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greatworldwar2 · 4 years ago

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• Hanna Reitsch

Hanna Reitsch was a German aviator and test pilot. Along with Melitta von Stauffenberg, she flight tested many of Germany's new aircraft during World War II and received many honors. She set more than 40 flight altitude records and women's endurance records in gliding and unpowered flight, before and after World War II.

Reitsch was born in Hirschberg, Silesia (today Jelenia Góra in Poland) on March 29th, 1912 to an upper-middle-class family. She was daughter of Dr. Wilhelm Willy Reitsch, who was ophthalmology clinic manager, and his wife Emy Helff-Hibler von Alpenheim, who was a member of the Catholic Austrian nobility. Hanna grew up with two siblings, her brother Kurt, a Frigate captain, and her younger sister Heidi. She began flight training in 1932 at the School of Gliding in Grunau. While a medical student in Berlin she enrolled in a German Air Mail amateur flying school for powered aircraft at Staaken, in a Klemm Kl 25. In 1933, Reitsch left medical school at the University of Kiel to become, at the invitation of Wolf Hirth, a full-time glider pilot/instructor at Hornberg in Baden-Württemberg. Reitsch contracted with the Ufa Film Company as a stunt pilot and set an unofficial endurance record for women of eleven hours and twenty minutes. In January 1934, she joined a South America expedition to study thermal conditions, along with Wolf Hirth, Peter Riedel and Heini Dittmar. While in Argentina, she became the first woman to earn the Silver C Badge, the 25th to do so among world glider pilots. In June 1934, Reitsch became a member of the Deutsche Forschungsanstalt für Segelflug (DFS) and became a test pilot in 1935. Reitsch enrolled in the Civil Airways Training School in Stettin, where she flew a twin-engine on a cross country flight and aerobatics in a Focke-Wulf Fw 44. At the DFS she test flew transport and troop-carrying gliders, including the DFS 230 used at the Battle of Fort Eben-Emael.

In September 1937, Reitsch was posted to the Luftwaffe testing centre at Rechlin-Lärz Airfield by Ernst Udet. Her flying skill, desire for publicity, and photogenic qualities made her a star of Nazi propaganda. Physically she was petite in stature, very slender with blonde hair, blue eyes and a "ready smile". She appeared in Nazi propaganda throughout the late 1930s and early 1940s. Reitsch was the first female helicopter pilot and one of the few pilots to fly the Focke-Achgelis Fa 61, the first fully controllable helicopter, for which she received the Military Flying Medal. In 1938, during the three weeks of the International Automobile Exhibition in Berlin, she made daily flights of the Fa 61 helicopter inside the Deutschlandhalle. In September 1938, Reitsch flew the DFS Habicht in the Cleveland National Air Races. Reitsch was a test pilot on the Junkers Ju 87 Stuka dive bomber and Dornier Do 17 light/fast bomber projects, for which she received the Iron Cross, Second Class, from Hitler on March 28th, 1941. Reitsch was asked to fly many of Germany's latest designs, among them the rocket-propelled Messerschmitt Me 163 Komet in 1942. A crash landing on her fifth Me 163 flight badly injured Reitsch; she spent five months in a hospital recovering. Reitsch received the Iron Cross First Class following the accident, one of only three women to do so.

In February 1943 after news of the defeat in the Battle of Stalingrad she accepted an invitation from Generaloberst Robert Ritter von Greim to visit the Eastern Front. She spent three weeks visiting Luftwaffe units, flying a Fieseler Fi 156 Storch. On February 28th, 1944, she presented the idea of Operation Suicide to Hitler at Berchtesgaden, which "would require men who were ready to sacrifice themselves in the conviction that only by this means could their country be saved." Although Hitler "did not consider the war situation sufficiently serious to warrant them...and...this was not the right psychological moment", he gave his approval. The project was assigned to Gen. Günther Korten. There were about seventy volunteers who enrolled in the Suicide Group as pilots for the human glider-bomb. By April 1944, Reitsch and Heinz Kensche finished tests of the Me 328, carried aloft by a Dornier Do 217. By then, she was approached by SS-Obersturmbannführer Otto Skorzeny, a founding member of the SS-Selbstopferkommando Leonidas (Leonidas Squadron). They adapted the V-1 flying bomb into the Fieseler Fi 103R Reichenberg including a two-seater and a single-seater with and without the mechanisms to land. The plan was never implemented operationally, "the decisive moment had been missed."

In her autobiography Fliegen, mein Leben Reitsch recalled that after two initial crashes with the Fi 103R she and Heinz Kensche took over tests of the prototype Fi 103R. She made several successful test flights before training the instructors. "Though an average pilot could fly the V1 without difficulty once it was in the air, to land it called for exceptional skill, in that it had a very high landing speed and, moreover, in training it was the glider model, without engine, that was usually employed." In October 1944, Reitsch claims she was shown a booklet by Peter Riedel which he'd obtained while in the German Embassy in Stockholm, concerning the gas chambers. She further claims that while believing it to be enemy propaganda, she agreed to inform Heinrich Himmler about it. Upon doing so, Himmler is said to have asked whether she believed it, and she replied, "No, of course not. But you must do something to counter it. You can't let them shoulder this onto Germany." "You are right," Himmler replied. During the last days of the war, Hitler dismissed Hermann Göring as head of the Luftwaffe and appointed Reitsch's lover, von Greim, to replace him. Von Greim and Reitsch flew from Gatow Airport into embattled Berlin to meet Hitler in the Führerbunker, arriving on April 26th, as the Red Army troops were already in the central area of Berlin. Reitsch and von Greim had flown from Rechlin–Lärz Airfield to Gatow Airfield in a Focke Wulf 190, escorted by twelve other Fw 190s from Jagdgeschwader 26 under the command of Hauptmann Hans Dortenmann. In Berlin, Reitsch landed a Fi 156 Storch on an improvised airstrip in the Tiergarten near the Brandenburg Gate. Hitler gave Reitsch two capsules of poison for herself and von Greim. She accepted the capsule.

During the evening of April 28th, Reitsch flew von Greim out of Berlin in an Arado Ar 96 from the same improvised airstrip. This was the last plane out of Berlin. Von Greim was ordered to get the Luftwaffe to attack the Soviet forces that had just reached Potsdamer Platz and to make sure Heinrich Himmler was punished for his treachery in making unauthorised contact with the Western Allies so as to surrender. Troops of the Soviet 3rd Shock Army, which was fighting its way through the Tiergarten from the north, tried to shoot the plane down fearing that Hitler was escaping in it, but it took off successfully. Reitsch was soon captured along with von Greim and the two were interviewed together by U.S. military intelligence officers. When asked about being ordered to leave the Führerbunker on April 28th, 1945, Reitsch and von Greim reportedly repeated the same answer: "It was the blackest day when we could not die at our Führer's side." Reitsch also said: "We should all kneel down in reverence and prayer before the altar of the Fatherland." When the interviewers asked what she meant by "Altar of the Fatherland" she answered, "Why, the Führer's bunker in Berlin ..." She was held for eighteen months. Von Greim killed himself on May 24th, 1945. Evacuated from Silesia ahead of the Soviet troops, Reitsch's family took refuge in Salzburg. During the night of May 3rd, 1945, after hearing a rumour that all refugees were to be taken back to their original homes in the Soviet occupation zone, Reitsch's father shot and killed her mother and sister and her sister's three children before killing himself.

After her release Reitsch settled in Frankfurt am Main. After the war, German citizens were barred from flying powered aircraft, but within a few years gliding was allowed, which she took up again. In 1952, Reitsch won a bronze medal in the World Gliding Championships in Spain; she was the first woman to compete. In 1955 she became German champion. She continued to break records, including the women's altitude record (6,848 m (22,467 ft)) in 1957 and her first diamond of the Gold-C badge. During the mid-1950s, Reitsch was interviewed on film and talked about her wartime flight tests of the Fa 61, Me 262 and Me 163. In 1959, Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru invited Reitsch, who spoke fluent English, to start a gliding centre, and she flew with him over New Delhi. In 1961, United States President John F. Kennedy invited her to the White House. From 1962 to 1966, she lived in Ghana. The then Ghanaian President, Kwame Nkrumah invited Reitsch to Ghana after reading of her work in India. At Afienya she founded the first black African national gliding school, working closely with the government and the armed forces. The West German government supported her as technical adviser. Reitsch's attitudes to race underwent a change. "Earlier in my life, it would never have occurred to me to treat a black person as a friend or partner ..." She now experienced guilt at her earlier "presumptuousness and arrogance". She became close to Nkrumah. The details of their relationship are now unclear due to the destruction of documents, but some surviving letters are intimate in tone. In Ghana, some Africans were disturbed by the prominence of a person with Reitsch's past, but Shirley Graham Du Bois, a noted African-American writer who had emigrated to Ghana and was friendly towards Reitsch, agreed with Nkrumah that Reitsch was extremely naive politically. Throughout the 1970s, Reitsch broke gliding records in many categories, including the "Women's Out and Return World Record" twice, once in 1976 (715 km (444 mi)) and again, in 1979 (802 km (498 mi)), flying along the Appalachian Ridges in the United States. During this time, she also finished first in the women's section of the first world helicopter championships. Reitsch was interviewed and photographed several times in the 1970s, towards the end of her life, by Jewish-American photo-journalist Ron Laytner.

Reitsch died of a heart attack in Frankfurt at the age of 67, on August 24th, 1979. She had never married. She is buried in the Reitsch family grave in Salzburger Kommunalfriedhof. Former British test pilot and Royal Navy officer Eric Brown said he received a letter from Reitsch in early August 1979 in which she said, "It began in the bunker, there it shall end." Within weeks she was dead. Brown speculated that Reitsch had taken the cyanide capsule Hitler had given her in the bunker, and that she had taken it as part of a suicide pact with Greim. No autopsy was performed, or at least no such report is available.

#ww2 #world war 2 #second world war #world war ii #wwii #history #german history #biography #aviation #womens history #women in history #germany #airforce history #test pilot

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imjustthemechanic · 4 years ago

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The Price of a Soul

Part 1/? - Agent Russel Part 2/? - The Letter Part 3/? - Miss Lake Part 4/? - The Stewardess Part 5/? - An Assassination Part 6/? - Fallout Part 7/? - Face to Face Part 8/? - Deals, Details, and Other Devils Part 9/? - Baggage Part 10/? - Private Funding Part 11/? - Just Passing Through Part 12/? - Party of Four Part 13/? - Resolute Part 14/? - The Wreck Part 15/? - Body Snatchers Part 16/? - Out of the Frying Pan Part 17/? - A Miracle Part 18/? - A Matter of Circumstance Part 19/? - Nome

Somebody probably should have warned Howard.

Peggy felt a need to wash her face again before she went back to the infirmary to see how Steve was getting along. She didn’t doubt he’d be just fine, as he always was, but there was a part of her that really needed to see for herself. Like Howard wanting to stay at the crash site, it would be a while before she felt sure he wouldn’t simply vanish if she turned her back.

She stood in front of the mirror and tried to fix her hair a little, but in the end decided that was a lost cause. It had been days since she’d been able to wash up properly, and while the redness and swelling from Kay’s chemical spray had gone down, the windburn of the long, cold helicopter flight was still very visible, as were the effects of her recent bout of tears. She had no fresh clothes to put on, and no makeup to cover anything. She looked grotesque.

So of course when she sat down by Steve’s bedside, he smiled at her and said, “you look beautiful.”

“I do not!” she snorted, “and I ought to thump you one for such a lie!”

“You can’t thump me, I’m a sick man!” Steve protested, and wiggled down under the covers trying to look pathetic. It failed, of course. He’d been sitting up and eating when Peggy entered the room.

“You’re as well as you’ve ever been in your life, Steve Rogers,” said Peggy, “and I believe the doctors will take my side on that!”

One of said doctors – sporting a picturesque black eye from the earlier fight – looked up from a clipboard. “I wouldn’t say that,” he said, “but he’s well on his way to recovery. Amazing.” He shook his head. “Never seen anything like it.”

“I hear that a lot,” said Steve, but his smile was gone now. “It’s really been three years?” he asked Peggy.

She nodded. “Yes, darling. We didn’t realize you’d gone so far north.”

“Huh.” He looked away. “I can’t believe you kept looking for me that long.”

Peggy’s insides twisted. “Well… we didn’t, honestly. Schmidt was dead and Hitler shot himself just a few days later, but there was still the Pacific theatre, and…” She swallowed. “Howard found the cube and we locked that away, but after that the army wouldn’t fund the search anymore.”

“Oh,” said Steve.

She grabbed his hand. “If we’d known you were alive, we would never have let it go that long,” she promised… though that probably didn’t reassure him. He must be thinking what she had, wondering if he might have had to wait centuries or millennia. At least he hadn’t heard Kay tell Peggy that seventy years would have been more than long enough. “I’m so sorry, Steve, but… well, we thought you were dead. After a few weeks in the arctic…” They’d been certain that even Steve must have perished, if he hadn’t been killed instantly in the crash.

“Right, right.” He nodded, and brought a hand up to her cheek. “Don’t apologize, Peggy, it’s… you were right, I should have given you my position. I saw the ground coming and I… at the last minute there…” He swallowed hard.

Peggy shut her eyes as tears threatened to overflow again, and wrapped both her hands around his to squeeze it tight. Nobody could have foreseen this. Nobody but a woman to whom it was already the long-ago past.

“Did you ever find him?” Steve asked. “I mean… Bucky? Or…”

She knew if she opened her eyes she’d find him looking right into them… and she also knew they’d be full of desperate hope even as he already knew what the answer would be. “I’m afraid not. The valleys there are impassable most of the year…”

“The Russians found him,” said Kay.

Peggy hadn’t even realized she’d entered the room, but when she looked up, she found Kay standing at the end of Steve’s bed. Her blonde hair was askew and flattened by her hat, and her face, too, was pink and puffy from crying, but she still looked better than Peggy did.

“They were in the area at the time,” she added. “They knew HYDRA had a route through there and they were looking for anything that might have fallen from the trains. They didn’t know who he was, but they found him and took him back with them. The dead HYDRA men, too.”

Steve nodded. “That’s good… I’m glad somebody took care of him.”

“It’s not quite as simple as that,” said Kay, “but I’ll tell you more when you’re feeling better.” She turned around, and walked out of the room.

Steve sat up a little, as if he planned to get up and follow her, but Peggy and the doctor both took hold of him and gently pushed him back down onto the bed.

“Steve, don’t, she won’t tell you anything until she’s ready,” Peggy said.

“Captain Rogers,” the doctor said at the same time, “you need to recover your strength.”

“I feel fine!” Steve protested, but he must have been tired, because he lay back down and rested his head on the pillow. “Who is she?” he asked Peggy.

“I… I’m not entirely sure,” Peggy replied. “I know she’s Russian. She’s told me a story about her past but I don’t know whether to believe it. She did know where to find you, though.” Kay didn’t seem to be an enemy, but Peggy still wasn’t sure she really counted as an ally, either. She definitely wasn’t a friend, though, there was no question about that.

Steve nodded. “If she can tell us where his grave is…”

“I don’t know if that will be possible,” Peggy warned. “The relationship between the US and the USSR has deteriorated a bit.”

She wondered if she should have phrased it that way. Would Steve wonder if other relationships might have deteriorated? He now knew how long he’d been gone…

His thoughts must have been tending in that general direction, because the next thing he said was, “I know I’m late… but is there any chance we could still make that dance?”

Peggy ducked her head as if to hide a blush – but really to hide the tears that were welling up again. “I’ll see what I can do,” she promised. But even that was a lie, wasn’t it? How could she have that long-delayed dance with Steve when she’d found somebody else? Daniel wouldn’t begrudge her one dance, but would he believe her if she promised it would only be one dance?

She couldn’t tell Steve about Daniel yet. Not when he’d only just awakened and had so many other things to catch up on, but the longer she waited the harder it would be.

The Valiant had to return to its normal route patrolling the arctic ocean, so a couple of days later, when the doctors were satisfied that Steve wasn’t about to suddenly collapse, he, Masters, Peggy, and Kay were loaded into a small plane to take them to Nome, Alaska. The crew of the carrier turned out in their dress uniforms with a band playing to send them off, and somebody had made a Welcome Back Captain America banner to hang from the ship’s superstructure. Steve smiled awkwardly and waved to them as he climbed into the plane.

“Get used to it,” Peggy murmured to him. “I imagine there’ll be a very similar reception waiting for you when we reach the mainland.”

“Oh, several of them,” Kay agreed. “You’re going to have to make a cross-country tour.”

“Great, something to look forward to,” said Steve sarcastically.

“You’ve never liked being fussed over,” she observed.

“When I was little it usually meant they thought I was going to die,” Steve told her.

The plane took off into a clear blue arctic sky, heading southwest over Alaska to get to the town of Nome. Steve sat looking out the window, but he kept his hand in hers, and she couldn’t help looking at him. The cuts and bruises she’d helped him with after the train were healing quickly, as they always did. In a couple more days they’d be gone. There was already no trace to show he’d spent three years frozen in the sea ice. Physically as well as mentally, he hadn’t aged a day.

Peggy had been a year younger than him when he’d left. She wondered if she would now be considered two years older.

He glanced back and noticed her staring, and she quickly turned her head. “Sorry,” Peggy said. “I just… can’t quite believe you’re real.”

One of the things they hadn’t been sure of, one of the things Erskine had never been able to test, was the question of whether somebody who’d had the serum would age normally. Not enough time had passed to see whether Steve was getting older, but the fact that he’d survived this latest ordeal made it seem unlikely that time could touch him. What would happen if in twenty years, Peggy had gotten older and Steve had not?

During the war they’d both been ready to deal with that as it came. Steve probably still was. Peggy wasn’t so sure.

“What about you?” she asked, trying to distract herself from that uncomfortable thought and the problems surrounding it. “What are you looking at out there?”

“Nothing, exactly,” he said. “I’m just… thinking.”

“About what?” Peggy asked.

“About what Buck would have said if he were here. He, uh… he would have told me I’m an idiot,” Steve said with an embarrassed smile. “He would have told me that if I’d given it a few more days I would have realized I didn’t want to die, and he’d be right. In the last few seconds when I knew the water was coming in, I tried to get out. But I couldn’t. He wouldn’t have wanted me to die.”

“I could have told you that,” said Peggy.

“I’m surprised you haven’t yet,” said Kay from the seat behind them.

“I was saving it for when the initial joy wore off,” Peggy replied. “Then I was going to give him a real earful.”

Kay giggled, but Peggy had to suppress a shudder. His last thought being that he didn’t want to die after all, only for him to wake up and find he was alive but three years had gone by without him… that had to be enough of a shock. Three years, however, was merely a hiatus – seventy was a lifetime. She rearranged her fingers, lacing them through his, and wished Kay hadn’t painted quite so vivid a picture of it.

There was no fanfare waiting for them in Nome, to Steve’s obvious relief. When they landed on the little airstrip, there was nobody there to meet them but a few more military men, and Howard and Jason. The ramp came down, and Kay was the first off the plane, followed by Peggy and Steve. Howard was so happy to see any of them that he ran up to give Kay a hug.

“What do they feed you Russian girls to make you indestructible?” he asked.

“Various experimental versions of the super-soldier serum,” Kay replied.

Howard blinked and then held her out at arm’s length again to examine her facial expression. She remained entirely deadpan, but after a moment he decided she was joking, and laughed awkwardly before turning to hug Peggy.

“I think you’re just too stubborn to die,” he said.

“Damned right,” Peggy agreed. “I have far too much to do.”

He responded with a more genuine laugh and hugged her again, while Jason happily greeted Kay. Steve had stood back for this, but then came up to take his turn saying hello to Howard, on the assumption that his friend was expecting him.

Peggy had assumed this as well. She hadn’t told Jason that Steve was alive, but Captain Lewis must have radioed ahead to have somebody there to meet them, and would have surely told that person. And since Peggy had told Lewis that Howard and Jason would be there as well, it seemed reasonable to her that one of the military men would have spoken to them.

Evidently this was not true. Steve stepped forward with a smile on his face, clearly expecting a hug of his own, and said, “Howard! Good to see you!” But instead of returning the greeting, Howard stopped cold. The colour drained from his face, and then his legs simply folded up underneath him. If Peggy hadn’t caught him, he would have fallen face-first onto the asphalt.

“Is he okay?” one of the soldiers asked.

Peggy lay him down gently and took his pulse. “He’s out cold,” she said. “I think he’ll be fine. Does anyone have any smelling salts?”

One of the soldiers went to fetch some from the first aid kit on the airplane, while Steve and Peggy carried Howard’s unconscious body into a car so they could lie him down comfortably. Once that was done, Steve stepped back and looked at Jason, somewhat worried about what his reaction might be.

“Captain,” said Jason. “Dr. Jason Wilkes. I work for Stark Industries. I saw you once or twice during the war, but we never actually met.”

“Nice to meet you, Dr. Wilkes,” said Steve. They shook hands.

The smelling salts brought Howard around, gagging. “What happened?” he groaned. “Peg? I thought I saw…”

“You did,” Peggy told him. “Steve’s alive. He’s here.”

Howard sat up a bit to see Steve looking over Peggy’s shoulder, and after a moment in which he could only sit there with his mouth hanging open, he began to grin. “Well, son of a gun!”

#fanfic #agent carter #captain america #peggy carter #steve rogers #steggy #fix it fic

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bluebellhairpin · 5 years ago

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All The Things Unsaid

Chuck Hansen x Jaeger Pilot!Reader

A/N: I’m proud of this. Please don’t let it flop. Chuck Hansen and Pacific Rim fans rise! - Nemo

Warning(s): Character death. Kaiju’s. Angst

Summary: You were recruited as a Ranger to fight Kaiju’s - giant monsters from the sea. At your last stand, you join Chuck Hansen - a man you’ve had feelings for for years - to pilot Striker Eureka.

Masterlist

In the depths of the pacific ocean lies a portal. We call the portal the Breach.

From that portal comes creatures from another world. We call them Kaijus.

Millions were killed before the world banned together to make metal monsters of our own to fight back. We called them Jaegers.

Due to the mental connection between the Jaeger and human, two had to pilot the Jaegers to share the mental load, meaning the two opened their thoughts and memories with each other. We call that drifting.

In 2020 when I was Seventeen, a Jaeger by the name of Gipsy Danger was manned solo by a pilot called Raleigh Becket in Alaska after his other pilot - and brother Yancy - was killed. Raleigh has - so far - never stepped foot in a Jaeger again.

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My sister - (s/n) (l/n) - and I pilot a Jaeger called Azurite Victory. Victory is unique, built especially for pilots like me and my sister. The only problem we had with her was exactly that; pilots like me and my sister, not for us. Out of all the Mark-4 Jaegers, she was a ‘special order’, built with speakers, and unique weapons. Her old pilots were Kye and Kade Sallow - twins from Australia - and they’d been killed during one of their first Kaiju attacks.

Even though the Victory was built for them, they weren’t built for the Victory.

When my sister and I arrived at the Australian Shatterdome in 2021, the Azurite Victory had been rebuilt, and was sitting around waiting for it’s next set of pilots. Sharing a look, my sister and I knew that she was ours. She was our Jaeger, even if we hadn’t been given her yet.

After a series of tests, the Victory was deemed ours. We were deployed for the first time a week later. Luckily, we survived. Mostly thanks to another Jaeger; Striker Eureka.

Once we were docked, we met with the pilots; father and son duo Hercules and Chuck Hansen.

Hercules - or Herc as he said to be called - was definitely the nicer of the two, he even gave us both pats on our shoulders for the job well done. Chuck wasn't so friendly. He didn't do so much more than send me a scowl before walking off with his dog in tow.

Over time Chuck grew more friendly, but he was hardly nice yet. At least he didn't frown at us when we walked past.

Then the Jaegers were said to be unnecessary - the governments had built walls around the coasts of the pacific to protect the people from the kaiju. Victory and her pilots were moved to Hong Kong, kept in the Shatterdome there until the Breach was sealed. Not a month passed before a kaiju attacked Sydney bay, crashing through the wall like it was butter. The only reason so many survived was because Striker and Hansen's stayed that little longer than us.

It became pretty clear that we were still needed. But there was only four working jaegers; Cherno Alpha, Crimson Typhoon, Striker Eureka, and Azurite Victory.

Gipsy Danger was being rebuilt, and after a talk with Pentecost I found out he was bringing Raleigh Becket back. How, I had no idea, but whatever the Marshall did, it worked. He had soon picked his drifting partner - Mako Mori.

Raleigh and Mako had capability, that much was seen through the sparring they did, but when it came to drifting for the first time, all hell broke loose. Even with everyone evacuating or trying to turn Gipsy off, it didn't work fast. Not until Herc, Tendo and Chuck were able to power down the drifting.

Apparently, Chuck wasn't very happy about what happened. Mostly about the almost dying part. He showed his displeasure in one of the worst ways possible.

I don’t know why I did it, but I went to him after he thrashed Raleigh, and Raleigh thrashed him. I, in all my stupidity, went to help clean him up. When I went back to my dorm, (s/n) said it sounded like I was telling him off more than patching him up, all the while looking at me like I’d done something she was proud of.

Considering she was in my head a lot, she knew what I really thought about Chuck. Sure, it was annoying, self-absorbed, and seemed to hate everyone, I still liked him. In the way that meant my heart and stomach turned uncomfortably heavy whenever he went out against a kaiju.

What if he got hurt?

What if the kaiju was too strong?

What if the Victory couldn't get to Striker in time?

What if he didn’t come back this time?

(s/n) said I was whipped. She was right.

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Soon after the Gipsy almost destroyed the Shatterdome, a Kaiju attacked Hong Kong. Alpha and Typhoon were deployed to meet the kaiju and attack, while Striker was to stay back and make sure they didn’t get through. (s/n) and I were in the Shatterdome, waiting in Azurite Victory in case Alpha or Typhoon needed help.

Raleigh and Mako weren’t supposed to be joining us. They’d only drifited once, and that didn’t end well. Pentecost didn’t want to risk it again, so they stayed with him in the control room with Tendo.

Even with one Kaiju, it became pretty clear Victory was needed. We were sent out right away, placed in the water in front of Striker, and went straight to work to try and help the others. Despite Victory's light weight, and slim build, we didn’t make it in time.

Crimson Typhoon and his three pilots were ripped apart between metal and kaiju flesh.

While we were trying to help Alpha, another Kaiju emerged, jumping on their back. They obviously saw Alpha as more of a threat, aiming their forces at the Russian Jaeger until they couldn’t handle it anymore.

Cherno Alpha and it’s pilots were killed, crushed by the kaiju’s defenses and the water.

“(y/n),” (s/n) started, looking ahead to focus on the kaijus, “There’s two of them, and one of us.”

“I know, I know. You know I know that.” I said, flexing the clawed fingers of Victory’s left hand. She was getting antsy, and making me like that too from our connection.

“One is leaving! Otachi, towards the city! We can’t go after them both.” she said, then addressed Pentecost. “We need Gipsy Danger. We can’t risk Striker getting destroyed too.”

“That’s a negative Ranger, you know it’s risky.”

“Deploy Gipsy Danger! Now!” I shouted, grunting after as we moved to fend off Leatherback from going to the city too.

“Striker engaging Otachi. Victory is free to pursue Leatherback.” Herc said over comms, disobeying Pentacost’s orders to stay where they were without hesitation.

“Victory engaging Leatherback.” My sister and I said. Even when we weren’t drifting we had an uncanny ability to talk in unison, freaking out others with it was one of our favorite things to do. “Be careful Striker.” I added, (s/n) snickering beside me.

“Copy that, (y/n).” Chuck said, and Striker went off after Otachi.

We moved fast, (s/n) deploying the bladed whip on Victory's right arm, enabling us to wrap it around the kaiju’s middle, as I extended the claws. It was supposed to be an easy kill. At the same time, Striker was preparing it’s missiles, and Leatherback emitted a wave of electricity, turning our Jaegers off completely.

Not even our comms worked anymore.

“(y/n), we need to get out of here.” (s/n) said after trying to reboot Victory, letting the straps of her harness go as she stepped free. I could hardly open my mouth to tell her to strap back in before Otachi came back around at us from the city, it’s tail came down on Victory’s head and neck, ripping the right side apart like a kid at it’s presents on Christmas.

That’s all it took for my sister to get crushed, killed by the same creatures that took our friends and family. That’s all it took for me to be ripped from the Victory’s cockpit and into the crisp dark water below along with masses of Azurite Victory’s metal plating.

I don't know how I survived the fall, but I did, and managed to stay conscious and above water until the Kaijus went far enough away for the rescue helicopters to get to both Hansen's and me.

----------

I woke back in the Shatterdome. Sitting up from the stretcher they had me on I was hit with a mass of nausea and memories, so I lay back down. There was stinging from places on my face where my helmet broke, but apart from that, the cold water, and the fact that I lost my sister and Jaeger, I was okay.

Okay enough.

“(y/n)!” I sat up again, slower, to see Chuck reach me as I was settled to be looked at by medics near one of the bay doors with Herc. “Jesus, when that kaiju... I thought you’d died.” he said, standing close by. I could tell from the way he was acting he wanted to day more. To do more. But he wasn’t that kind of person. He didn’t do ‘feelings’.

“Where’s (s/n).” I said, knowing the answer. I wondered if anyone would tell me.

“Killed in action.”

“Just like the Wei’s. Sasha and Aleksis. Yancy.” I started, wincing as a medic started patching up a cut near my eye. “We have two Jaegers. We’re losing time -”

“Don’t you start being pessimistic. That’s my job. You’re the nice one.” Chuck mumbled, looking from his father to me. “But, I mean, while we’re listing the bad, Striker only has one pillot now.”

“No, I could- Ah!” Herc said, yelling out when the medic passively moved his hurt arm. “Mate, that doesn't bend like that.”

“You’re not fit to pilot.” Herc’s medic said.

----------

Herc wasn’t fit to pilot. Both the medics and Pentecost through that, along with pretty much everyone else.

Pentecost offered to Pilot with Chuck, knowing he was either going to die in a Jaeger or stuck in a control room. Even I would’ve chosen to pilot a Jaeger instead, but he had Mako to look after. He had an army of people. He was the Marshall. He was needed in the Shatterdome.

So as Pentecost was on his way to suit up, I caught him. I explained, almost begged at one point, and somehow he said yes.

The next time I saw him, he was talking to Chuck and a confused Herc. I stepped out of the bay door and went towards the small group.

“Meet your co-pilot, Hansen.” Pentecost said, stepping aside to let me into the circle. Chuck’s mouth dropped open, then his face turned from one of shock to anger.

“Was there no one else! Why her? Why (y/n)?” he said, his hand clutching his helmet harder.

“It’s not about whether there was no one else or not. (y/n) is the best option, and she’s willing to drift with you.” Pentecost explained,and Herc looked over at me with a slight smile.

“Drifting with Chuck Hansen isn’t something for the light-hearted.” he said, gripping Ma’s leash much like Chuck did with his helmet. They were more similar than they thought. “I think I��ll owe you one for this.”

“If I come back.” I joked, pushing my own helmet closer to my chest. Maybe we were all similar.

“When you come back.” Herc said, nodding assurance at both Chuck and I.

-----------

“(s/n) and I were still drifting when she died.” I started, looking ahead, but I knew Chuck was looking at me now. “Like Raleigh with Yancy.” A moment silence passed with nothing but the clank of the elevator. “I thought I should warn you. Just in case.”

Fingers wrapped around my own, warm and rough but comforting all the same. They were his, and I’d wanted to feel them in mine for so long. He’d know that. In less than a few minutes he’d know that. It was no use hiding it now.

I curled my fingers in his, stepping closer so our arms were flush together.

“We’ll be okay.” he said to me, stiffening, and then leaning over to press a kiss to my head. “We’ll be okay.” he repeated to himself more than me.

We didn’t know each other well, but the connection was there. The bond was there. Where Herc and Chuck could drift because they were father and son, and where (s/n) and I could because we were sisters, Chuck and I could just because.

No words could describe it. We were made to drift together, and we hadn’t even drifted yet.

----------

“Preparing for neural handshake, in fifteen.... Fourteen…” Tando started the countdown, and Chuck and I looked at each other. I smiled at him.

“You ready to read my mind Ranger.”

“You should be worrying about mine,” Chuck started, mirroring my smile, “It gets pretty headstrong sometimes.” I laughed, taking a look at Chuck before closing my eyes and waiting to drift.

“Neural Handshake engaging now.”

What I thought, what I felt, made me speechless. Years of emotions, feelings, memories, and sights, all from Chuck’s point of view swept over me in an instant.

The times he wanted to hold me close, when he wanted to pull me onto him, when he wanted to celebrate successful missions with me.

You always looked so happy, I wanted to be part of that, but no one wants me around. I’m cocky, arrogant, self-assured. We’re like Yin and Yang. But I can’t help but not care what others might think. I’ve needed you near me so many times I’ve lost count.

The life he wants to live.

We’ll go somewhere quiet. Live all on our own. Max might stay with Herc, but if you want we could get another dog. We could have two. Or five. I’d cook for you. Or I’d learn how to cook for you.

The things he wants to do.

There’s this canyon in Northern Australia. You’d love it there. The sunsets are amazing. We could watch them together. If you want, I could probably handle going to some beaches. Just for you.

The things he never said.

I love you. You’re perfect. Beautiful. Kind. Compassionate. Selfless. How can anyone not love you?

I wanted to stop it all, play it back, see it all clearer, but I couldn’t.

From the look on Chuck’s face, he felt the same. He knew everything I did, and I never had to say a word. Our complete trust was in each other. We waited so long. Too long.

“Neural handshake holding strong and steady at a hundred percent.” Tendo laughed, and suddenly hope wasn’t something so far fetched anymore.

#chuck hansen x reader #pacific rim x reader #chuck hansen imagine #pacific rim imagine #chuck hansen one shot #pacific rim one shot

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For United States agents, see Federal law enforcement in the United States.

U.S. Agent (John Walker) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, usually those starring Captain America and the Avengers. He first appeared in Captain America #323 (November 1986) as Super-Patriot.[1] He was later redesigned as an incarnation of Captain America and, a few years later, as U.S. Agent.

U.S. Agent

U.S. Agent.

Art by Leinil Francis Yu.

Publication informationPublisherMarvel ComicsFirst appearanceAs Super-Patriot:

Captain America #323 (November 1986)

As Captain America:

Captain America #333 (September 1987)

As U.S. Agent:

Captain America #354 (June 1989)Created byMark Gruenwald

Paul NearyIn-story informationAlter egoJohn F. WalkerSpeciesHuman (empowered)Team affiliationsMighty Avengers

Omega Flight

New Invaders

S.T.A.R.S.

The Jury

Force Works

Secret Defenders

West Coast Avengers

Dark Avengers

Commission on Superhuman Activities

Bold Urban Commandos

Astonishing AvengersPartnershipsBattlestarNotable aliasesJack Daniels, Super-Patriot, Captain AmericaAbilitiesExceptional hand-to-hand combatant

Highly trained acrobat and gymnast

Superhuman strength, agility, reflexes/reactions and endurance

Peak-level speed, dexterity, coordination and balance

Use of nearly indestructible shield and firearms

Wyatt Russell portrays John Walker in the Marvel Cinematic Universe streaming television series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (2021).

Publication history

Fictional character biographyEdit

OriginEdit

Learn more

This section needs additional citations for verification.

John Walker was born in the fictional town of Custer's Grove, Georgia. He grew up idolizing his older brother, Mike, a helicopter pilot who died in the Vietnam War in 1974. John wanted to live up to Mike's memory, who was idolized by their parents, and so he later enlisted in the military. John served at Fort Bragg, although it was never specifically stated which unit he was attached to.[5] Unfortunately for John, he served during peacetime and so never became the hero that he perceived Mike to have been.

After John received an honorable discharge from the United States Army, he was told by a friend about the Power Broker, a mysterious individual who gave people superhuman abilities.[volume & issue needed] Walker and his friend received treatments that granted superhuman abilities.[6]

Super-PatriotEdit

John Walker as Super-Patriot. Cover of Captain America #327 (March 1987). Art by Mike Zeck and Bob McLeod.

Walker, now in debt to the Power Broker, intends to join the Unlimited Class Wrestling Federation but meets Ethan Thurm who becomes his manager and persuades Walker to become a hero instead. Thurm secures financial backing, helps Walker design a costume, and sets out a strategy that allows him to debut as the corporate-sponsored Super-Patriot who then travels the country promoting his image to the nation through patriotic rallies and community service.[6]

At a rally in Central Park, he holds a secretly rehearsed performance in which he publicly criticizes Captain America and is subsequently attacked by three extremist supporters called the Bold Urban Commandos or "Buckies". Walker defeats the Buckies in the staged fight as a demonstration of his combat prowess and patriotism. Steve Rogers confronts Walker privately afterwards and demands that he stop using the Buckies, since people attending the rally could have been hurt in a panic resulting from the staged attack. Walker refuses, arguing that his actions are justified by his quest to replace the outdated Captain America as the nation's symbol.[7]

When Captain America repeatedly refuses his challenges to a fight, Super-Patriot attacks Captain America. Although Captain America proves to be a more skilled fighter and lands blow after blow, the trash-talking Walker manages to absorb the attacks. With neither man falling after a lengthy brawl, Super-Patriot flings a number of throwing stars at Captain America who is too tired to dodge. One hits in the chest, embedding into Captain America's uniform but doing little to no actual physical damage. With the successful strike, the gleeful Super-Patriot claims victory and promptly departs. The weary and dejected Captain America tries to tell himself that the fight was a draw, as neither man actually went down but is nonetheless left questioning his own fighting abilities while acknowledging Super-Patriot's superior strength and stamina.[8]

Walker catches the eye of the nation though when he tackles the terrorist Warhead who threatens to detonate a nuclear weapon in Washington, D.C. atop the Washington Monument. Walker scales the monument, disarming Warhead with a throwing star, before sending Warhead plummeting to the ground below. Warhead – preferring to go out 'like a man' – kills himself before hitting the ground by detonating a hand grenade.[9]

This high-profile act makes him an instant celebrity, appearing in The Washington Post and on national television where he claims himself to be "America's future", which in turn brings him to the attention of Valerie Cooper's role as a Presidential advisor.[6]

Captain AmericaEdit

Soon after, Steve Rogers abandons Captain America's costume and identity when ordered to report directly to the Commission on Superhuman Activities, feeling that Captain America had grown beyond the name's original role as a symbol of America during the war and not wanting to be tied down to a political agenda.[9] The Commission debate who should be the new Captain America, with Nick Fury and Sam Wilson both being considered as candidates, although it was considered that the former was too old and would not want to give up the autonomy enjoyed as Director of S.H.I.E.L.D, where as in the case of the latter they did not believe that the United States was ready for a black equivalent.[10]

Dr. Valerie Cooper, a member of the Commission, suggests that Walker should be made the new Captain America as a U.S. government operative. Though repulsed by the notion of giving up being Super-Patriot and taking on the Captain America identity he has criticized so much, Walker ultimately answers, "Ma'am, if Uncle Sam wanted me to be Mickey Mouse, I'd do it." As Captain America, he is forced to abandon Thrum as his manager, and can only retain Lemar Hoskins, one of the Buckies, since the other two fail to pass background checks.[6]

Walker is partnered with Hoskins as the new Bucky but Hoskins later changes the codename to "Battlestar" due to the negative racial name connotations for a black man. The two follow Adrian Sammish's orders. Walker is trained by the Freedom Force, the Guardsmen, and the Taskmaster—Taskmaster's training focusing on teaching him how to use Captain America's shield—and goes on his first mission against the Watchdogs militia group.[11]

Another of Walker's early acts as Captain America was a mission to "aid stability and democracy in South America" by teaming up with the Tarantula in order to hunt escaped political dissidents from his home country on behalf of its oppressive regime in order to silence them. Despite believing in the fight against Communism and in the principle of helping America's "Democratic allies in Latin America", Walker becomes increasingly uncomfortable with the methods used by Tarantula after he interrogates and threatens occupants of an immigration detention center for information on his targets. The two battle and wound Spider-Man, however Walker �� increasingly conflicted by the fact that both the immigrants who Tarantula interrogated and Spider-Man looked upon him and the uniform he wore with fear, seeing him as an enemy – decides to walk away, convincing himself that this course of action was not something that Captain America would support. Spider-Man ultimately defeats Tarantula and Walker later learns that the individual who gave him his orders to help Tarantula was a rogue agent who did so without legal authority, beating him and telling him that the uniform he wears is supposed to inspire, not terrify.[12]

Although Walker finds himself trying to emulate Rogers's ethics, Walker is more brutal than his predecessor due to his reactionary points of view. His superhuman strength and lack of emotional control lead him to inadvertently beat Professor Power to death.[13] as well as badly injure 'The Resistants' mutant group.[14]

Left-Winger and Right-Winger, the two rejected Buckies, crash the press conference arranged by Cooper to reveal the "new" Captain America and Battlestar, and announce Walker's name and birthplace on national TV.[15] His parents are subsequently killed by the Watchdogs; this incident drives Walker closer to a mental breakdown, particularly when the Commission orders him not to step out of line in the future, resulting in him missing his parents' funeral due to his responsibilities. In a state of rage, he kills many of the Watchdogs,[16] and beats Left-Winger and Right-Winger to a pulp, leaving the two to die in an explosion,[17] and are left terribly burned and in critical condition.[volume & issue needed] Walker is then captured by Flag-Smasher, but rescued by Rogers, Battlestar, and D-Man.[18]

The Red Skull, now in a clone body of Steve Rogers, lures Walker to Washington, D.C. The Red Skull attacks Walker with a horde of Walker's enemies, but Walker kills or critically injures the enemies all in a single brawl. The Red Skull arranges for Walker to confront Rogers—now using "the Captain" identity and costume—but Rogers defeats him and confronts the Red Skull. Walker wakes up and throws his shield at the Red Skull, causing the latter to be exposed to his own "dust of death" which resulted in the supervillain's reddish skull appearance, but the Red Skull escapes. Rogers and Walker give a report to the Commission, which returns the Captain America uniform to Rogers. Rogers declines the offer, but Walker persuades Rogers to reconsider and accept it. At a press conference announcing the original Captain America's return, General Haywerth fakes Walker's assassination by a Watchdog in order to set up Walker in a new identity.[19]

To address Walker's psychosis, he is hypnotized into believing his parents are still alive, and he would not recover his full memory for many years. He is also given a new cover identity of 'Jack Daniels' as well as speech therapy and work to erase old mannerisms in order to help hide the fact that he was the man the public had recently seen "assassinated".[20]

U.S. Agent/West Coast AvengersEdit

Walker soon resurfaced as an adventurer known as the U.S. Agent, wearing a variation of the Captain costume and using the vibranium disc as a shield. Walker continued to work for the Commission. He was first seen as the U.S. Agent, battling an Iron Monger as a test for the Commission.[20] He was placed as a watchdog of West Coast Avengers and the Vision by the Commission, as a condition to possibly get their government clearance reinstated.[21] Some time later, he rescued Battlestar from the Power Broker, and reconciled with the former; Walker learned that his memories had been altered and that his parents were dead.[22]

The manner of his appointment to the West Coast Avengers team, and his own abrasive attitude, saw U.S. Agent frequently come into conflict with his colleagues, in particular the headstrong Hawkeye (Clint Barton), which culminated in a battle between the two that saw both suspended.[23] He later almost killed Spider-Woman (Julia Carpenter) – an ex-employee of U.S. Agent's former employers – hesitating over delivering the fatal blow before collapsing in grief – his guilt over his long history of violence catching up with him.[24]

While under the employ of the Commission for Superhuman Activities, U.S. Agent was charged with the responsibility of taking down the Punisher (Frank Castle). U.S. Agent locates the Punisher and after some hand-to-hand combat, the Punisher discloses in attempting to take down the Maggia; he agrees to help the Punisher, vowing to take the Punisher into custody once they had done so. U.S. Agent takes down the superpowered mercenary Paladin who had been employed to kill the Punisher by the Maggia, breaking both legs with his shield. Ultimately, the Punisher upon completing the mission escapes U.S. Agent by dressing a deceased henchman in his uniform and leaving him in a burning building, convincing U.S. Agent that the Punisher had perished in the fire. U.S. Agent is berated by his employers who inform him that his job is to act, not think and declaring that it is no wonder that he failed as Captain America. U.S. Agent walks away halfway through his dressing-down.[25]

U.S. Agent was once more forced to choose between following the rules and laws of the nation he had dedicated himself to serving, or ignoring said rules in favor of doing what he personally believed to be right, when he investigated a series of gruesome murders of illegal immigrants on the Mexico/U.S border who he later discovered were being committed by a corrupt law enforcement official.[26]

U.S. Agent investigates the killer "the Scourge of the Underworld" and discovers that Scourge is not an individual at all, but is in fact essentially a franchise of killers trained towards the singular purpose of wiping out the menace posed by the world's various super-villains.[27] U.S. Agent attempts to infiltrate the organization but is captured, tortured and interrogated until he is released by a masked operative who reveals himself to be none other than Mike Walker – U.S. Agent's older brother who he had long thought to have died in the Vietnam War. Mike tries to convince U.S. Agent to join the Scourge program before letting him go in order to think it over.[28]

It is later revealed that "Mike" is not U.S. Agent's brother at all but rather a cleverly designed deception intended to lure U.S. Agent into joining the Scourge program himself. U.S. Agent decides against joining the program at which point 'Mike' – better known as 'Bloodstain' – attempts to wipe him out unsuccessfully.[29]

Through interrogating members of the Scourge organization, Agent traces its mysterious benefactor back to a high-class estate, at which point he is revealed to be none other than Thomas Holloway – the man previously known as the World War II era hero "The Avenging Angel" – who reveals how he had set up the Scourge organization using his immense wealth after witnessing an innocent bystander killed by a criminal's bullet meant for him. Unable to continue his costumed career because of the guilt he instead decided to set up the organization to atone for his failings as a crime fighter and battle those criminals who would undermine America's moral character.[volume & issue needed]

U.S. Agent and Bloodstain battle one last time, and Bloodstain is eventually dispatched by his own bullets as they deflect off U.S. Agent's shield. Thomas Holloway is subsequently arrested for his crimes and the Scourge program seemingly closed down. Later, U.S. Agent muses that just like Holloway he had done things as a hero that he feels he needs to make amends for, but promises that unlike Holloway he will find the true path to salvation.[30]

U.S. Agent fought alongside the Avengers in several battles. After the Avengers moved to a United Nations based charter, he received only one vote (though not from himself) in the ensuing vote and consequently lost his place on the team.[31] Even with his personality conflicts and reckless behavior, he soon proved himself worthy of being an Avenger and was able to rejoin.[32]

During his time with the West Coast Avengers, U.S.Agent participated in the 'Infinity War' in which he was part of the team that remained on Earth to protect it against Magnus waves of superhuman dopplegangers,[33] the 'Infinity Crusade', during which he was recruited by the Goddess along with other heroes who were susceptible, as they are either especially religious, mystically inclined, or have had a near-death experience,[34] and Operation Galactic Storm in which he was responsible for guarding the Kree prisoners Captain Atlas and Dr. Minerva,[35] and battled a Kree Sentry.[36]

U.S. Agent also helped the team battle the likes of the Lethal Legion,[37] Dr Demonicus and his Pacific Overlords,[38] Ultron and his robotic 'bride' War Toy,[39] the 'Night Shift',[40] the 'Bogatyri' – a group of Russian extremists intent upon ushering in a new Cold War,[41] 'Death Web' – a team of spider-themed villains,[42] and Immortus.[43]

U.S. Agent, along with fellow "replacement" heroes Thunderstrike and War Machine, was manipulated into battling the heroes who had inspired them – Captain America, Thor, and Iron Man – by the time travelling villainess "Terminatrix", before putting their differences aside to team up against their common foe.[44]

U.S. Agent along with the rest of the West Coast Avengers, the Avengers and the X-Men, participated in the 'Bloodties' crossover,[45] during which Professor X attempted to negotiate a peace to end the civil war on the island of Genosha.[volume & issue needed] U.S. Agent was charged with the responsibility of acting as bodyguard for Professor X.[46]

Captain America sarcastically cited U.S. Agent's use of his "famous powers of composure and diplomacy" as one example of the recent failings of the West Coast Avengers when he indicated his intention to shut the team down. This provoked U.S. Agent's fury who raised his hand to strike Captain America; Iron Man stopped him and uttered, "Not now. Not ever".[47]

During this time, U.S. Agent was featured in a Marvel UK comic called Super Soldiers, initially battling, then teaming up with American and British soldiers empowered by a variation of the drugs that created Nuke.[48]

Force WorksEdit

When the West Coast Avengers dissolved, he dumped his U.S. Agent costume and shield into the Hudson River.[49] Soon after, most of the then-current members of the West Coast Avengers were asked by Tony Stark to found��Force Works. Initially U.S. Agent was reluctant, however Scarlet Witch later persuaded him to join, stating that she needed U.S. Agent to be the team's "backbone" and intended to run the team on tight military lines and the values of strength and dedication that Agent had shown her during their time together on the West Coast Avengers. U.S. Agent ultimately joined the new team, wearing a new costume and using an energy-based shield provided to him by Stark.[50] Stark describes U.S. Agent as a "loose cannon", suggesting that he could have an identity problem, expressing the desire to develop a new look for him "to get U.S. Agent out of Captain America's red, white and blue shadow".[51]

U.S. Agent travels to an isolated region of Tennessee in order to locate Hawkeye who had disappeared after the death of Mockingbird. Angry at the fact that Hawkeye had abandoned his teammates when they had desperately needed his support to avoid the dissolution of the West Coast Avengers, U.S. Agent finds him and they initially fight before eventually reconciling, at which point U.S. Agent informs Hawkeye of all the recent changes – including the formation of Force Works and the death of Wonder Man (Simon Williams).[volume & issue needed]

Hawkeye vents that he has been through a lot with the loss of his wife, and that he mistrusts Tony Stark, prompting a rare showing of emotion from U.S. Agent who confesses that the death of his own parents haunts every waking moment of his life and that he more than anyone knows what it is like to live life on the outside looking in – never quite good enough for anyone – but at least he is not running and hiding from it![volume & issue needed]

The two agree to put their spat aside and sleep, with U.S. Agent telling Hawkeye that he will be taking him back in the morning regardless of any objections, however when U.S. Agent wakes Hawkeye is gone – although he leaves him a note thanking him for helping him get some things off his chest, and letting him know that he is not all bad after all.[52]

In the spirit of forgiveness, U.S. Agent later formulates a plan to reconcile Hawkeye with the rest of his former teammates – especially Stark – by inviting him as a secret guest to the Force Works Christmas party. While Hawkeye waits alone he monitors U.S. Agent and the rest of the Force Works team via video feed as they listen to Stark issue a sincere apology for his behavior in recent times – from walking out on the West Coast Avengers team, to faking his own death and not trusting them with the truth.[volume & issue needed]

Unfortunately Hawkeye only catches the part of the speech where Stark talks about Hawkeye's "loud mouthed opinions", switching the feed off before he hears Stark refer to Hawkeye as the backbone of the West Coast Avengers team, a friend, and how he misses his presence more than anything, and when U.S. Agent learns that Hawkeye has left in a temper, he wonders what on Earth could have gone wrong...[53]

U.S. Agent remained a member throughout the team's tenure, fighting threats such as the Kree,[50] alien parasites The Scatter,[54] Slorenian supernatural threat Ember, Slorenia's armored protectors Black Brigade,[55] The Mandarin,[56] fighting alongside Australian super hero Dreamguard (Willie Walkaway) against the dream-manipulating Orphan,[57] Slorenia's undead shock troops The Targoth and Volkhvy the Eternal One,[58] teaming up with the Avengers against the Kree commandos Excel,[59] intergalactic mercenary The Broker,[60] battling Force Works' own rogue security system VIRGIL,[61] an alternate reality version of deceased former Force Works member Wonder Man (Simon Williams),[62] and the Serpent Society.[63]

Heroes ReturnEdit

U.S. Agent was briefly referred to as the Liegeman as it was the codename for him in the Morgan le Fay verse.[64]

U.S. Agent briefly appears in Captain America (Vol 3) during the 'American Nightmare' story arc attempting to steal an experimental jet plane. Captain America stops him, and U.S. Agent is later seen in stasis along with others affected by the villain Nightmare.[65]

He eventually became the field leader of the Jury, a group of armored corporate vigilantes, owned by Edwin Cord, owner of Cordco. U.S. Agent again wearing his original U.S. Agent uniform and now using an eagle-shaped shield that could be directed in midair via remote control. The Jury's job was to take down the Thunderbolts, but they were defeated by the Thunderbolts and their new leader Hawkeye, a former Avenger teammate of Walker's.[66] The Jury attempted to apprehend the Thunderbolts a second time, but instead the two groups joined forces together against Brute Force and the Secret Empire's soldiers.[67]

U.S. Agent was severely beaten to near death by Protocide. Due to emergency medical procedures performed on him, he was outfitted, by S.H.I.E.L.D., with an enhancing exo-skeleton.[68]

S.T.A.R.SEdit

Following his recovery, he soon adopted a new costume and rejoined the Commission on Superhuman Activities, with the position at the head of the federal government's U.S. Marshal division, called S.T.A.R.S., the Superhuman Tactical Activities Response Squad. The group battled alien invaders and superhuman threats and was responsible for their imprisonment.[69] In this role, he was placed in charge of coordinating Earth's heroes during the 'Maximum Security' crisis when Earth became a prison planet, claiming that he was needed to prevent the other heroes getting 'sidetracked' by their concern for the prisoners to ensure that their focus remained on what was best for Earth.[70]

U.S. Agent continued to work for S.T.A.R.S as America's super human 'top cop' under the observation of Valerie Cooper. In this role his former love, and current agent of S.H.I.E.L.D, Kali Vries—who he had endured Army boot-camp with many years previously, and who had bested him in almost all physical tests—was thrust upon him as second in command. U.S. Agent was uncomfortable with Vries' appointment as she had previously jilted him, although she was still affectionate towards him. Other S.T.A.R.S agents warned Agent that Vries was playing him. Vries is later revealed to be in the employ of ambitious Senator Warkovsky and on his order places a parasite capable of allowing mind control on U.S. Agent's neck.[69]

In their second mission together U.S. Agent and Vries teamed up to tackle a radical faction of Atlantians working with the super-villain Poundcakes (Marian Pouncey). It transpired that Pouncey was attempting to trade more of the alien parasites capable of mind control with the Atlantians. The Sub-Mariner (Namor) disrupts the battle and discovers the parasite placed on U.S. Agent's neck by Vries. Vries later attends Agent's room and attempts to seduce him, placing another parasite on him. U.S. Agent—apparently no longer in control of his own will, and despite being informed that a S.H.I.E.L.D envoy had been dispatched—then takes the duffle bag full of parasites seized by S.T.A.R.S in order to take them to his manipulator who transpires to be none other than the Power Broker (Curtis Jackson)—the man originally responsible for granting John Walker his super-human powers, whose plan is to infect the International assemblage of Heads of State with the mind-controlling parasites.[71]

At this point Captain America (Steve Rogers), who had been revealed to be the S.H.I.E.L.D envoy responsible for collecting the parasites, along with Kali Vries, burst into the meeting between U.S. Agent and the Power Broker. Power Broker places a parasite on the neck of Senator Warkovsky intent upon influencing his address to the International assemblage of Heads of State, but is interrupted by U.S. Agent who is subsequently assaulted by Captain America intent upon stopping him. The two battle with neither of them able to gain the upper hand. Meanwhile, Vries is captured by the Power Broker who reveals that he had been attacked and left for dead by aliens during the 'Maximum Security' crisis at which point, barely alive, he had become the host for an alien which produced the mind-controlling parasites, subsequently attempting to expand its control by infecting influential individuals. Power Broker then infects Vries with a parasite. Eventually Agent manages to escape Captain Americas attentions long enough to reveal the presence of the parasite on Senator Warkovsky's neck and removes it with his energy baton. Together Cap and Agent fight off the crowd of V.I.P's (also apparently under the control of the Power Broker), escaping and then teaming up to restrain both Power Broker and Vries and removing the parasites from each of them. Dum Dum Dugan then appears on the scene to inform U.S. Agent that Vries, far from being a traitor, was actually a deep cover agent acting on behalf of S.H.I.E.L.D with the intention of gaining Senator Warkovsky's confidence and discovering who was using the parasites and attempting to take the mother-parasite into custody for study and as evidence. Agent destroys the specimen and then speculates that he didn't believe it to be alien at all but rather a product of a government genetics lab that went wrong. Dugan is suspicious by his silence and shocked when Captain America indicates that he believes U.S. Agent's accusation. U.S. Agent is later seen deep in thought, looking at a photo of himself and Vries during better times and reading a letter of apology from her for her deceptions. He later burns the photo before running out of his room after being informed that there is an assignment for him, declaring "I love this job!"[5]

U.S. Agent is later summoned along with fellow Avengers Captain America, Thor, Jack of Hearts, Beast, Iron Man, and She-Hulk to unite against a common threat. That threat? Litigation![volume & issue needed]

Accountants Janice Imperato and Max Catan (executives from the Maria Stark foundation who help fund the Avengers) intend to hold a meeting in order to maintain the Avengers tax exempt status, audit the team's finances, and review a recent case – a battle against the "Elements of Doom" which resulted in the expensive loss of an Avengers Quinjet, and widespread property damage.[volume & issue needed]

U.S. Agent – stubborn as ever – claims a complete lack of knowledge of the incident as he "is a very busy man". When asked to justify his actions, U.S. Agent refuses to do so, with his response being "Forget it. Theyre alive right? They should be grateful!" and accused his interrogators of just wanting to drag heroes down.[volume & issue needed]

U.S. Agent leaves his interviewers with one piece of advice: "I go out there to save lives. You just pay the bills. Just be good little bean counters – and pay em!"[72]

InvadersEdit

Clockwise from top left: Human Torch (Jim Hammond), Captain America, Sub-Mariner, Union Jack (Joseph Chapman), U.S. Agent, and Blazing Skull on the cover to New Invaders #1, with art by Scott Kolins.

Walker eventually became a member of the New Invaders,[73] wearing a Captain America-like costume,[73] serving alongside the likes of the original Human Torch, Union Jack (Joseph Chapman), and the Blazing Skull until the team disbanded.[74]

U.S. Agent's first task was to negotiate the release of the Blazing Skull from captivity at the hands of middle Eastern terrorists. It is revealed that U.S. Agent can speak fluent Arabic, but he is forced to exterminate the terrorists when they renege on the agreed deal.[75]

The New Invaders then team up with Namor and his Atlantean forces in order to overthrow the government of Mazikandar – an alliance Namor agrees to because Mazikandar has been choking the seas with pollution by sinking oil tankers in an effort to control supply to the USA.[76]

The New Invaders alongside the forces of Atlantis assault Mazikandar's government forces, scattering them and moving on to the capitol building in order to capture its head of state. Suddenly however they find themselves opposed by none other than the Avengers. U.S. Agent is confronted by Captain America, who calls him a disgrace to the uniform, instructing to take it off before he tears it off, but Walker replies that his country gave him that uniform because Rogers was not willing to do what they needed him to. Walker calls Rogers a traitor, and states that his country has given him the authority of the real Captain America, and that Rogers never understood duty to country and doing what is required to keep its shores safe. Rogers retorts that Captain America represents an ideal for all people, of all countries.[volume & issue needed]

Ultimately U.S. Agent is defeated by Rogers. Mazikandar's dictator is presented to his hand picked successor, who promptly executes his predecessor on the steps of the capitol building to the surprise of both the Invaders and Avengers alike.[77]

The murder of a man without trial causes a further schism with the Avengers, who blame the New Invaders for declaring open war on Mazikhandar. Namor responds that Mazikhandar had declared war on his nation when they decided to pollute the oceans.[volume & issue needed]

U.S. Agent – captive for the time being – receives word from the Thin Man requesting a distraction, which Walker provides by breaking his bonds and aggressively approaching Captain America, growling that the New Invaders operation is sanctioned by the U.S., Britain, and Atlantis, and that the Avengers have no grounds to interfere. Hawkeye tries to cool the situation as only the hot-headed archer could by shooting U.S. Agent in the backside, prompting the now furious Walker to turn his attention from Captain America to Hawkeye.[volume & issue needed]

With the two teams battling once more, Thin Man retreats to the inside of the Capitol building where he berates the new political leader for killing his predecessor and explaining that the previous leader had actually been a simulacrum – an imposter placed into that position when US Secretary of Defence Dell Rusk (secretly the Red Skull) had the real leader assassinated – and the New Invaders only agreed to help because they needed the synthetic alive.[volume & issue needed]

The fighting ends when Namor announces that he has formed an alliance with Mazikhandar, and that it is now a protectorate of Atlantis thus giving the Avengers no need, and no power to remain.[78]

Thin Man later informs the team that they have been formed to tackle a new threat – the "Axis Mundi" – a creation of the Red Skull and something born out of the ashes of Hitler's Third Reich, who have an army of assassins armed with sub-dimensional technology that gives them the ability to move instantly to wherever they wish without fear of barriers or borders and a plan to replace world leaders with synthezoids.[volume & issue needed]

The U.S government, needing to counter the threat first created an elite strike force – the New Invaders – then equipped them with a battleship named The Infiltrator, capable of travelling the world unseen and armed with tactical missiles with the ability to drop entire cities into sub dimensional space.[79]

Walker insisted on being called Captain America.[80] Captain America (Steve Rogers), while attempting to close down the New Invaders, threatened Walker with legal action over his use of the uniform, stating that he owned the copyright to it. Walker informed Rogers that he had only taken the role in the first place because Rogers had refused the Thin Man's invitation to lead the team and that they had to show their enemies "that Captain America is not afraid to fight!"[81]

While Walker initially proved to be unpopular with many of his new allies, he later gained their respect, in particular winning over Namor who had been a close ally of Steve Rogers. Walker saved Namor from a brainwashed and murderous Wolverine, who had been resurrected by The Hand during the "Enemy of the State" storyline. The badly injured Namor later offered Walker his personal thanks.[82]

Civil WarEdit

In the special one-shot Civil War: Choosing Sides, Tony Stark (at this point U.S Secretary of Defense) orders U.S Agent north to Canada – vulnerable due to the death of Alpha Flight, in order to act as U.S liaison to the newly formed Omega Flight team, with an objective to stop super-powered criminals attempting to flee America's Superhuman Registration Act.[volume & issue needed]

U.S. Agent reacts as expected – furiously – stating he "serves Uncle Sam, not Major Maple Leaf", and there is no way he is going to "freakin' Canada". Stark makes the case that Canada supplies the U.S with 20% of its oil, and their security is a top priority for S.H.I.E.L.D., but U.S. Agent is unimpressed and even the threat of arrest is not enough to persuade him as he storms out.[volume & issue needed]

Later U.S. Agent overcomes an attack by a team of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents mind-controlled by the super villain Purple Man, but is overcome by the Purple Man himself who orders him to fall from great height after stealing his shield – something he only survives because of his advanced biology.[volume & issue needed]

Eager for revenge, U.S. Agent's defeat gives Stark the leverage to finally persuade him to join Omega Flight when he reveals that the Purple Man has fled north himself.[83]

Omega FlightEdit

As an employee of Omega Flight, U.S. Agent is given the responsibility of training Weapon Omega (Michael Pointer).[volume & issue needed]

During a mission to take down un-registered super-criminal Tentakill, Weapon Omega passes out mid-combat for unknown reasons forcing U.S. Agent to detain the criminal single handed. Weapon Omega's unusual behaviour rouses U.S. Agent's suspicions, who is later seen to be communicating covertly with an unknown source.[volume & issue needed]

It later transpires that Weapon Omega is being manipulated by Omega Flight's handler Agent Brown as well as his psychologist Dr. Benning, but worse than that unregistered super-criminals are being detained, with no record being made of their detention, and their powers are being used to fuel Weapon Omega's energy absorbing power, resulting in the deaths of several of the inmates who are completely drained of life.[volume & issue needed]

It is later revealed that U.S. Agent is acting on behalf of Iron Man who is monitoring Weapon Omega's progress and requires U.S. Agent to obtain the data analysis of Omega's powers as well as the details of his private consultations with Omega Flight's psychologists.[volume & issue needed]

Before his departure Stark, due to his lack of knowledge that the super-villain Rap-tor had been recently detained—despite having access to all prisoner manifests—unknowingly confirms Agent's suspicions that super-villains detained by Omega Flight are not being officially recorded and that the villains are subsequently disappearing without explanation.[volume & issue needed]

U.S. Agent's suspicions grow when Weapon Omega is not seen for weeks at a time. He is repeatedly told by Agent Brown that Omega is simply unwell and resting. Arachne (Julia Carpenter), acting with U.S. Agent in order to uncover the conspiracy, spies and informs him that Weapon Omega isn't resting and for some reason he is being constantly observed.[volume & issue needed]

During their next training session U.S. Agent is easily besting Weapon Omega in combat when Omega's handlers increase the flow of power from the super-powered detainees. This results in Omega losing control as he manifests the various powers of numerous inmates, breaking U.S. Agent's ankle before manifesting the reptilian powers of Rap-tor, beating and lacerating U.S. Agent almost to death—an assault only stopped by the interference of Sasquatch (Walter Langkowski). U.S. Agent tries to warn Weapon Omega—who is shocked at his loss of control—that power is being fed into him via his suit, but is sedated before he is able to do so.[volume & issue needed]

Weapon Omega eventually realizes that he is being manipulated and that his handlers intend to continue to use him even against his will, however this is stopped by the U.S. Agent having discharged himself from the infirmary despite his severe injuries. Dr. Benning boasts that as a fail-safe had been activated, all evidence of her manipulation of Weapon Omega had been destroyed. It is at this point that Omega reveals that one of the individuals whose powers he had absorbed had been a technopath, and that he had accessed all of Benning's confidential records and sent them to Tony Stark. Weapon Omega then exposes Benning to a glimpse of the hundreds of personalities within his being, leaving her in a vegetative state. He then vows to become a hero rather than a weapon and is last seen assisting the people of Alaska—the location where his powers had first manifested, resulting in the deaths of the original Alpha Flight team.[84]

Mighty AvengersEdit

During the "Dark Reign" storyline, U.S. Agent is removed from Omega Flight by Loki (disguised as the Scarlet Witch) to aid Hank Pym in defeating the reality-altering Chthon. Initially the pro-registration U.S. Agent finds himself in combat with the anti-registration Hulk and Hercules, but they later endeavor to team up against their common foe. Chthon's power is tied to Wundagore Mountain and U.S. Agent plays a part in separating him from that source by planting explosives in order to destroy it. The team ultimately defeat Chthon, and U.S. Agent quits the Omega Flight team – with their blessing – stating it was an honor to serve with them, but 'once an Avenger, always an Avenger'.[85]

Following their victory, U.S. Agent joins the Mighty Avengers.[86] The team is sent on various missions[86] including saving the Infinite Avengers Mansion from becoming untethered from reality.[87] On a mission to China investigating the Unspoken (a former king of the Inhumans), U.S. Agent is devolved by Xenogen gas which turns him into an Alpha Primitive. He attacks Captain America (James "Bucky" Barnes) while in this condition. Quicksilver convinces him to attack the Unspoken by saying "The Commies will win!"[88] Pym later creates a new shield for U.S. Agent after his previous shield was destroyed by the Collective Man.[89]

U.S. Agent was one of the Avengers who joined Hercules in his Assault on New Olympus. He said he believes that the Gods are just people with super powers and battled against Eris, Goddess of discord.[90]

Following a conflict involving a Cosmic Cube-empowered Absorbing Man and the Dark Avengers, U.S. Agent is stripped of his rank by Norman Osborn.[91]

ThunderboltsEdit

U.S. Agent and several members of the now disbanded Mighty Avengers are called upon by Amadeus Cho during the events of Siege. Their mission is to stop Norman Osborn's Thunderbolts from stealing Odin's spear from the Asgardian armory. After engaging the Thunderbolts in battle, Nuke uses the spear to sever U.S. Agent's left arm and leg.[92]

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atlas-of-a-human-soul · 5 years ago

Text

Wicked, pt.8 (DT royal AU)

Summary: A lot can happen in ten days, especially when there’s grief involved

Warnings: ANGST, death, descriptions of murder, indicating smut, very light fluff

Word count: 3757

WICKED - SERIES MASTERLIST

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~

“He's only five days old and unaffected by death. A little innocent light with so much joy. But that will soon change and I hate it.” Y/N spoke quietly, her bitterness and grief imprinted in every line of her beautifully fallen face and her stern, strained voice. She could hardly stand as she kept her son safe in her arms, close to her chest, to her broken, still beating heart.

“We know who did it, but he’s long gone.” Ethan blinked fast, fighting his own conflicting emotions as he had to come to terms that his call had been the reason why Grayson was in that helicopter in the first place.

“Any word of the body?” Y/N piped up, turning around to meet Ethan’s gloomy gaze, wanting to draw some warmth from his look – he never looked too much like Grayson until she realized she’d never see Grayson again – only in his twin brother and perhaps his son as the little one grows.

Weary, weak, Y/N felt herself nearly stumble, aware she couldn’t carry the baby any longer. The delivery itself was incredibly draining, extremely dangerous and she was convinced she’d die. The pain became unbearable and it felt like her body was breaking down. With the hypertensive episode causing a hemorrhage, the delivery was anything but smooth.

With each contraction came a pain that dominated her entire being. In those moments, for those seconds that stretched into infinity, there was nothing else. Despite it all, she didn’t make much noise, not a single scream passed her lips as she tried to focus on breathing, on staying alive. The awareness she had was only of Ethan’s hand in hers, and when they did talk, touch to gain her attention, she found it so hard.

She couldn’t open her eyes for long, her ears were ringing and she was certain her soul was parting with her body. When she did manage to blink her eyes open, she’d always look to her left – to where Ethan sat beside her. She looked at Ethan and at times, Y/N swore she saw Grayson.

She didn’t even know she was asking for him all along. They told her about it later. They said she called his name out over and over again, like a prayer, like he was her saving grace. She was calling for him, completely unaware he was fighting for his life…and losing.

Whenever they talked about wars and battles, Grayson seemed like a proficient warrior, a man who had great skill and strategy – he seemed invincible.

“Grayson, stop. I’m being serious. If there’s ever a war, I don’t want you on the front lines.” Y/N furrowed her eyebrows and her forehead wrinkled with worry Grayson couldn’t be sure was true. He could never be sure with her, but he wanted to believe she grew to care for him.

“If it were you, Dracovia…Would you stay behind and let your men die on the battlefield?” Grayson rose an eyebrow, aware of her answer before he even asked. She was just as much of a warrior as he is, perhaps even braver than he can ever be. She was the epitome of a brave woman with a touch of wicked. With such beauty to accompany a sharp tongue and even a sharper mind, Grayson knew he was in for a long life of arguing, but every argument would end up right where he is now – in bed with her head on his chest and her pursed lips swollen from his feverish kisses.

“You’re right.” She uttered, nearly ill with having to admit she’s wrong about something. But yes, she was aware she had no right to hold him back from ruling his kingdom the way he wanted. If there was ever a war, she’d want to be with her armies and no one would stop her.

Smiling, Grayson leaned in and pecked her nose lightly, getting a giggle in return.

“Don’t worry my dragon bride, I am quick, I am brave and I am lucky. I’m as lucky in battle as I am in love. I will win and come back to bother you for many years to come.” She couldn’t help but melt at his words, aware he’s wormed his way to her heart but she wasn’t willing to let him know yet. They had this night, this first night after she thought he’d have left her, cast her aside for asking the crown matrimonial.

But he didn’t.

And he wasn’t as invincible as they thought. She always worried he might be too cocky for his own good and it had proven to be true. The helicopter was found two days in, halfway to Dracovia – to her. His body has yet to be recovered although a few sharks they’ve hunted had human flesh in their stomachs…DNK came back as human but it was far too damaged to be properly analyzed.

And there really isn’t some cosmic, instinctual feeling inside you that warns you of such tragedy. She didn’t feel the moment he was in danger nor the moment he passed. In fact, she didn’t feel anything at all. He was just gone and she couldn’t change it, but she could avenge him.

“No full remains. Only the contents of three different sharks we’ve caught…I don’t want to believe it either, but from the black box, we know he was left in the helicopter alone and considering the damn thing was tampered with from what he said…we heard him crash.” Ethan sighed, watching Y/N visibly tense under his unrelenting gaze. He didn’t leave her side since it happened, only when it was time to feed the baby as per request. It was either him or Brooks beside her, especially when she had found out the full truth.

“I’m sorry, but can the prince please accompany me?” Lady Mareen came the next morning after the childbirth was done with and both mother and child were safe. The queen lost a lot of blood and needed a few transfusions, but she was stable and so was her son – the future king of Dracovia and Astros.

“Why?” Y/N questioned before Ethan had a chance to move or speak, her impatience clear in her sharp tone and narrowed eyes, very well prepared to extort some answers if necessary and Mareen knew it. She grew up with the queen…she was there when she was born, of course she knew that her temper is bad and her intolerance for secrets was worse.

“Because prince Ethan instructed me to call king Grayson to come here last night and since he didn’t make it here, I’ve called Astros and they told us the king left immediately the past night. However, the king never arrived and we sent a search party for him that’s just returned with terrible news.” Mareen spoke to her queen, hoping the young woman can take this shock, this incredible pain her husband’s death was bound to cause. Mareen wasn’t blind, she knew the young queen loved her husband despite her claims that she bore no love for him.

“Was it an accident?” Y/N gulped, waiting for an answer she expected.

“We’ve already examined the black box and from what we heard it wasn’t an accident. He mentioned Gandria as well as…his eternal regret about not being by your side…and about his love for you. Those were his last words.”

Y/N remembered when Ethan told her the full truth of Gandria and the real reason why Grayson thought she’d be safer in Dracovia and how he knew she’d fight him on it if he told her the truth. And he was right…she never would have left him had he told her any of it.

“She did what?!” Ethan whisper shouted, his eyes nearly bulging out his head. What he heard was enough to scare anyone, even Brooks.

“She sent her army to the island and they searched for Grayson high and low. She thought he might be alive and held captive, but when they didn’t find any sign of him and when they didn’t get anything by torture, she had them slaughtered in the vilest way possible…she had them burned alive before burning the entire island as well.” Brooks whispered as well, not wanting Y/N to hear them as they met up right before her room – the room she and Grayson shared in Astros.

The queen insisted to be moved to Astros, no one understood why. No one knew she felt closer to him in his kingdom where they shared so many good memories, so much love. No one knew she wanted to come to him after giving birth and tell him just how much she loves him and how she’d do whatever is necessary to mend their relationship. She was ready to step on her pride and honor and give him all the power in the relationship.

She didn’t have a chance to do so and as her grief consumed her, her temper had taken over and she was no longer just a little wicked as Grayson called her – she had become lost in the darkness.

“I never thought she was capable of that.” Ethan lowered his voice, rubbing his chin in thought as he stared at the ground in worry. The woman he knew before this tragedy was soft-hearted despite her previously hatched plans. She was good, sweet, kind, but now? He didn’t recognize her and he didn’t know what to do to stop her if she goes mad and tries to do the same to Astros. Sure, the men and women she had killed were evil, but if she would to kill them, why did she do it in the slowest, worst possible way?

Brooks nodded, licking his bottom lip before catching it between his pearly whites. He didn’t know what to do to help his love, the woman he had served and will serve till his death. He wasn’t entirely surprised she had done this deed, but he couldn’t help but wonder what would become of her when the grief lets her feel the horror of her deeds.

“They shot her husband out the sky and she burned an island for it. It’s the dragon’s way to grieve - with fire and blood.”

Now she sat in their old room alone, lonelier than ever. She sat on the couch he had gifted her, feeling his lingering scent as if he had just left the room after breakfast. Their child slept safely tucked away in his crib, barely sleeping as if he too finally felt the grief of his father’s death.

‘He’ll never know his father’, she realized as tears welled up in her eyes. She always imagined Grayson as the kind of a man who wanted a big family with lots of little versions of them running around and in time, she caught herself wanting the same – perhaps not on the same scale, but she wanted to have more of his kids as time passed and their relationship was more solid and less filled with evil plans and secrets on both sides.

She always knew Grayson wouldn’t live to see his son become a king, a curse all kings share. They can never know what kind of a king their son would be, but she never thought her child would be crowned king in his tenth day on this earth.

“Y/N.” Brooks walked into the room, a little braver, a little more capable of looking at her directly than Ethan. If anyone could understand her wrath and behavior, it was him. He too was a dragon after all.

“You know I performed the ritual for my son already?” She spoke absentmindedly, running her knuckles gently across her son’s cheek, seemingly lost in thought but she just needed to talk to someone and the people she wanted to talk to were all dead, gone with the wind.

“He got a black dragon as his patron…he’s a dragon even though Grayson wasn’t. And we both know a black dragon means incredible beauty and a courageous heart.” Her soft lips curled at the corners, putting on a meek smile on her face, the best she could do. She knew only one person with a black dragon as a patron and he was stood in the room with her.

“He’s a black dragon, yet he’s nameless.” She finally looks up at Brooks.

“Perhaps some traditional Dracovian names? Maybe something to honor his father?” Brooks tilts his head to the left slowly, a lone curl falling in his eye as she shakes her head.

The day after they proclaimed him dead and decided to bury the unidentifiable pieces of flesh found in shark guts, they said, "He was a good king", as if they were glad to be remembering him, that they took some comfort in it. Each of them had stood by, aware of the conspiracy, knowing it would happen and no one did anything about it. In her mind, it’s as bad as watching him be killed, then acting as if it were a noble sacrifice for their sake, that by loving his memory the mourning became a wholesome and wonderful thing. They were cowards; none of them willing to see the difference between honorable self-sacrifice and murder. Guilty men will do that; lock the truth in a cage and warp love into something strange and awful. Loving him meant Y/N would have traded places in a heartbeat, fought until they either both lived or died. And so, for her, the mourning, the grief, wasn't good at all, it was only the start of the longest, darkest night there ever was.

“I wanted him to name him. I…I wanted him to have the honor, but now…” Trailing off, she turned away swiftly to hide the tears she couldn’t keep down no matter how hard she tried. She couldn’t keep them down ever since she saw the clothes she was given for the funeral – the same clothes she saw herself wear in the vision – dark as her heart, but Grayson was never darkness. He was light and he was sunshine and she wanted to wear green, his favorite color, however, she couldn’t ignore Astros and their tradition of wearing black.

But there was no body and she wanted to believe more than anyone that her husband found a way to some shore they might have missed. She wanted to believe her Grayson was just as invincible as he said he is, that he was finding his way home now.

Despite her wishes, Y/N was also a realist. She was aware chances for that ever happening were slim at best, if not entirely non-existent. Today, she’ll bury the leftover pieces of the man she loved so much she didn’t know how to breathe without, but she’ll have to learn. She’ll have to learn to live with the regret of never telling him how much she loved him, for always doing everything the hard way instead of just trusting him. She has much to regret, much to be bitter and angry about, but all those emotions have to be put on hold today. Today she is his widowed queen, even if she was never officially a ruling queen, she was his queen nonetheless.

“Bailey.” She whispered, more to herself than anyone else. She had felt it to be right, fitting for her son to carry his father’s middle name, the same one he had hated but she loved. The only thing she told him she loved.

“Grayson Bailey Dolan.” Y/N whispered as she pressed a tender kiss to Grayson’s jaw, smiling right after for her turned his face with the most perplexed look on his face that she couldn’t help herself.

“My mom wanted me to be a girl. She had three name ideas and those were: Ethan, Grant, Grayson and well…I ended up with a unisex middle name. Never really liked it.” He explained and she hummed in response.

“I quite like it. It fits you well. I prefer it to Grayson.” Y/N smirked when his eyes grew in surprise.

“You really like it?” He exclaimed, sure she’s just messing with him, but it wasn’t on her agenda for the evening.

“Like it? I love it.”

“I believe it to be a beautiful name.” A female voice interrupted her, not really scaring her, rather simply surprising her.

“Queen mother.” Y/N quickly curtsied out of respect for she had never met Grayson’s mother before and despite her being a queen herself, she wanted to show the woman proper respect.

“Never bow to anyone without a crown dear.” Lisa helped her straighten up, her body still hurting from the delivery. She was barely in any shape to be out of bed, let alone attend her husband’s funeral. But Y/N is a stubborn woman, that much everyone knew. She would be there to say goodbye to him.

“You had a crown once too.” Y/N tried to smile, failing miserably as the corners of her lips curved downwards into a deep frown she couldn’t shake. Brooks took it as a sign to let the women speak, but he didn’t leave the room. He was still too worried about her.

“Ah, yes. I was once in love with my husband, lived in a big castle similar to this one and I thought I would die when he was gone. It’s not just your husband that you lose, but their respect, your importance. The people take it all from you and you’re soon replaced by a beautiful young woman they would worship until she meets the same fate.” Lisa smiled softly as she recognized the tears in Y/N’s eyes, encouraging her.

“If you want to cry, you should. No one would see you as anything less if you show you’ve loved my son. He surely loved you.” Lisa turned to her grandson, her gentle eyes soften at the sleeping baby as if she was seeing Grayson again.

“He’s always with you – in your heart, in him. It’s impossible to erase such love. I can see your anger, but if you let it consume you, it would tarnish his memory. Be the woman he fell in love with.”

‘But he fell in love with me as I am, temper and wicked plans and horrible notions of what love is.’ Y/N thought. Grayson knew who she was from their first wedding night and he loved her regardless, flaws and all. But she didn’t want to say it out loud. Instead, she turned to Brooks and gestured for him to come closer.

He offered his forearm for her to hold onto as they walked out of the room, leaving the baby with lady Mareen. Lisa followed, after all she was to be the first in the carriage with Ethan as the ruling family. Ethan would surely be regent until her son turned eighteen.

Walking out the castle, she stopped in her tracks as she saw the procession was ready, just waiting for her. She couldn’t see what the coffin was made of, but she knew it didn’t matter as the Astrovian flag covered it entirely. It was put in the back of a carriage instead of a car, giving him a kingly funeral of the olden times.

She stepped closer, letting go of Brooks with her heart caught in her throat closer she got. It’s an empty coffin with just a few pieces of flesh, but it didn’t lessen the pain she carried. Everyone's heads were down. Maybe it was them showing respect of maybe they were too afraid to look at the grieving widow.

Y/N hated funerals. She had more of them in her short lifetime than most do and the customs were fairly familiar to her. Placing a hand on Grayson’s coffin, she had to admit that there was no point in holding onto hope. If he was alive, he’d have made it back by now. He was surely lost as they think and clinging to him will only cause her pain.

But she still kept her hand on the coffin, leaning down as her lips pressed a kiss to the flag that covered the finest wood. He was a king, they wouldn’t bury what remains of him in cheap wood.

Lifting her head, she opened her eyes and let her tears flow freely. They soaked the material, her heart constricting painfully in her chest.

“Come on. The queen always rides the carriage with the family.” Ethan tried to steer her away, but she wouldn’t be handled. Instead, she looked him straight in the eye and mustered a half-smile.

“I’m no longer the queen of Astros.” She watched the procession start, wanting to walk after, but Ethan stopped her.

“Yes, you are.” His word baffled her, but she didn’t have the strength to fight his grip on her forearm. She looked up in his intense brown eyes and waited for him to say whatever he had practiced to tell her in hope of getting her to either feel better or give into his possible marriage proposal.

But he had something else on his mind.

“I was with our lawyers today and we found his will. Grayson left you crown matrimonial about three months into your marriage. He did it before he went to quell the rebellion.” Ethan spoke clearly yet the words felt too hard for her to understand.

“He did?” She whispered, her heart aching painfully.

“Yes. He did. He loved you Y/N and I don’t think there’s a bigger testament to just how much than that piece of paper.” Ethan wanted to hold her, but he feared she’d push him away again. He didn’t want her to think he’s using his twin’s death as a way to her heart. He wasn’t. He wouldn’t.

Y/N wanted to speak, to say something but words escaped her as she realized how much he truly cared and how he had protected her even after his death, even when he couldn’t really trust her motives were pure.

But before she can piece her mind back up, a chorus of screams and shocked gasps ripple through the people in the procession from just outside the castle and before they know it, Y/N and Ethan find themselves shaking, swallowing a scream as well as they felt the shock and disbelief be replaced with emotions they couldn’t quite understand for the scene before them should be impossible – a mere dream, but it wasn’t.

In the middle of the day, on a black stallion, their fallen king rode into the castle.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~

A/N - any thoughts or theories? Any favorite lines in this one or any previous parts? Get ready for the finale because the next part is probably the last one.

Tags: @graysavant @yaren-ates @beinscorpio @dolandolll @godlydolans @dolanstwintuesday @accalialionheart @peacedolantwins @heyits-claire @graydolan12 @gia-kerks @justordinaryjen @dopedoodes @sunshinedolantwins @pitreshawn @melodiesforari

#grayson dolan x reader #grayson dolan #ethan dolan #dolan twins #grayson dolan royal au #grayson dolan fanfic #grayson dolan series #grayson dolan au #grayson dolan angst #grayson dolan fic #grayson dolan fanfiction #grayson dolan king #grayson dolan king au #king!grayson #wicked

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winchesterbrotherstan · 5 years ago

Text

Kong: Skull Island- Bombs

Pairing: Reg Slivko x Irene Brown

James Conrad x Irene Brown (brother-sister relatioship)

Jack Chapman x Irene Brown (brother-sister relationship)

Summary: They fly into the island and drop seismic charges, but all does not go as planned. At all.

Warnings: panic attack, cursing, crashes, etc (also bombs obvi)

Word Count: 2438

“We did ask to arm those helicopters. Shouldn’t they know why?” I heard Houston speak to Randa as they loaded their things onto the helicopter.

I yanked on James’s wrist, pointing to my ear and then them.

“Why? And raise an alarm? Purely precaution, Brooks.” Randa hit his arm before walking ahead.

James looked at me, eyebrows furrowed. Why would they arm the helicopters? He shook his head, pulling on my arm.

“I don’t think I want you to come.” He whispered.

I shook my head, gripping the strap of the crossbow my father had given me when I was a child. “You aren’t going out there on your own, I already told you.”

He sighed.

“Look. I’ve got you taking care of me, Mason probably will too, and now I’ve definitely got Slivko watching my back.”

He chuckled. “I saw. That was quite a kiss for a girl who ‘doesn’t do soldiers’ don’t you think?”

“Yeah, I’m a goner. But if you die in there, I die in there. Deal?”

“No. If you die in there, I die in there. But if I die in there, you make it out alive, marry Slivko, kick everyone’s arses and take the money. Okay?” He clasped a hand on my shoulder.

My throat seemed to close off for a second, so I shut my mouth and I nodded. That was the least likely scenario. Chances are I would die out there, but James was practically a survivalist, so he would be fine.

“Irene.” Jack broke from his stride next to the Colonel, his demeanor softening.

“What’s up?” I asked as James subtly pulled me closer to him, hand still on my shoulder.

“We need a biological expert to direct us on dropping the explosives. Miss San needs to be with Mr. Randa and Mr. Brooks. Will you come with us?” He put air quotes around ‘biological expert’ before gesturing to his helicopter.

My eyes widened and I looked at James, who has stiffened significantly. His eyes were trained on Jack, a horrifying fire in them. Jack cleared his throat awkwardly, shifting his weight to one side. I shrugged James’s hand off. He looked down to me, eyebrows furrowed.

“Yeah, I’ll go.” I nodded to Jack.

He nodded politely before taking a few steps back, giving us space.

“You’re seventeen.” James tugged my arm back.

“I know. I’ll be fine. We’ll land and then I’ll stay with you. But I can’t exactly say no.” I scoffed.

James breathed hard, shakily. I softened, grabbing at his hand.

“Jay. I’ll be alright. Don’t worry about me. It’s fifty or so miles out there. I’ll tell them where they should drop the bombs. Jack’ll land me, Reg will land you and Mason. The four of us will stick together. Okay?”

He bit at his lip before nodding. He sighed.

“Fine. Fine. You’ll be fine.” He mumbled, more as a reassurance for himself than me.

“Yeah. I’ll be okay.” I patted his arm.

“Here, I’ll take your bow so you can talk to Slivko.” He held his hand out for it as I tugged it off.

I pushed myself into his arms for a hug. He chuckled and kissed my forehead.

“Everything’s gonna be alright.” He whispered with a soft tone.

I smiled in agreement before heading off to meet Reg. He didn’t notice as he shut his record player and shoved it into the back of his helicopter.

“Hey.”

He turned around with a grin on his face. “Hey doll.”

I smiled and took his outstretched hand.

“You riding with Chapman?” He twirled me around, pulling my back to his front and wrapping his arms around my waist.

I nodded, leaning my head back against his shoulder. He sighed, dropping his head against my neck. His breath tickled my skin. We stayed like that for a moment before he kissed my jaw, pulling away. I sighed at the loss of warmth as he turned me around, hand guiding my waist.

“I’ve gotta move, or Packard will be on my ass.” He smiled gently.

I grabbed his face between my hands and pulled him down to meet my height, “Be careful. Okay?”

He smiled again, taking my hands in his and kissing each of them. “I’ve done stuff like this a million times before. I’ll be alright, don’t worry about me.”

I sighed. “Fine.”

He grinned, ghosting his lips over mine.

“You be careful. Alright?”

I smiled. “I’ll be fine. I was practically raised in the Amazon, and I know Jack would do anything to protect me.”

“The Amazon?” He raised an eyebrow. “You’ve gotta tell me all about that.”

I grinned as I saw Packard approaching. I pressed a kiss to Reg’s lips.

“I will, I promise. But later.” I smiled.

He winked as I turned to leave. Jack smiled at me, holding out a hand. I took it and walked with him to the helicopter.

“He’s a good kid.” Jack said nonchalantly.

I shrugged. “He’s cute.”

Jack laughed and shoved me lightly.

“Alright. Get in.” He motioned, helping me up.

I settled into the seat and strapped myself in as he climbed into the front. Jack tossed me back a pair of headphones, and I slipped them on with shaky fingers. The helicopters started up and the commands came over the speakers. The noise was too much for my brain to remain attentive to. I glanced at the helicopter next to me. Mason leaned into my frame of sight and waved. James shot me a calming smile. I forced a smile back before placing my foot in the middle of my crossbow. I didn’t want it to fall out, and I needed something to focus on.

I was anxious. Incredibly anxious. I didn’t like the idea of explosives in the first place, especially since we had no idea what was on this island. But James and I could use the money, and there was at least a sixty percent chance that we would be perfectly safe.

The helicopter took off, and the thunder from the island’s storm rumbled in my ears. I looked over at the soldiers stationed on either side of me. One of them had his gun ready and the other had a pile of boxes on hand. Probably the bombs. I ran my hands over my neck, feeling my pulse become erratic. It felt like my artery would pop out from under my skin at any minute.

Jack peeked at me from the corner of his eye. “You doing alright kiddo?”

I snapped my head up, forcing another smile.

“Yeah. I’m fine.”

He gave a curt nod before diverting his attention back to piloting. I saw Mason leaning out of their helicopter, camera in hand. The helicopter began to shake harder as we got closer to the storm. My leg began to bounce up and down. I wish I could’ve ridden with James. Maybe even held his hand. I never wanted to do anything like this again.

I braced myself, gripping the sides of my seat and stiffening my legs as alarms went off and lightning cracked by us. I sucked my lower lip between my teeth and shut my eyes. If I had been religious, I would have prayed.

I begged my brain to calm down instead. I could hear Jack grunting as the helicopter rocked violently, but all the sound was muffled. I opened my eyes, but my vision was spotty. I felt sick, and my head was filled with the lightest form of air possible. My leg bounced harder as I realized that I was having a panic attack.

I could hear Packard talking about Icarus through the headset, and I wished I could’ve heard Reg instead. I wondered how he handled stuff like this. I felt like I was going to die; I couldn’t imagine doing this a million times.

“But the exhilaration was too great. So he flew higher and higher until the sun melted his wings … and he fell into the sea. But the United States Army is not an irresponsible father-”

I felt myself choke. I needed James. I needed to calm down. I was going to hurt myself if I couldn’t calm down.

“... So they gave us wings of white, hot, coal rolled, Pennsylvania steel! Guaranteed not to melt.”

My chest clenched.

And then we broke through.

The fog seemed to melt away as we flew by it. I was shaking, and it felt like each cell in my body was vibrating. I timed my breathing, wishing there was something alcoholic to take a whiff of.

One of the first times I had a panic attack around James, he opened my father’s prized bottle of whiskey and asked me to smell it. It helped snap me back to reality.

The sun shone bright, and the island below was beautiful. Smaller pieces of land sprinkled in the water below us, which looked as blue as the sky. Lush, green jungles covered what seemed to be every inch of land. My breath hitched again, but this time from the wonders of nature.

“Oh hey, that’s pretty, huh?” Jack’s voice came through the headset.

I only laughed, looking out again. Packard issued orders, and we began to get lower. I watched the trees blend together as we passed by. It reminded me of the place where I had been raised. Of the Amazon, where I had lived for the first few years of my life.

A large group of seagulls flew past us. I looked out to see if I could see James. He caught my eye and smiled softly. It was reassuring beyond belief. One the helicopters began to play music, but I didn’t recognize it. I was too awestruck to care. Packard gave the order to split up, and I watched as three of the four people I cared about flew in a different direction.

I looked down at the animals. I couldn’t see specifics, but there were a few herds of what looked like deer. Their brown heads popped up when they heard the helicopters, and they ran.

“Ready for seismic charges.” Nieves’s voice came through the headset.

I felt my heart drop again.

“Irene.” Jack broke my thoughts. “You just tell us when.”

“Okay.” I breathed out, shaking once more.

I looked down. The animals had cleared out, and it was one part of a large, empty field.

“Now.” My voice came firmer than I had thought it would.

I watched the bomb drop down, cringing when it exploded. There was probably animals down there I hadn’t seen. Smaller ones for sure. I wiped it from my mind, hearing someone cheer. I could only imagine the faces James and Mason were making at each other right now. None of us thought bombs were the best idea.

We passed a grove of smaller trees, by the edge of the river. I sighed. They had at least six bombs.

“Again.” I ordered.

It fell into the trees. There were definitely animals we were killing.

“Hey Randa, you’re not gonna believe this.” Houston spoke, and it came through. “The bedrock? It’s practically hollow.”

I wrinkled my nose and Jack stole a glance back at me, a questioning look on his face. I shrugged. I gave the order to drop the explosives a few more times, guilt washing over me with each.

“Incoming!!” The shout came through.

I looked around. A helicopter went down. I felt my chest tighten. Screams began to pour out, and my head flipped back and forth, trying to find whatever the threat was. I heard the crash of another helicopter. Packard yelled over, shouting out which helicopters had come down.

Shouts came through again, but this time they were ones of surprise. I leaned into the helicopter to look through the window.

“Holy shit.” I mumbled.

“Is that a monkey?” Jack’s voice sounded so far away.

An ape. Easily a hundred feet tall. Standing there, silhouette against the sun. He had brought down the helicopters. This was his home. We had bombed it. He was angry. The soldiers kept talking, voices frantic.

“Somebody talk to me, man.” I heard Reg’s distressed voice.

My mind spun as I tried to think of something to tell him, calm him, reassure him. Nothing came. I took in a shuddering breath. I watched the ape clench his fist. Packard shouted orders. I lowered my head and I felt the sting of tears in my eyes.

We were going to die.

“Fox leader to Fox group. Fire at will!” Packard yelled.

“No!” I shouted back.

“Excuse me?” Came his reply, above the sound of gunfire.

“Shooting him won’t help! You’re just gonna make him angrier!” My voice was frantic and I felt as if I were choking.

“What the hell is that?” Cole’s voice.

“I don’t know!” Mills.

Shots fired. The ape roared. I cried. He punched a helicopter. It exploded. He pounded his chest and roared again. Nothing felt real. I wished James were next to me.

“Pull out now! Pull out!” I could hear James yelling, but it was more muffled than the rest.

“I don’t take orders from you!” Reg yelled back.

I thumped my head against the headrest. Goddammit. Another helicopter went down. Randa shouted over the radio. Our helicopter jolted, and an immense pressure felt like it came down on us. The ape roared again. Alarms began to go off, and we spun out of control.

“Fox six, we’ve got nominal control.” Jack announced. “We are going down.”

I felt my heart crush itself to nothing. We were going to die. James and I were wrong. Nothing was alright. I could’ve sworn I heard Slivko say my name before I pulled the headset off. I didn’t want to die with other people screaming in my ears.

“Irene!” Jack yelled, and suddenly he was next to me.

I met his eyes, horrified. His eyes softened and he reached for me, pulling me into his chest.

“Jack, I don’t wanna die!” I whimpered, sobbing.

He shushed me, rubbing circles onto my back. This is how I was going to die. Come to think of it, it could be worse.

“Ira, you need to hold on. Okay?” He spoke directly into my ear.

I popped up and nodded. He gripped my arm tightly, hooking his other arm around the seat he had just been in. I ducked my head again, making a conscious effort to breathe. We hit trees. My bow had made its way up to my knee. The metal surrounding us seemed to crumple like paper.

The world went dark.

Previous: Hand Holding and Flushed Cheeks

Next: Rivers and Creatures

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thecomicsnexus · 5 years ago

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TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES: URBAN LEGENDS #1-5 ADAPTED FROM TMNT #1-5 (1996). MAY - SEPTEMBER 2018 BY GARY CARLSON, FRANK FOSCO, ERIK LARSEN, CHANCE WOLF, ANDREW PEPOY AND ADAM GUZOWSKI

SYNOPSIS (FROM TURTLEPEDIA AND TMNT ENTITY)

The TMNT are attacked in their lair by a group of cyborgs lead by a female ninja named Pimiko. Donatello was severely wounded in the initial attack, and Pimiko ends up capturing Splinter while he was trying to help his fallen son. The villains escape with Donatello and Splinter as captives. Raph, Leo and Mike chase their foes, but the villains escape in a helicopter. While the vehicle flies off, Donatello dreams of recent events and eventually awakes with a start - attacking the nearest cyborg! Both assailants crash out of the helicopter and begin freefalling to the ground far, far below. Back at the Turtles' lair, the three remaining brothers investigate a fallen cyborg (that had its head removed in the battle). As Raph pokes the body with his sai, the head awakens and calls out a warning. Raphael ignores the warning and prods the body again, and this time it opens fire and the blast hits the curious Turtle in the face. Mike smashes the head and Leo cuts the body into pieces. Raphael's face is severely injured and Mike leads him off to get the first aid kit. Master Splinter appears in astral form and informs Leonardo of the dire circumstances facing both Donatello and himself.

In the skies above Manhattan, Donatello and his cyborg “buddy” are still falling to their deaths. The cyborg, blaming Don for their predicament, attempts to blast the Turtle in the face. Instead, he accidentally blows his own brains out. With nowhere soft to land in sight, and his consciousness fading, Don turns his shell to the ground and prepares for impact.

In upstate New York, Pimiko and her cyborg lackey arrive at Dragonlord Komodo’s headquarters with Splinter’s heavily drugged body in tow. They lock Splinter up in a jail cell, all the while a vicious half-man/half-shark monster named Mako makes carnivorous comments toward them. The cyborg gets too close and Mako bites his arm off. Pimiko insults the cyborg's carelessness and, enraged, he decides to let her know how sick he is of taking her orders. Pimiko stabs him in the chest and tells Mako that beneath the crunchy robot exterior is plenty of fresh meat. Mako proceeds to pull the damaged cyborg into his cell and devour him.

Down in the sewers, Leo leads Mike and a bandaged-up Raph away from the sewer lair, fearing their location has been compromised by Pimiko and the Dragonlord. Leo takes them to a forgotten mausoleum in Westwood Cemetery, saying it would make for a good temporary lair. After some clowning around between Raph and Mike, Leo informs them that the first order of business is to find out who the "Dragonlord" is and get Splinter and Don back. Leo gives Raph one of Casey’s old hockey masks to hide his scarred face and asks him to meet up with his contacts in the Foot Clan to see if they know anything about Pimiko (other than the fact that she took her name from a sorceress in Feudal Japan who ruled with the aid of a thousand women and one man).

As Raph leaves, he fails to notice a kunoichi (female ninja) named Angel, watching him from behind a tree. Angel reports her findings to Pimiko, who is meeting with Dragonlord Komodo in one of his laboratories. The large and imposing Dragonlord orders the cyborg project to be suspended because, according to Pimiko, the cyborgs were all dunces. His scientists are currently operating on a hairy man with silly hair named “Weasel” who apparently boasts four claws on his hands and an advanced healing factor. They discover that Weasel, despite his name, is not an anthropomorph, but just some kind of mutant. Komodo deems him worthless and orders his body disposed of. Suddenly, Weasel wakes up, snikts his claws and swears vengeance, calling everyone “bubba” in the process. Pimiko cuts his head off.

Back at the Mausoleum, Leo is attempting to contact Splinter via the astral plane, much to the amusement of Raph and Mike. Raph tells Leo that he’s not nearly skilled enough to manage such a feat, but Leo refuses to quit. Now with some peace and quiet, Leo continues on and is suddenly contacted by the spirit of Don. Don tells Leo of his fall from the chopper and shows him his dying body, splattered in an alley somewhere. Don is paralyzed from the neck down, losing blood and very close to death.

At the other end of the mausoleum, Mike finally hits pay dirt on the internet, learning about a large piece of property in upstate New York owned by a Komodo Inc. Raph says that his contacts in the Foot said Pimiko works for Komodo Inc., making that the best place to go look. The Turtles attempt to snap Leo out of his trance, only to suddenly find the mausoleum filled with kunoichi. Pimiko is at the front of the invading army, informing the Turtles that she has had them under constant surveillance and orders her kunoichi to attack. Despite all the commotion, Leo is still stuck in his trance.

Raph and Mike face off with Pimiko and her ninja while Leo continues to speak with Donatello via astral protection. Don is now back in his paralyzed body and suffering tremendous pain. Leonardo bids farewell to his brother and heads back to his body so he can help Don on the physical plane. On the way, Leo meets Master Splinter on the astral plane, who informs his student that he remains a prisoner and cannot help, other than to escort Leo safely back to his body. In Lord Komodo's lab, the scientists inform the Dragonlord that Splinter contains mostly animal DNA, which pleases the overlord.

Don encounters a hungry rat as he lies prone in the alley, while Master Splinter is taken to meet Lord Komodo. The Dragonlord informs Splinter that he is heir to the Dragon Bushido Spirit, his ancestors once ruled Japan and he intends to do so again. Splinter states that he is honored to meet the heir to the Dragon Bushido and introduces himself as a humble ninja. Komodo replies that this claim must be proven, and orders two samurai to attack. Master Splinter easily defeats them. The Dragonlord is upset that his elite guard fell so easily, but he bows to Master Splinter and apologizes for treating him so poorly. Splinter bows in return and the two share tea. Lord Komodo asks Splinter how he came to be in this form, and the Sensei retells his origin.

Mike and Raph continue to fight Pimiko and her minions. Unfortunately the villains get the upper hand by holding Leo hostage. Pimiko tells Raph that she'll be taking Leonardo with her, but he awakens at that moment and escapes her grasp. The female ninja breaks the room's light bulb and she and her remaining ninjas flee. The guys give chase but see them flying off in a helicopter. As Leo and Mike watch dejectedly, Raph arrives in a Triceraton air car that Don had found in the sewers and finished. The Turtles take off in the air car to help Don.

Back at Lord Komodo's base, the Dragonlord is showing Splinter a chamber that is filled with anthropomorphic creatures that lie dead in tubes. Komodo explains that one of them must hold the key to splicing human and animal DNA - and discovering this secret will allow Komodo to unleash the power of the ancient dragons that "slumbers inside" of him. Splinter questions if the deaths of so many was necessary, but Komodo brushes off the question and states that killing them was "an act of mercy" as they were all savage brutes. As the two leave the room and walk down a hallway, Splinter is alarmed by the stench of carnage. Lord Komodo explains that it is probably the road kill that they use to feed Mako, as he insists on eating meat. Just then, a huge shark-mutant attacks, punching the Dragonlord in the face and knocking him unconscious... leaving Splinter alone to face the monster.

Leo, Raph and Mike arrive at the alley where Don's body is - but they find nothing but his skeletal remains!

Raph, Leo and Mike investigate the skeletal remains in Don's shell, and discover that the bones aren't their brother's! Leo deduces that the bones must be the human remains of the cyborg that Donatello had been fighting. Raphael gets angry and swears vengeance against the Dragonlord and Pimiko - Leo and Mike join the vow. The guys then fly to Komodo Industries in their modified Triceraton air car. Leo tells Raph to park the car so they can attack under the cover of darkness, but Raph wants to begin the assault now. The two argue until Mike knocks their heads together and tells them they aren't doing anything until they bury what's left of their brother.

Inside Komodo Industries, Master Splinter does battle with the shark mutant, Mako. Splinter manages to break the behemoth's nose and avoid its attacks until several giant komodo dragons arrive and attack Mako (who has no problem killing them). During the bloody fight, Splinter attends to the Dragonlord, who has recovered from Mako's earlier attack. Lord Komodo draws his blade to assist his allies, but before he gets far, he collapses and begins convulsing. Mako arrives and Master Splinter smashes him in the nose again - the sharkman cries out in pain, but then stops his assault as he ponders what's happening to the Dragonlord. Mako and Splinter watch as Lord Komodo transforms into a giant komodo dragon. The sight of this disturbs Mako and he runs off, while Master Splinter walks with the Dragonlord back to the room where the komodo dragons were killed. Pimiko and a Komodo Industries executive are there, assessing the damage. Splinter asks the man if the transformation occurs regularly, but Pimiko holds her blade to his throat and tells him he must die for discovering Lord Komodo's secret.

Outside in some nearby woods, the Turtles have built a cairn for Donatello's remains, thinking that their brother is dead. Leo and Raph head off to assault Komodo Industries while Mike lags behind and cries. Later, the Turtles are walking through a cornfield when Mako crashes past them, being chased by more giant komodo dragons. Mako discovers the Triceraton air car and leaps into it, making his escape (much to Leo's dismay). Fortunately, Raph has a remote control that he uses to turn the car upside-down and spill the sharkman out - and then the ninja steers the vehicle back to where the Turtles are standing.

Meanwhile, Donatello is recovering from his ordeal. As it turns out, the machine parts of the cyborg he had battled have a life of their own, and after the crash they left their human host and assimilated Donny, thus making him a Teenage Mutant Ninja Cyborg Turtle. Donatello finds himself walking in the cornfield, and targeting Mako - who he blasts with his new robotic armory.

Outside Lord Komodo’s castle, Leo, Raph and Mike are making short work of the guards (though Leo and Raph naturally argue over subduing vs. killing). Snooping around, they eventually spot Master Splinter…having tea with Dragonlord Komodo.

Inside, Komodo regrets that Splinter must be executed as he knows too much. Komodo plans on regaining his ancestral position as Emperor of Japan and his armies all over the globe stand ready for the take-over…which cannot take place until he cures his diseased Bushido spirit. Splinter then collapses thanks to some drugged tea and Komodo has him hauled off to the lab for further processing.

In the cornfield not far away, Don is trying to cope with his new cyborg body. Mako recovers from the laser blast he took and hightails it out of there, while Donny is besieged by the angry consciousness of the cyborg armor’s previous user. Don recalls that after he and the cyborg fell from the helicopter and splattered on the street, the cyborg armor crawled over to Don’s dying body and merged with it. Realizing that the consciousness talking to him is nothing more than an old memory file, Don deletes it and takes full control of the armor. He then trudges slowly toward Komodo’s castle for some revenge.

In the lab, Dr. Wu prepares a syringe of mutagen to inject into Splinter. Pimiko stops him, much to Lord Komodo’s annoyance, as she has some questions. Pimiko reveals that she is the daughter of none other than Oroku Saki: The Shredder. She claims that her mother fled from Saki before she was born and that Komodo gave them refuge. Pimiko wishes to know if it is true that the Hamato Yoshi “clan” are responsible for her father’s death. Splinter takes responsibility and Pimiko demands the right to face him in combat; a request Lord Komodo refuses.

As Dr. Wu prepares to inject Splinter with the mutagen, Leo, Raph and Mike burst in through the skylight and attack. Dr. Wu begins injecting Splinter, but Pimiko stabs him in the torso and tosses him away before he can finish (inadvertently causing him to inject the remainder of the mutagen into one of the Dragonlord’s pet Komodo dragons). As the Kunoichi, who are loyal only to the Dragonlord, attack, Pimiko offers to help the Turtles and Splinter escape, citing that she will no longer serve Komodo. Raph helps the woozy Splinter down into a secret tunnel and rejoins the fracas. Suddenly, the Komodo dragon mutates and attacks.

Things are looking bad until, out of the blue, Donnie arrives and blasts the mutated Komodo dragon away. The Turtles are thrilled to see that their brother is alive, but the reunion will have to wait; the Dragonlord has initiated the castle’s self-destruct. The Turtles flee into the tunnel, but Pimiko stays behind, saying that she must try to help the injured Kunoichi that the Dragonlord left behind.

The tunnel leads into a cave where the Turtles are besieged by a swarm of bats… and one really, really big bat. They realize that the bat is Splinter, transformed by the mutagen into a mindless beast, and give chase. He escapes into the night and the Turtles fly off in the Triceraton aircar just as the castle explodes. They decide to head back to the lair and hope Splinter returns there once he’s come to his senses. Donnie, though, is a little irked that his brothers have yet to ask what’s happened to him.

REVIEW

Boy, does this look weird or what?

Many artists struggle making the turtles look different. The cartoons used different bandanas and belts, the 2012 version made them different sizes and with unique details. Well Image decided to go with a very dramatic transformation. And they wasted no time.

But was it necessary? Cyborg Donatello? Raphael of the Opera? It’s just too extreme to me. Like most of Image at the Image (although I would imagine that by 1996 the quality may have had improved).

I could have reviewed the original issues in Black and White, but I found them very hard to follow. My eyes get lost between all the lines in ways that do not happen with the Mirage issues. Fortunately, IDW decided to recolor the whole thing, adding three more issues (still to come out in 2020) to close all the unfinished plots. The recoloring is very good, and smart at the same time. I mention it is smart because, when you look at the originals, the contrast is quite high, making it very similar to Frank Miller’s style around the time (Sin City).

In colors, this was done by using very colorful (and contrasting) colors on the backgrounds. Or the contrary, making the backgrounds calmer than the foreground.

This volume is technically part of the Image “universe”, as Mako is part of Savage Dragon. But the Image universe is very ad-hoc, so anything can be “part” of it at anytime.

In these issues I found the turtles to be too happy when they had no reasons to even smile. Their dialogues were completely disconnected to what they were experiencing. These are all tragedies that happened one after the other.

I think this may have been the writer trying to find the tone of the book. It is clear that they are trying to distance themselves from the most comic-relief versions of the turtles. I am also pretty sure that the cartoon was over or ending by the time of publication (but the Saban series was around the corner).

I hope this book to find a balance and a believable tone.

I give these issues a score of 6.

#courtland brugger #frank fosco #tmnt #teenage mutant ninja turtles #image comics #idw #urban legends #comics #review #1996 #2018 #modern age #indie

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runner522 · 5 years ago

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ZOMBIES RUN EPISODE 1:Jolly Alpha five niner P1

It was supposed to be a simple task. Going in and helping Abel township set up their equipment and fly out afterwards.

Not this. Not that Emily didn’t mind, it was just that she...she could still remember the burns and the crash.

Emily shuffled in her only covers of a sleeping bag and an old blanket Sam had lent her.

The late summer winds were very harsh on her premade tent. She stood still.

She could remember everything...it had just happened today but she could remember every small detail.

Emily shut her eyes slowly being warped back to that pilot seat next to her pilot.

“Abel Township’s just on the horizon - see it now? Not much more than a few fences to keep the zoms out. I don’t know how they live like that. Guess they won’t be living like that much longer.” A woman, possibly in her late twenties? Early thirties Emily had to guess.

Her eyes were covered by flight goggles as she continued to fly their copter.

The woman grabbed her radio communicator. Right in front of her mouth in a calm manner.

“Abel Township - Jolly Alpha Five Niner from Mullins Military Base. We’re five miles out, approaching from the east, bringing med supplies, shelters, and loan of one of our people. Abel Township - Jolly Alpha Five Niner, requesting permission to land.” She stopped.

Emily eyed the area in wonder. Zombies crawling and walking around. There were bursts of speed across the land. As she saw figures running among the trees and bushes distancing themselves from the zombies. They were definitely runners.

An awkward voice answered in response to the pilot’s request.

“Got that… ah, I-I mean, roger that. You’re clear to… yeah, you can - you can come on in.”

The man on the other end seemed so awkward—maybe nervous? Emily wasn’t sure. Maybe he was just distracted by something else.

“Roger, Abel - heading down now.” The woman stopped and turned her attention to Emily. She looked serious as her expression was surprisingly calm. “Level with me. You and me both know we haven’t got half of the usual supplies. We’ve lied to the township!” Her serious expression looked a little panicked for a second as Emily stared at her.

“Wait—What?” Emily managed to say before the woman over spoke her.

“… Yeah, I know, you don’t know anything. Someone at Abel is going to come up to you and say, “I’m here to brief you on Project Greenshoot”, and then you’ll find out what your mission really is. I just…” before she could continue she saw something. Emily was confused of what until she heard the panic in her voice.

As well as the sound of something being shot. But what?

“What the…? Someone’s shooting! That’s not from the township… who the hell has a rocket launcher at this base?”

“We’ve been hit! I’ve lost the tail rotor…” Swiftly the woman took out her radio communicator.

“Mayday, mayday, mayday, Jolly Alpha Five Niner going down, three miles east of Abel Township. Two souls on board!”

Enily was frozen in fear. She was going to die. She just knew it. This was the end...the end for her life. She hasn’t even completed her mission.

Tears were streaming from her face.

“Quit you’re crying! There’s only one parachute take it and complete your mission!” The woman pushed Emily up from her seat.

Emily rushes and grabbed the parachute and placed on her back in a quick manner.

In the background she could hear the loud voice of that man again.

“This is Abel Township calling. Supply copter, can you hear us? You’re coming down fast… can any of you hear us? Open your shoots! Jump, jump”

So she did. She jumped hoping the parachute would open. Hoping she wouldn’t die just yet.

“Hey, hey! I, uh… this is Abel Township calling, over? If there’s anyone alive, if you’ve got your parachute open, this is Sam Yao, from Abel Township. Aww, I’m just the… I’m just the radio operator, man, I’m not supposed to handle this stuff!”

Emily then landed nearby a crowd of zombies. She was very panicked now. What was she going to do?

“You’ve come down in a horde of zombies. They’ve heard the noise, they’re coming! There are - thirty? No, forty - aw, crap! You’re only safe path is towards the tower. If there’s anyone alive there, just run. Run!”

Emily started to dash after unattaching her parachute. She needed to get towards the tower. It was her only chance.

Fortunately she wasn’t out of breath and continued to run for as long as she could. She almost tripped on a bush but remembered despite falling she needed to get to the tower.

She speeded up and almost was there.

“Wow, there’s… there’s someone alive down there, running! Hey, can you hear me? … No answer. But still, just look at ‘em go! Heading for the tower, just like I said. Okay… running person. If you can hear me, well, you’re doing great. The main group’s behind you, and you’re going to come out of this forest soon, but there’s a… yeah, well, I-I can’t think of a phrase that’s not “small army of zombies”. Sorry, don’t do so well under massive pressure.” Sam spoke to Emily.

She laughed a bit at this. It was relatable, she didn’t do well under pressure as well so she could understand where he was coming from.

“There’s a… well, one of those, directly to the east of the trees. So, if you head more towards the old saw mill - you should be able to see it’s massive red signs from where you are… man, look at that, they’re changing direction! They can… You can hear me!” Sam laughed as Emily changed direction according to what he’s told her.

She could get used to this. Sam was so laid back. During her time at the base, Emily had seen so many soldiers struggle with dealing with the apocalypse.

But Sam seemed very different from all them somehow.

“Okay, okay, we can keep you safe. It’s cool, it’s cool, we can bring you in.” Sam told Emily as she heard a background noise.

A whisper maybe?

“No, we can’t ask them that! They might be injured!” Sam turned his attention to someone else who was talking to them.

Emily kept running, looking back every once in a while hoping no zombies were close to her.

“Well, all the more reason to ask them that!” A feminine voice spoke over Sam’s.

A slight cough could be heard. Emily was confused of what was going on with the comms.

“This is Doctor Myers, only medic here at Abel Township. Lord knows I’m sorry to ask you this, but your route will take you almost past the old hospital. We know there are medical kits still there from the first wave of infection - if you could pick up even one or two, that would help us.” The voice revealed herself to be a Doctor Myers.

“It’s too dangerous! You know what happened to Runner Five!” Sam protested.

“The zoms have all followed the noise of the crash!” Doctor Myers told Sam.

“But what about whoever fired that rocket launcher?”

Emily thought to herself as well about the incident. Who fires a rocket launcher at a helicopter? Like what was their deal? How would they know they were coming?

#zombiesrun #zr #zombies #zombiesrunfanfic

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demonslayvr · 6 years ago

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VERSES RUNDOWN.

'fore blazing home came atumbling ; there was a family of four ( childhood v. )

PRE GAMES / NOVEL’S / MANGA’s. pretty clear -- this is any interaction that has been plotted or otherwise during dante’s childhood til the fire. by default he’s going to be about 6 - 8 years of age with the latter age at least a couple months before the fire.

quite indeterminate yet the bang of a gun and the slash of a sword still remain a constant ( undetermined v )

PRETTY OBVIOUS. i haven’t made a decision where shit goes yet thus its undetermined. will change during thread once we plot more on it or i figure something out myself.

not everything has a simple ending. crashing demons is easy but other things ? that can be tough ( multifandom v )

GENERAL CROSSOVER / MULTIVERSE v. pretty generic verse for when either dante himself or another character outside of the devil may cry canon gets tossed comes inside it. i’ll probably branch off if and whenever i make verses for in - fandom specific threads when i build something for each one of them but this is it for now. sometimes this verse tag will accompany another one ; which just means whichever verse he’s in and what you should follow development wise is connected. basically just a multi - fandom tag for crossover threads, lads.

die trash man ; take your sword and SHOVE IT ( crack )

GENERAL CRACK. as the package says it’s just a verse / tag for crack whenever it happens. sometimes it may

a flash to a past that holds bitter air. pain was a story here. you wish not to go back ( post dmc5 / alternate interaction v )

ALTERNATE INTERACTIONS. pretty much like with the multifandom verse tag this one is simply going to go with any other version of himself dante interacts with. might get latched onto with another verse tag just for my own sanity but . . yep.

low feelings ; simply moving along to find dangers and distractions ( devil may cry one v. )

SET JUST BEFORE, DURING OR AFTER DMC1 AND BEFORE FOUR. pretty much as the previous sentence says lads. he’s an angstee boy but not as angsty as his two self i guess lmao. but yeah, this verse is a huge back track in terms of development and how he is in the verse below this one.

bang bang bang kiss of the gun & blade ; where are we? ( post dmc5 - main )

POST DMCV. follows the full OG dmcv canon til end - depending on interaction this could mean that any vergil written with and dante are in hell still doing whatever the fuck they please or after the fact and home and going on with their lives. or trying ; considering vergil is back in his life and alive. this is also the DEFAULT verse of the blog.

there's a fire in your veins that speaks your losses yet you continue to bend in remembrance ( atla / lok v. )

SHUNNED. known for killing his twin brother, his very name and even more so in taking jobs to pay the bills -- jobs that more so upset the delicate balance between the human and spirit realms.

dante sparda comes from the fire nation -- his father a previous high general in the army ; one that tried to broker peace in a time where it was unheard of while the fire nation ruled. his father met eva when he was traveling the earth nation and secretly begun a relationship with her. their love was beautiful, eventually in as much secret as possible eva bore two young boys: vergil and dante sparda.

happiness was not to last however as wind was caught of the affair and the children, leaving eva and the young sons to go on the run with sparda defending their escape. the name sparda was drug through the mud as the man was never heard from again after that night. unknown what became of him as deflected firebending set the house ablaze.

short years pass, spending it on the run from those who want to end the chapter of embarrassment -- but it finally catches up. one evening eva comes running, telling her boys to go -- to run and hide. forget their names but stay at each other’s side. the twins do as told and don’t look back ; the last time they see her. however in their escape they end up separated, captured by soldiers of the fire nation. dante’s anger and despair of losing his entire family causes him to lose control ; lashing out on the soldiers that caught him and running away

“ you must change your name ; forget your past and start a new life as someone else. “

that he does. he changes his name and disappears, alone. fast forwarding a couple years he’s a spirit hunter ; taking jobs that rid “ evil spirits “ that cause issue or problem for anyone that pays a good amount. a mercenary that cuts down those who’ve wronged the wrong person ; non and bender’s alike. his father’s sword, rebellion, at his back to assist and create a dancing display of fire just as much as his bending. he’s a difficult one to get close to but once you cool him off ( haha ) he’s a loyal friend and ally.

with the war over at the end of the series he’s more vocal of who he is -- even though he was previously but with some of the fire nation’s “ norms “ kind of relaxing from fire - lord zuko’s rule . . he’s his father’s son. his mother’s son.

lok verses are basically . . kinda the same. except i guess he’s older . . ??

pay off the debt to save your skin ; something within broke and former gentle soul crushed under weight ( dmc 2.0 v )

CANON DIVERGENT. dante snapped, perhaps it was inevitable - perhaps losing too many people tore what little the cambian could handle to pieces and the person that emerged from it was more a threat than he was before. after the events of devil may cry 1 after realizing that he had ( supposedly ) killed his brother there was something in him that couldn’t handle it and everything begun to crumble.

in this timeline something in him changed, and while it wasn’t immediate – little things when he would have been understanding over a situation didn’t sit as they should. but it happened quickly. with trish’s betrayal he didn’t help her, allowing her to get crushed by the tumbling rocks ; simply standing there and watch it happen. its drawn out, with him coming over to crouch beside her as she struggled to heal. in his allowance bore cruelty, snarling that she should have known better to betray him – mundus shouldn’t have done what he did and expect him to now not try and go after him.

he, as he does in the normal timeline, states that while she looks like his mother that she has no soul, no fire and for that she’s just a puppet. he shoots her more than once, killing her – the last time he sheds a tear. he reaches mundus, who commends him for his actions yet the hybrid isn’t having it. the fight with mundus goes about the same but with dante killing him for ultimately forcing him to murder his brother, being the one who set the orders to burn down his home – twice – and turn his life upside down.

he goes through the portal mundus opened to try and escape and ultimately assumes himself as the new king of the underworld. he still runs his business since even though he’s king there will always be factions that don’t like it due to his bastard blood and he’s more than happy to snuff it out.

his attitude is mostly intact ( though this is said loosely since he’s less talkative and jovial ) though now it’s unsettling at times since his jokes and humor can be a bit morbid – let alone how his aura feels. its dangerous and uncomfortable to be around ; his care for humans as a whole is almost non - existent except for a small inkling for lady.

BIG NOTE: THIS TIMELINE IS SET AFTER DEVIL MAY CRY ONE, KIND OF SKIPS FOUR ( though it IS likely nero still exists but dante doesn’t care much about it or know ) SLIGHTLY INVOLVES TWO ( aka: dante gets annoyed that some idiot human is making helicopters messed up with demonic juju and wants to become king. so he kills arius ) AND INVOLVES SOME CONTENT OF FIVE.

to enact your revenge most had been taken ; body & mind broken so it could begin ( witcher v )

———– destiny. you hear it more than you’d like to admit. destiny is what brought your parents together ; one monster and the other a witch. two were born, twins and raised in care by the witch til fate came to pass and ripped the three of you left apart. in trying to halt destiny the father, sparda, had done his best to hold it off ; disappearing one afternoon when the boys had been young ——– so long ago. his hope ?? that staying away would bring a kinder reality and future.

fire and blood, a mother doing best to protect her children was found disemboweled on the floor within the crumbled castle foundations. the youngest child was told to hide, hide away and if the mother didn’t resurface . . to run. she didn’t, but the youngest fought his way out of the castle —- skills of his mother surfacing with an aptitude for beast slaying in the same scope. his father’s sword, created by hellish and beastly means was his and aptly used to start a revenge — to KILL demons in his mothers name. and in his brothers — as both were believed to have perished in the attack.

in a short time and with training the young hybrid killed demons for a price ; eventually catching the eye of a witcher. the nature of the hybrid himself and the skills he held were of interest — brought to kaer morhen to be trained as a witcher. almost losing himself in the process yet he endured, it further altering his physiology that was already different with the hybrid nature he had.

with the trials and effective torture to be a witcher an astounding success he buried into the extensive training to pursue the beast that slayed his family while also being a monsterslayer for hire.

———– destiny. you hear it more than you’d like to admit. destiny and fate has brought you here. brought you a thought lost ache in your heart for the family lost all to avenge them and kill the beast that killed them. you feign your disinterest, your lack of care but there is much of it in soul. destiny is a cruel mistress, son of sparda. yet perhaps she may gift you the KINDNESS to provide retribution if you are to live long enough.

Notes 1: with his father’s blood and how he is part beast, his body temperature is more abnormally hot than normal – able to reach just below lava temperatures without it seeming to create any problems for him. Notes 2: his magic is mostly fire based, secondly offensive ( akin to geralt’s in show how it can push things back, etc ). with the fire being used to distract he’s referenced to a dragon at times which he ignores. Notes 3: dante’s still trans because i say so ; while magic used to be used to help him pass he’s since has procedure through coin to get effectively top surgery — the scars easy to pass off due to his occupation. bottom surgery hasn’t been attempted but with becoming a witcher, like the rest, he’s infertile. Notes 4. he’s school of the wolf because i said so, wolves are cool and it has geralt so sue me ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

you wished you could forget ; everything else seems to blur but not him. not the brother you lost. ( IT v. )

AFTER THE FIRE you found yourself in foster care with your brother in tow. foster turned into adoption with the family that adopted the two siblings ended up bringing the two of them too derry, maine. immediately the youngest sibling knew something was off about the town ; the atmosphere unsettling but kept it to himself, not wanting to blow the change he had with his brother at having a new life. ( he and vergil are still cambion’s, but their power is, like, kinda not as Large as it is normally. still half demons tho folks. )

the youngest had trouble settling in a new town, smaller than the last – economically ( as he and his twin were upper class before this ) and town size in general with more seeming conservative values. he was lucky to find himself in a slightly liberal and understanding household as he was a transgender kid who no one knew any less of. something he was more careful to keep to himself.

everything was fine, the brothers settled in and all was well until it wasn’t. exploring the woods and the barrens – finally opening up to his brother that things were strange in the town and he could feel something off. they went looking but in doing so . . there had been an opening of weakness for the two – distractions and a trap. their mother, burned and in pain asking for their help ; of course the two came closer. there was a small difference in this faux recreation and trauma that dante noticed – calling out for his brother to stay away but, unfortunately the youngest saw the eldest fall victim to the trap – terrified and running away when he couldn’t do anything but possibly fall victim too.

time passed, school continued on with whispers and comments on how the twin had probably did it himself, causing the kid to isolate himself from everyone even though he knew what he say. adults didn’t believe him but there was a group that seemed to have had a run in with this . . fuckin’ clown.

( going off: smol™ dante getting involved with the losers after he straight up talks to one of them about what happened and what he saw / big™ dante having gone off like the rest of the losers doing his own thing aka kill other demon / eldritch things as normal kinda sorta and then re - meet up with them ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ )

same person but different mistakes ; still wrought pain upon brothers ( altered outcome / divergent v. )

CANON DMC DIVERGENT. pretty much a what if / reversal if dante led the life vergil did instead of vergil himself. it’s pretty much the same events but with dante the cause of them or involved instead of vergil. his attitude is close to what 2.0 dante is but not entirely there in terms of destruction. however he is still trying to deal with the aftermath of nelo angelo fame and dmcv’s whole thing.

ARISE ; for you are reborn into something greater. ARISE baricontralto angelo - fight. ( post dmc 5 div. nelo angelo dante v )

HE HAD BEEN COCKY. the cambion had been cocky upon returning back with his twin from the underworld ; cocky that with his twin that nobody could beat them if they simply worked together. and he was right. he was right up until he was wrong and time, well . . time wasn’t kind. it had been nine months since their return from the underworld from cutting down the qliphoth and in that time a familiar blue amulet found itself back in dante’s possession. it had been lost for several decades, having been lost to the boy during the day he had come home to find gavreel and the family slaughtered on the lawn.

he kept it close, he knew the meaning – he knew that there was peace again but . . he knew the danger of once again having this but would not dare get rid of it – he’d ride the coaster until it stopped. he’d be happy to have this shred of happiness and he felt he was finally allowed to have something – happy to have his brother back and have some semblance of family.

that was, well, until he lost the amulet. he didn’t notice that he did, believing it was still in pocket during a small run in with demons ; a job that he had taken alone – it seemed that fate was playing her hand that day. it had been dropped during an evasion and was lost upon his shift ahead – he didn’t even spot it. the job became less easy, it tiring him considerably as the small group of demons became larger – and while it was initially a challenge . .

it soon became taxing. as the larger the numbers the more exhausted the demon hunter became, the more he started to slip up.

it was only then did he realize that this was no job. it was a trap and he was caught in a net he couldn’t tear himself from. a familiar feeling emerged, one he hadn’t felt for decades. a demonic force that he had thrown fury at that same time. he hadn’t been this week before. he knew who this was and . . he was in trouble. this trap had been calculated and he had fallen into it hook, line and sinker.

the distraction of the feeling, of the demonic energy rising in the space leaves him vulnerable – attacks slicing at his back, his arms and legs – a lucky slash to his throat leaves him struggling and gripping his throat. he hits his knees before he realizes he does ; he ultimately — unintentionally — bows to the demon king before he passes out, demonic weapons and claws slashing into his back.

the next redacted years in the demon world are a nightmare that post angelo dante would have trouble remembering for all that happened are buried deep in repressed memories. the years blur together, but dante holds for a long time – dante suffers, he burns, he aches, he struggles – he perseveres. for a time anyway. he recalls and holds onto the trade out . . that this could have been vergil here instead of he. last minute changes, bouts of laughter as he accepted the job and ran out the door.

see you soon he had said. but the jovial air had long past. memories begin to muddle, to ebb and fade in and out as things became foggy. a struggle to remember – a struggle to fight but . . not all fights can be won. this one eventually was lost.

out of years of torturous pain and bloodshed arose a new pet, a puppet that was loyal and true. one that slaughtered doppelganger after doppelganger of brother and self, of friends and allies that the king knew that the former knew. he was satisfied that his little puppet would do just fine. that perhaps he could lure in his old ; have the complete set – for use of the younger did fine in breaking the elder.

this soldier has two forms ; one that fed to his devil trigger ( generic nelo angelo – not much power is used for it – basically it’s dante on the regular tapping into demonic power with his first devil trigger. he’s stronger than normal, having given into his addiction to human and demon blood and grown more powerful because of it )

and another that feeds into his sin devil trigger ( essentially the ‘ dragon ‘ - esque look. however its almost imperfect in how the black scales have become the darkish red / brown ; something not quite right. scales do fall off without warning from time to time, revealing a near lava like flow underneath. )

baricontralto . . a name to be used to not arouse suspicion ; a soldier that would destroy armies and bring cities to their knees in the name of his master. time would be swift for the pawn to be used, for the king himself was pleased. he was cocky with his new toy . . and it wasn’t long before he was to be used . .

despite all your losses & destruction ; despite trauma & trials . . my darling boy you’re still you. ( undertale v. )

[ fight ] [ act ] [ item ] [ mercy ]

↳ [ dante sparda ] ↳ [ check ]

IT WAS UNPRECEDENTED. a human and a monster coming together and falling in love. falling in love after the war to a human witch that found herself in the closed off underground after a tumble. sparda protected eva from the monsters at first, keeping her under his care – yet the umbra witch found herself using her powers and skills to assist in healing a monster in peril.

keeping eva out of harms way was . . difficult due to her humanity being a source of contention. monsters wanted to escape. eva rather enjoyed being alive. in the end eva’s healing magic to save and protect those around her and her love and the fact that she was older and not prime use to open a proper exit to the human world. asgore swore eva off limits to monsters as she was kind and a healer to them all.

in time sparda and her married and she bore two children ; hybrids – part monster and part human.

but not even the king’s word could stop those who still feared humans and humanity. those who held rage toward a species that had caused so much trouble and locked them away for thousands of years, if not more. a fire erupted into the underground, started at the quaint yet spacious house and spread further throughout the underground. by the time it had been put out – eva had been recovered, dead, in the home attempting to escape herself but the boys nowhere to be found. with her last ounce of magic she had sent her boys away, far away and out of the underground and topside.

now alone and separated from his remaining family and traumatized by the attack to his home the hybrid remained alone – growing up such until he found himself protecting humanity against other monsters ; demons. demons and monsters that had managed to stay in the human world but grew dangerous and lost themselves. dante sparda grew to love his humanity yet slowly accept the monster part of himself.

with a job giving him whispers of the brother he thought he lost through his own hand now somehow residing in the underground . . he flew in to investigate, still holding some anger over what had been done to his family yet . . holding determination and patience to deal with the rumors and what he’s about to come across.

#{ this will be added to as i make more verses / plot with others to make locked - }#{ verses but yeah }#🔥 // i'm here because a jackass devil dragged me in kicking and screaming. howdy demons its ya boy ! ( mun )

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