#The Power of Five Meta

[teddyniffler]

The Power of Five. The 'something' that was broken in Scott was his link to Flint.

'Something inside Scott had been broken'

Throughout the books, there have been instances where echoes of the Gatekeepers' past lives have reached across the years to their current selves. One of the most important echoes is when Matt's powers first awaken during his stay at Hive Hall, after his first encounter with The Old Ones. His health, strength, and power returned in full, although his power was still not in his control, as soon as he is referred to as 'One of the Five' by Chaos. Before, Matt had been helpless and left weak from his sickness, but once he encountered The Old Ones in his fevered state, it triggering a memory within him that he was once the leader of the Five.

This switch is mentioned a few times, although not directly. It's always a moment when one of the Five experiences an awakening after being triggered by a memory of the past. It's almost like they are recalling their former selves, and even though they have no memories other than their own in this lifetime, something within them remembers the power and strength they once possessed ten thousand years ago.

Jamie was forced rather brutally to be reminded of Sapling. Despite never having ridden a horse, he found himself able to do so once he had taken over from Sapling. He had never wielded a sword, yet he instinctively knew how to use one. The most shocking moment was his ability to recall what Sapling named his sword - Frost - without looking down to read the name on the blade. He knew it from his own mind.

In Oblivion, Jamie is rather happy to see Flint again, both boys being happy just to see the other, even though they may have to separate again. Almost instinctively, Jamie moves to fight alongside Flint, despite having met only once before. Similarly, Flint feels a pull towards Jamie, even though Jamie is not the twin he was born with. Jamie even feels confident enough to say he wants to stay with Flint, his brother. That bond is there, but it's not Jamie who has a bond with Flint, it was Sapling.

Another instance involving Scarlett is when she hears her old nickname 'Scar' uttered by Matt, which triggers her ability to control the storm. She simply needed to hear Matt call her by that nickname. It was a part of her identity, just laying dormant within her mind. While others, such as Aiden and her dad had given her nicknames like 'Scarly', it was never Matt. She needed to hear her true nickname from Matt. The instant Matt spoke her nickname, her forgotten power to command the weather resurfaced.

In the case of Pedro, it was hearing the story of the Inca people and then seeing his own image upon the old disk image of Manco Capac. His past form was named after the sun god, Inti. When Pedro then goes quiet for a few days, it's likely Pedro was recalling feelings of his past life: Similar to what Matt and Jamie and then later Scarlett would have discovered. He was Inti, who rode at the front, leading his people into battle against the Old Ones.

This was what give him the courage to lead his people against Diego Salamander.

Scott is the only Gatekeeper without a connection to his past. There are no callbacks to Flint after Scott was taken by Nightrise. We do sometimes hear Jamie talking about Scott as he was before, such as finding food (Explained more below) and never letting Jamie down, always being the protector. Once Scott was with Nightrise, any similarities to Flint ended.

When Scott was nearly killed by Jonas with a sword, he had no natural reflects, no instincts. He was able to dodge the blade from luck and pure terror, but he wasn't successful and got injured badly. Flint, like Sapling, was a skilled fighter, he knew how to work with a sword and how to defend himself. It's likely he and Sapling had years of practice, as all their past incarnations were all skilled in weaponry due to the times they were living in. Flint was shown during book 3 to be more than capable of ducking spears and defending against swords.

Scott had none of these skills, yet Matt from the past confirmed that the past learns from the future, and the future learns from the past. When the present day forms faced the Old Ones, they should have been equal to their past forms, according to Matt, and this is true for current day Matt, Pedro, Jamie and Scarlett. But not Scott.

Then there's the matter of Matt being their 'unofficial' leader. The five slowly came together, and three of them all turned naturally to Matt for guidance. Matt is confused by this, considering Jamie to be a more suitable leader, both because of Jamie's upbeat and welcoming nature and because Jamie was fighting the Old Ones ten thousand years ago. He was there while Matt wasn't, yet time and time again, everybody looks to Matt. But not Scott. Three of them are remembering their bond with the original Matt. This can be seen in Raven's Gate, Evil Star and a lot in Necropolis. The other four - Which includes Scott pre-Nightrise - are often calling out to Matt to come to them. Inti/Pedro gets a boat to sail out to Matt to bring him back to shore while Matt is stuck on his little island. Scarlett can't wait to go to sleep each night because she knows she's going to see him again (and the others too) when she finally sees Matt in person, she can't hide her excitement to finally be with him. These feelings did not just come from nowhere. The past selves' love for Matt is reaching the present day. This fondness is deep and its rooted in a friendship that spans millennia. It's very clear that Sapling trusted Matt; Matt already knew one of the twins needed to die in order for them to win. Sapling found comfort in whatever Matt had told him and he rode away to his own death, knowing that Matt knew this was the only way they could win. Flint never seemed to doubt Matt, he might have been overcome by grief about his brother, but he was right there, riding on his horse by Matt's side. He never lost faith in Matt, he wasn't angry with him. Matt was Flint's leader and Flint followed him. Scar was the only one to confront Matt, and she regretted it, apologizing to Matt afterward because she felt so bad shouting at him. Matt is their leader, the first of the five. Everybody in the past looked to Matt, the boy who would end the darkness, the one who had all the answers. The current Gatekeepers share this affection for Matt; They don't know why they love him for, he is their friend, their leader, but there's something more there. Pedro who has likely mugged a million people felt instantly bad the second he noticed he had stolen from Matt. Jamie looked at Matt right away and was admiring him and his power, then felt a surge seeing Matt again in the current day. Scarlett followed an echo of Matt without thinking. They all love him. Scarlett sees him and hugs him. Jamie sees him and he's all smiles. Pedro would follow Matt to the end of the world. Scott, however, feels differently. He harbors no warmth for Matt, unable to understand why Matt is the leader when they should all be equals. Scott was quite close to fighting with Matt in Necropolis and the hostility only grows from there, to the point that Oblivion comes and Scott and Matt are on opposite sides. If Scott had access to Flint, perhaps he would be very different to how we knew him.

It is likely the Old Ones may have known something of this past connection. In the current day, they learned about the Five, they know if you kill one, their past / future form would travel back or forward to replace their fallen counterpart. They can clearly see the leader of the Five looks exactly the same now as he did back then. Both Matt from the past and Matt now uses his powers by flickering his hands from time to time, although he doesn't need too. It's a natural movement for them both.

Matt from the past likely knew about the Old Ones looking into how the Five worked, he warned Jamie that if the Old Ones had hurt Scott, he may be different to how Jamie remembered him. Matt from the past knows an awful lot of things (Even sad things) from reading his own book, but that wouldn't have told him that they would be replaced by their counterparts from the past or future. It wouldn't have told him about the doors, about their powers. Matt had knowledge from another source (Likely the Librarian) so he may have known the Old Ones would find a way to harm them in the future.

Nightrise knew of a way to neutralize the Five's power and it's confirmed in the book 'Nightrise' that Nightrise had been taking teenagers with any hint of powers or gifts for more than a year before Matt had even been arrested and sent to Yorkshire. The Five were mostly unknown, living their normal lives (They were watching Matt from age 8, but they needed confirmation he was one of them) yet the Old Ones were actively researching through Nightrise any teens for years for any hints of power. It's not impossible to think they could have discovered how the Five's powers work, what triggers them into waking. It is likely if they remember who they truly were - as seen in Raven's Gate when the entire village wanted Matt locked away because they were scared he may remember his past life - they become more dangerous should they discover a link to their past lives, so they found a way through all the chemicals and electric shocks to prevent that member of the five from rediscovering their past lives. In the case of Scott, they succeed and cut him off entirely from Flint.

He never had anything recalled to him from Flint, no dreams, no...nothing. Even when hearing his past name from Jamie later, it meant nothing at all to Scott. He never felt any warmth to Matt. To Scott, Matt was just any other teenager who was bossing him around and trying to take Jamie from him. He didn't feel kinship to Pedro, he felt nothing for Scarlett and wanted to leave her to The Old Ones, yet Flint and Scar were almost like siblings themselves in the past, all the five were.

The Old Ones, of course, know Flint was the boy riding into battle with Matt. They knew one twin had died, they could see his brother was with Matt. Maybe they didn't know which one he was in that moment, but in the present they knew it was Sapling who had died and Jamie who had traveled back to Flint. They would then know Flint was the one with Matt. Nightrise wanted both twins under their control, but when they got Scott it's quite possible they knew they had the same twin who was by Matt's side in the past. Flint and Matt together led the charge, they would want to destory any echo of Flint inside of Scott, the twin whose loyalty to Matt never wavered, even when Scar's did. Who else better to turn other than the boy following Matt into battle that day.

Scott is the only Gatekeeper who is worlds apart from his past self.

During Nightrise, Flint disappears for some time after the battle. He had gone around just like the other five and tended to the injuried and tried to help the survivors, and one way he did was to find food. It's here Jamie compares him to Scott, knowing Scott would be the one who found food too. Scott (and Flint) were resourceful, if somebody was hungry around them, they wouldn't rest until that person (Mostly Jamie/Sapling) had food to eat. Flint had to go into enemy terretory to find the food, without knowing if there were any traps laying in wait for him, left over from the Old Ones to protect their food. Flint and some others dragged back a wagon to bring enough food to go around.

If you were to compare Flint with Scott here, you can see how unlike they are once Nightrise got Scott.

Scott is feasting at a banquet held in his honour from the Old Ones. He knows Pedro is below him in a cell, freezing cold and starving slowly away. Still he eats more than what he needs, he's even left food on his plate for it to be taken away and likely binned. Scott watches as Giovani sneaks food into his mouth as that boy is also starving. Giovani is the same age as Scott, yet Scott is amused that somebody his own age is so hungry that he will risk his own safety to sneak Scott's left over food into his mouth. Scott thought it was funny. Flint would never do that, he would make sure everybody had food, even if it risked his life. He was at his most happiest in Nightrise when he called out to the last bits of humanity that he had food for them. Scott was like that once too, going to find Jamie food if he were hungry, but once the Old Ones got him, he changed. He didn't even care too much about Jamie in the end.

It's really hard to remember Scott is the same boy who once was amazed over seeing the sky full of stars for the first time.

Your thoughts and views are welcome.

[cto10121]

Book Fiyero: *immediately recognizes Elphaba and stations himself at the backdoor to prevent her from evading him, stalks her halfway across town to her aerie (even though at that point in time she was only a college friend he hadn’t seen in five years), insists on seeing her again, instinctively goes to comfort her when she first cries, gets sucked into increasingly deep and fraught conversations with her about collateral damage and freedom fighter terrorism, calls her the “most individual, the most separate, the most real” DURING AN ARGUMENT, says he adores Elphaba’s looks IN THAT SAME ARGUMENT, doesn’t understand Elphaba’s “being born with a talent or an inclination for goodness is the aberration” comment because (implied) he sincerely believes Elphaba isn’t evil, changes his mind about the plight of the Animals all by himself but doesn’t mention it to Elphaba because he is afraid she would distance himself from him, buys scarves for both his wife and Elphaba even though only Elphaba likes scarves, is so concerned for Elphaba and her dangerous Lurlinemas Eve mission that he stalks her instead of staying at his club or just leaving town altogether, and is so worried about her that he returns to the aerie just to see her*

Also Book Fiyero: Am I in love with Elphaba?

[sammygender]

i’ve never been as angry on behalf of a character as i am for sam winchester

[sisterdivinium]

Now is the time to place your bets on whether or not this hyper self-indulgent doctor superion Vampire the Masquerade AU fic will or won't get to 100 handwritten pages...

[piratespencil]

Do you ever just think about how Veth “Nott the Brave” Brenatto is one of the best characters of all time. Do you. Because I do. All the time.

[listen-to-the-inner-walrus]

you ever look a show up because youre like what is this actually about and then find the most 2006 photo youve ever seen? yeah, me too

[racefortheironthrone]

Now that the fall of x is well underway and the nation state of Krakoa has crumbled (whether or not it’ll resurge in a better image is to be seen), where do you think they went wrong? Some would say from start go, but I’d disagree (idk how people can still think of them as an “unlikeable cult” ) esp since they formed their nation on uninhabited territories with partnership with the land itself. To quote wolverine “it bothers you because it’s something you can’t have.” But there are definitley seeds that sprouted their downfall - a lack of govermental transparency, compromises with evil actors / actions like Sinister or keeping Destiny dead, not as hands on w X Force, etc. What do you think did it ?

Come back and ask me this again once Fall of X and Fall of the House of X/Rise of the Powers of X/X-Men Forever wrap up. If I'm going to do a comprehensive retrospective on the Krakoan Era, I think I really need all the data on hand.

[nobodysuspectsthebutterfly]

Well, you're not wrong...

Before them a pale lord in ebon finery sat dreaming in a tangled nest of roots, a woven weirwood throne that embraced his withered limbs as a mother does a child. His body was so skeletal and his clothes so rotted that at first Bran took him for another corpse, a dead man propped up so long that the roots had grown over him, under him, and through him. What skin the corpse lord showed was white, save for a bloody blotch that crept up his neck onto his cheek. His white hair was fine and thin as root hair and long enough to brush against the earthen floor. Roots coiled around his legs like wooden serpents. One burrowed through his breeches into the desiccated flesh of his thigh, to emerge again from his shoulder. A spray of dark red leaves sprouted from his skull, and grey mushrooms spotted his brow. A little skin remained, stretched across his face, tight and hard as white leather, but even that was fraying, and here and there the brown and yellow bone beneath was poking through. "Are you the three-eyed crow?" Bran heard himself say. A three-eyed crow should have three eyes. He has only one, and that one red. Bran could feel the eye staring at him, shining like a pool of blood in the torchlight. Where his other eye should have been, a thin white root grew from an empty socket, down his cheek, and into his neck. —ADWD, Bran II

The walls were equal parts stone and soil, with huge white roots twisting through them like a thousand slow pale snakes. […] In one place on the far side of the fire, the roots formed a kind of stairway up to a hollow in the earth where a man sat almost lost in the tangle of weirwood. [...] "When we left King's Landing we were men of Winterfell and men of Darry and men of Blackhaven, Mallery men and Wylde men. We were knights and squires and men-at-arms, lords and commoners, bound together only by our purpose." The voice came from the man seated amongst the weirwood roots halfway up the wall. "Six score of us set out to bring the king's justice to your brother." The speaker was descending the tangle of steps toward the floor. "Six score brave men and true, led by a fool in a starry cloak." A scarecrow of a man, he wore a ragged black cloak speckled with stars and an iron breastplate dinted by a hundred battles. A thicket of red-gold hair hid most of his face, save for a bald spot above his left ear where his head had been smashed in. "More than eighty of our company are dead now, but others have taken up the swords that fell from their hands." When he reached the floor, the outlaws moved aside to let him pass. One of his eyes was gone, Arya saw, the flesh about the socket scarred and puckered, and he had a dark black ring all around his neck. —ASOS, Arya VI

beric dondarrion is like the poor man’s bloodraven when you think about it

“Don't get me started on Lord Beric. He's here, he's there, he's everywhere, but when you send men after him, he melts away like dew.”

“How many eyes does Lord Bloodraven have? the riddle ran. A thousand eyes, and one.”

[zylev-blog]

Danny wasn’t the only Fenton that had been affected by ectoplasm exposure.

Jazz showed her powers for the first time when she was 3. Jazz had set the curtains to her room on fire. She blamed it on Danny after the fire was out. Jack believed her.

When Jazz was five, she discovered what she called ‘firebending’ after a show that she had watched on television. But she hid it, because she didn’t want her parents to think she was weird. After all, she was the only one in her family that had powers.

When Jazz was six and Danny was four, she discovered Danny’s ice powers. Now she knew two things. She wasn’t the only weird one, and her parents had no idea. How did they not notice that their kids had powers?

Danny and Jazz grew up keeping their powers a secret. In a world of meta human trafficking, ghosts, and aliens, they didn’t want to get involved in it.

The portal started up for the first time when Jazz was 13 and Danny 11. It started up shortly after their parents old college friend came back into their lives. Vlad paid the kids very little attention. They practically didn’t exist to them.

Jazz and Danny met Batman for the first time when she was 14. Batman and his crew had come to raid their home on the basis that it was a base for the supervillain, Plasmius. Jazz took Danny by the hand and they kept back Batman’s crew with a mixture of fire and ice, and disappeared without a trace.

Two years after that, when Jazz was 16 and Danny was 14, the two orphans remerged in Star City. They had gotten caught by Green Arrow and John Constantine, and they were very, very angry about it. They don’t want to be science experiments. They don’t want to be heroes. They just want to live their life.

[brucewaynehater101]

AU for Bats and the JL

When Duke joins the brigade, the Bats are ecstatic to introduce him to the JL. Why? None of the JL actually believe that the Bats are non-meta humans. Are they supposed to believe that Batman can do all that he can because he trains really hard?

The JL is so convinced that the Bats are lying about not having powers that they've included it in New Member initiation. It's considered "rude" and "mean" to call out Bats on their very obvious power usage. In fact, guessing Bat powers is half the fun! They gather all of the non-Bat members to have potluck discussions about it.

Obviously, the Bats are well aware of these meetings. They have their own gatherings where they laugh at the suggestions or come up with strategies to fuck with the JL.

For Bruce, the JL is convinced that the man has control over shadows as well as increased mental compacities. Bruce is way too skilled in disappearing in a room full of people with enhanced senses. Also, he knows facts about almost every subject.

For Dick, that man should not be able to move like he does. He either doesn't have bones or has increased elasticity. Dick's favorite JL memory is crawling down the Watchtower halls with his joints in weird places. Green Arrow's scream is forever recorded and backed up into five different servers.

At first, the JL thought Jason had emotional manipulation capabilities. The hope, courage, and passion he inspired could not have been naturally occurring. Then, after he re-emerged as the Red Hood, obviously his powers are resurrection -_-

Tim? Kid's a cryptic ancient creature. The creepy kid will stare at you without blinking throughout a two hour meeting. Stay away from him and don't piss him off.

Steph nearly laughed herself into a coma when someone tried to convince Hal that Spoiler gets her power from the color purple. Her switching to Robin's costume caused a riot and the JL members frantically scheduled an emergency non-Bat meeting. Should they intervene with Bruce forcing her to wear a costume without aid to her powers? The few months she was Robin were tense for the members.

Damian has an ability to understand martial arts on an unparalleled level. What other non-meta ten year old can utilize a sword so effectively?

Cass is an entity. They don't know what she is, but they fear her all the same.

Barbara is all-knowing. Her ability to collect information and navigate technology can not be naturally occurring.

Now, the JL is faced with the first Bat to admit he has powers. Does that mean none of the others have powers? Is Signal's just too obvious to deny?

[mokulule]

While I fail to focus after my night shift have a peek at another of my brain worms

Untitled, I am still waiting for that moment of divine inspiration. Ship: Dead on Main (Danny/Jason)  Fandom: DP x DC 

The only sounds in the Batcave were the bats chittering amongst themselves high above. Bruce rubbed his chin absently as he took in the information displayed on the large screens with narrowed eyes. Something wasn’t adding up. Somebody was lying.

No matter how many times he looked over the information, that was his conclusion. It nagged at him that he didn’t know what, if any, information he could use. He hated being so in the dark. 

A silent notification in the corner of his screen alerted him to a call from the Watchtower. He took it and Superman’s face appeared in a smaller rectangle on the center of the screen. Bruce kept outwardly placid but from behind the cowl nobody would see the way his gaze instantly zeroed in on the massive black eye Superman had acquired, and the general strain around his unhurt eye and mouth. He was worn out. 

“Phantom has been apprehended,” Superman said with a long sigh. It had clearly not been an easy fight. 

“I’ll be there,” Batman said and ended the call. Maybe they’d finally get some real answers. 

He stood and walked towards the zeta tube. Another call came in, this time on the comm in his cowl. 

“Hood,” he greeted.

“Hey, old man. I’m at the location. You were right it’s absolutely crawling with the white suits and their weaponry is not like anything I’ve seen before.”

Bruce felt like a hand squeezed his heart. Hood out of anyone knew his weapons, if he didn’t know them they weren’t on the market. He absolutely hated asking any of his kids to walk into an unknown situation. Unfortunately he didn’t have any other options. 

“Be careful, Hood.”

“Aww, is that worry I detect?”

“Just don’t take unnecessary risks,” Bruce cautioned.

“You wouldn’t have asked me if you didn’t think it was necessary, old man. Don’t worry, I’ll get you your intel.”

Bruce grunted. Jason was right. He wouldn’t have asked if he didn’t think it was important. Didn’t mean he had to like it, nor the fact that Red Hood’s criminal reputation made him perfect for breaking into a government building; even if Hood was seen the Justice League kept plausible deniability. 

Everyone knew Red Hood was a wild card. 

“Check in regularly with Oracle.”

He could practically feel the way Jason rolled his eyes at him.

“Not my first rodeo, B.”

With that the connection cut off. Bruce couldn’t help the bad feeling he had about everything. 

He really hated this stage of an investigation. 

Two months ago the US government contacted the Justice League about a problem. Several bases of a government agency named the GIW had been hit by a malicious creature they called Phantom. The attacks had been gaining in severity and frequency and their measures had so far failed to stop it. 

Since then, a member of the Justice League had arrived too late to five such attacks. They’d stood no chance against Phantom, who’d then disappeared, living up to the name.

To their eyes Phantom was outwardly a humanoid, possibly a meta or alien. The GIW called him a ghost from a different dimension.

They had been at a loss of how exactly to contain such a powerful foe, who not only could go toe to toe with their heavy hitters like Superman, but also disappear by means unknown. This time they’d been prepared. They’d had various team configurations ready to go depending on who was available. 

Something that seemed to have paid off, but Bruce did not like that Clark was injured. Because if Clark was injured…

A zeta tube ride later and he met Superman on the Watchtower. Something that hadn’t been apparent on the call was the sling Superman’s left arm was in. Another visible injury added to the swollen eye. 

“Is everyone alright?” He had to ask.

“Nobody’s permanently hurt.” Clark hurried to assure as they started walking towards the interrogation room, but there was a but. Bruce kept his stare steady until Clark tiredly elaborated: “But nobody got out the fight unscathed. John won’t be walking for a while. J’onn is suffering from psychic backlash. Diana has some broken ribs and scrapes and you can see my own wounds. Everyone is tired, it was a long fight.”

Batman’s lips thinned. At least there had been no casualties. 

Almost as if reading his mind. Superman added quietly. 

“We got there while the base was still standing. Phantom made eye contact with me for a moment, before he unleashed this… sonic attack…” His face turned pained, as he looked for words that came halting. “It was a scream, I can’t describe it, it felt- it felt like I was dying. None of us could get close.”

Superman looked away.

“When it was over the base was gone, eradicated, like the others. There was just a large crater. Who knows how many people were still in there.”

Bruce set a hand on his friend’s shoulder. It was never easy to deal with casualties. 

“The one good thing about it was that the scream seemed to drain quite a bit of energy from him.” Clark barked a laugh, short and hysterical. Bruce knew Clark would have rather faced Phantom at full power if it meant more people had lived. 

“And still it was all we could do to subdue him. We barely won.”

They barely won. Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern and Martian Manhunter, and they barely won. The knowledge sat like a heavy ball in Bruce’s chest. 

Now, maybe they could get intel that wasn’t most reluctantly handed over by a government agency, that didn’t even want to reveal what their alphabet soup name was an abbreviation of. “We had to turn off the ‘Ghost Shield’ to get Phantom inside the base, so we at least know it works, even if for some reason it doesn’t protect the GIW bases,” Superman remarked.  

Bruce hnn’ed to show he’d heard. It was one more discrepancy among many.

Batman entered the observation room with Superman at his back. Wonder Woman was there and he quickly took in her unusually disheveled appearance, she looked tired and uncomfortable, shaken (but whole, safe). He nodded in greeting and she gave him a tight smile in return. He turned to the observation window and felt his breath stick in his throat.

Phantom was- 

The glitchy footage they’d managed to get on earlier encounters couldn’t have prepared him. Bruce felt his jaw clench. Phantom looked young. There was still a hint of baby fat stubbornly clinging to his cheeks. He was short and wiry like Tim but maybe a bit younger than Jason, technically an adult, but to Bruce he still looked painfully young. The overall glowing and the slowly seeping green wound at his hairline didn’t take away just how human he looked. 

Bruce looked at Phantom and saw a kid. Worse, supposedly a dead kid, a ghost, if the most basic of their intel was to be believed, which even that he wasn’t entirely sure of.

A weight was heavy on his shoulders. He had to remind himself that he had found evidence of Phantom throughout history and if a ghost was truly what he was, he was most likely a very old, very powerful spirit, for whom age didn’t matter. It would be a mistake to trust the youthful appearance. 

He was chained to the chair both by wide cuffs at his wrists and ankles so he could only move very little. The cuffs were the best they had when it came to meta power suppression cuffs with some added ghost specific sigils courtesy of Zatanna’s research. She would have liked Constantine to look them over too as that sort of thing was more his area of expertise, but he’d been off on one of his extra-dimensional missions since long before this started and they hadn’t been able to contact him. 

The cuffs kept Phantom here in any case and he didn’t look happy about it. His lips were a flat line and the thick black brows were drawn together over narrowed green eyes. His head was held high (stubbornness? Pride?), chin tilted in a way that showed off a bright green-purple line around his throat, which had it been red and on a human would have looked like rope burn-

Bruce looked to Diana and he suddenly understood part of her discomfort.

“He was about to use another sonic attack, I didn’t see any other way.” Her words were quiet, regretful, but she faced his gaze head on. Bruce nodded. She never would have used the lasso like that under normal circumstances. It was incredibly worrying how much it had taken to subdue him. 

For a moment the three of them just stood there in silence, watching Phantom watch the door.

It was finally time for answers. 

Bruce didn’t make any outward sign that he was about to move, but of course Clark caught on even before he’d moved, stepping aside letting Bruce take point. They went into the interrogation room, Diana staying back to observe and be ready with security measures, they didn’t know for sure would even work.

They entered the room and immediately sharp green eyes locked onto him. There was a quick glance towards Superman, but the eyes quickly focused back on Batman. There was a calculating sort of intelligence behind those eyes. 

That was one question immediately answered, but it was one he could have inferred. It was very hard to believe the claim that this “ghost” was non-sentient, when he specifically targeted the bases of a specific government agency and nothing else. Though of course they could have had something that attracted the ghost, but nobody could look at Phantom and think non sentient. 

Now the question was, why?

Bruce sat down in one of the chairs on the other side of the table from Phantom. Clark had a moment’s pause before he joined them. Bruce pulled out a tablet from underneath his cape and laid it carefully out on the table, turning it on. At this point most people in the room with the Batman would have started getting nervous, but evidently not Phantom. He was still just passively defiant, not to mention he hadn’t yet said a word.

“Phantom, is that your preferred manner of address?” Bruce decided to start out neutral. 

There was a glitter of amusement in green eyes and the barest uptick of his lips, but he remained silent. Bruce could do silence. 

The silence stretched between them until Clark broke it.

“Why do you destroy those bases?”

Phantom glanced to Clark and his earnest question, then back to Bruce, barely raising an eyebrow, like as if to say “really, this the best you can do?” Bruce resisted the urge to sigh. Clark was usually a better foil for him at interrogations, but then most people didn’t choose total silence.

Bruce decided to be frank with him.

“We are trying to understand your motivation. That’s all.” He studied Phantom’s face which had settled into a stony glare. “But first I’d just like to know if it’s alright to call you Phantom and what your pronouns are? We have been using he/him based on your appearance but you might have another preference?”

The glare softened a bit and for a moment Bruce actually thought he’d lured a response out of him, but Phantom just looked away. Incidentally drawing attention to the line at his throat. A sudden thought occurred to him.

“Are you so hurt, that you’re unable to speak?”

Phantom slowly looked back at him. He seemed to actually be contemplating giving some sort of answer.

That’s when his comm clicked on barely audible.

“The GIW has been in contact,” Diana informed him quietly over the comms. Phantom stiffened across from him, his gaze narrowing like a cat - so they could add enhanced hearing to his powers. “They are requesting we hand over Phantom.”

Bruce looked straight at Phantom as he spoke, “They have no jurisdiction in space. I presume you declined?”

“Of course.”

Phantom’s face turned unreadable for a moment. His gaze went from him, to Superman and the opaque glass that hid the observation room. Finally he huffed. 

“Phantom, he/him is fine.” His voice had an echoey quality to it. 

It seemed they were finally going somewhere. 

-

They were not going somewhere. 

Even hours later Phantom kept up his silence. They’d held several breaks. Phantom had been offered food and water but had declined nonverbally. 

They were going in circles, trying the same questions again and again. Prolonged silence didn’t help any either. 

If only J’onn was an option, but he was already suffering from psychic backlash from trying to go into Phantom’s mind during the fight. 

So far the only things Bruce could add to the certain facts were that Phantom was sentient, intelligent and didn’t like the GIW to the point that he would commit mass murder to take them down. 

And Bruce would just really like to know why? Because with the kinds of powers he’d shown off he could have easily killed the members of the Justice League sent to apprehend him. He seemed to have no qualms about killing, yet he’d stayed his hands?

Bruce had hoped that meant Phantom considered them at least somewhat neutral in this conflict. But apparently not neutral enough to talk to. 

Clark had tried and Diana had tried. Nothing helped. 

Bruce was considering his options, when the door opened. 

“B, I need to speak with you.” That was Tim, he looked pale. Something had happened. Bruce got up, Clark following. Bruce decidedly ignored the sudden curiosity from Phantom. They closed the door and walked down the hall. When Bruce felt they were far enough from Phantom he stopped.

“Red Robin, report.”

“We’ve lost contact with Hood.”

Bruce’s heart dropped cold into his stomach. No. It couldn’t be. 

“When?”

“Two hours ago is when he last checked in. He’s since missed several check-ins.” Tim’s hands tightened into fists at his sides. “Could be he’s just not in a position to respond, or they have scramblers in the base.”

It was likely, in fact very likely that was the case with how secretive the GIW were being, but two hours were a long time to miss check-ins. Clark’s hand landed on his shoulder which he only now realized how tense was, but no, now was not the time to relax or calm down. He shrugged Clark’s hand off and stalked back down the hall.

The GIW were mum about any details. There was only one person who could tell them what Jason was facing in that building.

He burst into the interrogation room and slammed his hands on the table. That got Phantom’s attention his eyes widening before narrowing and his lips splitting in a snarl that showed off fangs, but Bruce sneered right back.

“We lost contact with an agent sent to infiltrate a GIW-base, you will tell me what you know about them, or so help me I will make you wish you stayed in that dimension you came from.”

“Batman, please, maybe you should step out-“ Clark began good hand hovering shy of Bruce, but he was interrupted by the bark of laughter coming from Phantom.

And then he laughed and laughed and laughed. 

Bruce punched him. Clark pulled him back. 

Phantom slowly turned his head back to look at them, working his jaw. 

“There we have it after all. Your true colors: attacking a chained up captive.” He wiggled his fingers drawing attention to the wide thick cuffs dwarfing his wrists. His eyes held only cold judgment. “But don’t worry, Batman, your agent has nothing to fear from the GIW unless they are dead.”

Bruce couldn’t help the flinch and he felt Clark do the same. Something in the very air stilled then, making it hard to breathe. 

“You,” Phantom began standing up, right out of the restraints as if they weren’t there, “are going to explain to me what that reaction means…“ He carefully put his hands down on the table and leaned forward in a way that made it very apparent he was holding himself back. He glared holes into Bruce’s skull with blazing green eyes. “Unless you want your agent back in pieces.”

-

Psssst. this is actually the beginning of the fic where this is from (CW: relatively graphic aftermath of vivisection)

So basically Phantom is public enemy number one, or at least top of the US government and GIW's shit list XD Huh, "Wanted: Dead or Alive", might actually be a pretty fun title, what do you guys think?

[teddyniffler]

Musing about Matt's name

He can't really catch a break. In the past he hid his name and only used his current name, Matt, saying he preferred it to his own, however the name Matthew means "Gift of God," which is super ironic and very telling given the concept of The Power of Five.

The Five being somewhat normal children, but with amazing powers and abilities. In the centuries that followed later, stories told about them past down through the ages remembered them as divine beings, gods and goddess from various faiths/myths from around the world that followed after their original defeat of The Old Ones.

They aren't really gods and goddess, history just remembered them as that, but it stuck.

We know 4 out of five original names and what they were later remembered as.

Inti, Pedro Incan Sun God

Scarlett, Scarlett, Chinese Sea Goddess

Sapling and Flint, Jamie and Scott, Native American/ Iroquois twin gods

And then you get their leader, Matt.

Past name unknown?? : Matt, God of... Crinimal activities? Bog rescues? Truancy from School? Youth delinquents.

Who are you, Matt?

The original 'Matt' never wished to share his real name with anybody - Not even the other Gatekeepers, because history remembered him as somebody very well known and, as we know from the books, Matt doesn't like attention on that scale, neither in the past or the future. After defeating the greatest foe of all time, Matt just wanted to go to his bed.

Matt from 8000 bc led an entire army into battle, but trips over his own words when talking face to face with Jamie. Matt in the present hates people looking at him, he would rather remain quiet even in important discussions, speaking only if he must and then feeling uncomfortable with everybody's eyes on him. For a main character, even as legendary as history remembered him, he is rather shy and quiet.

Both 'Matt' and Matt share an unease at being in the spotlight. Fighting The Old Ones to save humanity? He's right there with a sense of courage, but place him at the centre of everybody's attention, and he doesn't like that at all. He goes in on himself and doesn't want all eyes on him.

He doesn't want his fellow Gatekeepers or people around him looking at him differently, as if he were this suprime powerful and devine being. He's not that at all. Matt never feels comfortable with being looked at with adoring faces from the Nexus. He doesnt understand why his arrival is such a big deal to them and he doesnt like how they look at him with reverence. He just wants to be a normal teen and eventually all he wants is to go to school.

He's just Matt, the boy with the weight of the world on his shoulders, all this terrible responsibility, and too much knowledge that ended his childhood before it began in both times.

Matt doesn't want anybody to view him in any way that he's not. Matt in the future even says as much, feeling stupid thinking for just a second that he is like some sort of xmen - that too also shows Matt's true personality. He has powers, but he can't control them, he doesn't particularly like them, and he can only link his own experiences to a group of outcasts superheroes who have powers like him, only he doesn't see himself as a hero.

So when this person is reborn 10,000 years later in the later years of the 20th century, what name is the name given to him? Matthew, which means 'gift from God'.

And in the Power of Five, who is hinted at being God there? The librarian.

Anthony Horowitz has been vague on this theory on purpose to allow readers their own ideas. The Librarian knows the Five very well. He knew them 10,000 years ago and he knows them now and has a sort of fondness for the gatekeepers, even if its somewhat detached on purpose. In his library he has every person's life book in his care, even those yet to be born. He repairs those books too with great care should anything happen to them. He has answers to certain questions and knowledge of things outside of Matt's own books, such as what Choas is doing, where he can be found.

The librarian is also deeply amused when Matt comes to him in Necropolis, and Matt doesn't appear to know who the librarian is, as his memories of his past life are all gone. The librarian is all too familiar with Matt and knows exactly who he is, as they've met before. Many times.

It's hinted from his talks with Matt that he and Matt knew each other very well at one point even if Matt has forgotten, he cares for Matt's emotional distress in Oblivion and tries to comfort him, reminding him that this is what he wanted (Aka Matt from 8000 bc, who already knew how things would work out in the future).

He even implies in book 4 that 'Matthew Freeman' is just a name he (Matt) liked to call himself now. The librarian knows what the original Matt's name was and would have been there when he chose to go by Matt rather than his own name.

He knows why 'Matt' refuses to use it anymore. He acts like an amused parent, playing along with the wishes of their child. He appears to respect the original 'Matt's' wishes and never tells current day Matt what his name once was, even though he could have on two separate occasions now. Of course, he likely knows 'Matt' will come back when the Gatekeepers eventually return to the Dreamworld and doesn't want to risk angering him. Imagine picking up all the books Matt can throw to the floor with his a flick of his hand? 🤭 best not to anger him.

All the clues about Matt's past identity are in books 3 and 5, with the last few chapters of Oblivion confirming it for sure. After reading, you can place the clues to discover Matt's past name - roughtly - and link him to the being history would later remember him by.

Hint: It's a big one, hence likely why Matt changed his name before meeting his friends.

We know who Matt is implied to be, it's possible his real name got out from when he was a prisoner being held by The Old Ones. Before he knew about being a Gatekeeper, he would have no knowledge of his true purpose. He would have used his real name and many prisoner held with him, anyone with the Old Ones would know his name. The people who raised him - As Matt said they were all being passed around due to all the death - all of those knew his real name too. Any one of these could have left a record of his true name and eventually it reached the Mad Monk.

We know certain details were remembered throughout the years due to the Diary of the Mad Monk having the history of The Old Ones and the Five. Their original names were likely in that book, but from book 4, the only person able to read the diary was Richard with an English-Spanish dictionary and his progress was slow as he was struggling to read it. It's likely he never reached their names or if he did, it would not translate into English and he would have moved on.

Ten thousand years ago in what today is Yorkshire in England, it's likely the boy one day calling himself Matt would have been called Joshua - possibly he shortened it to Josh as he likes going by Matt rather than Matthew. Naturally, in 8,000 Bc, the name would be different slightly, as the language Matt at the time used was the same one as Atlantis (Book 1, Professor Dravid confirmed this). So his name was the Atlantis verson of it, but for us now it would have been Joshua.

In later years, Matt's original name was eventually translated from Atlantis' language into Hebrew and written down as Yeshua and from there the name would be translated into Greek, and then altered yet again by Romans to a very familiar name for English speakers, two thousand years before present day Matt's rebirth.

He knew, of course, that one day he and the other Gatekeepers would be remembered as gods or devine beings and considering Christianity currently has 2.38 billion people following it, I think Matt would be horrified to know there's more than 2 billion people worshipping him as a god. I think that idea scares him more than The Old Ones.

This is the boy who can't even make eye contact with the people helping him until book 4. No wonder he bailed on his own name and picked to go by Matt, like his present day self. That's one secret he doesn't ever want to get out, even to his fellow Gatekeepers.

'Matt' likely never even thinks of his name. He has totally removed any thought of himself as Joshua as the twins can read his mind, something both Matts know very well.

Jamie and Scott can pick up thoughts from Matt by being near him, Jamie knew Matt felt Scott wasn't 100% okay after Nightrise/The Old Ones got him and we know Jamie wouldnt have read Matt's mind on purpose, he just does it. If the twins - Sapling and Flint - had heard his real name in his own thoughts, how long until all the Five also know his real name? They arent gossipers, but they would likely wonder why Matt was using a fake name back in their time and Scar/Scarlett likely would pick up on their confused looks.

Then Jamie came along, he's from the present day and if he knew Matt's real name, he would likely tell the current day forms without even thinking - Which we know he did!

Then all of 'Matt's' hard work would have been for nothing. His name would carry on, current day Matt would feel horrified, everybody would be looking at him... Richard Cole would admit himself into York's finest mental health facility, because apparently the boy he pulled out from the swamp, while being chased by Hellhounds conjured by a village full of Witches, is miracle Christmas baby himself reborn. That would be too much for poor Richard, he can't handle this. He's only 25 and now he has anxiety as well as student loans. No wonder 'Matt' shyed away from answering Jamie when asked what his name was. He was protecting both himself now, and his future self.

So back to the Librarian. If he really is God in this world, he sends the Gatekeepers out when they are needed, whenever the Old Ones - The original concept behind what people now know as the devil - appear so shall the Gatekeepers be born. Matt is the leader, the one who brings all the Gatekeepers together. He is their leader, but he's also the one who bears all the responsibility, with for his fellow friends and for humanity and the world. His path isn't an easy one, he suffers a lot, but he is the one who will stop the Old Ones. Without going too far into spoiler territory, he was a gift to humanity as thanks to him, the Old Ones are done for.

The librarian, god or not, with everything he knows, he would have known how Matt's story went down. Matthew, the gift from God to mankind. He will save them in both times, but humanity (at least in the 2nd time around) allowed The Old Ones to return. Matt is so abused by humanity, the other Gatekeepers too, but in the end they will save everybody.

It's kind of sad in a way and kudos to Anthony Horowitz for picking such a name.

To call Matt 'Matthew' is kind of like the Librarian having a little chuckle to himself. Joshua is no longer going by his name because the world will one day remember him as this super divine person who was said by the people many years down the line to be the son of God?

Well, let him be reborn as a gift from God himself, because this one will save humanity from The Old Ones, but also anybody who meets him will just love him - Richard, his friends. Matt really did bring a lot to their lives and the people who met him were often seeing it as life changing. We won't mention Matt's Aunt, her partner or anybody else who harmed Matt over the years.

Past 'Matt' (Joshua) would be beside himself, likely storming into the library to confront the Librarian for getting the upper hand, a small little joke, a tiny little nod to his true name ("What if they figure it out!?") while current day Matt is totally clueless, as he normally is (effectionate) and actually hating having to sing religious hymns in his school. He's making candles flicker in churches or being called unnatural for his powers without knowing anything about his past life.

He's a gift indeed, but don't ever call him Joshua. He's Matt. Sadly Anthony is not on social media anymore and he would never confirm the theory behind Matt's real name anyway, but the books more or less confirm it if you look close enough at all the signs in book 3 and 5.

[heavysighing-dreamyeyes]

Claws and Curses

Werewolf!Jason and Vampire!Reader. They’re best friends, your honor, even when Gotham gets weird. ~1.6k words

Being a vampire is hard. Seriously, five days of trying to adjust to sharpened fangs and claws has not been fun. You’re hungry almost constantly, and you can only take eating raw meat and draining the blood bags the GCPD has been giving out for so much longer.

On top of all that, you broke your bedroom door just by opening it. It hangs limply by its hinges now, and you haven’t gotten around to fixing it. You have no idea how metas with super strength deal with it.

You didn’t even get turned into a vampire the fun way. No, it wasn’t a bite that has you treating everything like it's made of glass but a curse. A witch with some sort of vendetta against Gotham cast a spell, and it left civilians, rouges, and heroes alike running around as monsters.

At first, it was funny, a day off of work wasn’t so bad, and you figured if Batman, who apparently got turned into some kind of wraith, couldn’t fix it, Red Hood would.

But by day three? You hadn’t heard from Jason once, and your boss was insistent that you could come back to work.

Day four, you still had radio silence from Jason, and Gotham was carrying on like Vicki Vale wasn’t delivering the morning news with snakes instead of hair and thick, heavy sunglasses hiding her eyes.

Day five, you were growing increasingly worried about Jason, and you were starting to wonder if you were gonna be stuck as a vampire forever.

Yeah, you had gotten used to opening doors without breaking them, but you had spent almost your entire shift trying to help one of your coworkers, who had been unlucky enough to transform into a yeti, try to deal with shedding. You were still trying to get tufts of white fur off your coat, even on your walk home.

You were so wrapped up in wondering if it was possible to curse a witch back, that you fail to notice the flock of harpies starting to box you in, eagerly trying to corral you into an alley.

They snap their talons at you, and it’s only then your attention focuses on the four bird-like creatures leering at you. “This is our territory,” one of them croons at you, sharp teeth glinting in the street lights, “and there’s a price to be here.”

Your mouth works before your brain does, and you tell them exactly what you think of their little power play, “That’s stupid.”

If they’re put out by your lack of fear, none of them show it. One of them inches forward, gesturing for your pockets, “Wallet and phone, unless you’d like for things to get ugly?”

Your lips curl into a frown. It would be smart to just hand over your things. You’re not exactly a seasoned fighter, and you’re not completely sure how durable vampires are in the face of other monsters.

A part of you wants to find out, to test how capable your strength and fangs and claws can really be.

You don’t get the opportunity to decide. A threatening growl fills the air, and as you whip your head towards the noise, as a large, intimidating werewolf stalks out of the alley behind you.

The harpies didn’t scare you. Most of the monsters you’ve seen haven't shaken you. But this one? He’s terrifying. Teeth and nails meant for shredding skin. Dark, matted fur, and eyes that seemed to glow. Just the sight of him is enough to have all your nerves on edge.

The flock behind you seems to feel the same way, and the air almost crackles with tension.

You’re not sure who moves first, if the wolf takes a step forward, or if the harpies turn to run from a clear apex predator, but someone moves, and your would-be assailants make themselves scarce before you’ve even registered they’re gone.

You half expect the werewolf to pounce, to hunt down the harpies, but he does neither. He sits himself down in front of you and gives you the most disappointed look you’ve ever seen, You didn’t even know wolves could make that face.

It’s then that you notice the clothes he’s wearing, the red bat emblem, the distinctive hooded vest. “No way,” you breathe out, unable to fight the grin spreading across your face, “Jason?”

He rolls his eyes at you, letting out a huff as if to say ‘Duh’.

“You’re a dog,” You point out, trying to keep the laughter out of your voice. Relief spreads over your body when he glares at your words. It really is good to see him alive, and just as expressive, even under the curse.

You reach out to scratch his ears, and he leans into your touch. They’re surprisingly soft under your fingers. “Shouldn’t we be fighting, or something?”

He blinks once, then twice. Jason lets out another low, almost indignant huff at your question. He lifts his head, questioning eyes locking onto yours as he waits for you to elaborate.

Your grin wider at him, almost teasing as you run your hand lazily over the fur on his head, “It’s just, aren’t werewolves and vampires sworn enemies? Shouldn’t you be trying to bite my fingers instead of going all lapdog on me?”

Jason’s ears flatten slightly, and he lets out a quiet, frustrated growl. It's clear that he doesn't appreciate the implication that he would harm you.

You laugh, moving to scratch under his chin, “Yeah, I know. Who cares about centuries of fighting and stereotypes when we have trash TV to watch together.”

His ears perk up at your words, and his tail starts to wag. He offers your hand a slobbery lick, which you make a face at. He grins at the offended noise you make, all teeth and mischief.

You pull your hand away, wiping the drool onto your clothes, tone accusing and playful all at once, “Now, I know the curse didn’t take your manners.”

He shrugs at you, at least as much as a werewolf can shrug, and starts walking towards your building. He glances over his shoulder expectantly, like he expects you to follow.

“Shouldn’t you be looking for that witch? Instead of walking me home,” you ask curiously, quickly catching up to him.

He leans into you a little, huffing in a way that’s so familiar you know he finds your question ridiculous.

You delight in how warm he is against your side, you’ve been running cold since the curse turned you. “I’m just saying,” you murmur, going quiet as you take in the fact that he’s really here. Your next confession slips out thoughtlessly, “I missed talking to you.”

His steps falter, and he turns his head to look at like you’ve said something important.

“Plus, I need you to fix my door,” you say quickly, embarrassed by your slip up, “Broke it with my vampire powers.” You waggle your pointed nails at him, voice light and teasing as you try to mask how much you actually have missed him.

You’re not sure if you’ve managed to convince him, but he keeps walking all the same. You make a note to look into jinxes to curse the witch when you get home.

You really do miss his voice, and the easy conversation that usually flows between you. You find it almost cruel that it’s been taken from you.

It’s that feeling that drives you to keep talking as you near your apartment, “You know you could come over, right? Even if we’re all still cursed? I can turn on that show we’re watching and help you with your fur.”

He has the audacity to look offended, tongue lolling out of his mouth as he stares you down with faux hurt.

You have a stifle a giggle at his face, “C’mon, have you even had a bath since this whole thing started? At least let me brush it out if you’re still furry tomorrow. Deal?”

He’s reluctant about it, you tell by the way his ears flick back, but he nods anyway.

“Knew you’d see it my way,” you say happily, and reach out to pet his head. His eyes close when you do, and you bite back a fond noise at how his tail starts to wag contently.

You begrudgingly drop your hand from his fur, and you almost start scratching him again when he actually whines over it. You don’t know how he does it, but he gives you perfect puppy dog eyes that almost melt your heart.

“Don’t give me that look,” you whine right back, “Don’t you have to go save Gotham or something?”

He seems to contemplate your words for a moment, then gives in, nudging your side as if to say goodbye.

He nuzzles your side, almost long enough that you start to say something, before he pulls away to leave. It almost reminds you of how animals mark their territory with their scent, but you brush away that thought as quickly as it forms.

“Hey,” you call out, stopping him before he gets too far, “Make sure you come over, okay? Even if you still smell like dog.”

He grins at you and yips before disappearing into the Gotham night. You take it for the promise it is, and, as you head inside your apartment building, you wonder if he’ll be interested in the dog treats you keep around for Haley and Ace.

The idea makes you laugh, and for the first time since the curse took its hold on Gotham, you almost want to wake up as a vampire tomorrow, if only for the chance to tease your best friend.

[thisiswhereikeepdcthings]

AU where Jason didn’t die and is smol still and everything is just peachy and everyone else still shows up on schedule and maybe the Joker died of “natural” causes and things are generally going pretty well.

And then there are Flash Time Shenanigans™️ or someone punching a hole in reality or whatever, and Jason wakes up one morning having grown fourteen inches and gained ninety pounds that’s pretty much all muscle and no one really knows what’s happened but what can you do except roll with it.

Also Jason now keeps bonking his head on the top of the car when he gets in and has to find some good explanation for his college advisor and the other five hundred or so people that are going to ask him if stress-induced meta powers are a thing because it’s two weeks until finals and they’ll take any hope they can get.

Tim is doing so many calculations to see if something like this might happen to him too. It will not.

Anytime thereafter they meet any of their alternate universe counterparts the number one thing that has everyone else’s jaw dropping is the revelation that Jason was, for a good couple of years at least, shorter than Tim.

[luxaofhesperides]

Soulmate AU: First Words + End of the World ; requested by @justwannabecat!

Duke has long since accepted that he doesn’t have great luck. Most things in his life tend to go wrong very quickly, or complicate situations he was already struggling in (see: being a meta and getting his powers in the middle of a fight). Having an incomprehensible soulmark is an unpleasant discovery on the morning of his nineteenth birthday, but not entirely unexpected.

He had been hoping for something simple, a common one like hi it’s nice to meet you or sorry, didn’t mean to bump into you.

What Duke gets instead isn’t even words. 

Scrawled across his left hipbone is a string of symbols glowing a faint green. They’re not in a language he recognizes, and the symbols seem to move, shifting ever so slightly so they look different every time he blinks.

“Well,” he says after a solid five minutes of staring into the mirror, unable to rip his eyes off his soulmate’s words, “I hope theirs looks nicer than mine.”

He spends his birthday in a bit of a daze, enjoying time spent with the Waynes and his friends. It’s hard to be fully present when he’s all too aware of the soreness on his hipbone flaring up each time he moves. It’s hard to keep his mind off of it, wanting nothing more than to search for answers, unravel the mystery of his soulmate’s first words.

“Something on your mind?” Jason asks, as the attention shifts off of him for a brief moment as Harper and Cullen get ready to leave and everyone rushes to give their goodbyes,

Duke shrugs, carefully keeping his hands still so they don’t drift to where his soulmark is hidden beneath his clothes. “Yeah. Nothing you need to worry about, though.”

Jason looks him over critically, then nods. 

Duke resigns himself to being investigated by the rest of the Bats. If he’s off enough that Jason had to comment on it, then that means everyone’s noticed and are trying to figure out what’s happened. They’re not going to ask him, because they think he needs space to work through whatever’s got him so distracted, but they’re also not going to just do nothing. 

This won’t be the first time they’ve done this. Duke expects it. Frankly, it would be stranger and much more concerning if they didn’t try to dig up all his secrets the moment they caught wind of him hiding something.

He’ll tell them about getting his soulmark soon. Soulmarks can appear on any birthday between the ages of thirteen to twenty five; they might suspect he got his, but they won’t be able to confirm.

For now, Duke can keep his soulmate’s first words (whatever that gibberish means) to himself.

He makes the decision then and there, as his birthday party winds down, to tell them in a week.

And because his luck is abysmal, a world ending threat hits five days later and suddenly there is no time for soulmarks and first words.

Duke is the last to arrive at the Fortress of Solitude, hitching a ride from Superboy to get there. The biting cold and the harsh winds keep the place far from the reaches of the rest of humanity, surrounded by nothing but deadly white. 

Desolate as the landscape is, it’s still in better shape than the rest of the world.

Things would be better if it was alien invaders. It would be more bearable if some sort of cosmic colossus tried to eat their solar system. At least then there would be something physical that they could fight.

Instead, the world is breaking apart, the sky and earth both fracturing to reveal glowing green faultlines. Timelines are getting mixed up and muddled; just yesterday, Duke had to evacuate a building that had been demolished forty years ago, then stop a gang leader who wouldn’t be born for another eight years from taking over a neighborhood block and holding the residents hostage. Strange creatures are appearing out of nowhere, crawling out of shadows and tide pools and from beneath the roots of trees, all horrible, monstrous things that go after people with teeth and claws. 

The Flashes and the rest of the speedsters are nowhere to be found. The last time anyone get communication from them, it had been Impulse sending Red Robin a glitchy, barely audible video chat saying something along the lines of “trying to fix—unstable—keep us here—never been alive before.” All things that are very concerning to hear, made worse by the fact that no one had been able to contact them at all. 

The quiet loneliness of the Fortress of Solitude is a welcome change from the constant screaming, death, and destruction that’s taken over Gotham as well as the rest of the world. Last he heard, even Justice League China was at the end of their rope. 

“In here,” Superboy instructs, guiding Duke through the halls. There’s no time to look around at Superman’s secret base. All his focus is stuck on staying conscious for another few hours to see if this gathering of heroes is able to find a solution to the world breaking apart.

Batman stands besides Superman. Both nod at Duke when he enters the room. Wonder Woman is watching over John Constantine as he writes something on the floor, muttering under his breath. The rest of the Justice League lean against each other, visibly exhausted as they wait for Constantine to finish up what he’s doing. A few other heroes are here too, and Duke goes to join them where they lean against a wall, fighting to keep their eyes open.

“Hey,” he greets, voice low. “Hanging in there?”

Wonder Girl sighs. “Somehow. I don’t know how much longer we can do this. There’s just too much…”

“We’ll get through this. I mean, even without us out there, plenty of civilians have formed rescue and relief groups to help with keeping things under control,” Speedy says, gently knocking her arm against Wonder Girl’s. “We just gotta keep going. No giving up.”

“What’s this plan, anyways? I just heard that they needed me here to some attempt to fix things.”

“Well, without the speedsters, you’re kind of the only one who can help with time and power related stuff,” Speedy says.

“That’s definitely a stretch. My powers don’t really have anything to do with time. It’s all just light and shadow.”

Speedy shrugs. “Well, you’re here, aren’t you? Too late to complain about it now.”

Duke doesn’t get a chance to say anything else when a loud clap catches his attention. The entire room goes still and silent as Constantine stands up and surveys the circle and symbols he’s written, taking up an entire corner of the large room. 

“Alright,” he says. “Time to get started. Remember, let me do the talking. If you have to speak, it’s only to back me up or when a question is directed to you.”

Batman nods to the other Justice Leaguers, and suddenly everyone is falling into formation behind Constantine. Duke hurries to join them with Wonder Girl and Speedy, taking a place on the edge of the group where he’s a little closer to the circle than the others. 

Constantine begins chanting. His voice is steady though none of the sounds make any sense, refusing to form themselves into recognizable words, and the air the in the room feels heavier. The chalk circle glows a blinding white and Duke can see magic swirling through the air, his power kicking in the let him watch as reality tears and a glowing star in the shape of a boy comes out of it.

Duke blinks, forcing his power down. The hypnotic swirls of magic fade from sight, but the boy still glows, bright and terrible as he floats above the circle and surveys them all. A crown engulfed in blue flame hovers above his head and the fabric of the cosmos is draped over his shoulders as a cape. 

Just from presence alone, Duke can tell that this figure is now the strongest existence in this universe. He hopes this boy king is kind; no one, not even Superman, would be able to beat him in a fight.

The boy king opens his mouth and speaks, but it’s not words than comes out. A strange static like sound emerges, but light and almost melodic. 

His left hipbone burns.

Duke gasps, hand flying down to it, and the boy king’s gaze snaps to meet his.

The world stands still. No one moves. No one dares to breathe.

And then the boy king drops to the floor and walks out of the circle.

“I thought you said that would hold him!” Batman hisses at Constantine, who is looking more and more distressed.

“It was supposed to! I wrote it specifically to hold the King of the Infinite Realms!”

The boy king glances at Constantine. This time, when he speaks, it’s in smooth English. “Did you name the king in your circle?”

“Yeah, I named Pariah Dark… Bloody hell, you ain’t him, are ya?”

“No,” the boy king smiles, “I’m Phantom.”

The cape and crown fade away, and suddenly it’s not an all powerful, terrifying king standing before them, but a young man with white hair and green eyes who looks Duke’s age. Like he could be any other new generation hero in the room. 

“Phantom,” Duke repeats lightly, just under his breath, but it makes Phantom look at him again.

He walks forward, ignoring the other heroes’ aborted attempts to stop him, coupled with Constantine’s frantic back off motion happening behind him. Phantom leaves the circle and the Justice Leaguers behind to stand before Duke, a soft smile on his face.

“Hi,” he says softly, “I dreamed of you.”

“You—what?”

“I dreamed of you. I have for years now. To think that being summoned was what made us meet—” Phantom breaks off into a breathless laugh.

Duke swallows, then drops his had from where it had been pressed against his hip. “So we’re really—? You have my first words too?”

In the corner of his eye, he sees Batman stiffen up. Maybe he should have just told them the day after his birthday, but in Duke’s defense, this is the definition of extenuation circumstances. 

“First words?” Phantom repeats, “Is that… Do we have different soulmate connections?”

“I think so. Here, everyone gets the first words their soulmates say to them appearing somewhere on their body.”

Phantom’s gaze darts down to Duke’s hip, then back up. “Oh. I get dreams. Where I’m from, we dream of our soulmates, and the closer we get to meeting them, the more we remember the dreams.”

“And you dreamed of me.”

“I did.”

“As touching as this is,” Constantine interrupts, and Duke gets to watch as Phantom rolls his eyes, “We summoned you here for a reason. Our world is falling apart at the seams and we need someone powerful, from the Realms, to help us fix it.”

“Okay.”

“...What do you mean ‘okay’?”

“I’ll help,” Phantom says.

“Just like that? No deal to be made, no price to be paid?”

“Just like that. I’m not one for deals anyways. If I can help, then I will. But I do want to see what the problem is with my soulmate by my side, if you don’t mind.”

Batman steps in, fixing Duke with a steady gaze, a barely noticeable tilt of his head. “Signal?”

“Yeah I’ll go with him. Of course I will. The sooner the better, in fact, because everything’s gone to shit.” Duke turns to Phantom, taking hold of one of his hands. “It is really bad out there,” he warns, “If you need help—”

“I’ll ask for help from others in the Realms,” Phantom says. “No offense or anything, but if it’s really that bad, I doubt living mortals will be able to do much to fix things. It’s why I was summoned, right?”

“Right. Let’s get to it, then.”

There’s a flash of mischief in Phantom’s eyes, and cheeky grin stealing across his face for a moment, before he says, “Aye aye, captain!” and picks Duke up like he weighs nothing and flies up through the ceiling.

Duke is able to hear everyone’s surprised, panicked shouts before they’re outside the Fortress of Solitude and Phantom is flying them away. He only needs a few directions from Duke before he finds the first of the large fractures in the sky.

“Yikes,” is all he says, which is not a great thing to hear. “I think I know how to fix it, though. We’ll need to do a little investigating as to who, exactly, started messing around with reality, but once we find the source, it’ll be an easy fix.”

“That’s the best news I’ve heard all week.”

“Even better than meeting your soulmate?”

“I haven’t slept for more than four hours all week. Knowing there’s an end in sight beats everything else.”

Phantom laughs, throwing his head back and Duke can’t help but drink in the sight of him, so ethereal and bright and full of life. “Fair enough! Got any ideas as to where we should start?”

“I’ve got an entire crew of detective vigilantes,” Duke replies. He’s not taking any more chances. No more waiting to talk about important things; he messed up by keeping his soulmark to himself, so he needs to make sure everyone meets his soulmate before shit goes south again. 

“Let’s go find them, then!”

They take off again, soaring through the skies that are barely holding themselves together. 

The world is still ending, and every hero is being stretched thin, but held carefully in Phantom’s arms, racing head first into a solution, Duke can’t help but feel that everything’s going to be alright now. 

He’s had enough bad luck. Now, his soulmate with him, bearing the title of King with grace, things are finally starting to look up.

[benchspkmnirlhub]

A Guide to Pokemon IRL

Hello! Pokemon IRL has been getting more and more popular over the year and a half I've been in the community, and I'm seeing lots of people being confused by it.

So I'm making this guide, to hopefully help people understand it better, and perhaps join us in this wacky community.

Part 1: The Basics

Essentially, Pokemon IRL is a RP community centered on one single premise: Blogging as if you were in the Pokemon world. It's a hybrid of askblogs, RP blogs, and general tumblr blogs.

There's very few rules to it, other than just "don't be a jerk". There's all kinds of Pokemon IRL blogs, from regular OC trainers, to canon characters, to characters who are Pokemon themselves, to even Fallers from non-Pokemon media, and more!

The main thing is that 98% of Pokemon IRL operates on the multiverse. Blogs can have conflicting canons, since the multiverse exists, and the blogs can be from different universes. This also means that multiple people can RP the same character. I've lost count of the amount of Kieran and Silver blogs.

Why is Pokemon-world tumblr multiversal? Who knows! But that's the one generally accepted canon thing across almost all Pokemon IRL blogs.

Part 2: Glossary

I know glossaries are usually at the ends of books, but I figure it's important that I define some important terms before I get to the rest of this guide.

Rotomblr - The generally accepted name for Pokemon-world tumblr. I personally prefer to use the name Tacklr instead, but that's just my opinion.

Sapient Pokemon - Pokemon that are sapient. Typically refers to Pokemon that run blogs. Some blogs don't allow interactions with them. Some blogs love interacting with them, though, such as all my blogs!

Eebydeeby - A human that has been turned into a Pokemon. "Eeby" is short for it. "Sleeby" means "slow eeby", or a human that has been or is in the process of slowly turning into a Pokemon.

Hybrid - This has two meanings. The first is someone who's part human and part Pokemon. The second is a Pokemon that's part one species, part another species.

Pelipper Mail - This is a multiversal system of mail, powered via Pelipper! You can have Pelippers send items to other blogs with this. Can be enabled or disabled per blog. Same goes with the next five terms.

Pelipper Unmail - Instead of giving, this is taking. This steals something from another blog via Pelipper.

Pelipper Malice - Essentially, this is sending something to another blog that you know will hurt them.

Musharna Mail - It's like Pelipper Mail, but with dreams! This can be used to send dreams to other blogs.

Musharna Malice - Just like Musharna Mail, but it's nightmares instead of dreams.

Magic Anons - Essentially, this allows anons to do whatever they'd like to the characters on your blog. Use caution when enabling this, though, as it's suspected that some people fetish mine with these.

High Stakes - Basically, this refers to anything that can majorly injure many characters, or otherwise have lots of bad stuff happen. Many blogs don't like interacting with this stuff, so it's best to tag it.

Drama Stakes - Like High Stakes, but less. This is when stuff is happening that could lead to in-universe ruined relationships. Best to tag this too.

Ultra Stakes - Like High Stakes, but more. This is when things lead to potential death of many characters. Definitely best to tag this as well.

Chosen - Sometimes someone is a legendary's favorite special little person, and they get powers from it! That's essentially what a Chosen is.

Faller - Someone, usually from a non-Pokemon media, who falls into the Pokemon world. Essentialyl a way of writing a non-Pokemon character in Pokemon IRL.

Self-Insert Faller - An OOC blogrunner falls into the Pokemon world. Can get very meta.

Muse Mixup Madness - At the start of every month, there's an event where some blogs temporarily change their core concept for a day or a few. It's best to tag these, and to give warnings beforehand.

Part 3: Setting up your Blog

Setting up a Pokemon IRL blog is a lot like setting up a regular tumblr blog, just in-character.

The main thing you'll need is a pinned post explaining the premise of the blog. These are usually in-character, with an OOC section at the bottom.

It's best to warn for possible triggers that might pop up on the blog, as well as explaining your boundaries (i.e. if you don't want Pelipper Mail).

Feel free to theme your blog too, changing the header and icon, adjusting the theme colors, maybe even have a custom theme!

Once you have that all set, you're ready to interact!

Part 4: Interacting

I made a full guide on how to interact here, if you want to check it out!

The main thing is, don't be afraid to interact. Even with big blogs. Everyone's happy to receive interactions! Worst that can happen is that your interaction is ignored.

So don't be scared! Jump in, and start interacting!

Part 5: General Advice from my Friends

I asked around for any additional advice people wanted to add, and here's what some people had to say:

"uhhh ooc communication is super important, especially if youre trying to do a plot with someone or smth along those lines" - @espers-n-espurrs

"Uhhh "Do it scared" Like. If you're nervous about doing something but you wanna do it, do it even though you're scared!!!!! Also like. Have fun. People can tell when you're having fun. Be silly. Do what you want forever. Also that big blogs 9/10 don't mind interactions with smaller ones. I think I count as one and like. I am just as scared as interacting with new people as the smaller blogs who wanna interact with me" @chaos-cousins

"interact with people" - @justalileepguy

"The absolute worst thing that can happen if you send someone an ask is that they delete it. People like getting interaction, even if it's from a blog you don't follow. If you're having trouble interacting, find something your two characters have in common and point it out" - @fated-furret

Part 6: Miscellaneous Stuff

If there's anything I'm missing, feel free to let me know, or add it in a reblog! I've been in this community for a long time, but even I don't know absolutely everything.

If you've read this far, thank you! I hope this guide helps in some way. Reblogging it is appreciated, but not necessary.

And if you're thinking of joining the Pokemon IRL community, then I'm excited to help welcome you!