leads her to a small booth and slides in across from her.

“Look,” she starts, “I’m not sorry I left, because I had to. I was feeling suffocated.”

“By me?”

“No, well, yes, but not you. Just my life, and you happened to be a part of that. I needed to get lost to find myself again.”

“And did you?”

“Yes.”

“It’s been five months, Abby. I left us. I left New York; I started over.”

“I see that. Kind of a weird choice.”

“I like it.”

Because he likes Eddie. 

Shit. Eddie. Buck looks around the bar and sees that he’s gone, and he doesn’t blame him for bailing. He looks back at Abby; at the beautiful curve of her face, her bright green eyes that still pop through the lenses of her glasses. He remembers what it felt like to kiss her lips, and feel her hands through his hair. He never loved anyone the way he loved Abby - she was the first real thing in his life, but he knows now, that Abby never loved him the way he deserved.

“Buck?”

“Thank you for coming here to explain yourself.”

“I was kind of hoping I could talk you into coming to New York with me.”

“Nah, I’m good here. I’ve got all these flannel shirts now, and the concrete would just kill these boots.”

Abby laughs, “not to mention the cowboy.”

“What cowboy?”

“The one that’s been staring at us like he’s ready to pull my hair.”

Buck looks to where Abby is nodding and he wonders how the hell he missed Eddie sitting there.

“Yea, and the cowboy.”

She smiles and kisses Buck on the cheek as she gets up to leave. Buck waits a few seconds until she’s walked out the door and saunters over to Eddie with a woeful look on his face. He sits on the barstool next to him 

“I’m sorry about that,” he says.

“Oh, you’re sorry for dropping me like a dirty rag as soon as you saw your ex-girlfriend? Or is she still your girlfriend?”

“No. She’s my ex. There’s uh, there’s someone else I’m kind of interested in.”

“Anyone I know? It’s a small town after all.”

“I think you may be familiar with him.”

“Him? That could be a dangerous thing here.”

“I like a little bit of danger.”

Eddie smiles, “what time do you get off?”

“About another hour.”

“Hmmm, I’ll come back and pick you up.”

Eddie tips his hat and leaves the bar, and Buck thinks the last hour of his shift drags on forever, but finally he’s cashed out and collected his tips and he goes outside to find Eddie sitting in his truck. Buck gets in, and they drive out past the town lights, past his ranch, almost right up to the border to Mexico, and park. 

Buck feels like he’s in a country song as the radio hums in the background and Eddie leans over the console to touch his fingertips to Buck’s chin and pull him towards himself to give him a soft, slow kiss. 

It’s the best kiss Buck has ever had, and he can’t help but smile the entire time. It’s the beginning of what Buck knows is going to be the rest of his life. 

[iron--spider]

Okay, so. Cherry. I loved Cherry. 

Behind the cut is a review of sorts, with some spoilers and some loving and some bitching! It’s very, very long.

The reviews and responses have been rolling in for months now, and there have been a few notorious critiques that had me worried. As most people who follow this blog know, I’m not the biggest fan of the Russos, for reasons that are obvious lmfao. I was hoping this would be a different situation, especially since I’ve gotten to watch a LOT of interviews where they’ve discussed why they made certain choices in the film, why it’s so personal to them, etc. But the early reactions really got me nervous and I was worried they’d botched this one. I got an early screening on February 12th through American Cinematheque, and I went in looking forward to Tom and anxious about everything else.

 I loved it. I loved every single choice that was made, on every single level. I’d like to preface this by saying I absolutely hated the book. Sure, it had moments, shining lines here and there, but overall I felt nothing for the main character and the stream of consciousness and the way the events were presented. The absolute lack of an ending. When I read the book I already knew Tom was gonna be in the movie, so I was building what I wanted the film to look like in my head.

 The narration. I knew we would need that to keep the story grounded, to give it a center, and they included that and it worked so beautifully. Breaking the fourth wall. The entire book you feel like this guy is talking to you, and if there was anything to carry over, it was that connection with the audience, but they enhanced it by paring it down and using his eye contact and words to us sparingly. A solid, almost unreliable POV from the main character, which they included in spades with all their different stylistic choices, from the different lenses to the names of the banks and the authority figures to the lack of information about particular things to the quick cuts in certain places and lingering shots in others. The stylistic choices were one of the main things, if not THE main thing, everybody has been complaining about, and I was truly sitting here expecting something outrageous. But it all flowed beautifully, it all felt extremely purposeful, and none of it took me out of the moment. In fact, all of it immersed me even deeper in the movie and the story, and made the lead even more real. We were seeing it all through his eyes, through his feelings, through his changing circumstances. It was an EXPERIENCE to me, a journey that needed these particular choices. I feel like the whole thing would have been more of an uphill battle had they not done the six chapters, so that’s another choice I felt like added to the film in a positive way and made it better. It also highlighted the changes that the main character was going through in such an excellent fashion, and added to the whole ‘odyssey’ feel.

 Before I get into speaking about Tom, I will speak critically for a second. I’ve seen this thing four times now, three viewings before the review embargo was up and one after. I tried to watch it from a different headspace and see what they were talking about. My opinion never really changed drastically, but I can acknowledge some things. I loved the ‘breaking the fourth wall’, but I do think there could have been more of it. It enhanced the movie a lot for me and there were a couple more moments where I could have gone for it (though I think people do miss some of the eye contact moments, such as the one in the car during the whole thing between James and Pills&Coke). I think the entire bit in the beginning is absolutely necessary to get to know our character and understand where he’s beginning, what his circumstances are, but I do think it pales in comparison to the rest of the movie. I didn’t notice the first couple times, but while he’s in the doctor’s office discussing pain levels/PTSD, there’s a cut to the doctor that’s literally a millisecond long that was pretty unnecessary. I can also say that the scene with Tommy (drunk guy in the bar) was one of those moments from the book that didn’t need to be included, though it’s clear that they were trying to test the character’s mettle for the upcoming war he’d have to participate in because of his bad choices, and it was also a look at a version of what he could (would) become after he got home. But it didn’t really need to be in there.

 Those are literally the only things I “didn’t like”, and even then that’s the wrong phrasing, because I liked everything lmfao.

 Ciara was a casting choice I questioned initially, purely because she has such a young-looking face, but I was completely incorrect about doubting her. She killed it. She’s such a natural actress and she was able to meet Tom beat by beat in such a difficult story. Their chemistry was lovely. In fact, I loved all of the supporting characters and what they added to the story. They made the whole experience that much more real.

 Now, Tom. I mean. You guys know I love him and a lot of people like to say that if you have a bias towards someone, your opinion counts less when it comes to judging them. But I feel like there’s a reason why I have this bias to begin with, and it’s because Tom’s talent is just undeniable. He always pulls me in, he always makes me excited for what’s next, he is everything I want to see in an actor. He brought Peter to life in a way that had never been done before, and he uplifts every single movie he touches. This one really gets me particularly emotional because he’s said on so many different occasions that Cherry means a lot to him, because of the work he put in and because of the message it carries and because of the people he met and learned about during the whole process. I just—there are hardly any words big enough or meaningful enough to even describe his performance. It’s one for the ages. It’s agonizing and heartbreaking and mammoth. It is truly special. I know that they changed the book a lot, so this is based on a real person and his real experiences, but in the end it’s more of a composite of what Nico was at the time and not an exact replica—so I feel safe in saying that Tom, through this huge, powerhouse of a performance, created an entire person that felt so, so real. You can feel his past and all the memories in his head and the way he thinks about things. You can imagine what he’d say about something in a scene without him actually saying it. This character changes so drastically from the first scene to the last, and yet you still feel like you know him as he progresses through his journey. Tom expertly weathers every single nuance, every time the character experiences a moment that will push him further into darkness, every hesitation despite falling headfirst into such mistakes. I love Tom because he’s so subtle even in his bigger moments, and by this I mean he’s always got layers upon layers upon layers going on in each individual moment. Like the hospital scene in particular, after Emily’s overdose. There’s so much going on with Tom’s character there, from the deep horror in possibly losing the love of his life, to the heavy shame he feels in having facilitated her journey here. Just the way his voice hitches as he tries to help, while still hiding what they’ve done. The way he avoids the nurses’ gazes as he’s trying to connect with them to get an answer about her well-being. The way he almost deflates when he finally reveals that she took heroin. He is phenomenal. Every moment and every movement tells you more about this character, and that’s just down to Tom’s incredible talent. 

 Tom deep dives into every moment and commits fully. People have asked me what my favorite scene in this film is and it’s so hard because the entire thing is just a showcase of just how good he is. The bus station scene in particular stands out, because it’s one of those moments where he just truly disappears. The entire movie you hardly remember you’re watching Tom, but in that scene it’s like you’re there, like you’re actually witnessing this heart wrenching moment between two broken people. The way he shrinks into himself with that horrific shame after what’s happened to her. The complete and utter pain in his eyes when she tells him there’s no stopping what she plans to do. Tom never ever seems like one of those actors who knows what’s coming, who has rehearsed this moment or that moment over and over and over again. Everything is natural, everything comes as it comes and that’s why what he does feels so real. He isn’t acting. He is becoming.

 The Russos have said more than one time that they chose Tom for this role because he’s so likable and you feel empathy and sympathy for him, and that’s also one of the best changes from the book. The character feels so far from you in the book, you feel so disconnected from him, but Tom just has something that connects you with him, that makes you root for him. Every single time. He’s one of the most immensely watchable actors I’ve ever seen. If this was any other “indie” actor, any of the Hollywood favorite directors, I know this film would have been an awards darling. 

 That leads me to how critics are behaving. This movie was not the movie they made it out to be. They have loved films that are so much more outrageous in terms of story and filmmaking choices, and yet they’re acting like this is the craziest most off the wall thing they’ve ever seen. It’s really really whack and over the top to me. These ~film~ people, professionals and “film Twitter” have gotten it in their heads that as soon as someone is involved with Marvel movies that they’re suddenly damaged goods, can’t act, can’t do their jobs. I feel like Scarlett is the only one who’s escaped from this, with JoJo and Marriage Story, though the latter did get some slack, too. It drives me insane when all of these people writing about Tom are like “oh this is such a departure from Spider-Man!” No, Spider-Man is a departure from all his previous films. The vast majority of his movies are dramas. His first movie was The Impossible! But despite all this, critics love to shit on him and bring him down because he’s Spider-Man. It absolutely doesn’t help that this was helmed by the Russos, in fact it hurts the situation even more. Critics revel in bringing them down, in acting like they’re glorified for no reason. And like I said, they’re not my favorite, but these critics knew what their opinion was gonna be before they even watched Cherry. And they held onto that no matter what they actually felt. Thankfully, MOST of them are acknowledging how wonderful and impressive Tom was. But whatever score this movie has on RT now (a site that should be abolished, frankly) it doesn’t deserve something so low. 

 I understand film is subjective. But these people don’t seem to. I hate the gleeful “Cherry is bad!” bullshit, which goes beyond criticism so many times, is always extremely exaggerated, and acts as if because this particular person believes it’s bad, then everyone else should as well, and if they don’t, they don’t understand film. I’m tired of this shit and I’m tired of them underestimating and trying to stop Tom in his tracks. They want so desperately for this MARVEL BAD narrative to be true that they’ll rip these people apart whenever they get the opportunity. It felt very strange to have already seen the movie when the embargo was lifted, because it was like “did they see the same movie I saw?”

 After all that, I’d just like to say, do not be influenced by people like that. That’s what they want. They want you to listen to them and completely write off the movie, forgoing to see it at all. Please make your own decisions—if you love Tom, this is not something to be missed. He is a revelation. I personally, and wholeheartedly, think it was a beautiful movie. I’m gonna watch it again. It reminded me of so many of my favorites, and it rose above them too. It did not shy away from its subject, it is a cautionary tale, but it is told with love, with care and with kindness. It’s clear this was done by people who are close to the subject, who want people who struggle with PTSD and drug use to come out of the shadows they’re forced into and get the help they deserve. Cherry is so rewatchable to me, and it’s so staggering to see Tom just shine here. He is the best actor of his generation. And he’s only getting better.

[carewyncromwell]

*hums the Up is Down theme* All right, let’s get the usual stuff for the POTC AU out of the way super quick so we can just jump right in --

Previous part is here -- full tag is here -- alternate version of picture two with a lame attempt at blood is here -- and characters that aren’t mine are Jules Farrier-Weasley @cursebreakerfarrier; Finn McGarry/Davy Jones @theguythatdraws; Samantha O’Connell @samshogwarts; Arjun Singh and Aishwarya Mehra @hogwarts9; and Ellie Hopper @that-ravenpuff-witch! Hope you enjoy! xoxo

x~x~x~x

The crew member Orion sent delivered his Piece of Eight -- his right earring -- to Jules aboard the Revolution. Both Bill and Jules had been concerned about Orion sending it on ahead rather than bringing it back to them himself; they were even more concerned when the fleet of small ships was led by Jae and the Kumiho, rather than by the Artemis. Jacob and Ashe, however, didn’t seem surprised, even though Jacob’s eyes narrowed slightly and he went oddly quiet when he heard the news. If Bill didn’t know any better, he could’ve sworn he might’ve even seen some guilt in the curly-haired pirate’s face.

Meanwhile Charlie pulled up alongside the Revolution to drop Chia Dalma off safely before the Phoenix rejoined the Blackbird, Naga, and Treasure. Before parting ways, Charlie actually pulled Chia aside.

“So,” he said a bit sheepishly, “guess it’s time, then?”

Chia nodded. She tilted her head slightly to the right in response to how uneasy Charlie looked.

“Something troubles you?” she asked.

“Not trouble, exactly,” said Charlie, offering a smile. “I mean, I’m glad you’ll get to be free. What the Brethren Court did, back then...it was a right rotten thing to do...”

His smile faded. “I guess I just wondered why you called yourself ‘Chia Dalma,’ and not Calypso. I mean -- you are Calypso, right? It’s not like when the spell is broken, you’ll just...disappear, right?”

Chia was taken aback by the concern. Then her pale face softened, betraying genuine fondness.

“You have a noble heart, Charles Weasley,” she said. “I’m afraid that Chia Dalma will cease to be, when the spell is broken. She is human -- I am human...and I no longer will be, when the spell is broken. I will no longer feel things the way I do now, or see things the way I do now...and my perspective once again will be that of an immortal, not a mere human.”

She gave Charlie a reassuring smile.

“But Calypso will not forget what Chia Dalma has seen and learned. Nor will she forget the kindness you showed her.”

The corners of Charlie’s lips turned up too. He brought up a hand and clapped Chia on the shoulder, giving it a squeeze.

“And I won’t forget the sea goddess who was once my friend,” he said with a grin.

Meanwhile, on the HMS Lion, Cutler Beckett had assembled his higher-ranked officers on deck to give them their last set of orders. There would be no quarter during the battle, no prisoners taken -- everyone in the pirates’ fleet and in Shipwreck Cove would be wiped out, without exception or mercy. Carewyn could see how hesitant the other officers were, upon hearing this. Percy, in particular, looked very troubled.

“Lord Beckett -- ” he said before he could stop himself, “d-denial of quarter -- surely that isn’t necessary...we have more than enough room to transport prisoners back to Port Royal -- ”

“The pirates themselves wave a flag that represents no quarter,” said Beckett very smoothly without stopping his stride as he walked past the line of officers. “They have not earned the right to it themselves.”

Percy faltered. “W-well...yes, but...they are pirates, sir. Should we not...show a better example, as King’s Men -- ?”

Beckett came to a sharp stop in front of Percy, looking up at the slightly taller man with a rather beady dark eye.

“Do I sense a lack of conviction, Captain Weasley?” he asked, his voice very soft but very dangerous.

Percy stiffened, his freckled face losing quite a bit of its color. The officers surrounding him looked worried too. Rakepick, who was standing a few feet away from the line of soldiers with her arms crossed, didn’t look worried, but her dark blue eyes did narrow grimly upon Percy and Beckett.

“No, sir!” said the red-haired Captain very quickly.

“Ah, then it’s a conflict of interest, perhaps,” said Beckett, his voice becoming a bit harder as his lips spread into a cold smirk.

He leaned in a bit closer, and whispered something else in Percy’s ear that no one else could hear. It made Percy’s entire frame stiffen, his face blanching in horror as his wide brown eyes flickered over to Carewyn.

“Lord Beckett, Captain Weasley’s loyalty to the English Crown is unflappable,” Carewyn said in a very loud, harsh voice. “As is the loyalty of all of our officers. He meant no disrespect, I assure you.”

Beckett looked at her, his eyebrows raised high over his coldly narrowed eyes. As he strode purposefully over to stand in front of Carewyn, all of the officers tensed up even more anxiously, none more so than Percy. Rakepick had uncrossed her arms and was watching the scene unfold like a hawk.

“I certainly hope that is true,” said Beckett very softly. “Treason is -- as we all know -- a death sentence.”

Carewyn met Beckett’s icy gaze head-on, even as he likewise leaned in, his head once again lingering over her shoulder like it had back in his cabin, so that his breath grazed her face.

“I will not punish your brother for his insubordination, as a favor to you. But I expect proper gratitude on your part. After all, I’m already doing quite a favor for you already, allowing you and him to remain among the ranks.”

Carewyn’s almond-shaped blue eyes narrowed, but she refused to look at him or speak. Beckett’s face grew a bit colder still as he tilted his head enough that his lips were mere inches from her ear.

“Don’t forget, Admiral,” he whispered, and there was an odd satisfaction creeping into the corners of his pitiless voice, “your loyalty is, first and foremost, mine.”

He then moved away, turning his focus back to the rest of the officers with his more usual, detached sort of expression.

“Attack when ready -- no prisoners, no mercy. You’re dismissed.”

The officers all saluted and immediately bustled off to head back to their ships. Carewyn glanced over just in time to see Percy, rather than heading immediately back to his ship, rush up to her. His freckled face was ashen and his eyebrows were knitted tensely over his eyes.

“Carey...Lord Beckett -- ”

“I know,” Carewyn cut him off. She already knew what Beckett must have said to Percy, for the rose-colored lenses to fall from his eyes so quickly.

Percy’s brown eyes widened even more. They darted over to Beckett heading up to the helm and then back to Carewyn, welling up with anxiety.

“He suspected it after you expressed interest in him hiring a woman,” said Carewyn softly. “I reckon him knowing Rakepick first made it easier -- she dressed as a man for a while, when she was in the Navy...”

Percy seemed to be losing more and more of his courage every second. His face suddenly looked so much more boyish as his gaze fell away from Carewyn’s face, staring down at the deck of the ship without seeing it.

“It’s my fault,” he mumbled.

“Don’t say that,” Carewyn cut him off firmly.

Percy closed his eyes and shook his head.

“It’s all my fault,” he repeated, shame and pain pulsing through his face. “I never should’ve trusted him, I never should’ve believed -- I just -- he was so against piracy, and I...after you were taken by Orion Amari -- after you got kidnapped by the crew of the Revenge -- ”

“Percy -- ”

Carewyn brought a hand onto his shoulder, but he cut her off, his soft voice more choked and upset than ever.

“I never should’ve let Bill and Charlie go after you alone -- I should’ve followed them myself in my own ship, if I had to -- ”

“Percy.”

Her hand clutched the top of his shoulder, right beside his neck, so as to force him to look up at her.

“You were only trying to do what was right, as an officer,” said Carewyn, her blue eyes blazing with conviction despite their pain and empathy. “The Navy is your dream, far more than it ever was mine, or Charlie’s, or Bill’s. Don’t hate yourself for trying to do things the right way. ...That’s always been who you are.”

Giving Percy’s shoulder a tight squeeze, she steered him forward enough that she could bring her other arm around him and give him a hug.

“I know what Beckett must’ve threatened you with, Perce, but I want you to forget it,” she said, and her voice betrayed a crack of emotion Percy had never heard before. “Don’t try to protect me or my reputation -- those things won’t matter much longer anyway. Do what you need to, to do what’s right...for yourself and them.”

Them... Percy tensed. He knew who that “them” was, but...the way her voice choked -- was she...trying not to cry?

He looked at his surrogate sibling with dismay, but he couldn’t see her expression.

“Carey -- ”

“Admiral.”

Carewyn pulled away from Percy and looked up.

Rakepick had approached them, her dark blue eyes flickering from Carewyn to back over her shoulder at Beckett, who had seemed to have turned his focus back to the two red-haired officers -- almost as if she was...trying to warn them.

Recovering from this surprise quickly, Carewyn turned to Percy with a harder, more serious look and grabbed his shoulder, giving him a light push backward.

“Go, now,” she said, her voice hardening to try to obscure the pain and tears she was trying to force back.

Percy’s brown eyes rippled with anxiety. He clearly wanted to insist on her explaining, wanted to argue her point -- but he too could sense Beckett’s gaze. So, with a pained expression, he reluctantly straightened up and exchanged a salute with Carewyn, before finally leaving the deck and returning to the jollyboat that would return him to the Clearwater.

Rakepick and Carewyn both watched Percy go.

“You didn’t tell him,” said Rakepick lowly. “No doubt because you don’t want him to try to stop you...”

Carewyn looked at Rakepick, her eyes narrowing in suspicion. “Didn’t tell him what?”

Rakepick, however, didn’t respond. Her eyes watched the horizon absently, but seemed to almost look beyond it.

Carewyn's eyes flashed with even more distrust as she turned to face the older woman. “Don’t play games with me, Rakepick -- ”

“The time for games is long since through,” said Rakepick sharply, as she turned to looked Carewyn straight on in the face.

What...was that, in her expression? It was certainly harsh and arrogant as ever, and yet...there was something almost sadder there.

“You truly are a guardian, Admiral Weasley,” murmured Rakepick. “Right now, though...it seems to me that it’s you who most needs guarding.”

Carewyn felt a knife in her chest at the thought of Jones and the fate that awaited her. Her blue eyes drifted off to the side and away from Rakepick’s face, hardening further as she tried to obscure her emotions.

“I’m not so much of a coward as to choose my safety over the lives of others’,” she said very harshly, turning her focus to the helm.

She turned her back on Rakepick, her arms looping behind her straightened back in proper Navy posture.

“You should return to your post...before Beckett gives you the side eye too.”

Rakepick didn’t respond, and Carewyn refused to look back as she strode away.

Almost immediately, the strategy Jacob had devised did not go as planned.

The plan had been for Jules to bluff Beckett before releasing Calypso -- but although the Revolution, as flag ship, had pulled into position at the head of the pirates’ charge, Beckett’s (and therefore the Navy’s) flag ship the HMS Lion did not. Instead it hung back, letting individual Man O’ Wars immediately start the charge without it.

In alarm, Jules ordered her crew to hoist the colors and signal to the rest of the Pirate Lords to attack, as the Flying Dutchman sailed out in front as if to meet the Revolution. Charlie and Merula led the charge in the Phoenix and the Blackbird, firing at will against the Man O’ Wars in an attempt to hit their stores of ammunition, even as the Navy’s ships’ superior firepower quickly overwhelmed them, cutting down the smaller ships in the dozens with their cannons.

“Captain!” said Barnaby from his place at the helm. “We just lost three more ships -- oh. Make that four!”

Charlie’s eyes narrowed as he racked his brain.

The Man O’ Wars were too powerful to face head-on -- they just had far too much firepower, compared to their pirates’ fleet --

A mad idea beginning to take root in Charlie’s head, he whirled around toward Samantha O’Connell, who’d been up in the rigging adjusting sails so that the Phoenix could better avoid the Navy’s cannon fire.

“Signal to the Naga! We need to get closer to that Man O’ War at the front!”

Samantha’s mouth dropped open disbelievingly. “Closer? But that’ll only make it easier for them to shoot us down!”

“Not if we divide their attention!” Charlie shot back forcefully.

He ran up to the deck of the ship and leapt onto the railing so he could dangle off the rigging and better talk over the sound of cannon fire.

“We’re going to do what pirates do best,” said the red-haired pirate captain, shooting a huge, blazing grin up at Samantha, “we’re going to sack and commandeer that Man O’ War ourselves!”

With some help from Arjun and Aishwarya running interference, Charlie was able to steer the Phoenix up alongside one of the Navy’s ships, called the Clearwater. As mad as Charlie’s idea was, however, it seemed he hadn’t been completely off-base -- just as Ben Copper himself had proposed earlier, the Navy had indeed not expected the pirates to try sacking and stealing their ship. Unfortunately to get close enough, the Phoenix ended up directly in the path of the Clearwater’s cannons, and as the pirates started to board, cannonballs blasted through the air, smashing the Phoenix to pieces.

“ABANDON SHIP!” roared Charlie. “ALL HANDS TO THE CLEARWATER!”

The pirates all flocked to the rigging and gangplanks to board the Man O’ War, now their only hope at avoiding the ocean waves. Charlie met up with Barnaby on deck, even as its planks was blasted to pieces.

“Is everyone else off?” demanded Charlie.

“Aye, Captain!” said Barnaby.

As splinters of wood and metal shot through the air, Charlie and Barnaby both leapt up into the rigging, preparing to swing across --

Unfortunately, just as they both swung, a cannonball collided squarely with the ringing. In an instant, both men were flung off of the ropes they’d been holding and into the air, falling toward the water with the weight of stones.

Barnaby, in a purely instinctual move, leaned forward in mid-air and, with all of his strength, shoved Charlie forward just enough that he could clear the hurtle between the two ships.

Charlie ended up colliding harshly with the deck of the Clearwater, his leg collapsing out from under him with an unpleasant CRACK.

“ACK!”

With a bellow of pain, the red-haired pirate captain crumpled in on himself, gritting his teeth as he struggled to control his breathing.

“Charlie!”

Samantha chucked a lit grenade right into the side of one of the Navy soldiers’ heads, using the Navy officers’ alarm and the subsequent small explosion as a distraction so she could run over. Bending down, she quickly grabbed hold of his arm to help Charlie to his feet.

“Augh -- “ choked Charlie. “My leg -- I can’t...ack!”

Samantha secured her arm around his waist, using a considerable amount of strength to try to hold him up at her side. “Hold on -- I’ve got you -- ”

Charlie looked up and around, taking in the scene of his men hot in battle with the Navy’s men.

“Barnaby?”

Charlie looked around. His First Mate wasn’t there.

Limping badly on his injured leg, Charlie threw himself across the deck to look over. In the ocean between the two ships was an unsettling set of ripples -- as if a body had collided with the water.

“BARNABY!”

“LOOK OUT!” yelled Samantha.

Charlie would’ve likely thrown himself overboard to try to retrieve his fallen comrade, but he immediately had to yank out his cutlass and defend himself against a Navy soldier who‘d made to attack him. Samantha pulled out her pistols and began shooting, trying to beat the enemy forces back as they descended on the fallen Phoenix’s captain.

Neither Charlie or Samantha saw the second cluster of ripples and bubbles that burbled up from under the surface, nor the gold mermaid tail that briefly flipped up out of the water before disappearing again under the waves.

Nothing turned out as it should. The battle plan Jacob and the pirates had devised hoping to scare the majority of the Man O’ Wars into surrendering was cut off at the legs. If they released Calypso now, there would be no reason for any of the Navy officers to think that her release was a threat pointed squarely at them. Calypso would certainly have no reason to cooperate, even if Chia Dalma had expressed some favoritism toward Orion and Charlie previously. They were still pirates, and Calypso had no reason to help the kind of people who had trapped her for so long just because they released her, especially since the decision was made out of desperation. The only thing guaranteed by Calypso’s release would be that the battle would be harder and would likely put everyone’s lives in even more jeopardy.

Despite this, however, Jules was firm in her conviction. They’d made a promise to release Calypso, and more importantly, it was a decision that was already well overdue. Regardless of whether Calypso decided to help them or not, she didn’t deserve to stay in bondage.

So despite the hesitance on Jacob’s and the majority of her crew’s faces, Jules fetched the tricorn hat full of the seven Pieces of Eight she’d been given by the other Pirate Lords -- Orion’s gold hoop earring, Jae’s copper mun coin, Ellie’s sunflower-engraved pocketwatch, Arjun’s snake-engraved fob seal, Charlie’s “S”-trimmed anchor button, and Merula’s jade ring. Then Jules plopped in the eighth that Samantha had fetched from the inside of the Pirate Codex (a cheap copper brooch shaped like a mermaid and scarred over with greenish-white rust), to represent her as Pirate King, and handed the full hat to Chia Dalma before setting the pieces on fire.

“Calypso,” Jules murmured as gently as she could, “I release you from your human bonds.”

The transformation was terrifying. It was little wonder that the process of turning Calypso into a human was described as her “being bound in her bones,” for when the goddess was set free of her human form, it was like a foreboding, slow-motion explosion. Chia’s eye sockets erupted blueish-white light, while her hair and clothes dissolved away into terrible gusts of wind and crashing sea spray. The low, rumbling, earthquake-esque sound that erupted from her could not be contained by her lips, instead coming from her every pore, as she levitated up off the ground, her flesh and blood limbs dangling uselessly in the face of her supernatural essence breaking free of them. Her flesh seemed to melt away, becoming more liquid and blue and white and incorporeal -- until at last, Chia Dalma’s frame burst open in a violent crash of seawater that for an instant submerged the entire pirate ship.

Jules, Bill, Jacob, and the rest of the crew were suddenly underwater, scrambling to escape so they could breathe. It was only thanks to Ashe that they survived. The merman quickly swam up to the helm and took control of the ship’s steering wheel, chucking it all the way around to tilt the Revolution sharply enough that it forced the ocean wave that had been Calypso back off the side.

Calypso, however, was not just the wave, as the pirates quickly found out. Overhead, there was a horrible rumble of thunder. Within moments, the ocean began to quake under the Revolution and the Flying Dutchman, darkening forebodingly. Somewhere in the distance, Jules could hear a delighted roar, like a triumphant beast’s -- it was Jones, delighted by the liberation of his lover and by the vengeance she would wreck for him.

Rakepick stared up at the darkening sky, her eyes very wide. “This...this storm -- it can’t be -- !”

“Oh, but it is.”

The cursed captain whirled on Rakepick, a smirk curling up into his octopus-stained features and a malevolent gleam in his eye.

“And now,” he said as he unsheathed his sword, “I fear no consequence o’ this!”

Rakepick cried out in agony as Jones plunged his sword right through the upper-right side of her chest. The privateer-turned-pirate-hunter crumpled up on the base of the stairs, her tricorn hat flying off into the wind. She tried to pull the blade out, but she was pinned down to the deck, unable to move as blood spurted out of her chest like a red flower.

“Augh...augh...”

Satisfied that the woman who’d so haughtily lorded over him was going to suffer properly before dying, Jones whirled on the rest of his crew with a victorious gleam in his eye.

“Let’s finish dismantling this ship afore us!” he indicated the Revolution, which was sailing up alongside the Flying Dutchman. “Then we can turn our sights toward different prey!”

Out of the blackening sky, a bolt of lightning crashed down, colliding with the ocean a mere twenty feet from the HMS Lion. The threat of fiery white death terrified Beckett’s men. Carewyn struggled to keep them calm, ordering them to weigh anchor so the HMS Lion could join its brothers in the charge. Beckett, however, contradicted her.

“If we advance, then we’ll merely be sailing right into the pirates’ hands,” he said coolly, as he sipped a cup of tea from the helm. “Our other ships are already dismantling them well enough.”

Carewyn’s blue eyes flashed. In an oddly harsh move, she brought up a hand and slammed it down on the table, making the china tea set rattle precariously and her fellow Navy men flinch.

“Don’t be a fool!” she hissed. “This isn’t some normal storm! Look at the waves you’ve sent our ships into! Look at this lightning -- it’s touching the sea itself! This is not an act of God -- this can only be Calypso!”

The rest of the Navy’s crew tensed up at the name. Beckett looked up from his tea, his dark eyes flickering with some interest for the first time.

“Calypso?” he repeated.

“The Pirate Lords bound her years ago, and now it seems they’ve released her,” said Carewyn fiercely. "We can’t stay still, if we hope to evade the wrath of a sea goddess -- ”

“But you believe she can, in fact, be evaded,” said Beckett mildly, putting down his cup on its saucer with a soft clink. “Good. From what I understand, Calypso doesn’t particularly like pirates much either...so it seems we can have her do some of our workload for us, if we merely steer clear of her destructive path.”

Carewyn’s eyes widened, her pupils narrowing to slits of rage.

“So you sentence your men to death? You choose to abandon our other ships to the mercy of both the pirates and to a vengeful goddess, in the deluded hope that they’ll destroy each other and leave us be -- ?!”

She didn’t even care if her voice was shriller than it should’ve been, thanks to the emotions that rebelled against her chest.

Beckett got to his feet, stepping right into Carewyn’s personal space with a fierce, cold eye.

“Our men know where their loyalty lies -- may you not forget the placement of yours, Admiral!”

Carewyn, however, got right back up in Beckett’s space in return, yanking her pistol out of her belt and pointing it right between his eyes.

All of the soldiers on deck stiffened or let out small, shocked cries. Even Beckett, whose expression did not flinch, raised his eyebrows.

“Just because my soul is no longer mine doesn’t mean that I won’t protect my men, Beckett,” Carewyn spat.

Beckett’s eyebrows furrowed over his eyes, which gleamed with cold, stony, foreboding rage.

“You dare...?” he whispered.

Carewyn’s eyes flared with hatred. “The only leverage you had over me is currently out there, being sent to his death on your orders.”

‘You have nothing left to take from me, Beckett. I’m already enslaved to Jones, and therefore you. I have no future. I can’t do any more good for the others. ...I’m worthless...’

Carewyn returned her pistol to her belt and turned to her men with a gentler, but still very serious look.

“Prepare to abandon ship, Lieutenant.”

The young Lieutenant who’d nearly caught Ben the previous night straightened up sharply. “Sir?”

“I will not have men who were assigned to this mission lay down their lives fighting a sea goddess,” said Carewyn solemnly. “Just as I don’t intend to let the men out there do so. We can’t signal to them to retreat from this far-off, but I won’t endanger your lives while I call them back. Tell the men to abandon ship and head for the Swallow...and then do so yourself.”

Despite the firmness of her voice, she knew the gravity of what she was asking of him.

The boyish, uptight Lieutenant looked from the silently seething Beckett to the grim, pale face of his commanding officer, visibly conflicted. Then, his lower lip trembling, he saluted.

“...Yes, sir,” he said weakly.

The young officer and his compatriots reluctantly followed orders and left the helm, leaving Beckett and Carewyn alone.

“You will regret this most dearly,” Beckett said in a very soft, pitiless voice.

“I only regret that I wasn’t able to do it sooner,” Carewyn shot back icily.

“There will be no safe place to hide from me,” said Beckett. “The entire world will know who and what you are. I will hunt you down with the might of my Company and the English Crown, until you sit under my heel like a dog.”

Carewyn was reminded of how he spoke to Orion, back on that tiny island -- like he was some pathetic, disgusting cockroach.

“I’m not a coward like you, Beckett -- I have no intention of running and hiding.”

‘You won’t need to hunt me down,’ she thought. ‘I already know I'm trapped.’

She turned her back on Beckett and walked away, shooting coldly back over her shoulder,

“Flee with your life while you still can.”

Once Carewyn was sure that her soldiers had all boarded the jollyboats and were on their way toward the HMS Swallow, she immediately made her way down to the lower deck, to where she knew Ben Copper had set up the explosives from the previous night.

The HMS Lion could not use flags to signal the other ships to fall back, from this distance...but the flagship being in distress would be more than enough for them to come back to try to help.

Carewyn approached the highly flammable barrels of black powder, her jaw set in determination despite the fear and paleness of her face. There was only one way she could make it explode on her own -- and so, with a deep breath and a faintly trembling hand, she slowly slid her loaded pistol from her belt and raised it to point at the barrels.

All of a sudden, Carewyn felt someone grab her from behind. She struggled against the grip as the person’s hands seized her arm, trying to pull it back -- “No, please -- please, no -- please -- ”

The voice made Carewyn freeze where she stood.

It was soft, detached, almost airy, and yet so choked and tense...she’d never heard that voice sound that way. Not that voice, at least...only a voice much younger, much less confident --

Carewyn slouched immediately.

“Orion?” she breathed.

The Pirate Lord’s shaking hands still clutched at her arm even after her pistol was no longer raised.

“Please,” he gasped for air, clearly trying to steady his heavy breathing. “Please -- ”

“Orion!”

Carewyn dropped her pistol to the floor with a clatter. She couldn’t pull out of his grip, but she tried to turn around to face him. Only managing to make it half-way, she looked up at him, taking in his parted lips and hollow dark eyes, and reached up to take hold of his face.

“Orion...it’s all right...”

Shakily Orion released her arms. Then, very abruptly, he just as quickly grabbed the back of her head with one hand, cradling it almost desperately.

“Orion, breathe,” Carewyn said desperately as she trailed a hand through his dreadlocks to try to comfort him. “Breathe...I’m here -- I’m here...”

The pirate closed his eyes. His breathing gradually slowed and quieted as he worked to ground himself.

“...Carewyn...” he murmured against her hair at last, still sounding faintly tense, but much more level again.

Carewyn’s chest was so overfull of emotion that her eyes flooded with tears.

“God, Orion!” she swore.

She placed a short, searing kiss against his lips before pulling away to look at him and tearing into him with anxiety,

“What are you doing here!? You’re going to get yourself killed!”

“I could say the same to you,” said Orion, his much more usual, calmer voice low in his throat with disapproval.

Carewyn’s eyes fell down to his shoulder uncomfortably. “I have to signal the rest of the fleet to retreat -- ”

“You needn’t sacrifice yourself for that.”

“I can’t make this signal any other way!”

“Don’t take all of this onto yourself -- ”

“It’s the only way I can help now!” Carewyn burst out. Her own hands were shaking now. “I know what you and Jacob were trying to warn me about, Orion, but it’s no use -- I can’t just stay off the Dutchman! Jones told me that the contract can’t be undone unless I wanted to condemn someone else in my place, and I...I can’t do that, Orion! Even if it means I can never make that world I promised for you -- even if it means I can never get Bill and Charlie and Jules their lives back, or protect Jacob and Ashe from the Navy, or even see you again...”

She fiercely tried to hold back her tears even as they blurred her vision.

“My life isn’t worth protecting, if it means I lose you! I can’t lose you! Without all of you, there’s no point to anything, anything I do!”

Orion’s dark eyes were swirling like miniature galaxies as he adjusted his hand on the back of Carewyn’s head more securely, tilting it up to try to prompt her to look at him before speaking again.

“Carewyn...will you marry me?”

Carewyn looked up at him like she’d just gotten a splash of cold water right to the face.

“What?”

“Will you marry me?” Orion repeated, undaunted.

Carewyn’s mouth hung open in disbelief. Where in the world did this come from?!

“I don’t think now’s the best time!” she said in a weaker, more high-pitched voice than usual.

“Now may be the only time,” said Orion, sounding oddly serious.

Carewyn scanned his face, struggling to understand his thought process.

“Orion...I’ll be part of Jones’s crew -- there can’t be a future for us, even if we -- ”

“On the contrary,” Orion cut her off gently. “We would only have the freedom to be together, this way.”

Carewyn’s eyebrows furrowed. Then, very, very slowly, her blue eyes widened in understanding.

“You’d be a member of our family,” she whispered.

Orion inclined his head in a nod. “I’d take the Cromwell name, rather than give you mine. That would make it so that Jones’s conditions could apply to either of us -- and so, if we wished to be together...the one Jones does not take could volunteer to remain with the other, as part of his crew...or, if not...one of us would be free to leave, with the debt still paid.”

Carewyn stared, hardly believing what she was hearing. She clutched at Orion’s shirt with both hands.

“You...you can’t!” she said desperately. “Jones is still under Beckett’s command -- if you join Jones’s crew, you...you’ll never be free again! I can’t let you enslave yourself to Beckett, not after what he did to you!”

“What he did to me...” murmured Orion.

He cradled Carewyn’s head as he leaned his forehead against hers so that their noses touched.

“Carewyn...what Beckett did to me was make it so that I’m no longer able to live a normal life. What he did to me was make it so that the only life I can lead is that of a pirate -- a creature of few friends, adrift on an unfriendly sea. However much I’ve been able to find independence and camaraderie on the high seas, that doesn’t mean I’ve ever been truly free. For I was never free to stop being a pirate. I was never free to stop running. I was never free...to return to the island where I first met the girl who would flit in and out of my dreams, like a songbird on the wing...see if she was happy...see if...she even still remembered me...”

Carewyn’s eyes widened.

“When I met you, I was an orphan with no name or home to call my own,” murmured Orion. “Although I’ve since crafted a name for myself...thanks to Beckett, I can never have the second. And even if I somehow ever could...that home would not be complete without you.”

His lips spread into a smile as his dark eyes slowly flooded with tears too.

“The freedom I want more than anything,” he said, “is the freedom to stay. Perhaps this choice wasn’t one we ever wanted to make, and perhaps it will be one we’ll have to live with longer than either of us envisioned, but...please...will you let me stay with you?”

Carewyn choked, trying to hold in the storm of emotions beating at the inside of her chest. She covered her face in both hands in a vain attempt to obscure the pain. She could feel Orion’s hand on the back of her head tense slightly, but he made no move to comfort her -- the pirate wasn’t entirely sure how, and he didn’t know if he should, since he knew he’d unloaded a lot onto her.

At last, Carewyn finally tore her hands away and threw her arms around Orion’s neck, burying her tear-stained face into his chest.

“Yes,” she whispered against his neck. “...Yes...”

She placed a feathery kiss to his collarbone.

“...Orion, I’m...I’m so sorry...”

Orion mirrored her, bringing his lips into the crook of her neck.

“Don’t be,” he said seriously, “for I am not.”

Carewyn looked up at him, prepared to speak -- but she stilled when her ear caught the sound of a pistol being cocked.

“GET DOWN!”

In an instant, she’d thrown herself against Orion, knocking him down to the floor just as the bullet whizzed overhead with a loud BANG, just barely missing the barrels of black gunpowder and instead colliding with one of the columns.

Carewyn and Orion both shot up, to find Cutler Beckett standing at the base of the stairs, his stony eyes set ablaze with a kind of hatred Carewyn had never seen.

At the exact same time, the Revolution and the Flying Dutchman were hotly engaged in battle on the rockier, more tempestuous sea. Jules had been firm in not having anyone swing over to the Dutchman until their ship had the upper hand, since she knew her mortal men would be outmatched by men who were already technically dead -- but Jacob, it seemed, had no intention of following her direction. Jones was still aboard the Flying Dutchman, and he had a score to settle with Jones. And so he swung over to the ship of the damned himself to confront its captain.

“Ah, Captain Roberts,” sneered Jones. “Welcome aboard.”

“Where is she!?” he snarled.

Jones’s dark eyes narrowed coldly. “If you mean the Admiral, I’m afraid you’ve come to the wrong place. Her enlistment isn’t set to begin for another month or so.”

With a roar of fury, Jacob lunged at Jones, hacking at him with his cutlass. The shorter man was very talented with a blade -- it was fortunate, considering he was hotly engaged in battle with someone who couldn’t be killed through ordinary means.

“Don’t know what you’re intending to do, Jacob Roberts!” spat Jones. “The contract is not one I can break either! The Admiral will be in my crew, no matter what she or anyone else thinks of the matter -- ”

Jacob slashed at Jones’s beard, slashing off several tentacles. Jones cried out in pain and frustration and when Jacob tried to attack again, Jones seized his arm in his claw, snapping down on it really hard.

“AUGH!”

Jones lifted the smaller man up off the deck by his arm so that he dangled off his feet.

“She only has her brother to blame for her misfortune,” the captain of the damned said lowly. “Yet she somehow has enough grace to not do so.”

Jacob’s face blanched and his slit-like pupils flared with hatred as he fought against Jones’ grip.

“You -- argh!”

Jones’s claw twisted Jacob’s arm painfully, making him drop his sword.

“Were I not a heartless wretch, I would feel remorse, knowing I have to condemn so decent a person,” said Jones.

All of a sudden, out of nowhere, Jones cried out in surprise as a sword was plunged through his back.

It was Bill.

The eldest Weasley knew that the wound wouldn’t really hurt Jones (and he was correct), but it was the proper distraction for Jules to jump in from the other side and bring her sword down on Jones’s claw with enough leverage that he dropped Jacob. The curly-haired pirate captain fell onto the deck, clutching his arm, as Bill yanked his sword back out of Jones’s back.

“That is for Carey,” he snarled at Jones.

Jones whirled on Bill with his own cutlass, hacking away at him. Jules rushed to help Bill, while Ashe ran over to Jacob’s side to help him up.

“Jack, you’re bleeding -- ”

“I’ll be fine,” croaked Jacob as he clutched his wounded arm.

Jones fought both Bill and Jules singlehandedly, his cutlass slashing at Bill as his claw snapped at the air sweeping through Jules’s dark hair.

“Tell me, William and Juliette Weasley,” he crowed, “do you fear death?”

“Do you?”

Jones froze. Everybody else on the deck froze. Then, as if as a unit, they slowly turned, to look at Rakepick standing at the foot of the stairs.

The privateer-turned-pirate-hunter had shed her red jacket, leaving her in her blood-stained, high-necked and long-sleeved white undershirt, and her ginger-red hair had come loose of its bun and flapped in the gusting wind like a flag. In her hand was the throbbing, pulsating heart of Davy Jones.

Both Jacob and Bill lunged forward, but Rakepick moved before either of them could. Her dark blue eyes flaring with pure, undiluted hatred upon Jones, she yanked her loaded pistol out of its holster, thrust Jones’s heart down hard onto the deck, and fired at point-blank range.

BANG.

Jones lurched forward as if he'd been shot in the chest. He choked, his dark eyes going very wide as he struggled to breathe -- then he swayed, suddenly finding himself unable to stand, as his claw shakily clutched the railing of his ship.

Rakepick’s eyes held no compassion whatsoever as she bore down upon the crumpled-up Jones.

“The Chest’ll be doing its work soon enough,” she said very softly. “As it’s said...‘the Dutchman must have a captain.’”

Jacob suddenly felt like his hand was on fire. Ripping off the bandages, he stared in disbelief as the Black Spot Jones had given him so long ago seemed to shrink and disappear, leaving his palm completely unscarred.

For the deal Jacob had made was only in effect as long as both he and Jones lived. 

Jones gasped for air as Rakepick seized him by the collar.

“I would ask if you wished to serve under me -- but I don’t want scum like you on my crew. So I’ll instead be kind...and send you to meet your dear Calypso.”

In a heartless move Jacob only knew too well, Rakepick shoved Jones overboard, right off of the Dutchman into the rushing waves.

“No!” hissed Jacob.

Rakepick turned to Jacob, a cold smirk spreading onto her face. “You know what this means, then, Black Jack? I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised!”

Out of nowhere, Rakepick lurched forward, clutching at her chest, which pulsated with demented, sickly sea-green light. She shrieked in agonizing, hellish pain as her chest ripped itself apart, her own heart molting out of her skin -- the Dead Man’s Chest appeared out of nowhere in a flare of light at her feet -- and it swallowed up the heart that had ripped itself out of her chest before snapping shut.

“What -- ” gasped Bill, “what is -- ?”

“The one who stabs the Heart,” said Ashe, his face very pale with fury and anxiety, “must replace it with their own.”

“And become the immortal Captain of the Flying Dutchman.”

Rakepick clutched her chest with one hand, her long ginger hair in her face. She breathed heavily as her lips spread little by little into a broad smirk. When she pulled her hand away, the wounds in her chest and in her shoulder had completely sealed up. Even the blood had dissipated.

“Incredible,” she whispered. “I can feel the Dutchman -- the sea -- the creatures of the deep, all responding to my every whim...”

She flung out her arm. In an instant, Jones’s fallen barnacle-encrusted blade soared into her open hand, and she raised her head, her dark blue eyes devoid of human light or mercy upon Bill, Jacob, Jules, and Ashe as her loosely flying ginger hair seemed to smack the air like tentacles.

“Now I finally have the power I need,” she whispered triumphantly, “the power to destroy all of you and Cutler Beckett, in one fell swoop!”

[ginger-snaps014]

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Because I am trying to actually post my art again. Also I need to stop watching dc shows since this is getting out of hand.

Enjoy my random OC I created after rewatching young Justice and Titans. In whatever multiverse she lives in, Greyson is still robin but older (think junior/senior in high school pre-fallout with Batman). And most members of the team are young justice versions. She is a scholarship student at Gotham Academy and is roommates with the daughter of a former ambassador’s to bealya who does not like talking about her mum (spoiler not Queen Bee).

Personality: sarcastic with trust issues galore; she tend to lean into anger and humor as a defense. Despite her parentage (presumably because she never knew her parents), she has a strong moral code despite being able to quickly befriend villains. She likes to call out the hero’s when they are being self righteous picks (especially if she is saving their butts or saving an innocent). Prickly, but overall good.

Episode one: Diamonds are not a Girls Best Friend.

Opening- one year ago

You meet Gwen in school being harassed for her scholarship status and bored as hell. Use this scene to establish personality. Next meet her bubbly roommate who starts talking about being jealous of the Wayne Scholarship dinner that will be held at the Manor, clothing etc. makes Gwen borrow a nice dress because otherwise Gwen would go in casual black jeans (which is all wrong for a cocktail event per the roommate).

Next major scene is in the limo with the other scholarship kids (only 1-3 per grade). Easter egg with atriums. Alfred and Greyson greet the kids at the door, and Greyson leads the group in a tour of the manor. During the tour near the entryway, they pass a large jewel that perfectly matches Gwen’s eyes and seems to slightly glow. Close up of Gwens schooled face looking like she saw a ghost. She asking dick about the gem as if disinterested and asking why it was in the Manor. Dick explaining someone had stole it last year from local gallery, and that Batman had just recently recovered it and handed it over to the gallery’s owner. Who in turn asked Bruce, an old friend, to secure it while the gallery’s security is being upgraded. Next scene is a vaguely uncomfortable dinner scene where Bruce has to leave within 5 minutes of being introduced to the group. He tells Dick to stay. While leaving Gwen realizes she left her phone at the table and leaves the limo to retrieve. She stares again at the jewel and tells herself “it is a coincidence.” She grabs her phone. The limo has already left. Dick finds her at the door and seems annoyed (and like he is in a rush). They call a cab and wait awkwardly in the entryway. Suddenly the windows burst. Smoke bombs and knockout gas are thrown in side. Blurry men in full tactical gear bust in as Gwen collapses. When she wakes up she tried up in a chair next to dick (also tied up and seemingly unconscious though a few panels will show his eyes partially open). Gwen struggles only to hear a familiar laugh. “Isn’t life funny, last we were all together,” motions to himself and and the stone (still in its glass case though the other masked men are trying to break in), “I killed you”. She looks up with disgust. “Missed you too sweetie”. The man lifts up his mask to reveal a teenage boy. And Gwen spits at him. Fun dialog show that they at least dated and she had something to do with the original theft. They finally get the stone and start to leave. “Oh right. lose ends” he aims a gun at her and it clicks. The barrel was empty. Laughing to himself the leader then tells one of the other men to get her up. Smiling. She is coming with us. One of the masked men speak. He sounds older and more mature. “That is an unnecessary risk. Leave her or kill her.” The leader throws a tantrum yelling that he hired the men. “Just shut up and do what you are fucking told”. Gwen has her hands tried behind her back and is forced up the stairs to the roof. She looks over her shoulder at Dick who looks asleep and cooperates.

Next Panel in the background his chair is empty. Gwen is on the roof watching a helicopter come closer. Suddenly one of the men is pulled backwards into the dark. Traditional Batman style fight with henchmen. Only the leader remains. He pulls Gwen to him and holds a knife to her throat. “Come any closer, you fucker, and I kill her!” Gwen smiles. “I’d like to see to see you try.” Suddenly she stomps on leader’s foot, and spins away unscathed. Notably, in the struggle the knife slashed Gwen but there was no blood, only blue sparks. She stands before the leader, her dress cut across the middle (clearly showing her skin … with no cuts). Leader pulls out a gun and Robin’s voice emerges from the shadows telling his to drop the gun… and likely making a joke. The leader starts firing at the shadows. We heard robin curse as if hit. Gwen jumps in and says his fight is with her. She walks slowly towards him and he fires repeatedly. The bullets bounce off with a flash of blue light. Her eyes are glowing. “You!!” He screams “It chose you!!” Gwen clocks him across the face and the leader collapses to the ground. She turns over her shoulder to ask the boy in the shadows if he is ok. He comes out. Intrigued. His leg is bleeding but he promises it was only a graze. She looks down at her dress. “Well this sucks.” Jokes about dry cleaners and coverups. Gwen mentions the Wayne ward passed out inside. And sees her cab coming towards the house. Thanks robin and jumps off the roof. We see her land and walk towards the cab.

Next scene is her getting a package early in the morning with a new dress the perfectly matches her roommates and her phone. And a joking note from robin. She see dick in a nearby classroom and asks how he is doing. He says fine but is clearly in pain. She can see some blood seeping through his pant’s leg where robin had been grazed. She says nothing. And the las scene just says “now. “ Showing robin and Gwen soaring on a roof.

Sad Origin or Juliet should have just Stayed Home: (Notably all covered in one issue as background info to avoid romanticizing pain and trauma) first thing to notice in the first panel. Gwen has brown eyes instead of the normal eerie blue). She thinks she is an orphan being raised by a loving aunt, only to have her home blown up by faulty gas lines (spoilers was not the gas lines). She ends up in the Narrows living in a group home with a hot boy (he is the leader that tried to steal the gem in the earlier episode). She is alone, without a safety net and traumatized. He starts dating her. And is a manipulative and emotionally abusive asshole. He tells her the mob has his missing birth father and will kill him if he does not get a certain stone (that just happens to be on display as of that morning in her dead AU ants gallery). The gem had been brought over by an anonymous buyer who what deemed in breach of the purchase agreement and lot rights to the gem. The aunt’s co-owner/ girlfriend had reviewed the jewel and set it up as displayed in the old 15th century painting, weird writing and all. While stealing the gem, Gwen cuts her hand as her boyfriend fucks around and reads the weird script. This accidentally starts an old ritual. After a clean get away, the boyfriend kisses her and pushes off a roof to her death. She accidentally grabs the gem while grabbing for something to safe her life. She wakes up two days later on the street where her body had landed after the fall, with blood stains in her clothing from nonexistent injuries. She feels strange and disconnected from her past as if looking at her entire history through water. She assumes it is shocks and sneaks back into the group home. She uses her aunts oversized jacket hide the blood. Her roommate try’s to get Gwen to fess up where she has been thinking it was a romantic runway. Gwen turns to go to the restroom and roommate says she likes the new contact lenses. Gwen looks up and realizes that her brown eyes have turned an unnatural blue. last panel "what the hell"

Bullet point of storyline notes:

The Halloween special issue. “Never Trust a Cat.” Gwen has her noticing Dicks Gymnastics and being forced by her roommate to go to a Halloween party. She dresses up as a cat. Roommate is kidnapped by guys in tactical gear and has something injected into her. Gwen runs after and with Dick’s help saves the roommate. Only to realize she has been injected with some neurotoxin that slowly makes her susceptible to suggestion that the JL has recently learned about. Obviously created by the light. He says the antidote is in the bat cave and he will take care of the roommate. “If you think I’m leaving her side, Dick Greyson, you are dumber than you look.” Dick tries to deflect. Gwen says fine. He awkwardly holds the roommate while racing through the street on his bike. He looks over his shoulder at Gwen who has not moved. A blue flash is in the sky. He goes through the waterfall. And administers the cure. Suddenly from behind “so this is what the bat cave looks like…. I’ll be honest. I did no expect the giant penny.”Gwen is floating in cloud of blue light that dissipates as she lands.

Batman started avoiding Gwen after only a few sessions

In the same episodes she learns her mother is alive and abandoned her for a life of crime, she learns that her aunt faked her death and left. Apparently, the aunt killed some guy that had been hitting her. He was part of the mob. “It’s not safe for you” crap.

Finds out mum is alive after seeing a picture of cat woman on the bat computer. Turns out Batman had only even given her the maybe scholarship after learning he could be her dad. He grew distant when he learned who was the dad. Oh the abandon meant issues and trust issues I mentioned above.

Turns out robin knew about her parents and had been lying to her for over year. He is also the only person to know her secret so she feel especially betrayed. Needless to say the budding relationship is crushed after their first kiss. She is pissed.

Mum is cat woman. Who had an unwanted pregnancy and gave birth under a fake name. She faked her death in a car accident. And never appeared to look back.

Gwens auburn hair is from her dads side of the family. That’s right cat woman and lex hate fucked after a successful mission. Lex doesn’t know about Gwen.

When Gwen learns who her father is and that Batman and robin have known since testing her DNA (without her consent) a few weeks after meeting her. She is pissed. So she gets drunk underage. Kidnapped by none other than her ex. He had hired Icicle Jr. to guard her. She just wants to avoid the bats at all costs and know she is off the grid. So she spends the next few hours joking with Jr and bonding.robin breaks in. As other henchmen are being beat up, Gwen asks jr if he wants to make a deal. Give me a place off the grid to crash and I will get you out of here. Screams. Jr shrugs and says the money wasn’t that good anyway. Gwen blasts the ceiling creating a hole and grabs jr to fly out. They crash at one of his hideouts and get take out. At some point a group of his friends (probably Easter eggs) come to try to get Jr to come partying. A little bit later. Gwen is at a club in central city with a bunch of villains and having the time of her life. She is flirting with one of the guys that came to Jr’s. And jr is dancing with his own man (is apparently gay in this universe go with it). Gwen is joking and being extremely vague about her “co-workers”. Suddenly green arrow and Artemis crash the party. Artemis says to put down the shot glass. Gwen stays she is just drinking and to chill (she is dealing with some shit and may not be perfectly sober). Artemis fires an arrow that breaks the glass. Small fight and Jr drags Gwen out. They arrive at the apartment laughing. A panel showing days of the week and then hanging out (video games, baseball, etc. just friend shit). Later the same friends at before some over with Jrs new man. They are all hanging out when the others start talking shop. Namely Batman has been captured and will be killed on live tv. They are laughing at how the hero’s won’t find him despite him being just a few bloating away. Gwen excuses herself. And leaves a note to jr thanking and apologizing to jr. she saves Batman. Fight scene. And tells him to never contact her again. It’s snowing when she leaves.

One of the Episodes right after robins betrayal. “Let’s Get Ready to Rumble”. Bus of kids with Gwen on it gets highjacked. Before highjacked, see a football player ruin gwens chem book. The kidnappers make their demands and decide to wait it out at there boss’s place…. Which also happens to host an illegal fighting league. The men joke that they will make someone fight. If you win the whole ransom amount we will let you go. Gwen volunteers. The men laugh. A football player volunteers and gather his friends money to place the bet. He gets knocked out in record time. The b Gwen worked on her school projects volunteers her money up so long as it gwen in the ring. The rules are simple. Step out of the ring, you lose. Get knocked out, you lose. Die, you lose. Gwen first fight is against a larger guy who comes swinging. She dodges and trips him. He lands out of the ring. She wins without throwing a punch. She sees lex in the box. She wins several rounds of increased difficulty. This includes a two on one and blockbuster. Gwen next fight is against bizaro.When he is flying she asks if that counts after stepping out of the ring. No, you have to touch the ground. Gwen does not want people to see her powers. Instead she tumble and flip jumps off the ring tops to reach the lowing rafters. She proceeds to fight and dodge bizaro before jumping on mercy greaves shoulders and asking Lexi if he could spare what he had hidden in his ring. Curious and intrigued he gives her the sliver of kryptonite, which she slide under Bizaro’s skin when she tackles his form. He collapsed in the ring. Comedic scene of her dragging her out of the ring slowly since he is so heavy but technically still awake. She removes the kryptonite as soon as his hand touches the ground outside the ring. It’s the final fight. Makes a joke how she has definitely repaid the ransoms after this this. At this point the kidnappers are impressed and joking with her. She jokes about chem book. They promise to give her 300 bucks for a new one if she beats the next guy. A cage comes down on the ring. A guy smaller than most she has fought is tried up with a hood covering his face. Kids wonder what monster could be worse than Bizaro. The announcer starts going on about this interloper trying to shut the fights down. It’s robin duh. Gwen turns to the kidnappers. “I’m supposed to fight robin. Fun” robin is half to see Gwen and tells her they just need to fake the fight for bit since KG and his other new teammate are there. Gwen says not a problem and punch the lying sidekick across the face and into the bars. She makes a cryptic joke how this will be over In a flash. Just give her five minutes. Cue fight. Robin is good at dodging. But gwen is coming for him. Crowd comments that she seems way more into this fight. Robin ends up tied up and hanging from the top of the cage like a Christmas turkey with one shoulder dislocated (but nothing permanent). He struggles and Gwen asks if he was looking for these. And pulls out his batarangs. Chaos occurs as the young hero’s make their move. An arrow is fired but Gwen blocks it with a batarang saying she still has 20 seconds on the clock. She waits as she counts down then jumps out of the ring as KF comes up. “What they hell” Gwen smirks. “We both know he deserved worse. After I didn’t cause any permanent damage.” She starts walking away. “By the way, don’t worry about taking me home with other hostages. I will find my own ride.” See her ride off on a bike. Artemis walks over to KF “isn’t that Robin’s bike”. “Yep”. Next scene Gwen in bat cave returning the bike when Alfred walks in. “I did not expect to see you here again for a while.” “I needed to return something after all. I’m not a thief.” Alfred looks at the bike and notices some stu wires. He raises an eyebrow. “You found the trackers” Gwen smiles “so will robin. I left them in some interesting places”. Alfred asks if she needs a ride home. She says she fine and has a few errands to run. A chem book to buy” “ miss Kyle, I believe most book stores will be closed at this hour.”

[alexboehm55144]

Alex Final Wars 2: Dark Alex, Chapter 29 - Undercover

“You look good,” Jack said, glancing over the Heroes leader in front of him, who was dressed in a fashionable and elegant black tuxedo.

“Really?” Alex said, looking at his own face in the mirror.

“Yeah, I can’t tell it’s you.”  

“Are the contact lenses irritating your eyes?” Skye asked.

“No, they’re fine.” The captain responded, examining the reflection of his eye. The iris was now a brown color instead of its natural olive green.

“What about the makeup? And that fake scar?”

“Also fine, it’s not bothering me.”

“Ok, that should be enough to keep your true identity hidden from prying eyes at the party.”

“Besides,” Jack chimed in “people tend to see uniforms, not faces.”

“Are you sure this is going to be enough?” Captain Boehm inquired “my face has probably been plastered all over Chinese territory we’re heading into, as ‘public enemy number 1”

“Don’t worry, it’s plenty enough.” Skye said, “we do this all the time, there are billions of mammals in this world, some people are going to look similar to others.”

“Everything else is ready.” Jack said “Our false party invitations are set, and so is transport. The generals we’re after are confirmed to still be in attendance.”

“We can’t being weapons, so we will have to take them out paw to paw. Or rather.... hand to paw in your case, Alex.”

“Now we’re just waiting for our 4th member.”

As if on cue, the 4th member of their infiltration team entered the room.

“How do I look?” JayJay asked. She wasn’t dressed drastically different from her normal self. She sported a red dress, however, this one was longer, and wasn’t ripped in places as part of a fashion choice. This dress also had a shiny exterior that made it look like it was made of crystals that shimmered in the light.

JayJay’s fur was also different, instead of being dyed blue, it was a cream color.

“Wow, you look good.” The Heroes captain said, giving a thumbs up. “I like the dress.”

The wolf blushed as red as her dress and thanked him for the compliment.

“I agree.” Skye said “a fashionable outfit that’s perfect for a mission like this. And the different color fur dye should also help.”

“Oh, this isn’t dye, this is my natural fur color.”

“That’s your natural fur color?” Alex asked.

“Yeah, what do you think?”

“I like it, but in my mind, I will always remember you as having blue fur.”

JayJay blushed again, this time not as strongly.

“Ok lovebirds,” Jack said, “if your done flirting, we can get to our mission.”

“Oh hush Jack,” Skye said, “You flirt like this with me almost all the time.”

Now it was Jack’s turn to blush as Alex and JayJay chuckled.

000

The boat ride to the Taiwanese shore had gone off without a hitch. Although there were some Chinese patrol boats in the vicinity, the Chinese were eager to protect their recent conquest. Searchlights and machine guns trained back and forth as the vessels meandered through the water. Fortunately, the typhoon was secluded away from prying eyes, with the necessary precautions taken to make sure it stayed hidden.

Now the 4 heroes were walking down a brightly lit street, nearing a large and fancily decorated community building, which was swarming with photographers and partygoers of all species. Large Chinese flags draped down from the building, as people talked, ate, and drank, with everyone dressed in elegant clothing.

Pairs of bodyguards stood to watch at different size doors corresponding to different sized animals. A tiger and human stood outside a door for medium-sized mammals, which Alex and JayJay moved towards. Meanwhile, Jack and Skye moved towards a door for smaller mammals, which was guarded by a pair of goats.

The pairs held up bright red and gold invitations on expensive paper, the items having been generously provided by the ZIA. The guards patted the heroes down, making sure they were not carrying any weapons, before waving them through into the building, where the pairs rejoined each other. After passing through a small atrium, the group emerged into a large party area, which was packed with partygoers. More Chinese banners and bright lights hung down from the ceiling. Mammals chatted and socialized or visited the bar, which had an expansive menu of liquor behind it. The whole room was alive, and a dull roar of sound was constantly present.

Waiter mammals in formal attire rushed to and fro with plates of hors d'oeuvres and glasses of liquid, making sure the guests were satisfied. Some mammals rushed over to present the 4 operatives with these appetizers, to which they declined.

The 2 couples split up again, as not to draw attention. Jack and Skye mingled with some of the mammals, while Alex and JayJay hung out near a staircase that led to an upper balcony.

“Aww, no dance floor?” JayJay whispered, putting on a pouty expression.

“The idea is not to draw attention to yourself.” The Heroes captain whispered back.

“I know, but I love dancing.”

“I’m noticing security cameras set up around this place,” Skye said over the radio. Their frequency was encrypted, making sure no Chinese forces would be listening in. “We’ll need to disable them before we do anything.”

“Do that later.” JayJay said, “that way they won’t have time to fix the cameras.”

“Clever wolf,” Alex said.

“Alright, then now we just wait,” Jack said.

“Say, Alex, JayJay, Jack and I were wondering something,” Skye said. “Do you think there is evil Jack and Skye out there somewhere?”

The human and wolf thought for a moment. They had considered the possibility of more dark counterparts existing. But the origin of such counterparts still eluded them, and they knew very little of their dark doubles, which was a scary thought.

“It wouldn’t surprise me if such entities existed.” Captain Boehm said.

“But we would have seen them by now.” JayJay chimed in.

“Yeah, unless they are working behind the scenes or something. But still, we would have seen them by now. If there is an evil Jack and Skye somewhere, it’s not here.”

“What about somewhere else?” Jack asked.

“.....Probably. But where that is, I have no idea. This is why we have to stop our counterparts and the Chinese. We can't let some dark and twisted versions of ourselves wreak havoc."

"I wish I could get my hands on my counterpart," JayJay said, shaking her fists as some of her rage from the past bubbled up to the surface.

As the agents continued to wait, Jack and Skye mingled a bit, trying to blend into the crowd, but being cautious not to make themselves to memorable to other partygoers. Alex and JayJay on the other hand just rested in random spots around the room, completely keeping to themselves as not to draw any attention. Everyone else was too busy socializing and drinking to notice a pair of mammals just standing there. JayJay did keep mentioning wanting to get on the dance floor, but the Heroes captain was able to keep her in check.

At long last, the 4 operatives noticed Chinese soldiers roaming through the party, looking at tables, walls, and furniture, along with other objects and structures. They even talked to some people.

“What's that all about?” JayJay asked.

“Maybe they’re securing the place for the generals.” Jack hypothesized. “Stay low, don’t draw attention to yourselves.”

A human Chinese soldier with an SMG strapped across her chest moved towards JayJay and Alex, keen eyes scanning for any danger or something out of the ordinary.

JayJay gestured slightly to the approaching Chinese soldier.

“I know, incoming.” The Heroes captain said as the trooper moved closer, going through the crowd. “I have an idea.”

The two Heroes operatives leaned in close, closed their eyes, and gently locked lips in a loving kiss. The party going on around them seemed to move away, the two only focused on each other.

The Chinese soldier continued to scan the area and saw the pair of mammals, but she quickly turned and left the immediate area once she saw what the two were doing.

As the trooper moved away, the human and wolf broke the kiss. The latter participant smiled at what had just occurred.

“Public displays of affection make people uncomfortable.” The captain said.

“Huh, smart move. Feel free to use it again sometime.”

The Chinese troops moved towards the main door and disappeared from view. Shortly after they left, 3 figures entered the room, consisting of a red panda, a tiger, and a human. Each of them was dressed in an extremely formal military uniform that was dark green in color, and adorned with ribbons of honor on the chest, along with stars on the shoulders.

“There they are,” Skye said.

The trio of generals chatted and started to mingle. Getting refreshments & speaking with other guests.

“Tail them.” Jack said, directing his eyes towards the red panda that was his target. “keep your eyes and ears peeled.”

“Roger, I’ll get the tiger, Jay, you keep your eyes on the human.” Captain Boehm said, separating from the wolf he was with.

“I’ll go take care of the cameras now,” Skye said, leaving the main party area and entering a set of hallways that went throughout the community building. The hallway walls and the carpet on the floor were deep shades of red, and circular stone columns of similar color were positioned at regular intervals. Paintings and artifacts were also situated throughout the hallways, giving people something to look at. However, there were no other mammals in this area of the building. Everyone was busy socializing in the main area.

The ZIA agent kept walking, pretending to look at the artwork on the wall, but also making sure to be aware of her surroundings. Skye noted a metal electrical box on the wall and quickly recognized it as part of the security system. Thankfully the box was at the right height for a mammal of her size. The agent noted the warning sticker symbols on the metal that gave away the object’s nature as something that only security personnel should work on. Along with the box’s sturdy nature that was designed to avoid tampering.

But that would not stop Skye. There was a camera positioned above her, but it was panning left and right down the hallway. Meaning the camera wouldn’t be able to see her for a couple moments. Taking careful note of the timing of the camera, Skye reached into her dress and pulled out a small multi-tool that she had smuggled into the building.

When the camera was facing away from her, she inserted an implement into the lock on the security box and managed to unlock it. The camera started to pan back towards her, so the cunning fox immediately turned towards one of the paintings on the wall. She put on an expression that made her look like she was deep in thought and gazing at the artwork. When the camera panned away from her again, the agent moved towards the box once more.

Skye opened up the metal door of the box and found a security interface. She took out her phone and popped off the back of the device, revealing the computer chips and circuits. She then pulled out one of the chips, which in reality was a separate device entirely that had been hidden in the phone. She plugged it into the interface and set to work, the device linking the interface to her phone

“Ok, I’m in the camera network. I can shut down the cameras from here.”

In the security room, a trio of guards looked over a set of screens that depicted what was going on in the building. Guests conversed and socialized, staff moved back and forth with trays of food and drinks.

All of a sudden the screens went black, and a message saying “signal lost” displayed over every screen. The guards groaned, this happened all the time. Their security system desperately needed an update, but unfortunately, they could never get someone out to actually work on it.

“Cameras down,” Skye said.

Captain Boehm followed one of the generals, a tiger, into the bathroom, which was unoccupied at the time. He locked the bathroom door behind the two, so there would be no interruptions. As the Tiger adjusted one of his cufflinks, the Heroes leader quickly disassembled his watch, rearranging pieces and turning it into garrote wire.

While the tiger turned his back to the captain, Alex struck, getting the wire around the general’s neck. The Chinese general tried to yell, but he couldn’t get any sound out as he was pulled into one of the stalls.

The general’s hands flailed, trying to pull the wire off his neck, and trying to reach around to attack the captain. Boehm slowly felt the tiger’s strength weakening, and eventually, he stopped resisting and went limp as he passed from the world.

The captain slowly guided the tiger’s fall to the ground, so he landed on the toilet in the stall. Alex then turned the garrote wire back into a watch and adjusted the general’s body a bit so it looked like he was just using the bathroom. The young warrior then locked the stall door, and slipped out under the divider, leaving the restroom and rejoining the party.

Elsewhere, the human general walked down an unoccupied hallway, examining some paintings hung up on the walls. Skye had linked up with JayJay, and the pair followed the general at a distance, pretending to talk amongst themselves.

The Chinese general turned to examine a painting of the Great Wall of China, and the duo made their move. The pair moved up to the human and attacked with ceramic knives that they had concealed on their persons. Rapid strikes hit the general, much too fast for him to react and fight back. Within seconds he was down, and thankfully the red carpeting helped conceal what had just happened.

“Broom closet,” Skye said, pointing to a door with the symbol of a broom on it.

The ZIA agent went to open the door, while her companion picked up what was left of the general and dragged him across the hall. The pair placed the downed enemy behind some objects in the closet, making sure to obscure him from view. Once they were done, the closet door was shut, and the pair moved on, their job complete.

The third Chinese general, the red panda, was outside, relaxing in a decorative garden adjacent to the building. Jack was also there, keeping to himself, but making sure he always had an eye on the general.

The red panda General was leaning against a low wall, on the other side of which was a beautiful pool of clear water, teeming with plants and Koi fish.

Jack slowly walked up behind the red panda, on the way he picked up a rock from a decorative ring of stones that surrounded a potted plant. For a brief moment, he held it in his hand, feeling the weight.

The rabbit moved closer and brought back his arm, before swinging it forward and hitting the red panda general in the head with the blunt object. The general lurched forward, going over the railing and landing in the decorative pool.

Jack looked around, making sure no one saw what just happened, before looking at the Chinese general, finding him facedown in the water. The ZIA agent took out a napkin he had and dipped it in the water before wiping the rock. He removed any fingerprints that were on the object, before gently placing it in the water pool, and walking off.

000

Alex and JayJay were examining a decorative vase sitting on a pedestal. It was pale marble white, with green jade crisscrossing over the surface of the object. Almost like deep green cracks were running through it.

Skye was next to the human and wolf pair, looking at a similar vase that had pink cherry blossoms on it. Jack joined his fox, the two locking arms before the rabbit spoke, loud enough for long four mammals to hear.

“I think we should get going.”

“Nothing more to see?”

“Nothing more to see.”

Jack and Skye walked away, through the assembled mammals and heading for the door. Alex and JayJay followed suit soon afterward, meandering through the crowd and continuing to keep a low profile.

The group made it back to their transport boat without any trouble, but they made sure to be alert. Getting into the small watercraft and maneuvering it away from the shore, the team noticed a trio of Chinese patrol boats racing towards them at top speed.

“Stay calm people,” Skye said.

The team prepared themselves in case a firefight began, but at the last second, the trio of boats turned away, steering out of the path of the agent’s boat and racing by.

“I think they finally caught on.” Captain Boehm said as the patrol boats blazed into the distance.

“Not bad you two,” Jack said to JayJay and Alex. “A textbook mission, and not to mention a valuable victory in this war.”

The Chinese had just lost 3 of their most talented generals, and their efforts in the conflict would be severely hampered.

[fialleril]

snippet from a DAV Mara fic

A while back I promised the excellent @astudyinimagination a pick-me-up drabble about Mara in the Double Agent Vader ‘verse. Because it’s me, and I’m apparently incapable of writing anything short, that’s now turned into a full length fic which is still in progress, but I figured I’d at least give you the first bit. I hope you enjoy!

Some notes going in: the Mara in this fic is...not exactly Mara Jade from the Expanded Universe. She’s more like my version of the concept of Mara, because the idea of that character hits basically all of my buttons. But if you’re a hardcore EU fan who decides to read this, it’s probably better to think of this Mara as an OC who happens to be named Mara, because I won’t be using a lot of the details of her EU backstory.

So in my universe, her name is Mara but she doesn’t remember her last name. She’s one of the first kids taken for the Inquisitor program - taken before Anakin became a double agent, and therefore before he started providing the lists of Force sensitive kids to the Rebellion. Most of the Inquisitors are adults who are either fallen Jedi or else members of other Force traditions, so Mara is in a unique position.

This is either an AU of an AU or...possibly just something that I’ll end up fully incorporating into the Double Agent ‘verse. I honestly haven’t decided yet. Tell me what you think I guess?

Finally, some warnings: There’s really nothing explicit in this, but there are a lot of background implications of harm to children, conditioning, abuse, and injury.

She remembered her parents, at least a little.

The memories were soft and strange, feelings more than images, and she never let herself think of them when any of the older Inquisitors were around, or on the rare occasions when she was brought before the Emperor. They weren’t the sort of things she thought the Emperor would be pleased to hear about. The sound of her mother’s laughter, the gentleness in her father’s hands – those weren’t things that had any bearing on her progress as an Inquisitor. So she kept them locked away.

But she did think about them, sometimes. Mostly when she was alone in her little windowless room, when she stole a few moments away from practicing her marksmanship or dueling with the remotes or studying the holologs she’d be quizzed on the next day.

She wasn’t really sure what to do with the thoughts. They weren’t useful, they wouldn’t make her stronger in the Dark Side or more capable of serving the Empire, and so she should probably put them out of her mind. But she never did, not fully.

She was alone most of the time, except for the droids, but they only ever gave perfectly exact answers when she spoke to them, with no extra information and no room for conversation, so after a while she learned to keep mostly to herself. Except when the older Inquisitors came. Usually it was the Fourth Sister or the Ninth Sister or the Third Brother, but sometimes the Grand Inquisitor was there. He never said anything to her, though. He just watched her at her exercises and looked disapproving.

And then one day there was someone else.

She thought he was another droid at first, although he was much taller than any droid she’d seen before. But he was all dark metal and plastic and he moved stiffly and with just the faintest mechanical whir. His breathing was deep and even and mechanical, too, except that was strange, because droids didn’t need to breathe. That was how she knew he must be organic after all.

He slipped into her little room almost an hour after the Ninth Sister had left, and she knew no one else would likely visit her for hours. It was just her and the training droids, and she hadn’t been expecting him, or anyone, so she was distracted. Without thinking she lowered her blade, and all three of the droids took the opportunity to fire on her at once.

Their bolts never hit her, though. They seemed to ricochet from an invisible wall and then dissipate harmlessly into the air.

She stared up at him, at the droidlike face that was probably a mask, and wondered if he was staring back down at her. It was impossible to tell with the opaque lenses of the mask, but she thought he probably was. She felt much the same way she did when the Grand Inquisitor studied her. Like something was crawling over her spine.

She straightened up and did her best to glare at him. She was an Inquisitor, after all, and she wasn’t going to show deference to some droid-man. “Who are you?” she demanded in her best approximation of the Fourth Sister.

He only went on staring down at her. His left hand clenched, just like a droid’s. “What are you doing here, child?” he said.

His voice was deep and rich and it startled her, because he didn’t sound like a droid but he didn’t sound much like the Inquisitors, either. She wasn’t sure what he did sound like.

“This is my place,” she said, glaring up at him. “You’re trespassing in the rooms of an Imperial Inquisitor. So I’ll ask again, who are you?”

There was something strange in the air, like…like the feeling she had when one of her droids malfunctioned but in a funny way and she was annoyed and amused at the same time. It felt like that, a little, except that it wasn’t her feeling.

She’d had moments like that with the other Inquisitors. It was part of her connection to the Force, they’d said. So this droid-man must be connected to the Force, too. Maybe he was another Inquisitor? Oh, she should have thought of that at first! Now she was probably going to be punished and…

“I am Nobody,” said the droid-man, but he made it sound like a name.

She knew that couldn’t really be who he was, but…she didn’t think he was lying, either. It was strange.

“Do you have a name, child?” he said, and that was strange too. Maybe he just wanted to know what her name was, but the thought came to her that he meant exactly what he’d asked.

And maybe she shouldn’t have told him. Probably she shouldn’t have. But he’d asked the question like that, and something in his voice made her think of the distant memories of warmth she could never acknowledge, and in that moment she decided that, just this once, she didn’t want to be the Fourteenth Sister.

“My name is Mara,” she said.

“Mara,” he repeated, and the echo of her name was like an electric shock. She jolted with it.

He nodded his helmeted head once, abruptly, then turned and swept out of her room without a word.

*

Mara didn’t tell any of the other Inquisitors about her strange visitor. She wasn’t fully sure why. She just knew that she’d liked the sound of her name in his voice, and that she didn’t want to share that secret with anyone.

*

He came back some time later, weeks or maybe months. It was hard to tell time here, sometimes. But he came back, and that was the important thing.

“How long have you been here, Mara?” he asked her. There was something funny in his voice, but she didn’t know what it meant.

“I don’t know,” she said, swinging her legs where she sat perched on the edge of a chair that was still too tall for her. “A long time, I think.” She watched him, but he didn’t react to that, and so she asked, “Are you an Inquisitor?”

“No,” he said. It was only one word, but Mara thought she caught a hint of amusement there, and that made her wonder.

“Oh,” she said. “Did the Emperor send you, then?”

He stiffened, just a little, and she thought it was funny, because it made him look even more like a droid. He didn’t answer her question.

“Do you ever leave this room?” he asked her.

“Sometimes,” she said with a shrug, swinging her legs in even wider arcs because he hadn’t told her to stop. “When there are inspections, or” – her voice sank to an awed whisper – “when I have an audience with the Emperor.”

“Ah,” he said. And then, “What is he like, the Emperor?”

Mara peered up at him, her nose scrunching in confusion. Shouldn’t he know that himself? Of course, he hadn’t ever said that he was a representative of the Emperor, but she’d thought about it a lot since the first time he appeared here, and she was certain he must be.

So…maybe this was a test then? “The Emperor is everything,” she said in a pious whisper.

He was silent, and after a long moment she dared to say, “You still haven’t told me who you are.”

“I am Nobody,” he said again, and then he was gone.

*

She did learn who he was, eventually. It was several weeks-months since he’d last appeared, and she was just starting to think she would never see the strange droid-man again, when suddenly there he was, standing at attention just behind the Emperor’s throne at her next audience.

Mara registered his presence there, but didn’t dare to really look at him, afraid of the appearance of staring too long at the Emperor himself. The older Inquisitors had warned her very firmly about that. She had not yet proven herself in the Emperor’s service, and it was not for her to gaze on the august presence.

She demonstrated her progress as ordered, and then remained kneeling, silent and with eyes cast to the floor, awaiting the Emperor’s pleasure. At last, she heard his sibilant voice murmur, “Rise, my young friend. Come forward.”

Heart in her throat, Mara did as ordered. She kept her eyes on the ground.

“This is Lord Vader,” said the Emperor. “He is the Master of the Inquisitors.”

Mara didn’t dare to look up. “Yes, my Lord,” she whispered.

There was more talk, but it was intended for the other Inquisitors. Vader never said anything. Mara kept her focus on the floor and her mind utterly still, until she was dismissed. And then she went back to her little windowless room.

*

He returned only three days later. Her droids all powered down as he entered, but Mara hardly noticed. She’d leapt to her feet and stumbled into a bow, not as deep a bow as she gave before the Emperor but deeper than the one reserved for the Grand Inquisitor. “Master,” she said, her eyes still cast to the floor.

A sudden cold settled over the room, like a hole ripped through the hull of a capital ship, life and warmth left exposed to the endless void of space. Mara shivered.

“Shall I call you Fourteenth Sister, then?” he rumbled from some terrible distance above her.

She pushed aside her strange and sudden disappointment. That was the proper thing, of course. She was an Inquisitor, albeit still in training, and he was the Master of the Inquisitors. It was absurd to want anything else.

“Yes, Master,” she whispered.

“Do you want to be called Fourteenth Sister?” he demanded, and there was something so strange in his voice, so nearly angry, that she looked up in surprise.

The mask looked the same as it always did. She couldn’t see his eyes, but she could feel them boring into her.

It was impossible to respond with anything less than perfect honesty.

“No,” Mara whispered, and cringed back, awaiting the consequences of her failure.

But only silence followed. Silence, and the slow receding of that terrible cold, as though someone had sealed the hull breach.

“Mara, then,” he said, something warm in his voice that she couldn’t put a name to, something that made her think of impossible memories. “And I am not your Master.”

She forgot herself entirely at that and stared up at him in wonder. “But the Emperor said…”

“The Emperor,” he said with slow, almost mocking deliberation, “says a great many things.” She almost thought she could hear a smile in his voice. “But we know how to hold our silence.”

*

Her training became more strenuous, the stretches between her audiences longer. She saw less of the Ninth Sister, and far more of the Fourth. She grew used to bruises and small burns, learned to overlook them, to fight on in spite of pain. Pain gave her focus, and apart from that it was irrelevant. That’s what the Fourth Sister always said.

But today her entire body felt like one giant bruise, and that was much harder to overlook.

Mara gritted her teeth and wiped the sweat from her eyes with a grunt. Too slow. Another laser blast struck her, this one stinging through the already sore muscle of her left shoulder. She winced and staggered back.

No more blasts followed. Instead there was only a sudden silence as the three droids she’d been dueling powered down, sinking lifelessly to the floor. And then the sound of mechanized breathing.

“You are hurt, Mara,” said that deep rumbling voice. She didn’t recognize the tone.

Mara stepped back with a snarl. “I’m fine!” she growled. “I’m not weak! I can handle it.”

He only looked at her, looming and silent. And then, with a slow creaking of leather and metal, he lowered himself to crouch beside the now inert droids.

Mara stared at him. They were eye-level now, and she could just glimpse, through the red tint of the lenses on his mask, the shape of his eyes beneath.

“Of course you aren’t weak,” he said. “But you do have three cracked ribs.”

She sniffed. “Pain gives me focus,” she recited, and was proud of the way her voice didn’t betray any emotion at all.

“Injury makes you vulnerable,” he snapped. “A refusal to heed the needs of your body is not strength but foolishness.”

Mara drew herself up indignantly, forgetting for a moment who he was and the deference he was owed, but before she could speak, he’d stood with a sweep of his cloak and a groaning of metal joints. “Wait here,” he ordered brusquely, as though she had any other option, and then he stalked from the room without giving her a chance to answer.

At a loss, Mara waited.

He returned less than an hour later, and this time he had a droid with him.

The droid was a perfectly rounded shape, about the same size as Vader’s helmet, floating on silent repulsors just beside him. It looked very much like one of the interrogator droids she’d begun learning to work with last week. Mara held herself very still.

“This is KD-7,” he rumbled. “She is a medic.” Before Mara could think of anything to say, he’d turned to address the droid. “Kadee, this is Mara. She has at least three cracked ribs.”

“And a sprained wrist,” said the droid in a metallic monotone. “Will you let me help you, Mara?”

Mara blinked. No one had ever asked her something like that before. Certainly a droid hadn’t.

She glanced uncertainly at Vader, and his helmeted head nodded once.

“I…okay,” she said.

*

It was a strange feeling, to come out of a training session and not hurt. Stranger still to realize that the pain wasn’t necessary for her to focus. That maybe she could even focus better without it.

“You rely too much on your lightsaber,” Vader said, his back turned to her as Kadee tended to her ribs. “You may not always have it.”

“That’s why I must learn to work through the pain,” Mara said, because that was the correct answer. “To grow stronger in the Dark Side.”

The huff of breath through Vader’s respirator was at once disdainful and almost amused. “Is that what the Inquisitors have taught you?” he asked. “They are more incompetent than I had realized.” There was a weighted, staccato pause, and then, “I will show you another way.”

“No strenuous exercises while she’s healing,” said the droid Kadee.

Mara blinked in shock. Perhaps it was only the droid’s monotone that leant the impression, but that had sounded like an order. She couldn’t imagine that the Master of the Inquisitors, whether he allowed her to call him that or not, would take kindly to being commanded by a droid.

But Vader only released another huff of breath. This one might almost have been a laugh. “No, Kadee. No exercises for her at all. Just a demonstration.”

“All right,” said the droid, extending a pincer claw and patting Mara once on the head before drifting several feet away from her.

Mara blinked again. A distant memory flared: warm, soft hands stroking over her hair and a tender voice singing a tune she couldn’t quite understand. She fought the sudden, absurd urge to ask Kadee to come back.

Vader waved a hand, and her training droids reactivated. They were still set at the highest level, and they were programmed for her specifically. Mara leapt back on instinct, reaching for her lightsaber though she knew she would be too late, as a barrage of laser bolts flew towards her.

But not one of them hit.

They seemed to pause, to hang for an impossible second in the air and then to turn back on themselves, ricocheting away from her to dissipate in the scorched walls of her little room, as though she were wearing some kind personal force field. She stared up at Vader in awe.

“The Force is your ally,” he said as, with a wave of his hand, her droids powered down again. “It surrounds you at all times. Even when you have nothing else, you have the Force. Remember that, use it, and nothing can touch you.”

*

The next time the Fourth Sister came to inspect Mara’s progress, she brought the Grand Inquisitor with her.

He watched Mara with a silent, cruel smile as the Fourth Sister reprogrammed her droids and then set them at the new highest level.

Mara’s back still stung from her exercises with the Eighth Brother yesterday, and the cut on her thigh had reopened when she tore Kadee’s bacta patch off this morning, afraid of what the other Inquisitors would do if they saw it. The used patch was hidden away inside the thin mattress of her cot now. She forced herself not to look toward the bed.

The droids activated, and she knew she would not be able to block all of their bolts. At least, not with her lightsaber.

She closed her eyes and centered herself in the Force, in the memory of a cool metal hand patting her head and the barest hint of something she still couldn’t name in Vader’s voice.

Nothing could touch her.

*

“Who taught you to do that, Fourteenth Sister?” the Grand Inquisitor demanded, his eyes dark with fury. But he had never called her anything other than “girl” before.

Mara held herself straight at attention. She dared to look him in the eye just a split second longer than was truly proper.

“Nobody taught me,” she said.

[aethelflaedladyofmercia]

Sawdust of Words - “Never Alone Again”

Hey, everyone, guess what just got posted to AO3?

The latest part (part 11!) of “Sawdust of Words”: the Bus Scene/Body Swap/Trials story I never thought I’d write, “Never Alone Again.”

Does Aziraphale panic because of his abandonment issues? Yes.

Does Crowley get fiercely protective in a situation where fighting can’t actually help anything? Yes.

Does Aziraphale fall over trying to do The Walk(TM)? Yes.

Does Crowley kill Gabriel? No, bless it, this is a long series and we aren’t there yet.

Which one goes absolutely feral on the other’s tormentors? Read and find out!

(Note: full story has a cw/tw for threats of violence, no actual violence apart from what’s in the show.)

Excerpt (1079 words)

Saturday Night

--

“We’re on our own side.” The five most wonderful, and most terrifying, words Aziraphale had ever heard.

It was a new world and it was crushing him, smothering him – he’d lost his shop, he’d rebelled against Heaven, everything was falling apart around him, sliding away into an endless dark abyss.

Everything except Crowley. And he could not, could not, let them take him away.

He couldn’t stand to be alone again.

--

He took the seat beside Crowley, the same row, and it was so much closer than a bench or the Bentley. The last inch of air between them hummed, charged with six thousand years of history, with Wars and Rebellions and Falls and all of Heaven and Hell, everything that had ever stood between them.

Could Crowley feel it, too? The way the space between them burned and bubbled and boiled with promises of destruction and salvation? Had he heard it scream and howl between them across the centuries, as the distance grew smaller and smaller? Until they arrived at this moment, alone together, at the end of all things?

Aziraphale reached across that final inch and took Crowley’s hand.

And Crowley flinched.

He dropped the demon’s hand as if it burned him, bunched up his fists on his knees. It was too much, of course. Too needy. What was he thinking?

Get a grip on yourself, Aziraphale chided in his mind. You saw how angry they were. Crowley will no doubt be fighting for his life in a few hours, and you expect him to make you feel better?

What Crowley needed – what Our Side needed, if there was to be an Our Side for more than a few hours – wasn’t a clingy, emotional angel drowning in his own fears. It was the calm, logical Aziraphale who came up with plans and solved puzzles.

He was sure that version of Aziraphale was still around here somewhere.

Beside him, Crowley shifted, turned to face him, and Aziraphale could feel the frown, imagine exactly how it looked around those dark lenses. “Angel –”

“No.” Aziraphale stared straight ahead. There wasn’t time for this. They could discuss it later, if there was a later. Now, he needed to think.

--

Crowley had been…not asleep, he might never sleep again…but his mind was heavy and blank with the events of the day. Of the week. Of eleven years. Of eternity.

It seemed just then, looking back, that his entire life had been just an endless series of losses, of pain, of crashing from one disaster to the next without a moment to ever get his feet back under him. He’d Fallen, had Heaven and everything that he was ripped out of his chest, and he’d been Falling ever since. All alone, through an endless void, a cosmic game that maybe the humans could win (for a little while, humans only ever did anything for a little while), but not Crowley. The entire deck was stacked against Crowley.

He knew it wasn’t true. There had been good times. He just couldn’t remember them. He was so tired, and the exhaustion seeped down into every last crack in the remains of his soul.

How long did he have left? A day? A few hours?

Perhaps, when they came, he’d just let them take him. Let it happen. He didn’t want it to be over. He just wasn’t sure he had the strength to fight again.

Out of the darkness, a warm hand wrapped around his, catching him, filling him with energy, pulling him back to reality.

Almost before he could process it, long before he could react, the hand vanished.

Aziraphale was sitting next to him. His angel, right beside him, offering a furtive touch, a soft, quiet bit of comfort, at the moment Crowley needed it most. How did he know? How did he always know?

“Angel –”

“No.”

There was no softness now. His jaw was tight, steely determination in his eyes. Aziraphale didn’t even glance towards him, just stared straight ahead, so focused, so determined. So strong.

Just looking at him, Crowley felt something relax in his chest, some tension fly away. They were still here. Still together. Nothing was over yet.

“Aziraphale…”

“Crowley, please.” His voice dropped to a whisper. “When alle is sayed and all is done, ye must choose your faces wiseley, for soon enouff ye will be playing with Fyre.”

“Was that the prophecy?”

“Yes. I’m certain it was meant for us, some type of clue. I just need…to think…”

It was amazing. After all that, after everything he’d lost, he was still going. Still fighting, in his way, turning their possible deaths over in his mind like a puzzle.

Sitting up a little straighter, Crowley tried to clear his head. Prepare himself for the next fight. Because if Aziraphale wasn’t going to give up, neither was he.

--

The next hour, as the bus wound its way towards London, was the longest either of them had experienced since the beginning of Time itself, yet somehow the shortest, every heartbeat bringing them closer to the end, closer to the moment they would be destroyed…or free.

--

The solution, when it finally came to Aziraphale, was so daring, so audacious, so impossible, he could hardly even whisper it out loud. The words slipped through unmoving lips, little more than a sigh.

Long fingers grasped his arm, burning hot through the jacket, as Crowley leaned close, hissing low and fierce: “Abssolutely not! Are you out of your mind?”

“It’s the only way!” A little louder now and, oh, how his voice shook.

“Then think of another one, I won’t do it!”

“Please, Crowley! I’ll talk you through it. As long as you keep your temper, you’ll be –”

“Thiss issn’t about me!” The grip on his arm constricted, fingers clutching, until Aziraphale could feel how they trembled. His own were doing much the same. “I’m not ssending you to –” He cut off, pulling his hand away.

“It’s…it’s my choice,” Aziraphale said, trying to sound confident. “I can do this.”

Crowley folded his arms, almost huddling in on himself, turning to the window, turning his back on Aziraphale. He shook his head, not speaking.

“Crowley…” Aziraphale reached for that dark-clad shoulder, but couldn’t quite bring himself to touch it.

“I promised myself I’d never…” he shuddered, and if anything huddled down further. “Not now. We’ll talk later.”

--

Read the rest on AO3!

Rating: General Audiences

Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply

Category: M/M

Fandom: Good Omens (TV)

Relationship: Aziraphale/Crowley (Good Omens)

Characters: Aziraphale (Good Omens), Crowley (Good Omens), Gabriel (Good Omens)

Additional Tags: Ineffable Husbands (Good Omens), Aziraphale and Crowley's Bodyswap (Good Omens), Scene: The Bus Ride (Good Omens), Canon Compliant, Anxious Aziraphale (Good Omens), Protective Aziraphale (Good Omens), Protective Crowley (Good Omens), Mentioned Beelzebub (Good Omens), Mentioned Uriel (Good Omens), Mentioned Michael (Good Omens), Mentioned Hastur (Good Omens), Heaven is Terrible (Good Omens), Scene: Aziraphale's Trial in Heaven (Good Omens), Scene: Crowley's Trial in Hell (Good Omens), Aziraphale is a Little Shit (Good Omens), Aziraphale is Bad at Feelings (Good Omens), Crowley is Bad at Feelings (Good Omens), During Canon, Threats of Violence

Words: 9577

[saintheartwing]

The Karma Circle: Sister Dearest

Welcome, children. Welcome…to the KARMA CIRCLE.

I take you to a simple town with simple people. McKeesport. A quiet town, filled with quiet people, kindly people. Away from the hustle and bustle of the big city of Pittsburgh, Dibbun Membrane lives with his sister and his father, having been at long last freed from his greatest concern: an annoying alien that finally blew himself and his base up, leaving a VERY helpful and playful robot behind for Dib to play with.

And Dib looks upon this new companion as a true comfort, for his father is never, ever around when he needs him, and his sister is beastly and cruel. Dib ¬simply does not have it in him to fight back against her, for she terrifies him to the very core…

Even more so than the haunted house by Emmett's Pond. He passes it by every day on his way back from school...unaware that that which is dead does not lie still. It lies in wait. Seeking what it lost.

…and it will soon strike. For the Piper is about to be paid.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Throughout the town's history, several fires tore through McKeesport. The greatest of all took place on May 21, 1976. Fire had spread from the town's most enormous department store downtown, fourteen buildings going up in a blaze. Striffler's Funeral Home, Kadar's Clothing Store, Oddo's Hobby Shop, the Coney Grill Restaurant…

And the Emmett Family home. It had been especially tragic…a young, sweet child had run out of her burning family home after the flames had spread, rushing away desperately to get help, for there were only two ways to get to town, one by the road, the other by a small lake that led to another road into town. She'd supposedly been trying to get help, for the first path was alit with flames, and had hoped to cross the lake…only to drown in the middle of the lake instead.

The poor little girl had failed her family, and legend had it that she still cannot rest. At sunset, you'll see the smoke drifting through the trees though it's been a CENTURY since she drowned…and if you're wise, you'll RUN! For that's when her ghost rises from the dark lake in which she'd drowned. She searches and searches for her baby brother, her father, her mother, but will never find them…and you had best take care she doesn't find you.

Dib believed in ghosts, of course. He was twelve years old and had seen more than most his age. He'd seen demons and spirits flying through the skies. He'd seen beings from beyond the stretches of Earth. And his new "little brother" of sorts, his best friend and confidant, was a robot with a head full of garbage, paper clips and-

"Ba-doompa-doompa-bubble gum! Ba-doompa-doompa-bubble gum! Ba-doompa-doompa-bubble gum! I'm gonna buy some bubble gum!" GIR the robot sang out, waving his tiny little robot hands in the air, his cyan eyes glittering as he bounced about the kitchen, Dib smiling a bit as he munched on his "Choco-Flakes" cereal.

There was an article in the paper about someone supposedly seeing the "Departed Soul of Emmett Lake". And, of course, it had the famous rhyme that you were meant to sing as you ran by it, the magic charm. "Departed Soul of Emmett Lake, Come not Night for Mercy's Sake! For when the sun hangs in the sky then we shall safely pass you by".

Gaz probably believed in ghosts too, deep down. But she didn't know nor would she have cared about the haunted lake. Gaz didn't care about much that didn't immediately gratify her, like a Poop Cola or "Piggy Hunter May Cry 5". It was, in a way, amazing that Gaz could be so different from their mother even though the two were almost equal in appearance to their respective parents. Dib had his father's scythe-like hair and pale skin, and both had their mother's amber/gold eyes…but Gazlene, unlike Peggy Membrane, had eyes sharp like a hawk, her arms thin and her expression usually bitter, and when she DID smile, it was a grin like stretched elastic.

She only ever really smiled when Professor Membrane was in the house. Then she'd call Dib by his actual name and would calmly smile over at Dib in a faux-friendly fashion. But once their dad had left, the smile would vanish, she'd punch or hit him somehow for taking a soda she felt belonged to her, or would, occasionally, lock Dib in the cellar for taking what she felt was a slice of HER pizza.

Not that Dib and GIR really minded being in the cellar too much. Because Dib had just decided to move a great deal of his stuff downstairs, including a Papier-mâché version of people's heads, toy soldiers…GIR liked to play with the red ones…and a Tallest Red and Purple series of puppets that GIR had made. GIR especially liked to act out the "what happened when the Tallest decided to check that odd speck in the distance out the window". The "odd speck" turning out to be a tiny black hole. Zim, watching it all from his end, had evidently been mortified. Maybe THAT'S why he hadn't been paying attention to the explosive experiment that finally did him in!

"What the hell is that? That's gotta be the weirdest thing I ever seen in my life!"

"Man what the hell IS that?"

"Say Red, think we oughta check that thing out?"

"I dunno, Pur, why not-AAAAA! AAAAAAA! AAAAAAAAAA!" GIR cried out, waving the Red and Purple puppets about in the air as Dib held up the black hole he'd made from Papier-mâché as GIR "tossed" the puppets through it. There came a loud KLOKKA-KLOK and the doorway opened up, Gaz glaring down at them.

"Shut up. You'll make me lose my concentration on Vampire Piggy Hunter X." She snapped, slamming the door shut as Dib glared up at her as she re-locked the cellar door. Good thing he'd snuck down some circus peanuts today.

"I could cut her up into little pieces and feed her to Mr. Tiddles." GIR cheerily offered, Dib frowning a bit.

"For one, Mr. Tiddles has been dead since Gaz sacrificed him to get those gummy bears that feed on human flesh." He sighed. "And TWO, I'd just get sent to prison. Everyone knows I hate her…they'd blame me for sure." He mumbled, taking his glasses off and rubbing some gunk off of the lenses.

"Can'tcha…y'know…just tell your dad she's a meany head, Mary?" GIR asked, scratching his bucket-esque head as Dib shook his head back and forth.

"Dad wouldn't believe me. She always acts reaaaal nice around him and she doesn't leave bruises on me that leave actual marks. Besides, I don't think he WANTS to believe me. He wants to believe his children get on just fine so he can just keep working at the lab." Dib insisted, shaking his head again. "She'll be back in ten minutes. Remember, look SAD." He insisted, GIR taking his lips and turning the smile into a deliberate frown. "Good. If she thinks we're having fun down here, she'll just think of a worse punishment. Probably one that'll hurt."

"Like…goin' down to the lake?" GIR mumbled out, eyes widening slightly in fear.

"Zim told you about it?" Dib asked, raising an eyebrow up in the air…and though GIR was silent…Dib could guess what the answer was.

…

…

…

…then came September, and Professor Membrane had to be called away to a peace conference at the United Nations. Dib, of course, had tried to beg to come with him, but Professor Membrane had just good-naturedly laughed and patted his son on his head, saying Gaz would take good care of him before heading out the door. Gaz had IMMEDIATELY barricaded Dib in his room and he'd been almost without food had he not thought to keep Premium Saltines and peanut butter cups under his bed. Why? So she could eat all the pizza and keep HIM from taking it.

"I'm wise to all your tricks." She told him calmly. "And don't complain. Whiner." She'd added, slamming the door in his face when he'd asked to use the bathroom. Good thing the window could be opened enough.

"I wonder why Memby never notices the rose bushes under your window don't ever bloom." GIR asked as Dib did his business and then closed the window, Dib sighing as he plopped down on the bed and glanced over at the calendar on the wall.

"Oh. Good! Tomorrow's Wednesday!"

Indeed. The next day was Wednesday, and that meant that Gaz was chatting it up with her friend Tak, another Irken alien just like Zim had been who'd been considerably more…calmed down…over the years. With Zim dead, what psychosis she'd had had faded a bit into just occasional coldness and vaguely British snarkiness that always manifested whenever Gaz was compelled to drag Dib along with her to Tak's house down the street to play "Grand Theft Piggy 5: New Pork City" in Co-Op. Tak and Gaz both seemed to be made of the same material…that is, a big block of granite left in the middle of a Minnesota winter.

But hey, GIR and Dib could sneak Reeses Pieces from a small glass cup that Tak kept by the living room cupboard whilst Tak and Gaz played before Tak's big screen TV and they could ignore the nasty comments the two girls would sling their way whilst carjacking little old virtual ladies.

"Honestly, my brother is SUCH a whiner." Gaz muttered. "He keeps insisting I can't take the car. That "I'm too young". I could drive it just fine."

"You ALWAYS walk here?" Tak asked.

Dib paled. Oh crap. Ohhhhhh crap.

For you see, there were two ways to get to school AND to Tak's house, which was right BY the school. One was by the hill, and the other…well…the "shortcut" by the lake. The haunted lake.

"Yeah, it's a long walk up the hill to get to the stupid school-" Gaz mumbled as GIR's mouth hung slightly open, finally processing what Gaz and Tak were about to say, his eyes becoming tiny pinpricks. Oh no. Ohhhhh no!

"Why don't you just take the shortcut through the woods? Y'know, the one that has the lake nearby?" Tak asked.

"Huh?" Gaz blinked, pausing the game and putting the controller down as she scratched the purple hair atop her head, her amber/brown eyes turning to look at GIR and Dib as her tone became quiet and dangerous. "You KNEW about a shortcut?!"

"Everyone in town knows. Lemme guess. You didn't tell her about the shortcut because you're scaaaared of da spooooky ghoooosties!" Tak said, throwing her head back and laughing hysterically, antennae flopping about as GIR clung tightly to Dib, letting out a panicked squeak. "I'm sure your sister will be happy to cure you of such a silly fancy. It's just an urban legend. Supposedly this young girl's family burned to death and SHE drowned in the lake, and should you see smoke rising from the woods, you'd best RUN! It's all so silly." She said, her voice as sweet as honey from a wasp.

"You're a bad, BAD girl! You won't make us go past the lake! Not at sunset!" GIR yelled out.

"A GHOST? Really?! You didn't tell me about this shortcut because some GHOST is supposed to haunt it?!" Gaz snapped. "Gimme a break, like I should be scared of a stupid specter." She muttered, folding her arms across her chest and shaking her head back and forth. "While I'm doing IMPORTANT things you're picking your nose, laughing on how you make me walk three miles every day just to get to school! And all cuz of some dumb urban legend! Lemme guess, a headless lumberjack'll pop outta the woods and cut my head off?!"

"I wish." Dib muttered.

Gaz IMMEDIATELY launched the wireless controller she had in her hand at him and it smacked into his forehead, a bloody cut trickling down it as he flopped to the ground, Dib glaring triumphantly up at her as he picked up his dropped-down glasses. "Now I've got a cut, a scar to show Dad when he comes back." He told her.

"Shut up or you'll get worse than that!" Gaz told him sharply, grabbing him and GIR by the wrists, dragging them out of the house, heading for the woods…heading for the lake…

As sun was beginning to set, crimson rays being cast overhead. She continued dragging them along the path, over dead leaves and fallen sticks, a long shadow being cast behind her smallish frame, the setting sun glowing almost as brightly as her hateful eyes, the dark pond slowly coming into sight off in the distance.

"Maybe she's a witch?" GIR whispered to Dib. "You think she's a witch?"

"Shhh!" Dib hissed back. The charm. The magic charm. "Departed Soul of Emmett Lake, Come not Night for Mercy's Sake! For when the sun hangs in the sky-"

"What're you two whispering about?" Gaz snapped out.

"Nothing!" Dib said quickly, gulping a bit as the wind began to wrap itself around him, digging its claws into him.

It was no good. The charm only worked during the DAY, when the sun was up and now the sun had fallen past the gnarled and now-barren trees, the sky looking like it was lit up with burning flames as…as pale wisps of smoke came curling and creeping under the ground, like blind fingers searching…

"The smoke. The SMOKE!" Dib whispered out, eyes widening in horror. "The smoke from the burning house! It was there!

"Are you kidding me?" Gaz groaned, rolling her eyes. "Seriously? Smoke?!" She muttered, dragging them towards the lake, GIR trying to break free in desperation before Gaz tossed him away, shoving her brother towards the lake, sticking his head down towards it, shaking him a bit. "LOOK!" She yelled out. "There's nothing there at all! It's just mist rising off the water!"

She was looking at Dib when she spoke…and did not see what was rising out of the reeds nearby, making it's way towards her as she glared back at GIR, who was gasping in horror at what drew ever-closer. Something dark and wet and tiny, a figure made of rotted-away flesh and water and reeds. Greenish/brown muck clung to the decayed flesh and slightly-cracked bones, a frog stuck in one eye, calmly breathing and staring back from the empty socket. Its eyes were silver like the scales of a fish, it's mouth turning from a slight smile to a furious, baleful glare as it saw Gaz shake Dib again, threatening to drop him in the lake as she yelled at GIR.

"WELL?! You cowards, I can't believe you're scared of some stupid girly ghost, there's nothing-"

The ghost GRABBED her, Dib breaking free and scrambling back as Gaz and the figure went into the lake an instant later, dark water frothing about as the two figures struggled, snarls and screams filling the air, Gaz and the figure sinking down in a boil of bubbles.

"G-g-g-g-g-GHOST!" GIR screamed out, Dib and GIR immediately racing off down the path, heading for home as fast as their legs could carry them, but GIR's leg had been injured when Gaz had thrown him, and there was a KRAKKA-KRKK sound as he fell to the forest floor, letting out a yelp. Dib quickly knelt down by him, trying to help GIR up as they heard the bushes and bramble being pushed aside, the two rooted to the spot in sheer terror, white nests of toadstools around them as they clung together in fear…

And then Gaz burst through the bushes, looking…oddly nice. She'd evidently run so fast her clothes had dried on her body, and her cheeks now had a bit of a blush to them, her hair now falling around her head almost like a halo as she blinked a bit at the sight of the two.

"Are you alright, guys?" She asked.

…GUYS?!

"That was an awful stumble, huh? Oh and look at you, Dib, you're shivering!"

DIB?! Calling him DIB and not "Hey, you"?

"Lemme give you a piggyback ride, GIR." She offered, helping GIR onto her back and cheerily smiling at Dib. "I think there's some pizza left over I can heat up at home, okay?" She asked Dib as she calmly walked off down the path, whistling.

WHISTLING!

"Who are you and what have you done with Gaz?" Dib muttered a bit, walking alongside her, scratching his head in surprise.

…

…

…

…true to her word, Gaz heated up the leftover pizza in the microwave and poured them all some Poop Cola, breaking out the big, fizzy straws from the cupboard, smiling as she watched them eat, staying silent before heading to her own room, Dib and GIR going back up to Dib's room, the two sitting on Dib's bed as Dib nervously chewed on his lip, glancing over at GIR.

"Did…did that just happen?" GIR asked. "She's all…y'know. Cheery."

"Yeah, it's weird." Dib murmured, scratching his head in confusion. "But…you saw it, right? At the lake?"

"Yes. And she fell in, right?" GIR wanted to know. "I don't get it, why…why's she being so nice? It's weird, Mary. Really weird. She's so different!"

"I thought she'd be dead, but…" Dib trailed off. "…I hope dad comes back soon." He finally sighed. "Hopefully things'll be back to normal soon."

And so the two went to sleep, GIR plopping down in the corner underneath a poster of the X-Files whilst Dib laid back in his bed, listening to Gaz walk about downstairs, slowly and uncertainly, as if she'd lost her way.

Within a few days though, it became clear Gaz had changed since falling into the lake, as if all the unpleasantness had been washed right out of her. The house was now bright and cheerful, Gaz now happily sharing her pizza and soda with the two and never raising her voice. She let Dib play with her Game Slave and even Tak didn't seem to mind this new Gaz as much, because this new one was far more cooperative in co-op. She doodled with Dib during the evening, chatted with him as they looked at old corny B-movies on the TV. And above all, she never ever hit them or yelled at them anymore!

Dib and GIR started calling her "Gazzy", and Dib would stargaze with her on the roof of their house at night, looking up silently at the stars, resting one hand atop hers as they contemplated the majesty beyond.

"Dad's gonna be home tomorrow." Dib said one night. "You remember, right?"

"Yes, Matthew."

"It's just "Dad", really."

"Alright. Dad."

"…how long will you be staying?" Dib wanted to know, tilting his head slightly to the side as Gaz rubbed her chin and raised an eyebrow up.

"However long would you want me here?" She wanted to ask. "If…if you wouldn't mind, could…" She began to say before Dib smiled, patting her on the shoulder.

"I want you to stay with us." Dib insisted. "Okay?"

"…I'd like that." She admitted with a smile, wrapping her arms around her brother and hugging him tightly. "Thank you, Dib." She said, a single tear trickling down her cheek and onto the roof below.

…

…

…

… it was about two years before Dib made his way back to Emmett's Lake, going in broad daylight on a sunny Saturday in June, down the winding forest path to the dark lake where tragedy had struck o'er a century ago. The lake was peaceful now, tiny little tadpoles flittering about as butterflies flew overhead. He calmly sat at the end of the lake, on a tree stump as a water boatman skittered across the lake, leaving behind a small silver wake as Dib waited.

Sure enough, a few bubbles began to rise up to disturb the surface of the quiet water, small fish darting away as a scum of mud and filthy rose up slowly from the bottom of the lake, taking the vague shape of someone all-too-familiar who was scowling angrily.

"Dib, gemme out! She took my body that stupid little bitch! Look, if you bring her down here, I'll give you fifty bucks! I'll bring you chocolate every day to your room for breakfast, I'll-I'll wash your feet and never yell at you again, I promise, I-"

"Goodbye, Gaz." Dib firmly remarked, sitting up and walking away.

And that was the last time Dib ever walked by the lake ever again.

[emperorsfoot]

This is not part of my larger Sky High fic series. This is an alternate version of the first meeting between Barron Battle and Ms. Peace. 

Barron Battle loses his glasses. Mara Peace finds them.

...

One of her fireballs finally connected, catching the villain on the side of the head. The hood of his costume was singed by the heat, and the force and air pressure of the blow threw him off balance. The supervillain went tumbling off the catwalk.

He hit the ground with a hard THUD.

Flamebird landed next to him.

It was her first time going up against this particular supervillain. He was not a member of her usual rogues gallery. In fact, he was the self-proclaimed ‘Arch Nemesis’ of the Commander. But that didn’t mean much. The Commander had, like, twenty ‘Arch Nemeses’.

Dressed all in black, not unusual for a supervillain. A hooded vest, boiled leather polished to an almost satiny shine. Buckles on the sides. An emblem of crossed swords on the best. She was sure his villain name was something dramatic and violent, but Flamebird could not imagine what it was. Maxville had so many villains, and this guy wasn’t one of her usual ones. It was had to keep tracks of the names that went with the costumes.

Hell! He probably didn’t know what name went to her costume either!

“It’s over-“ a pauses because she really could not remember what he was supposed to be called “-villain!” Flambird hovered over him, arms crossed over her chest. Stiletto-heeled boots dangling mere inches above his hooded head. If he wanted to continue the fight, all he had to do was reach up and grab her ankle. She was definitely giving him an opening. “It’s in your interest if you surrender! Turning yourself in could earn you leniency. But if you- you- hey! Are you paying attention!?”

He was not even looking at her.

And Flamebird was striking one of her better mid-air, low-hovering poses too. Arms crossed, pushing her –mostly flat- breasts up, making them look bigger than they actually were. Turned a quarter turn to the side, making her waist look smaller. Legs crossed at the ankle, making her hips look wider. She just an alluring figure. A figure that was expertly complemented by the costume she wore.

A tight little number. Thigh-high stiletto boots. Bare legs. Booty shorts that showed off the curve of her hips and the round bottoms of her butt-cheeks. An exposed mid-rift displaying her flat belly and toned abs, adorned with a belly-button ring that sparkled red. The top covered a lot in comparison to the rest. Long sleeved and high collared. It hit how small her breast were and allowed attention to fall to the more alluring parts of her body.

But this supervillain didn’t even raise his head to look at her!

Instead, he was on his hands and knees, head down, hands outstretched in front of him. Feeling around on the ground. As if he were looking for something.

“I can still hear you, Sparky.” Apparently, he did not know what name to put to her costume either. “Keep monologueing.”

Thrown off her game, she actually did continue. “Your evil machinations are through! You’re only course now is to- I’m sorry, but what are you doing?”

What was he looking for on the floor that was more important than starring at her shapely figure while she rubbed his nose in his defeat.

“It's nothing you need to worry about, Hero.” He assured her. “I’ve just lost my glasses.”

“You- your- you wear glasses?” Flamebird blinked at him. “But you’re a supervillain! You’re all… all black leather and buckles, and- with so many knives, and- and-!?”

“I’m still human, Sparky.” He told her. “I like to read. Sometimes I don’t always have the best light. Enough years like that and it’ll eventually ruin your eyes too.”

Blinking her own eyes behind her mask, Flambird just stared at him. At this terrifying supervillain from the Commander’s rouges gallery, who claimed to be the Commander’s Arch Nemesis. Who was dressed head to toe in black. Leather and buckles. He looked like a total badass! …up until he fell off the catwalk and lost… his glasses.

Now he was just an edgy Velma feeling around on the ground for his glasses.

Heaving a sigh, Flambird landed on the ground. She looked around the immediate area. Nothing stood out to her as looking like glasses.

Raising a hand into the air, she created a ball of fire. Expanding it until it illuminated the whole warehouse.

There!

She saw the flames flicker. Reflected off the glass lenses and wire frames.

Leaving the fireball burning in mid-air in the center of the warehouse, Flambird crossed the space to pick them up. A pair of wire frames, with lenses, and thick glass. Curiously, she put them on over her own mask. Hot damn! This guy’s eyes must be really, really bad! Everything was blurry through his prescription lenses. The only visible thing was her own ball of fire in the center of the space. No wonder he was feeling around like a character from Scooby-Doo. He was literally, actually, effectively blind without them.

Flamebird flew back over to him. “Here.”

Leaning down, she pulled the leather hood off his head.

A cascade of sweat-soaked hair tumbled over his shoulders. Messy from being in the hood –and probably their fight too. Dark brown, a brown so dark it might as well have been black. Thick and curly, and kinda long for a guy. It framed his face nicely, giving him roguish, untamed, almost wild look. The face was also pretty nice too. Handsome in a rugged sort of way. Square jaw and high cheekbones. A straight nose. Thick eyebrows. And his eyes! A rich dark brown. Not brown like his hair was brown. Brown like deep woods or rich earth. Flamebird decided she liked the way he looked.

“You’re beautiful.” She breathed, not realizing she was even speaking.

It was a shame he was a villain.

He grabbed his hood and yanked it back up over his head. “You won’t think that once I find my glasses.”

Kneeling down in front of him, Flambird slid his wire frames onto his face. “These glasses?”

He blinked at her. Able to see her again now. Mouth hanging open slightly.

He was right. He was not quite as roguish and wild with the glasses on. But he was still handsome. In more of a ‘scruffy, overworked academic’ way. With those glasses on, and maybe his hair combed and pulled back he would look very neat and clean-cut. He could easily pull off both.

“You’re still pretty.” She announced.

He just stared at her.

Flamebird didn’t know how long they stayed like that. Kneling on the floor, just looking at each other. Doing nothing more than making eye-contact. Her hands were still resting on the wire frames of his glasses.

Finally, he cleared his throat, pulling away first.

She blinked behind her mask.

“Oh! Um…?” She pulled away.

He also backed up.

They stood there for a beat. Unsure of what was supposed to happen now. This was not usually how super-fights went.

“You, uh, you were in the middle of your monologue.” He finally reminded her.

“Huh? Oh! Yeah.” She nodded, hovering back up into the air. Looking down on him. “It’s over, villain! Your-“ she paused, shoulders slumping, “I’m sorry, but what is your name?”

He looked up at her with a confused frown, the only part of his face visible from under the shadow of his hood was his chin, his mouth downturned in that frown, and straight nose. She couldn’t even tell he was wearing glasses. “Battle will do.”

“Really?” She looked at him. “That’s what you’re going with?”

“Yeah. Why? What’s your name?” He growled back. Though, he was suddenly grinning for some inexplicable reason. As if this weren’t a normal super-fight anymore. As if this had somehow become… friendly banter?

She stared down at him. “Flamebird.”

His head tilted up more, looking her up and down. This time, she could just make out the bottoms of his wire frames. “Fire powers and flight.” He noted. “Flame. Bird.” A shrug. “Makes sense. A little simplistic. But easy to understand.”

“Yeah.” She agreed. “It is easy to understand. Way easier than ‘Battle’. What’s that supposed to mean? All I’ve seen you do all day is just not get hurt.”

“I get hurt.” Battle assured her. “I just heal really fast.” A pause. Then, muttered under his breath so that she wasn’t sure she even heard right. “...And don’t die.”

Since she didn’t understand the last comment and wasn’t sure if she even heard right, Flamebird decided to ignore it. “And the name ‘Battle’ is…?”

“It’s my name.” He told her.

“No, I get that.” She assured him. “But what does it have to do with your powers? Or your motivations? Or your aesthetic? Why did you choose ‘Battle’ as your supervillain name?”

“It’s not my supervillain name.” Battle informed her. “It’s my name, name.” A pause. “You didn’t go to Sky High, did you?”

“I did!” Flamebird assured him. “Class of ’81.”

“Huh.” He nodded. “So, you’re freshman year would have been the ’77-’78 school year. Your freshman year was my senior year. You seriously don’t remember going to school with a guy named Battle? I mean, I got the lead role in the senior class production of Oklahoma!”

Flamebird landed on the ground in front of him. “Okay, first of all, the lead role in Oklahoma is a female role. I assume you didn’t play Laurey. Curly and Jud were supporting roles. Secondly, all I remember about the senior class my freshman year was this one obnoxious asshole who just had to be adored by everyone.” A pause. “Stan…? Stew…? Steve…? Something like that.”

Battle lowered his hood so that she could see his face. His whole face. Behind his glasses, he was staring at her with surprised admiration. “He was an obnoxious asshole! Yes! Thank you!”

“I’m guessing he was your arch rival.” She seemed unimpressed.

“You have no idea.” Battle told her. “He was just the worst!”

She only shrugged. They were not in the same grade and at the end of the school year, he was gone so she never really had the opportunity to form an opinion.

“Hey, are you still gonna do your monologue?” He asked.

“Huh?”

“Your monologue.” Battle repeated. “Are you still gonna talk my ear off about ethics and ‘good’ or whatever then take me in?”

“Oh.” She honestly forgot that was what was supposed to be happening here.

“’Cause I’d kinda like to take you out.” Battle announced.

Flamebird leaped back into the air, both arms igniting with fire. “You can try. But I’ll roast you alive!”

“No, no, no.” Battle assured her calmly. He understood the misunderstanding. “I mean, for coffee or something. Do you drink coffee?”

Flamebird lowered her arms, they were still on fire, but she wasn’t in a fighting stance anymore. “Oh. Um… I don’t really date guys I meet in costume…”

Battle noted that she did not say she did not date supervillains, just that she did not date people she met as ‘Flamebird’.

“I see.” He nodded, grinning a mischievous grin. “But, if you were to meet someone outside of costume… Say, at a dimly lit coffee shop in downtown? Perhaps you might see someone you recognize, sitting in the back corner against the wall, reading something by Thomas Aquinas, and if you were to come over and say ‘hi’…”

“Ooh, Aquinas.” She sucked in a breath between her teeth, recognizing the name. “So, you think you preform good acts with bad consequences. Not surprised. He’s exactly the kind of philosopher I’d expect a supervillain to read.”

He looked momentarily insulted.

“So, what would you do if some random woman comes up to you and starts educating you on more Kantian views instead?”

Battle smiled at her. “I think she and I would have a lot to talk about.”

Flamebird smiled back at him. For a supervillain, this Battle was actually rather charming. Was this really happening? Was she actually considering meeting him out of costume for coffee?

“Now, I’m gonna need you to think fast, Sparky.” He told her.

“Wha-?”

That was all the warning she got before Battle threw one of his weapons at the catwalk supports. A segment of the walkway began crashing down and Flamebird needed to do some quick flying to get out of the way before she was struck by some falling stray metal.

“The coffee shop on the corner of Hamilton and Main!” She heard Battle’s voice call as he disappeared into the night.

…

END

[queeniewritesce]

Recommendations (2/2)

This is part 2 of my entry for the @mrs-captain-evans 2,5K followers Writing Challenge. 

Summary: Twitter is a strange place. But once in a while, you connect with someone.

Word count: 2,484

Warning: mild language, 35 seconds of angst, could be less if you read it fast.

The heavy double-paned door opened with a jingle and a creak, letting the cool air from late November enter the small café on Arrow Street. You didn’t bother looking up from your laptop, where you read an article about penguins instead of finishing grading yesterday’s pop quiz.

Procrastinating was your new favorite pastime since decreasing your online presence. Not that it stopped the ache you still felt every time you opened Twitter to post a new article, which was the only content you shared nowadays. Gone were the jokes geared towards your students, pictures of Captain Hook, or commenting on the everyday shenanigans of the White House and Congress.

The less you shared, the less you cared, and the only reason your profile was still up was because of your job.

You checked the time on the bottom left of the screen. Professor Kincaid’s class had been canceled and you had one hour to kill before your own class started, which prompted you to run to Bean There for a fresh pot of coffee and one huge Boston Cream doughnut.

As you read about penguins kidnapping other chicks if they own young died, you got wind of the murmurs and rushed voices going on around the room.  You tried to tune them out, young people got excited about anything but they seemed to get louder and louder with every passing moment. You located your bag seating by your feet and was looking for your headphones when a pair of black boot cladded feet stopped in front of you.

Pursuing your lips, you let the ears buds fall back inside the pocket but didn’t bother to look up. If your assumptions were correct, the owner of those boots was the cause for the raucous around you.

“Y/N…”

Yep, the voice and the boots belonged to the same person.

Tears made your eyes sting and you blinked to prevent them from falling. You minutely shook your head, not knowing exactly what you’re trying to convey; that this was not the place or that you’re not, would never be, ready to talk to him.

“Please. Can we talk?”

The hurt in his voice gave you pause. Why would Chris feel anything but pride at playing you as he did? Did he want to do a coup de grâce to your ego?

Keeping your eyes downcast, you lowered the screen of your laptop, glad you hadn’t bothered with the power strip. Shifting the electronic around you other stuff took more time than intended but after a few tries, you zippered up your bag, grabbing some money out of your wallet and dropping it on the table.

You got up and your nose pressed against the most muscular chest you ever saw. He was so well built that you could see the hard contours of his pecs through the thick cream sweater he was wearing. The smell of his cologne hit your nostrils and you almost swoon, finally looking up.

He shouldn’t be allowed the whole package, that was so unfair to you.

Deep blue eyes framed by thick eyelashes stared back at you, the lower half of his face covered in fine auburn whiskers that couldn’t be more than two weeks old at the most, looking so soft that you had to restrain yourself from reaching out and running the tips of your fingers through them.

“All I am asking is for a chance to explain myself.” Strong fingers reached for you, encasing your small hand in his as if he really wanted you to stay. You scoffed at the notion, this man really knew how to play you. Did he get off in toying with you?

Your scared eyes looked from his eyes to your clasped hands and back again, silently begging him to let you go. He mouthed a soundless no and stepped towards you, bridging the already small gap between your bodies.

Later, if someone asked you why you did it, you would blame your next course of action on the overwhelming need to escape.

“Look, everyone, it’s Chris Evans.”

Chris’s eyes widened and a different kind of hurt clouded his vision. Betrayal. He let your hand go.

Good. Maybe know he would understand exactly how you felt.

A round of applause broke out around the café and the whispers were now cheers. The discretely held cellphones now pointed straight at the man in front of you.

Move, get out. Your feet took their sweet time obeying your brain, but soon you’re grabbing your coat and your messenger bag and making a beeline to the door, not bothering with actually putting on your coat before the full brunt of Boston’s late autumn slammed into you. You powered through, running through the streets that led you to your office, not once looking back, certain Chris would not follow.

Entering the gray building that housed Media Studies and Social Analyses, you allowed yourself to slow down and take a breath. Safe.

The lights stayed off when you entered your office, the loaded mahogany bookcases and dark upholstery making the room more ominous than it truly was.

You let your bag slide to the floor near your desk, not really bothering with damaging the electronics inside.

Heavy feet carried you to the sofa under the balcony window, where you sat with unfocused eyes, mind running a mile a minute trying to understand how your life became a drama movie in just a few short months.

What was Chris doing here? You thought you made your feelings clear when you blocked him. The pain ebbed away after a few weeks, diluted to an ache that accompanied you day and night. For a fleet moment, you had entertained the idea of a relationship with Chris. Not Evans. Just Chris, the wholesome and funny guy you got to know during those four months you spent trading messages with. But that guy didn’t exist, he was just a persona, one more character created and well played by Chris Evans. Right?

There was a knock and whoever was outside didn’t wait for an answer before your door was pushed open.

Professor Travis stuck his head inside your office, a scowl on his face.

“If I hear one more student going off about the Oscar worthy drama on the media department I’ll flunk them and fire you, we’re not a telenovela. Fix whatever this is or convince him to stay away, I got your next class covered.”

He pushed Chris inside the dimly lighted room, raised his eyes brows pointedly at you and left, the door closing firmly behind him.

Silence stretched around you, uncomfortable and unnerving.

His hands stayed on his pockets, heavy coat looped around one arm while Chris took inventory of his surroundings before focusing on you, his gaze never wavering.

“Can I sit?”

You didn’t expect the croaked voice, nor the way it warped around your heart.

Two fingers pointed to the chairs on the other side of the center table. A safe distance, an actual barrier between you.

Of course, he decided to sidestep the table and sat opposite you on the love seat, his knee almost touching yours.

“What you did back there was treacherous and mean.” He faced forward, fingers drumming on his knees. “I guess I deserved it.”

“You did.”

“I never thought those would be the first words I’d hear you say direct to me.”

You cocked your head, not sure what to say to that.

“I mean, I thought about our first meeting, how you would be surprised but also happy I wasn’t a serial killer, just a dumb actor with too much free time on his hand.” He let a dark chuckle. “I never expected you to out me to a room filled with twenty-somethings years old and run away.”

What did he mean by thought about you? You admittedly had mulled over the idea more than once, wondering if you would click on the real world as much as you did online. Even created a list of topics you could revisit from your online conversation, mixed with silly questions you’d never asked him, like blueberry or chocolate chips on your pancakes? Could this man, so famous he couldn’t even walk into a coffee shop without being recognized, also be so committed to the idea of meeting you?

No matter. He still deceived you.

“I asked you once if you were catfishing me. You said no.”

Chris whole body faced you and he trained his eyes on you.

“I wasn’t. I looked up what that word means. I don’t fit any of those boxes. I’m not in it to hurt you. I never said I was someone else. I just never told you my last name.”

“Or who you actually were.”

He huffed.

“See, that’s where you’re wrong. I shared with you exactly who I was. Am. My opinions, my true likes and dislikes. I didn’t sugarcoat it or played dumb, I didn’t hide behind a forced laughed or a sound bite. You got Chris, the whole unadulterated version.” His expression hardened. “It’s not easy to open up like that when people expect you to be a certain way, act another way. Since you teach about expectations and the effects mass media has on other people, I believed you’d understand why I had to hide behind a pseudonym.”

It was not the first time you wondered what was like on the other side of the fishing lenses celebrities were under. You taught the basics of how media twisted and organized exactly how the public perceived being famous, asking your students to always remember no matter how famous someone was, there were first and foremost a human being.

“I understand why you did it, that doesn’t change the fact that you lied to me.”

“I never lied to you.” Chris rebuffed.

“You told me you were a flight attendant and you worked for Delta.”

“No, I didn’t. You assumed all that, I just never corrected you.”

“I…”

He was right.

You remembered all the times he changed the subject when you discussed his work and you honestly believed he was embarrassed about his job. You never asked what he did, or what he was doing in Atlanta for so long.

You felt the hot flashes of embarrassment creeping up your face and you hung your head low. Were you really so obtuse?

“I’m sorry.” A staggered breath left you. “I’m sorry I didn’t ask and assumed.”

“I have my own share of the guilty Y/N. I wanted to tell you, I wrote hundreds of messages but I could never send them. I was terrified you wouldn’t believe me before I could send you proof. And then I told you my name and it got comfortable, I wasn’t lying, just leaving out some stuff.”

“A lie of omission is still a lie in my book.” The serious tone of your voice washed over Chris and he winced.

“I got that when you blocked me.”

Once again the room was quiet save from the filtered shuffling of feet coming from the corridor.

As a true scholar, you analyzed all the information he gave you, looking for strong points and flaws on his reasoning. It all checked out. You wouldn’t have believed him. He never outright lied to you. 

There was only one question left unanswered.

“Why are you here Chris?”

His smile warmed you, made you want things that you shouldn’t. Images fleeted through your head, other times when he could smile to you like exactly like he was doing now.

“I’m here because I spent all summer and most of autumn inside a hot as hell costume, my hair dyed blonde, stuck inside a hangar filled with fake debris and green screens, and the only thing that kept me sane was that when I was on my breaks or done for the day I would open Twitter to a new message from you. I’m here because you were my island of calm while I drifted with anxiety.” Two fingers slid under your chin and he gently made you look at him. “I’m here because I like you.”

“You like me?” You repeated and he nodded. 

“I do. You’re funny, wicked smart but you don’t take yourself too seriously unless you have too. You admitted to being a nerd, which if I didn’t make myself clear during the whole Hubble debacle, so am I.” He pointed to black baseball hat he was wearing and you saw the NASA logo. “On a shallower note, you’re way, way more beautiful than all my previous teachers combined. If all professors look like you, I might even give this whole college thing a try.”

Well, wasn’t he a smooth talker. Your smile now matched his. 

“So do you like me like me or like me as in she’s okay?”

“Baby, you’re so far removed from okay, it might need a visa to visit you.”

The room filled with your laugh, your heart finally free of the hurt you carried the past few weeks.

He liked you.

“You’re not a nice guy.”

His smirk told you he knew exactly was this was going.

“I’m kind of an asshole.”

“I’m not denying that one.” He pouted and you wanted to kiss him. “So, not a nice a guy but not a complete asshole, so not a bad guy either.”

He got closer, his fingers playing with a loose tendril of your hair, the other hand fastening on your waist.

“That considerably narrows down your options, uh?”

His smile was contagious and you grinned back, shyly nuzzling his chest.

“How about you? You know, if you’re still interested.” You beamed at the man in front of you, bitting your lower lip.

“Let me show you how interested I am.”

The words were barely out of his mouth when his lips descended upon yours. He poured himself into the kiss, months of wanting you, feeling close but so far away. He fell for you during those late nights you stayed up texting, giving his heart and mind and receiving yours in return. He kissed you gently, slowly coaxing your mouth open, his tongue brushing yours.

He trailed his hands up your back to bring you closer and you shivered, settling contently against his chest, your fingers making their own journey to the back of his neck, brushing your hands on the hair there.

“How about that date?” Chris said against your mouth. “Let me take you out to dinner.”

“How about I cook for you instead? My house, 8pm?”

“I’ll be there.”

Disentangling yourself from his arms, you grabbed a notebook from your coffee table, writing down your address and handing it to Chris, kissing him on the cheek.

“Now go before Professor Travis forgets how much he likes us and I lose my job.”

You moved from the sofa, putting some space between both of you. You grab your bag, checking to see if your syllabus for the next class is still there.

“Y/N?”

“Uhm?” You’re sure he’s gonna kiss you again when he comes closer, his lips brushing the shell of your ear.

“One thing though.”

“What?”

The feel of his breath when he speaks so close to you gave you goosebumps. You’re ready, so ready to be kissed again.

“You gotta unblock me on Twitter. I only ever want one person to block me and believe me, you’re not him.”

[mondayglasses]

Supergirl: 5x01. Event Horizon maybe but not the one they want or you want to remember.

So I watched the episode and it was beyond terrible. I mean for a season opener there was no action and they are 100% going to bait the SC fans if not go that route. Let me give you a breakdown.

It’s starts with Kara saving some kids who are going to get killed by a bus? Sound familiar? Cause they have literally done it a million times. Lena then tells Supergirl she knows who she is and punches her. It’s the scene from the trailer. It’s essentially a sim and Lena’s way of getting her anger out apparently.

Lena has a new AI friend who is like Gideon/Jarvis. When did she have time to build it and how did she have the tech? Who knows but it’s Lena so she probably did it in an evening cause you know she is amazing. She then goes into a load of diatribe about how she doesn’t trust humans cause they are ambitious and she doesn’t trust them etc? Of course that doesn’t include her, that could never include her.

Cut to a scene where J’onn, Alex, Kelly and Kara are in Noonans (which neither looks nor feels like Noonans) and everyone is staring into space cause they got virtual reality contact lenses. Apparently Kelly conveniently has a job at Obsidian the same company that is going to take over CatCo and they share the same building. Sound convenient? Cause it is and they can’t find a more tactful way to include Kelly at every turn.

They then talk about this new contact lens tech that Kara knows nothing about. You know the same Kara who won a Pulitzer for her hard hitting journalism that was full of all the facts. We can’t possibly expect Kara, a journalist to know about the latest tech that is taking over the city, no that’s not her job (biggest eye roll).

We then get to hear about everyone’s very scripted thoughts on what they think about technology and how dangerous it is or the potential good it can do. It was like the writers where challenged with trying to tell the audience the theme of the season but none of them had any idea how to do it subtly. Instead they give lines to characters that feel the furthest thing from natural.

Once J’onn leaves to go and teach tai chi, yes you heard me right tai chi and Kelly goes to her new job Alex rounds on Kara and demands that she tell Lena that she is Supergirl. This being the same Alex who has warned Kara countless times about the dangers of revealing who she is. It’s like everyone has collective amnesia and has forgotten all Lena’s dubious behaviour in previous seasons. If there is one person after 4 seasons I wouldn’t trust with anything it’s Lena no matter how friendly you are with her. But here we have the head of the DEO telling Supergirl, one of their greatest assets to tell Lena who she is. Sound OOC? Yes this whole scene is.

Kara’s response to it all is, of course, to doubt and blame herself cause Kara as to blame for everything. If there is someone that needs to beat themselves up more it’s Kara. *sigh*

The next scene we see the new boss of CatCo. Surprise! Not really. Another season another boss and owner. I swear CatCo is like Supergirl’s version of the Defense Against the Dark Arts professors. Although we might not be surprised by the new boss James and Kara are. Apparently normal business rules don’t apply to CatCo. You seemingly can buy the company on a whim without informing the board, or share holders or even your employees. You don’t even have to tell the government nor does it take months, potentially years. No, you can just rock up one day take over the Editor in Chiefs office and buying a company and the building. (Heavy eye roll).

Now you might ask what Andrea Rojas’s background is and if she is qualified for the position, the answers is no. She was given a portion of her daddy’s business and made a dodgy deal with Lena. But that doesn’t matter. Who needs qualifications at CatCo?????

What about Andrea Rojas personality you ask? Well she is a strong willed bitchy woman and does what she wants apparently. You know cause female CEOs and bosses can’t possibly be nice and supportive and help their employees by empowering them. They have to scare and bribe people and if they don’t do what you want then ruin their lives.

In the next scene we see a group of school kids at a museum that has things donated by the Supers. Cute yes but you have to wonder, would Superman or the DEO really allow a high tech alien pod with such a histories as Cal’s be donated to a museum and openly put on display. I think not. Also a ride about the phantom zone has got to be something out of a horror film. It is pure torture for everyone there, no time passes, all the worst of Krypton’s criminals were sent their, how is that a fun ride???? “Oh hey lets just say a friendly hello to Zod” (face palm). More to the point the only person who has really experienced the phantom zone in this universe that we know of is Kara and it gave her nightmares. There is no way she would wish that on anyone else.

Moving on, one of the little girls in the group is dodgy and bad things happen. Cut then to Lena and Kara in her office. The topic of CatCo comes up and Lena says that she was going to have lunch and tell Kara. Like Kara is the only person that needs to know that CatCo is being sold. No, the editor in chief, the board (remember them from S1?, yeh the writers don’t) they don’t need to be informed, who cares about them. *sigh* Lena then talks some more, not giving Kara a chance to say anything and then says, again no joke “The only reason I bought the company was you”. Yes you heard that right, you don’t need to clean your ears, Lena says that she only bought the company for Kara. It’s clear that the writers have been reading so many SC comments on twitter that they have lost their minds and memories and believe whatever they write. Forget the fact that in S3 Lena says the opposite about buying the company. Also if you are thinking that this seems like SC trope it’s cause it is.

After Kara and Lena’s “chat” AKA Lena’s monologue we get back to the museum where Supergirl arrives to “save” the day. I say save loosely cause she can’t even punch a dinosaur with full strength apparently. Once again the writers have conveniently forgotten that their main character could in fact throw that dinosaur into space, or burn a hole in it with her laser vision. No Kara just breaths on it a little and then gets knocked over, yes Supergirl girl of steel gets knocked over and Martian Manhunter arrives to help. While Kara, the alien with superspeed lies on the floor J’onn goes to attack it and gets thrown back by a force. Great “fight scenes” from Supergirl once again. (eye roll)

Back to Andrea, CatCo new extraordinary boss. She has a staff meeting where she essentially tells everyone she has taken CatCo over and it’s apart of Obsidian. Yes another creepy tech company taking over a media company cause it makes all the sense in the world and it isn’t dodgy. We haven’t had this trope before. It makes me wonder does National City publicise itself as the place to get away with questionable experiments? First Lord Tech, then L Corp, then Sphere Tech now we get Obsidian.  

Anyway I digress, in this scene Andrea essentially tells everyone that she wants CatCo to become clickbait and a tabloid newspaper/magazine. When questions she explains that reporting the truth (you know like wars and people dying) isn’t as important as profit and getting internet traffic or “consumer reporting” whatever that is…. She even says that Kara Pulitzer Prize winning story reduced the amount of traffic. Now I am no expert in media but if someone wins a prize for something that tends to drive up internet traffic. Even if people disagree with it human being are naturally curious. But then what do I know? Andrea also goes on and changes everyone’s contract to be 3 years only (I am pretty sure you can’t just do that) and invites anyone who doesn’t agree with her to quit.

One massive question that hangs over this scene and the later ones are WHERE IS CAT? If she saw what was happening to her company she would literally do anything she could to stop it. There is no way she would be ok with this. I mean Cat wouldn’t even publish the list of cheaters in S1 yet she is nowhere to be found and apparently is completely fine with the company that she started and bears her name to be passed around from person to person like a hot potato.

After all this stupidity we finally get back to Supergirl being Supergirl, you know fighting or something…… Kara gets called to come and look at a site and finds Brainy, Alex and J’onn, yes J’onn who is no longer a part of the DEO and who shouldn’t be allowed clearance at sites like this. Anywho they find a phantom zone projector and Alex and Kara work out too late that it’s a trap. The villain of the week appears and starts causing trouble. Supergirl gets some overly scripted dialogue which reminds everyone that yes she is still Supergirl and no the writer don’t have total amnesia (they still remember Alura from season 1).

A fight scene ensues where everyone gets blown over by some wind. Supergirl again uses none of her powers and ends up hiding behind some boxes with Brainy and Alex. As appears to be the norm now J’onn goes and fights her herself, meanwhile Kara continues to hide. Eventually Alex tells Kara to grab the projector and sort out the situation. As she does you can see her battling the wind to do what she needs to do. Yes, I did say battling some wind cause Supergirl who can lift an entire building and blow a wind out of her mouth that is probably as strong cannot withstand what is coming from this enemy. Amazing huh? (heavy eye roll).

 After that Oscar worthy scene, we get a lovely heart to heart between the Olsen siblings. Kelly tells James how amazing he is and then says she won’t stand against her new boss but gives him her abstract support. What is abstract support you might ask? I have absolutely no idea. The only thing I can think is she means she will be with them in thought but not in action, which let’s face it is completely useless and doesn’t help anyone. The long and the short of it though is that James quits CatCo and goes to pursue “something else”. And so we say goodbye to James, another original cast member who is male and no longer needed.

In another scene we get to see Kara come face to face with Andrea once again as well as meet the new guy, William Dey. William is a reporter from the Times “in London” who has an ego (cause we don’t have enough on the show already). Kara is told he has re-written her article and cut stuff out and although Kara says that it’s bias not to give all the facts he doesn’t care, he writes the POV that is requested. (Somewhere in the world Snapper is having an aneurysm hearing this.) Kara gets angry and turns to Andrea and says the following:

“I will be reporting what I want and writing it the way I want to. I will fight you every time, on every story to make sure it is told the way it deserves to be told. I will not be tolerated being rewritten by him and I will not allow my voice to be silenced.”

If your confused don’t worry you aren’t alone. This statement makes little sense when you break it down. Here Kara is saying she will do what she wants and refuses to be re-written but if she does what she wants that’s exactly what will happen. In fact it’s already been done.

At this point I have to question if Kara’s actions of defiantly staying at CatCo are helpful (even if it was nice to see Kara put her foot down). Andrea claims that she could ruin Kara’s and others careers so they will never work again if they quit but that hasn’t bothered Kara before. She was ready to quit on James in season 3 and in season 2 she gets fired for going out there and reporting the truth in the only way she could on her blog. Where has Kara’s moral compass gone from season 2? A few years ago she would have written it all on her blog thinking it was more important than her job. Now that she is a Pulitzer prize winner, and probably still has Cat support (yes I didn’t forget about her even if the writers did) the threat of ruining her is less potent. She could bring back danver.com or work full time at the DEO like she was going to before but instead she chooses to stay at CatCo where she is not be able to write what she wants? It makes no sense at all. Also Andrea’s threat about stopping someone from ever working again seems empty when all we know about her is that her father gave her part of his company. If it was Cat I would shudder with her I just laugh.

Now finally we get towards the end and we see Kara at her Pulitzer ceremony. Brainy gives her some nano tech which contains her suit that can be attached discretely onto her glasses. He explains that she needs to be careful because whenever she takes her glasses off her suit will appear. Inconvenient? 100%. Can you imagine Kara getting home and taking her glasses off only for her suit to appear? Then again her suit these days is more like a comfortable and slightly loose onesie that maybe she wants it that way.

The funniest part of it all is that in the very next scene Kara takes her glasses off and despite what Brainy says the suit doesn’t appear (although the next time it does). How does it work? Only the brainy, I mean only the writers…. Uhhhh no one knows.

It’s at this point in the episode we finally get the scene when Kara reveals her identity to Lena. As you would expect from this show and these writers, Kara cries throughout, apologies too much and blames herself. Her pain is hard to watch particularly when you know that it’s not warranted and they just want to make Kara sad. Lena plays the victim card, sheds a tear, yes a tear, and then goes to make a speech about Kara. In it she talks about how Kara stands for the truth (dig the knife in some more Luthor), and that we lie (but not you huh perfect Lena) and that Kara makes mistakes but picks herself up. They hug, cause they need to give SC the content they want and all seems to be ok, right? Wrong. If you know the show at all you will know that it’s all fake from Lena and she will stab Kara in the back as soon as she can.

She does in fact do this later in the episode when Supergirl comes to give her a signal watch (like James had) and says she isn’t going to keep anything from Lena. Lena then goes and tells her AI (her only friend is an AI, that’s not creepy) that Kara “broke her heart” (sounds romantic huh? Bait much) and that she didn’t want Supergirl dead she just wants to cause her pain. Yes apparently wanting to emotionally and possibly physically torture someone is better and more moral than murdering them. Who knew?

The final fight scene for the group comes at the Pulizer event when they all end up in a theatre. Again the amazing fight scene come to the for and we see Guardian, Manhunter, Dreamer, Brainy and Alex all stand in a line and blast the villain with their powers. Before you ask, yes standing in front of the enemy where they can see what you are doing, in a straight line no less and using one of your powers will work, everyone knows it’s the best strategy. Many great battles have been won that way. It is not at all necessary for Supergirl to use her superspeed or flight powers to disable the person, nor should J’onn use his physic abilities to play with their minds. Where is the fun in that?

When that tremendous strategy doesn’t work, they stand around, yes stand around and chat for a few minutes while the villain IDK goes for a coffee break? And then J’onn on behalf of the team once again tries to attack. Alex, yes Alex, the only human with no powers whatsoever, magically finds the phantom projector that was taken as a precaution to the Pulitzer event (there is nothing weird about that) and J’onn gets sucked into a black hole. Supergirl finally realises she can fly and tries to save him. To do that she uses her heat vision on the black hole cause that makes total scientific sense, don’t you dare question it. 

Once the crisis is over, all the superheroes have successfully used none of their powers in any way that’s useful and we can once again applaud the Supergirl team for another incredible fight. 

The episode ends with Nia telling Brainy to kiss her, and J’onn discovering he has a brother. While that storyline could be interesting it feels a tad repetative and you have to wonder if J’onn is going to find a problematic relative every season until the show ends. Who will be next, his daughter? his cousin? Place your bets.

As the Supergirl seasons progress they seem to get worse and worse but this episode has definitely taken the cake. For a premiere it was unexciting and with no real fight scenes and very little Supergirl you have to question who will tune in next week or for the rest of the season. SC may think that this is the best season ever and the writer will bait them with the “kara broke my heart lines” and hugs but they despite what they think are not large enough to keep the ratings up. If they keep going like this then we all better hope this show finishes sooner rather than later. The cast deserves better.

Anyway drop a comment or question below if you have any thoughts.