#also the words ‘thug it out’ oh my god i’m killing myself i’m killing myself

[zaddyazula]

and piss poor reading comprehension strikes again!!!

[makeste]

BnHA Chapter 299: No Chains Left

Previously on BnHA: Horikoshi was all “and then AFO broke out all of the inmates from six other prisons and took a nap. well anyways, here’s the hospital angst.” Kacchan woke up two days later and was all, “WAIT BUT HOW ARE DEKU AND TODOROKI AND ALL OF THE OTHER CHARACTERS EXCEPT IIDA DOING” and then we cut to Shouto’s room where the other U.A. kids were sitting around being Mutually Traumatized and giving each other moral support and such. Everyone was alll, “...”, and then the rest of the Todofam showed up, INCLUDING POSSIBLY REI?! which, omg. The chapter ended with Kacchan STOMPING THROUGH THE HALLS all “WHADDYA MEAN DEKU HASN’T WOKEN UP YET”, dragging along Satou and Mineta behind him, fueled by the power of ALL OF THE FUCKS HE NOW GIVES. He gives so many fucks now you guys. This boy cares so much he can probably deduct it on his taxes.

Today on BnHA: SPEAKING OF PEOPLE WHO GIVE A LOT OF FUCKS, the story cuts abruptly to Hawks, freshly recovering from his near-death experience, and pondering the threads that have weaved the tapestry of his life and led him to this moment. Basically he grew up in poverty with his Jerk Dad and Jerk Mom until his dad got arrested one day and his mom sent him off to go Find Money Or Something, and so he rescued a busload of people and found himself a new career. Back in the present day, Hawks and Jeanist ride around town in Jeanist’s Jamborghini having awkward encounters with civilians in a country on the brink of social collapse, and visiting Hawks’s mother’s home. Hawks is all “I know from an outsider’s perspective it must look like my life currently sucks, but now that the HPSC is gone, my public image is shot, and my parents are finally out of my life, I’m actually feeling SURPRISINGLY GOOD.” Anyway so he’s gonna go meet up with Endeavor now, and p.s. this chapter was fucking fantastic though, damn.

oh my god?? is this Hawks narration?? something about him growing up watching the heroes on TV and thinking of them as fictional characters

okay I scrolled down a little bit more to see the rest of that “Keigo” panel, and wow

this is basically a shed. poor boy definitely grew up rough. let me tell you guys, I came in here ready for some BakuDeku shenanigans; I was not prepared for Hawks Flashback Angst. I AM HERE FOR IT, but also wow I gotta brace myself now lol

HELLO MISTER HAWKS’S JERK DAD, SIR

BnHA sure does have an array of Jerk Dads, doesn’t it. makes me appreciate characters like Masaru and JirouDad all the more for bucking the trend

anyway. so Horikoshi, you really thought that one itty bitty chapter of hospital catharsis would be enough to calm us all before you went right back to showing us child abuse huh. my god man can we rest

BABY HAWKS

swear to god this kid can’t be more than five or six, and yet he has this completely blank look on his face even with his dad looming over him being all threatening and shit. like he’s shut down his emotions to protect himself. imagine what has to happen to a child for him to have learned this at such a young age. fuck

AND MEANWHILE THIS GUY

don’t mingle with humans?? not “other” humans, just humans?? what is this implying here?? and also holy shit Hawks definitely didn’t inherit his looks from his dad orz

then again he doesn’t really bear much of a resemblance to his strung-out mom here either

omg omg omg. and this child is basically trapped here in this environment with these two people. this explains a SHITLOAD about Hawks’s personality though you guys. his ability to completely separate his real thoughts from the face he presents to the outside world. his pragmatic approach to analyzing and solving problems. his layers of emotional walls. turns out almost none of that came from the HPSC training -- that was all learned hands-on in his own personal do-or-die survival nightmare childhood!! oh, boy

and small wonder then that he latched on to Endeavor so strongly if he really is the one who brought down his dad and inadvertently saved him from this. also, just putting this out there, I know people are always talking about him and Dabi being foils, and I think it’s very interesting how Touya grew up in a household where he saw firsthand the dark side of hero society, and so ended up becoming a villain in order to bring it down. whereas young Keigo had almost the exact opposite experience, growing up experiencing the dark side of villain society and becoming a hero in order to bring about a world where no one else has to experience that. just. both of them are so determined not to become their fathers. some interesting parallels there

so Hawks was sort of an accident after his parents had “thanks for helping me not get caught after I killed that guy” sex, and now this little boy is growing up in squalor and being beaten by his father for things like Sitting In The Wrong Out-Of-The-Way Corner Trying Not To Be A Bother To Anybody. holy fuck. this is so rough to read through you guys

wait so does Jerk Dad have a an eyeball manipulation quirk?? because he doesn’t have the wings like his son, but wth are these things??

this presumably also means that Keigo has never been to school or anything either. he basically doesn’t exist. he thinks heroes are fictional characters, he doesn’t realize that they’re real people. these are people who could help him if he could escape and find them, but he doesn’t know, and they don’t know about him

OH MY GOD HE’S JUST SITTING IN HIS CORNER HUGGLING HIS ENDEAVOR PLUSH OH MY GOD

how could this child possibly have an anti-fandom when he’s done NOTHING WRONG HIS ENTIRE LIFE. huh. just explain that to me. lol I mean I’m not looking to pick a fight with anyone, but also, MAYBE I AM, idk?? this kid has gotten me all riled up lmao

anyways, Protect Keigo 2021, and thank you Horikoshi for these three very terrible pages. I am pleased to inform you that you’ve effectively gotten your point across and you may now commence saving this kid already

YAY

oh no, Keigo’s dumbass jerk dad tried to steal a car and the popo nabbed his ass and now his mom can’t just sit around neglecting her VERY YOUNG SON all day long, oh horrors. sorry lady my tiny violin is on backorder. just imagine that I’m playing a very sarcastic song on it for you

anyway so what are you gonna do now, abandon him? I can hardly imagine he’d be worse off, if anything it might be a near-instant improvement

LMAO HE’S ALL “WAIT WHAT ENDEAVOR’S A REAL FUCKING DUDE?!”

AND THEY SAY THAT A HERO CAN SAVE US~~~~ I’M NOT GONNA STAND HERE AND WAAAAAIT~~~~~ I’LL HOLD ONTO THE WINGS OF THE EAGLES, WATCH AS WE ALL FLY AWAAAAAAY~~~~

lol what a randomly pivotal moment in his young life. TIME TO GO MAKE THESE MEMES INTO DREAMS YOUNG ONE

anyway so his mom freaked out and grabbed him and they wound up at a train station with her TELLING HIM TO GO GET HER SOME MONEY, oh my god. SURE MOM LEMME JUST WALTZ RIGHT ON DOWN TO THE “JOBS FOR FIVE-YEAR-OLDS” STORE AND TELL THEM I NEED SOME CASH. ffff manifesting someone to come help him in 3... 2...

...

SIGH, JUST GO RESCUE THE PEOPLE FROM THE BUS, KEIGO. is this the outfit he was wearing when that happened?? it must be, right?? I can’t imagine them surviving more than a couple days out here unless this starts getting REALLY dark in a way I know that even Horikoshi won’t explore, so yeah. cut to the HPSC now please. never thought we’d be glad to see them. I mean sure, it may be an “out of the frying pan...” case, but good god

THANK YOU!!

and I guess it was his mom’s eyeball quirk then. anyway, whatever, see you again never, hopefully. lol oh man. thaaaat, was upsetting. need to center myself here for a sec. NAMASTE

OH YAY THE PRESENT

so we cut from Baby Hawks Angst straight to Present Day Hawks Angst, huh. not that this exhausted and traumatized lil lad isn’t still a baby to me too, I’ll have you know

BEST JEANIST, ALWAYS WITH THE JOKES

“WHEW, THOUGHT YOU DIED ON ME FOR A SEC THERE KID.” lmao. Caleb will no doubt ruin this by making his word choice all stiffly formal as usual, so I’m just going to treasure this “WOULD YOU LOOK AT THAT, I’M FRESH OUT OF FUCKS” version of Jeanist while I can

look at him, driving his Jeanistmobile

again, is it any wonder Kacchan was bitching about Endeavor’s dinky little car when he was used to riding around town in style like this. anyone else staring at this panel trying to figure out how this car is somehow secretly made of jeans

NOOOOO

FUCK YOU DABI LMAO. PUTTING THESE VOICE ACTORS OUT OF A JOB ONE BY ONE

anyway so Jeanist is all “GOOD THING IT’S THE FUTURE AND WE’RE SO GOOD AT MEDICAL SCIENCE” to handwave how Hawks went from one step shy of being a very handsome corpse, to sitting around texting Jeanist in a car all of two days later

OH MY GOD, AND FINALLY AN EXPLANATION FOR THIS

wait a minute. I’m so confused lmfao. soooo, was Hawks all “anyway, here’s Jeanist’s dead body, you can examine it but please don’t look at him too closely and also I’m gonna need that back unharmed.” how tf did you pull that off lmao

(ETA: also isn’t this technically confirmation of the ol’ Noumu Jeanist theory lol. I’m gonna go ahead and say it is.)

NO BUT PLEASE, CONTINUE. I unironically love reading Horikoshi’s overly convoluted “SEE IT’S NOT A PLOT HOLE” explanations

lkldslfk so wait, you’re telling me Hawks convinced Dabi and the League to put Jeanist’s body in storage, and basically just hoped they wouldn’t use him for any experiments until he could put his plan into action and have the HPSC’s people break in and find and revive him?? WHAT COULD POSSIBLY GO WRONG. A FOOLPROOF PLAN IF I’VE EVER HEARD ONE

fff this man really asked Jeanist to risk it all to prop up his little cover story, and Jeanist was all “sure why not” omfg. anyways, thanks for recapping all of this out loud for no particular reason in your car conversation you two

LMAO NOW WHAT

TROUBLE YOU SAY? GOOD THING THE NEW NUMBER ONE HERO IS ON THE JOB THEN

okay no it’s just some random thugs strolling around terrorizing the downtown. fuck ‘em. so Jeanist is making short work of them now

uh oh

won’t come? not can’t, but won’t?? what???

WOW

well I guess that makes the local heroes A BUNCH OF SHITHEADS now doesn’t it?? jesus

and okay, serious question, if the cops are spread too thin and the heroes have literally walked out on the job, what exactly is stopping everyone from deciding to use their quirks to defend themselves, legal or not? nothing, as far as I can tell. society just got a hell of a lot more chaotic

anyway so this is an interesting panel here

man, Dabi really did pull it off, didn’t he. well anyway so here’s that better world all of the villains were wanting, you guys! isn’t it so great?? everyone’s terrified and angry and losing hope and society is inches away from collapsing into total anarchy! but hey, at least we exposed the number one hero as a hypocrite

anyway so what are these guys up to

fucking hell, he’s visiting his mom. I really wasn’t prepared to commit this much emotional energy towards reading this chapter today. BUT VERY WELL, WE PRESS ON

?? wait she’s not there?

is this supposed to explain how Dabi knew who Hawks really was? except that there’s the little matter of how he even know where to find his mother in the first place. feels like we’re still missing something there, but oh well

OH MY GOD

RHA I TAKE BACK EVERY WORD I EVER SPOKE AGAINST YOU. YOU ARE A SCANLATION GROUP FILLED WITH ANGELS LMAO. I WILL TAKE THIS PANEL IN MY HANDS, AND TREASURE IT AND KEEP IT SAFE

ANYWAY, BECAUSE MY TIRED BIRD SON’S LIFE SUCKED SO MUCH ALREADY, IT TURNS OUT HE’S ACTUALLY PLEASED WITH THIS NEW TURN OF EVENTS LOL HOW ABOUT THAT

GOOD FOR YOU BBY. YOU GO OUT THERE AND BE YOUR OWN PERSON

and in all seriousness, I love that identity he chooses -- chooses, because it actually is him making a choice now, possibly for the very first time in his life -- is “guy who helps people”, though. it really is nothing short of miraculous that he held on to that kind of optimism and desire to do good even with everything he’s been through. there were so many times he could have chosen to turn his back on the world in retaliation for the way it treated him. but he didn’t!! and here he is now, finally free, and what he wants to do with the rest of his life now is simply to help others. anyway please excuse me for a moment, I need to go find some sort of basket or a big vase to put all of my fresh new Hawks Feels in, pardonne-moi

YEAH BOIIIIII

“FIRST ORDER OF BUSINESS, MISTER JEANIST, WHERE DID YOU FIND YOUSELF THAT SWEETASS CAR.” hey, all I’m saying is if this boy’s wings really aren’t growing back, he’s gonna need to find himself a new means of transportation y’know?

oh my god you guys it’s a flashback to his mom buying him the Endeavor plushie when he was like two because, and I quote, ALL MIGHT WAS TOO EXPENSIVE

oh my god oh my god. my boy out here with a new lease on life finding hope in the darkest of times

wasn’t your throat supposed to be all fucked up lmao. Horikoshi was suddenly all “oh shit the VAs are gonna be pissed at me if I keep this up huh”

“that’s why Bubaigawara was such a great guy” motherfucker IT IS A TERRIBLE DAY FOR RAIN. FORECAST SAID NOTHING ABOUT THIS

:’)

yes ma’am. yes indeed. confirmed, I really will straight up fight some motherfuckers for this child. well not really, but YOU KEEP YOUR DISCOURSE OFF MY LAWN AND OUT OF MY BLOG YOU HEAR. THIS IS A HAWKS-FRIENDLY SPACE. WE RESPECT TAKAMI KEIGO IN THESE STREETS

and he’s saying (or is he thinking?? what a weirdly shaped speech bubble this is) that even if what Dabi said about the Todoroki household is true, “I’m not sure it’s the same now.” which happens to be ABSOLUTELY CORRECT. man this whole chapter really is all about saying “fuck the past” and moving forward and I am living for it

SON!!!!

“the first step is at my beginning” fklkjlk. what an iconic fucking line??

AND HIS WINGS!!!! THEY ACTUALLY ARE GROWING BACK AHHHHHHH. “PUT A RAINCHECK ON THAT CAR, JEANIST-SAN.” THE HAWKSMOBILE CAN WAIT, RIGHT NOW HE HAS TO GO INSERT HIMSELF BACK INTO THE TODODRAMA WHETHER THEY LIKE IT OR NOT

you guys. I came here ready for some BAKUDEKU HOSPITAL ANGST, and I got DIDDLY SHIT of that, and none of my other kids were even in this chapter, but!!! ASK ME IF I CARE LMAO omg. because bird son is hanging with his new best friend, and he’s out here Finding Himself and picking up the pieces and putting them back together stronger than ever because RESILIENCE HAS A NAME, AND IT’S SPELLED H-A-W-K-S, and you guys. profound, my love for this child. holy shit. hey google, play Silence by Marshmello

[0poole]

I LOVE No Straight Roads

Honestly it’s hard to keep me away from a game with great visuals and even greater character design. I knew from the INSTANT I saw these characters that I was going to love it. I just finished it because it’s (unfortunately) pretty short, and even though I cheesed the final boss through it’s very lenient death mechanics (Instant respawn at the cost of a good rank) I actually appreciated that it wasn’t a pure cake walk. I’ve yet to rematch all of the bosses, but since I had genuine trouble with the later ones I’ll hold off on that.

But who cares about gameplay, am I right? I sure as hell don’t. I would’ve bought the game no matter what the hell it was. I wanted the characters (and the music, although I realized that second) and that was it. 

First of all, I love any world that is super fantastical but cheesy in its concept, ala a city powered by music, and battles between artists using music. Ideas like this only spawn from a mind that wants to create a fun atmosphere, if nothing else, and it was sure as hell fun. I genuinely love when someone goes so far into a crazy idea and doesn’t waste your time explaining it with real world logic. Wanna know how a city can be powered by music? Shut up and look at the cute virtual mermaid. Lord knows I did. Every once in a while, it does you good to just let the player/reader/viewer just revel in the idea without having to go out of your way to make things seem realistic. It’s not about “turning your brain off” or whatever, it’s picking your battles.

Also, I can seriously love a world with great background characters to it. Any game with the right situation to insert the random nobodies you find onto the streets into the art in the credits really played into the greatness of the world’s less important characters, and that’s always a good thing. It’s technically world building. But, since I always love to pick favorites, I’d have to say my favorite background character is easily Mia, the NSR infodesk assistant. It’s funny, because you can literally search “nsr characters” into Google and she’s the third image result. I love how jumpy she is when you first interact with her, since NSR probably spread the word about B2J suggesting they’re rock thugs who’d beat up anyone, so for all she knows she could die right then and there with a guitar lodged in her skull. She’s probably just some intern trying to pay for college. She don’t want trouble.

Also, I just realized that 90% of the characters in this game have the same body structure that I always love, that being having arms/legs that sort of fan out in width into relatively large hands/feet. It’s a kind of limb structure I fall into so much because it just really hits me right for some reason. I really can’t explain why.

Anyways, I gotta talk about the big boys individually:

Mayday and Zuke are an amazing duo. I’m always a sucker for a cute and crazy girl, but honestly Zuke hit so many of the right notes too. I will say it’s weird to pair the martian Zuke with the humanly-skinned Mayday, but honestly it doesn’t even matter because he looks so cool on his own. I love his weird blocky blue dreadlocks, and his weirdly shaped shirt which bares his chest in the weirdest way... And, oh my god, Mayday’s weird Spongebob background flower eyes? It’s little tidbits like that that really make me jealous. How could I have ever thought of that? It looks so perfect, and I don’t know why. And her little booty jig she does in her idle animation? Adorable. I played as her as much as was reasonable not only because I’m a filthy button masher with little strategy but also because she’s so damn cute. I can also appreciate how she has a tough-as-nails persona while still keeping a semi-girly attitude, like with her falling for 1010 and Sayu. Characters are so much better when they’re a perfect blend of characteristics, instead of being all one-note, like how Zuke is the quiet one but gets heated against DK West, and all. 

Honestly the voice acting for every character is great, but I love when Mayday’s VA’s accent shows through. It’s a perfect twang to accent (consider this the only acknowledgement of a pun in this post) her snarkiness. 

DJ Subatomic Supernova was going to be an easy favorite since he’s all space-themed. Also, I don’t know why I always end up liking the egotistic characters. Not in the sense that I like their egotistic-ness, but in the sense that I like everything else about them and they just so happen to also be egotistic. The same applied with Empoleon (maybe like my 2nd favorite Pokemon) and Rarity from MLP, probably among others. Either way, I’ll never not love space themes. Not to mention he’s got a funky disco theme, and I’m slowly starting to realize that I am in extreme love with techno-funk styles of music. The instant I heard his music he cemented his place into my playlists. 

As for design, I still have no idea what the fuck he is. Clearly AI is at human levels in this world, but if he’s a robot why does he still have hairy legs? But, if he’s a human, is that weird orb his head? Is it just some sort of puppet which he controls from inside his giant jacket? I know I dissed explaining things realistically but I actually want to know with this guy. Even the wiki doesn’t say. Either way, he’s clearly the logical extreme of “being at the center of your own universe.” Even his jacket depicts a solar system, with his hood being the sun. Didn’t see that until I tried to draw him. I really wish this guy wasn’t so tied to his DJ stand so I could reasonably draw him without it. I don’t want to draw his hairy ass legs. It is a great touch for his design though (although I prefer his beta look with pants and long boots, another design trait I tend to gravitate to) since DJs could reasonably not wear pants, since they’re always behind a table.

Sayu is my favorite. It’s so plainly obvious. It’s weird to say that sometimes, because some characters like Sayu are so clearly engineered to be as adorable as possible, to the point where they’re basically a parody of whatever they’re supposed to be emulating, but then they do that so well that they are still likable for what they’re trying to parody. Also, even though I’ve never looked into any vocaloid superstars myself, the fact that they exist and are loved in real life is absolutely perfect to be used as a character design in a world like this. It’s so weird conceptually, but we all know it’s normal and realistic. But yeah, she’s a giga-cutie whom I’ve already drawn and I’ve listened to her theme on loop on many different occasions. Favorite character, favorite track, favorite weapon of choice (What did I say about Empoleon?), which, and I wouldn’t have noticed this myself, looks like the USB symbol you see above USB ports on computers. How crazy perfect is that?

Even apart from my unbridled love for cute monster robot(?) girls, her boss fight is probably the 2nd greatest of them all, at least conceptually. She’s just a hologram, so you can’t touch her, but you CAN disconnect the artists which control her in order to defeat her. It’s the kind of concept for a boss fight that could only work for this type of character. I’m a sucker for the cute girl that provides her voice, but I love how the animator (video editor? the yellow one) actually attacks you with a mouse and lowers the brightness of the setting once he appears. Also, the mocap guy being the deeply-voiced type but still providing the adorable movements of her body. It’s such a great combo of characters, and their little extra art in the credits makes me like them even more. I just wish we could interact with them individually.

DK West was probably one of the most interesting characters visually, especially since I knew of every other NSR member long before the game came out, but I only just heard of him closer to the release. I wasn’t sure where he was placed, but I definitely assumed his gig was the weird shadow demon we saw in the trailers. When I finally saw him in game, I was shocked to hear him speak an entirely different language most of the time, which was really cool. Also, finding out he was tied to Zuke and wasn’t strictly an NSR artist really made him more interesting. You know, if his fucking shadow clone magic didn’t make him crazy cool enough. Even though I suck at his game and am not especially fond of his raps, the visual of him rapping with this giant monster behind him and dozens of weird shadow wingmen by his side hyping him up was probably one of the coolest in the entire game. The dark way they were hyping him up too gave such a bizarre atmosphere, especially since it parallels his seemingly chill and smiley demeanor. 

I definitely hope they’ll introduce new bosses as DLC in the future, and make them sort of in the same vein as DK West, where they aren’t the biggest artists ever, but they want to pick a fight with B2J. I’d kill for any extra content this game can provide.

Yinu is obviously special since she was the subject of the demo they put out for the game. Even though I knew all her bells and whistles, she and her mom still beat me a few times in the full game. Considering she’s semi-tied to story-ish spoilers I kinda want to go more into her in a separate section. It is worth considering playing the game first since it’s not hard (with the easy going deaths) and it’s short length.

1010 seriously grew on me as I learned more about them and interacted with them. I got their shtick when I first looked at them, but after seeing that animation of them touring the city on Youtube I was kinda falling for them. Then, I learned that they’re apparently repurposed navy war robots? I mean, maybe not them specifically, but it seems to heavily point in that direction, with the warship cars and “attention!”s and all. It took me a bit to get into their music too, but once I actually fought them and put their actions to the music I fell in love with it. I swear, Neon J’s weird dancing can has some of the smoothest moves in all of gaming. I don’t know whether they mocapped out those movements or got one of the greatest animators ever, but it looks so impossibly clean his part of the song gets me like 30x more hype than it would normally. 

Also, their little art piece of them looking at fan mail in the credits is probably one of the most adorable things ever. Even if they’re just Neon J’s puppets, that piece of art really makes it seem like they love every one of their fans. I’m not gonna lie, I might swoon a bit too if they picked me out and gave me some special attention.

Oh yeah, and the fact that Mayday was super sad in her showstopper against them was adorable and hilarious at the same time. The little tweaks they made to the showstopper for each fight were great.

Eve just has to be Lady Gaga, right? Like, an even crazier Lady Gaga. DJSS is Daft Punk (or any artist with a helmet persona, you know what I’m talking about), Sayu is Hatsune Miku, DK West is Kanye West, Yinu is a generic child protege, 1010 is a KPop boyband (just pick one) and Eve is Lady Gaga. That’s just how things are. But, again, this is the kind of boss fight that only this type of character could provide. It’s not just surreal imagery, it’s ARTISTIC surreal imagery. The fight is so mesmerizing in every way, especially by how it starts off so slow and calm and progresses to insanity, as well as the increased emotional investment in the fight making you feel so much more into it than just “That’s the boy band. Let’s fight.” Not only does it get you more invested, but it makes her artistic persona go deeper than just “she looks weird.” She is genuinely conflicted about her relationship with Zuke, and naturally that leads her to literally split him and Mayday apart. That mechanic specifically was the coolest, although I do wish they made it more obvious when you needed to switch over to a different side. I was getting pulverized by her fight too, since there were so many things to pay attention to. Her fight was definitely the best one. 

Tatiana and Spoilers:

Let’s be real with ourselves, the twist was so obvious. I do also think, though, that obvious twists aren’t bad if they’re just good reveals. At some point, a person just has experienced so many stories that “only pretty good” twists are easy to spot. It doesn’t mean that the twists are bad, it just means you yourself experienced.

I feel like her transition from rock to EDM was pretty understandable, even as a non-musician. She was so caught up in what she assumed was popular that it basically consumed her. It’s easy as an artist to want to forgo what you truly want to make in favor of what makes you popular, and clearly since her transition to EDM made her the CEO of the biggest company in the city (world?) that probably made her think she truly needed to change her outlook. Then, when she saw B2J try to bring it back, she sort of coined them as being as misguided as she was and knocked them down a peg. Plus, they were kinda being jerks about it.

It’s kinda like the Trolls sequel, where everyone pegs rock music fanatics as being too stuck up in their own heads to appreciate other types of music, which honestly seems more like the case than the alternative. When I first heard of the story of the game, I was seriously hoping they did put an asterisk on B2J’s ambitions because they were a bit sketchy from the start. 

That’s kinda where I want to talk about Yinu, because she was the true turning point in what they were doing. She’s literally 9 and yet she’s getting dragged into all this BS. When she said “I hate you all” at the end of her fight, and played a somber tune on her broken piano after the fight destroyed it, you kinda got a kick in the face to realize you’re kinda being an asshole to some of them. Sure, they fight back, but they wouldn’t fight in the first place if they didn’t have to. They are just people who play music under a joint name that B2J just so happened to get in hot water with. 

Then, of course, there’s Kliff, who also reeked of surprise villain, and who’s basically the embodiment of the bad side of B2J, where he just wanted to destroy for his own sake and not for the actual greater good. Once B2J realized their mistake, they backed off, but Kliff was so hard pressed to do what he planned on in the first place he wouldn’t stop. I kinda wish he got a bigger fight to his own since he’s clearly a big enough tech genius to divert a whole satellite into one specific building. Maybe the Elliecopter chase bit was his thing, but I do kind of wish he was there to fight against them too.

Even though Tatiana did kind of reform a bit quick, It’s still not too crazy to assume she could see that B2J was just misguided and the fact that they worked to revert their wrongdoings for her sake would make a pretty strong impressions. They clearly can hold their own, so it’s not like she wouldn’t want them to join NSR too. 

Oh yeah, and her boss fight was clock/time themed. If there’s a theme under space that I love, it’s clocks/time. 

And If I am to be respected by the internet, I must provide a negative opinion to balance out my positive one. I will say that the character model physics (like Mayday’s braids, DK West’s vest thing, Neon J’s fluffy neck thing, etc) got kinda funky at times. Especially DK West’s vest, which was completely messed up for every scene he was in... Also, even though the voices are mostly great, some lines felt a bit off. Just a bit. That good enough? Good.

But yeah anyway that’s another favorite game to add to the pile. Eventually I’m gonna have to compile a true list of my all-time favorite games/movies because I do kind of want to have a solid idea of what my all-time favorites are.

[arvandus]

Touch (pt 9) - Amity

PAIRING: Dabi x Fem!Reader

STORY WARNINGS: 18+ only please!  Drug abuse/withdrawal, adult language/themes, heavy angst, past trauma/abuse, anxiety/panic attacks, PTSD, fluff, pining, slow burn, eventual emotional SMUT. *please pay attention to the chapter tags as these warnings will apply at different times*

CHAPTER WARNINGS: talk of killing, blood, needle/medical sewing; pining... lots of resistant pining.  Typical sensory overload due to quirk use.

CHAPTER SONG: Ocean Eyes by Billie Eilish

Part 1   Part 8

Artwork credit to @hellowon31 on Twitter (https://twitter.com/hellowon31)

Part 9: Amity

Between your second night in a row of poor sleep and waking up incredibly early, it didn’t take long for exhaustion to find you again.  By mid-day your sensory overload had subsided enough that you collapsed into your bed, dreamless sleep dragging you under instantly.  It was short-lived, however; it felt like no sooner had your head hit the pillow, that a knock on your door roused you groggily from your slumber.

Rubbing the sleep from your eyes, you stood up and answered the door to see Toga standing in front of you, a bloodied washcloth held to her temple.

“Oh my god, what happened to you??” you exclaimed, as you let her into your room.

“I was out running some errands and a thug tried to jump me in an alleyway.” Toga replied cheerfully. She halted in her tracks.  “Oh… aren’t you still sick with the flu?”  She instantly covered her mouth and nose with her free hand, taking a step back.

“Huh? Oh!” you exclaimed. Right.  Crap. You forgot about that little white lie.  “Sorry, hang on a sec.”  You quickly went to your medical bag and pulled out a white disposable mask, placing it over your face.  “Is that better?” You asked, your voice muffled.

The tension in Toga’s shoulders instantly left, her posture easing as her hand dropped away from her face. “Yeah, thanks.  Are you feeling okay?  I could try to do this myself this time…”

You balked at the thought of Toga treating her own injuries.

“I’m fine right now, I promise.” You replied. 

The blonde shrugged and fully entered your space, although her folded hands in front of her body communicated she didn’t want to touch anything.

“So, a guy jumped you in an alley?” You asked.

“Yeah.  He was big, too.  And had a quirk that gave him extra reach on his arms.”  Toga explained.

You weren’t quite sure what sort of errands required Toga to be in alleyways, but you had a feeling none of them were good. The curiosity pulled at you - you could feel the question on your lips, but you swallowed it down.  When you had first joined the League, you and Shigaraki had discussed the importance of compartmentalizing your role from the others.  You were the only one out of the group who was defenseless after all, so as the weakest link within the League, you had both decided it would be best if you knew as little of the League’s affairs as possible, in case you ever got captured and questioned.  You were allowed to participate in general discussions regarding the League’s next moves and what areas were important to you that you wanted to focus on, but the nitty gritty details were kept separate: private meetings with other villains, locations, times, that sort of thing.  So, despite your curiosity, you knew not to pry.

Instead, you asked, “Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” she replied, “but I can’t get this to stop bleeding.”

“Let’s take a look.” You gingerly removed the cloth from the wound to see a deep gash in the skin before new blood filled up. You placed the washcloth back over the wound before it could spill over.  “Hm. Better keep that on there.  You’re going to need stitches.”

“I figured.” She grinned. She took over holding the cloth to her head while you grabbed your medical bag.  You escorted her into your bathroom and had her sit on the toilet seat. Her outfit was speckled with blood, some of it from her wound, and, you suspected, some of it not.

“So…” you started, as you washed your hands in the sink. “What happened to the thug?”

“I drained him.” She replied cheerfully.  The casualness of her statement filled you with a confusing mixture of fear and pity.

“You killed him?” you asked, as you prepped your needle and thread.

Toga looked at you with her yellow feline-like eyes.  “He would have killed me if I didn’t.”

“Tilt your head back.” You instructed.  Toga did as you said, and you carefully removed the cloth before placing your fingers over her open wound. She winced slightly at the contact, but quickly relaxed as your quirk soaked in. 

Silence filled the room as you cleaned her wound with antiseptic and set to work.  The heavy quiet dragged on as your mind mulled over the girl next to you.  You had a thousand questions in your mind, but none of them seemed very appropriate to ask, not without upsetting her.  And despite your good standing with the League, you made it a careful point not to get on anyone’s bad side.  It wasn’t so much that you didn’t trust them, although a part of you was always wary around those who were willing to commit violence.  But you also understood on a personal level that the problems these villains had went far deeper than society was willing to acknowledge.  Mental illness, quirkology, environment… all of it played a role in dealing the hand that these outcast individuals had been dealt.

Minutes passed as you stitched up the cut and cleaned the blood from the sealed wound once more. You were washing your hands when Toga finally spoke, her voice soft.  “Are you mad at me?”

You paused to look down at her.  Her brow was furrowed, her mouth pulled into a sulky frown as she stared at her hands. She looked like a child waiting to be scolded, and in that moment, you could see how young she still was.  You gave a soft sigh.  “Of course not.  He attacked you, right? You had to defend yourself.”

You paused then followed up with, “I’m sorry you had to do it.”

“Don’t be…” she replied. “I liked killing him.”

Your hands faltered as you began putting away your supplies and Toga noticed. 

“You don’t like it, do you?” she asked, accusation lacing her voice. She was defensive, waiting for your judgement. 

You couldn’t blame her. No doubt her quirk was something she likely struggled with all of her life before finally giving in to it.  She had never given you her story directly, but it wasn’t hard to guess.  Everything about her – from her ramblings to her actions - spoke of a caged animal who finally got a taste of freedom and refused to be captured.

Contradicting feelings warred within you, and you struggled to wrangle them.  You had to admit, you hated the idea of her killing.  More importantly, you knew that her victims weren’t always street thugs, villains, or corrupted heroes.  But at the same time, despite this uncomfortable fact, you also understood how strongly quirks affected behavior, how it could act like a poison, messing with the mind and forcing its way into being expressed.  It wasn’t the first time you’d seen it; you understood it intimately.

You looked down at her and a familiar sense of pity unfurled in your gut, snaking into your veins, pulling at your emotions even as your core roiled at the idea of needless violence. She was just like him... a victim in her own way, despite the horrific things she did.

“You think I’m a monster.” Her words cut through your thoughts, and your attention refocused on her. She had her knees hugged up to her chest, her feet propped on the closed toilet lid that she occupied.  You mentally scolded yourself for abandoning her as you got lost in your head and crouched down next to her.

“No.  I don’t think you’re a monster.” You answered soothingly.

“Then why do you look scared of me?” Toga demanded. 

You gave her a smile that you hoped reached your eyes. She was more perceptive than you gave her credit for sometimes.  You had to choose your words carefully. 

“I’m not scared of you.” You explained.  “ But I am a healer, Toga. I see someone who’s hurt, and I want to take that pain away.  It’s what my quirk is. It’s a part of who I am and it’s what motivates me. So, I won’t deny that it’s hard for me sometimes to understand why you do what you do because it’s so opposite of how I am.”

Toga averted her eyes, her body tightening in on itself.

“But…” you continued as you placed a hand on her forearm, “I’m not scared of you.  And even though you do monstrous things, I don’t think you’re a monster.”

Toga slowly lowered her knees, letting her feet touch the floor as she stared at you.  “Why not?” she asked.

“Because,” you replied, “You still care about people.  You and Twice were the first to welcome and befriend me when I joined the League. And the way you take care of Twice… like he’s your big brother… that counts for something.  You even care about Dabi, even though he’s an ass. That was why you checked on him that night, right?  You treat each of us like family.  Now why would a monster do that?”

“But I still want to cut you guys all the time…” she confessed.

“I know.  But you don’t.  That should count for something.”

Toga smiled at you with teary eyes.  “You’re so nice, big sis.”  Her compliment made you smile. 

Toga hopped of the toilet with a nimble bounce, signaling the end of the conversation.  “Am I all done?”

You nodded.  “You’re free to go.” You announced.  Toga made her way to your bedroom door, but she halted when you called her name.  “Toga… don’t forget to change your clothes.”

Toga looked down at the bloodstains splattered across her school uniform.  “Yeah, I guess you’re right.  Thanks, big sis!”

She left your room with a jovial wave.  As soon as the door closed behind her, you slumped down onto your bed as you removed the white mask from your face and placed it on your nightstand.  Exhaustion washed over you again, deeper this time than it was before.  It wasn’t even so much due to your quirk since you didn’t have to use very much of it this time.  Instead, your mind focused on Toga, replaying the conversation.  It filled you with a swath of competing emotions; pity, anger, frustration, helplessness, fear.  The feelings swirled in you making a rank stew in your soul, old and familiar.

This was just like before.

You shoved the feelings aside, unwilling to look too closely at them. You already had enough on your plate as it was… you didn’t want to dredge up more of the past.  It would only add more stress and it wouldn’t change anything.

You laid down again in the hopes that this time, finally, your sleep would be nightmare free and uninterrupted.

 * * * * *

The withdrawal-induced restlessness Dabi felt lasted throughout the day, making sleep near impossible.  To keep himself from going crazy, he forced his energy into cleaning up his space, despite his typical disdain for chores.  He straightened up his desk, took out the trash, and most importantly, did his laundry. It was overflowing and stank of mildew, and he was in desperate need of clean towels.  His bed was no better, reeking of sweat and infection and covered in chip crumbs. But while his body appreciated the movement, the lack of mental power the activities required did little to distract from intrusive, obsessive thoughts.

He wasn’t sure which thoughts he wanted to avoid more - thoughts of his family or thoughts of you.  The memories of family were old and familiar, but the emotions in them were raw, threatening to suck him in and shred him to pieces like it’d already done so many times before.  But thoughts of you weren’t much better, at least not to Dabi. He didn’t like the warmth he felt each time he thought of you, and yet he kept going back to that feeling, like opening the fridge to stare at that last piece of cake.  He was at war with himself, and he didn’t know how to fight it.

Somehow, with all of his coming and going from his room, he somehow managed to never run into you. He wasn’t entirely sure if that was a good thing or not, but like all other uncomfortable thoughts, his forced himself not to focus on it.  It shouldn’t be important.  You shouldn’t be important.  His mouth pressed into a thin line.  The number of times he had to tell himself that were becoming too many to count, and it never did seem to make much difference.  

The cleaning only occupied him for so long.  Towards the end of it he found himself sitting in his room, waiting for his clothes to finish drying so he could retrieve them.  He had laid back on his bed just for a moment, to stare at his phone. He woke up an hour and a half later, his mind muddled with jumbled dreams and memories.  Cigarette smoke, a child’s laughter, the sound of himself screaming in agony…

He shook his head to knock the unwanted fog from his brain and grabbed a smoke to soothe the shaking in his hands.  The cigarette was gone within a minute.  The haze still lingered though as every inch of Dabi’s nerves hummed and his gut clenched in discomfort.  So, he inhaled a second cigarette for good measure and followed it up with an electrolyte drink paired with a couple of antacids.  His laundry was likely done now; no point in letting it sit there and risk another League member touching his things.

With the laundry dry and sitting on his bed in a crumpled heap, he stared at the contents, a frown on his face.  Your towels were mingled with his, and the sight of it filled him with an uneasiness that had little to do with his withdrawal.  It looked entirely alien to him, intrusive in his personal space.  His stomach gave a weird flutter before giving way to a wave of nausea.

Stupid, he thought to himself.  They’re just fucking towels.

He began folding the first towel. It was half-assed in its effort and one hundred percent intentional, as if giving careful care to your items would give away something about himself he wanted to keep secret.  But even as he did so, intrusive curiosity crept into his mind.  How did you fold your towels?

Idiot.  He caught his wandering mind and reeled it back in forcefully, but it did little good. His mind was a master escape artist, running away to explore other unwanted thoughts without his permission as soon as his mental back was turned.

As he folded your items, his hands slowed slightly in their actions, taking in the feel of cotton on his fingers. He watched as he rolled the soft material between his thumb and forefinger while memories bubbled forth, broken and vague.  Waking up in the shower, sitting on the toilet with your towel over his head, feeling of your hands working the cotton over his wet hair. He tried not to think of your face, but of course not wanting it made it appear in his mind.  He remembered your eyes, the concern in them, and the memory filled him with a warmth that he was still struggling to understand, even as he tried to deny its presence. 

It was short-lived – the memory of your tender gaze soon faded away to a terrified one, and now he was remembering your scar.  A new thought came into his mind then, dark and plaguing. The look of fear you’d given him that night - did you wear that same frightened expression on your face when you were burned, marked by whatever asshole laid their hands on you?

Dabi could feel his body temperature begin to rise.

The last towel was folded, and he swiftly grabbed the pile and shoved it on top of his dresser as if were contaminated.  Contaminated with memories, contaminated with you…

He faltered for a moment, his anger disrupted by that strange sense of guilt that gnawed at him.  The unwelcome mental picture of you cowering in fear as flames licked your skin danced in his imagination.  No wonder you had been so utterly terrified of him that night. No wonder you’d been unable to look him in the eyes the next day…

Dabi caught himself staring at your things and forced himself to turn around to finish his laundry. He folded his clothes swiftly, not caring whether or not they were done nicely before shoving them into the dresser drawer. Then, with his clean towels in his arm, he went into the bathroom to give himself that much-needed shower.

 * * * * *

You woke up feeling groggier than usual as the orange-red glow of the late afternoon haze filtered into your room. As predicted, your sleep was restless and riddled with hazy uncomfortable dreams that instantly began to fade away as soon as you opened your eyes.  You sighed in annoyance as dissatisfaction slinked across your tired skin. It was as if you had slept the entire time with your body tensed, ready to run at a moment’s notice, and now you were feeling the effects. 

You got out of bed with a stretch to ease the stiffness in your muscles.  Maybe something to eat and drink could lift your spirits and wake your body up.  You slipped on your shoes and opened the door before remembering to grab your mask off of your nightstand.  Then, you left your room to trudge downstairs.

The smell of pizza greeted you as soon as you stepped out onto the main floor, and your stomach growled in response, your mouth watering.

“Y/N!” Toga cheered. “Did you take a nap?”

You frowned as your hand self-consciously went to your messy hair. Was it really that obvious?

“Yeah, I was pretty tired.” You confessed, as you tried to fix your stray strands.

“Are you feeling any better?” Magne asked.  You could tell she was asking about the ‘flu’ you were supposed to have.

You shrugged. “Yeah, a little…”

“And how about Dabi? You were treating him too, right?” Magne continued.

You felt embarrassment bubble in you, and you scratched at your cheek as a distraction.  “He’s doing okay… I think it’s hitting him harder, though. He’s probably going to need some more time to recover.”

“He came down here yesterday without a mask and everything.” Spinner grumbled. “Then decided to take a stroll.  He couldn’t be that bad, could he?”

You shrugged. “Stomach bugs are weird and vary from person to person.”

Shigaraki’s voice surprised you from behind.  “How’s his burn?”

He knew about that…?  Maybe Dabi said something the day before.  Either way, no point in lying about it now…

“It’s doing well... but it’s not completely healed yet.”

Shigaraki grunted and grabbed a slice of pizza from the open box sitting on the bar.

“Hey, Y/N!  You want some pizza?” Twice offered.

“Yes, that’d be-“

“She can’t eat pizza when she has the flu!” Toga scolded.  “She might throw it up.  She needs something simple!”

Your heart sank.  No pizza??

“No, it’s okay…” you started, your eyes staring at the perfect slice.

“I’ll go make you something, okay big sis?” Toga chirped as she bounded lightly towards the small kitchen behind the bar.

Oh… oh no….

“Oh, um… it’s okay Toga, I’m not really hungry…” you tried to call after her, but she was already gone and out of earshot.

You fiddled with your hands nervously.  Cooking was not one of Toga’s strong suits.  Fortunately, Kurogiri was present, watching the exchange.

“I’ll make sure she doesn’t burn down the kitchen.” He commented, as he followed after her.

You stood there awkwardly, strongly contemplating grabbing the entire pizza box and running away with it. But you’d just had that personal exchange with Toga earlier, so abandoning her when she was trying to do something nice for you probably wouldn’t go over well.

Damn it.  You were too nice for your own good sometimes.

On defeated feet, you walked over to the couch and sat down next to Compress who was reading a book. He put the item down as you sat next to him and gave you a smile.  “How nice of you to grace me with your company, little flower.”

You crossed your arms and sulked into the couch cushions, wishing they would swallow you up.  “Toga is cooking for me.”

“Oh dear, so I heard.” He commented.  “However, Kurogiri is supervising her.  Perhaps this time it won’t be so bad.”

“Kurogiri doesn’t eat.” You pointed out.

“True,” he laughed. “But perhaps you set your standards too high.  I never said he’d ensure that the food is good; however, his assistance may ensure that it is edible.”

“Don’t you use logic on me, Mr.” you replied, even as you tried to suppress a smile.

“Then perhaps a magic trick then?” he offered.  “As a distraction.”

“Sure.” You grinned.

A few minutes later, Toga came out with two steaming bowls sitting on a rectangular tray.

“Oh good! You’re still here!” Toga smiled.  “I made you soup!”

You stifled a groan as you stood up and stared at the contents.  It… didn’t look bad…. It looked like it was canned soup at least, which, all things considered, were one of the simplest things to make. Still, it had that a slight burned odor to it when the steam reached your nose.

“Why are there two bowls?” you asked.

“Oh!  One’s for you and one’s for Dabi.”  Toga explained.  Behind her, Magne chuckled at the table.  “He hasn’t come down to eat yet today so he’s probably hungry.”

“It was my suggestion.” Kurogiri stated.  “You are still sick after all, so it would be in the League’s interest if you and Dabi had your meals in your rooms until you are no longer contagious.”

“Maybe it can be like a little dinner date!” Toga added.

You fought the flush of hot heat that seemed to take over your insides.  “A what?”

The last thing you needed was the League thinking you and Dabi were dating.

The blonde girl giggled as she handed you the tray.  Her hands instantly went up to her hot cheeks, her eyes glazed over with infatuation. “What I wouldn’t give to have a private dinner date with Izuku!”

“Oh geez, not this again…” Spinner grumbled.

“Hey!” Toga shot at him.  “It’s rude to tease a girl in love!”

You were grateful that Toga was easily distracted, and you took the opportunity to make your escape. “O-Okay. I guess I’ll go take this upstairs then… Thank you, Toga.” You mumbled.

You walked out of the room quickly, the soup sloshing in the bowls and threatening to spill.  But you wanted to get out of there before things got even more awkward.  Toga wasn’t even the real concern – the real concern was Magne.  Her chuckle had not gone unnoticed by you, and she was a master conversationalist when she wanted to be.  The last thing you needed was more intrusive questions or implied statements, especially with everyone there to listen in.

You took the stairs instead of the elevator, not trusting the old rust bucket to run smooth enough with bowls of hot soup in front of you.

Dinner date.  You wanted to laugh.  Dabi certainly wasn’t the type to do dinner dates.  In fact, Dabi probably didn’t even date. He probably just hooked up with random girls whenever he felt like it.

Your stomach tightened into an uncomfortable knot.

It didn’t matter.  You weren’t his type anyway.  And he shouldn’t be yours, not with all of his baggage. And boy, did he seem to have a lot of baggage.  Besides, he didn’t need the pressure of someone pining over him while he struggled to keep himself together.  He needed someone he could trust.  He needed a friend.

You felt yourself start to calm as you centered yourself on that single fact.  He needed a friend. You could do that.  You’d already committed yourself to it.

You made it to your own room and set the tray on the floor outside your door so you could go in and grab your medical bag.  If you were going to take soup to Dabi, then you might as well treat his wounds and give him his pills.  It was about time for it anyway.  With your bag slung onto your shoulder and the tray once again in your hand, you went over to his door and knocked.

It opened and you froze, eyes wide, as a warm humid air wrapped you up in the scent of shampoo and body wash.

Dabi stood before you in nothing but a pair of grey sweatpants that left little to the imagination.  Shit. It hadn’t even been a full five seconds and you were already staring at his crotch.  Hot embarrassment flooded you as you averted your eyes, only to get stuck on his glistening, bare form.  You’d seen him shirtless many times, had your hands on his body, even… but something about this moment was different.  Maybe it was the shower.  Maybe it was the simple - yet absolutely sinful - sweatpants.  Or maybe it was how he seemed to be carrying himself in this moment, like he was the king of his domain.  He was a living art piece, every angle of him stunning from the slope of his shoulders to the cut of his lean waist. Even his stitches looked beautiful, the light bouncing off of them like gems.  Whatever it was, Dabi seemed to be a thousand times hotter than you remember him being, and it left your brain feeling dumb as hot desire washed over you.

You were staring.  You knew you were staring but you couldn’t break the trance he seemed to put you in. Your eyes took in the cut of his cheekbones, the slope of his nose, the shape of his lips.   Aqua blue eyes stared at you in knowing amusement, grabbing you like the tide and pulling you in.  You could feel yourself floundering beneath his intense gaze as you struggled to get a hold of yourself.

“Uh…” you stuttered.

You were still staring.

“Hey, Doll­…” He greeted, a playful grin on his lips.  His voice washed over you, and you felt lightheaded.

This was so embarrassing.  If he had any doubts that you found him attractive before, then he certainly didn’t now.

“Hi.” You said dumbly.

His eyes broke contact with yours to look down.  “Hey-” His hand shot out to quickly grab the tilting tray, soup splashing messily over the sides of the bowls.

“Shit! Sorry, sorry.” You cursed, as you adjusted your hold. You kept your eyes down, unable to stare at him any longer.  “Can I come in?”

“Yeah.” 

Was that a chuckle you heard in his voice?  How dare he.

You crossed the threshold, only to find yourself even more smothered by the clean scent of his recent shower that permeated the entire space like a fog.  Beneath it, the faint hint of cigarette smoke was present, but it was muted.  The light in the room was dimmer than you remembered and you realized why – he had put one of his shirts over his shoddy lamp, reducing its brightness.  The humid warmth in the room was paired with a strange heavy silence.  Your eyes instantly checked his window and there was no billow of the curtains this time, no street noise coming forth.  Your breath froze in your throat for a moment as you realized – he remembered.  All the things that had bothered you this morning were modified for your arrival.  A weightlessness swelled in your chest, intertwining with the attraction you were still grappling with.  You set the tray down with shaky hands before wiping your sweaty palms onto your pants.

Dabi came to stand next to you with his towel on his shoulder, the warm bare skin of his chest brushing against your arm as he stared down at the bowls.  With his proximity so close and your own emotions running amok, it took every ounce of mental fortitude not to hug him right then and there.

“Did you make that?” he asked, eyes narrowed in suspicion.

“Oh, uh.. Toga did.” You finally said, as you moved slightly away from his bare skin.

“We should have let the tray fall.”  He stated as he stared at the contents with distaste.  You couldn’t help but laugh at his comment, and it helped clear some of the brain fog.  He gave you a soft glare.  “Why did you even take this?  You should have just said no.”

“Well, not all of us can be as nice as you, Dabi.” You teased.  “Besides, she wanted to do something nice for us because she thinks we’re sick.”  You explained.

“If I eat that I probably will be.” He retorted.

“Oh, come on… it’s probably not that bad… just a little smokiness to it.  That shouldn’t bother you, right?” You put a spoon into a bowl and handed it to him.

He gave you a deadpan look as you held the bowl against his chest, his hands refusing to take it. “I’m not eating it.”

“Hey, if I have to eat this, then so do you.” You glared.

“Like hell.” He replied. “Besides, I already have food here.”

You set the bowl down and stared at the bags on his desk.  “Yes, chips, beef jerky, and cigarettes!  So healthy.”

“The three basic food groups.” He agreed with a grin. He sat down in his desk chair, his legs spread wide as he slouched back.  It took extra effort to not let your eyes wander.  “Tell ya what, doll… you try it first.  If you don’t throw up or die, then maybe I’ll consider eating mine.”

You rolled your eyes at him and grabbed your bowl.  “Fine, you big baby.” 

You filled your spoon and raised it to him in a mock toast before placing it into your mouth.  He watched the motion in silent amusement, his eyes focused on your lips as they closed around the spoon.

It was awful.  Definitely burnt.  And the parts that weren’t burnt were overcooked, making the textures all wrong in your mouth.  You swallowed forcefully, suppressing a gag.

“Mmm… You look like you enjoyed that.”  Dabi teased.

“Hey at least I’ve actually tried it.” You shot back.  “So, I guess that means only one of us is a little bitch.” 

Dabi’s eyes widened, the light in them dancing in amusement, as a grin spread across his face. “You kiss your mother with that mouth, doll?  You’ve been with the League too long.”

You pointed your spoon at him.  “Don’t try to act like you know me.  And in case you haven’t noticed, I’m not dead.  So eat up.”  You picked up his bowl again and held it under his nose. By this point, you knew the soup wasn’t really that edible, but now you were determined to have him suffer with you.

The smell wafted up and he wrinkled his nose.  He pushed the bowl away back towards you.  “I don’t think so.”

You narrowed your eyes at him.  “You said you’d try it if I did.”

“I said I’d consider it.”  He replied. “It’s been considered and denied.”

“You’re an ass.” You pouted. “It really is awful though…” you confessed.  “and she had Kurogiri with her, too.  Like… how?”

“Kurogiri doesn’t eat.” Dabi replied.

You laughed.  “That’s what I told Compress!”

Your conversation was interrupted by a loud, hungry rumble in your gut.

A low chuckle rumbled from Dabi’s chest that made your heart pound and your flesh feel warm.  “C’mon doll, don’t torture yourself.” He said. “Why don’t we just go get a bite to eat. There’s nothing keeping us locked up in here.”

Toga’s words echoed in your head.  Dinner date.  Oh geez, if she or Magne saw you two leaving the premises together, you’d never hear the end of it.  The offer was tempting though, and you were pretty sure Dabi was starting to get tired of his snacks.  Junk food could only satisfy for so long; at some point he needed a proper meal.

But something nagged at you as you stared at the man in front of you.  He seemed to be doing okay at first glance… his recent shower certainly seemed to lift his spirits.  But you had been too distracted by his attractiveness earlier that you hadn’t taken the time to really assess him.  Now, you could see the exhaustion still in his face, could see the small wiggle of his leg and the drumming of his fingers on the table.   You checked the time on your phone – no doubt your quirk and the pills were beginning to wear off.  But how far along that was, you couldn’t really say; it was hard to tell with Dabi; he didn’t show his pain very easily.

You knew your appetite would disappear once you pushed yourself into sensory overload.  But Dabi couldn’t wait, even if he might try to play it off that he could.  More importantly, you didn’t want to try to deal with a withdrawal-suffering Dabi out in public. Your heart sank slightly. Goodbye delicious dinner, for the second time that night.

“…I should probably treat you first.” Your eyes landed on his bag of goods as your stomach rumbled again. “But maybe a snack would be good.” You confessed.  You felt embarrassed for asking, especially after the big show you’d just point on… but pride had to take a back seat before your stomach ate itself.

His blue eyes stared at you for a long moment.  You could feel your skin start to prickle under the weight of them.

“Sure, doll.”  He finally said.  He rummaged through one of the bags until he found what he was looking for under a bag of spicy chips.  “Is this your style?”

He tossed you a prepackaged muffin about the size of a softball.  You couldn’t fight the smile that blossomed across your face.  “Yeah, thanks.”  You opened up the wrapping and began breaking off pieces of it.  “You want some?” you offered, holding the muffin towards him.

He shook his head. “Nah.  Don’t feel much like eating.”

You broke off half of the muffin for him anyway.  “I still need to give you your pills, so you should eat something first.  Besides, this is too big for me to finish by myself anyway.” 

Was it a lie?  Of course. You were starving.  Did Dabi know that you were lying?  Of course.  But he took the other half of the muffin anyway.  You sat on the edge of his bed while he sat in his chair as the two of you ate together in silence for a moment. As you ate, your eyes wandered around his room.

That was when you noticed it.

 “Are those my towels?” you asked. 

Dabi looked over at his dresser as he stuffed the last of the muffin into his mouth.  “Yeah.  They’re clean now.”

“Thank you…” you replied. Your eyes scanned the room, taking in the details.  “You cleaned up…”

Dabi shrugged. “Don’t sound so surprised. I’m not a complete slob.”

You stared at him as he began fidgeting with a pack of cigarettes, tapping the box on the table, flipping it over, and tapping the other end.  Over and over it somersaulted, and you wondered if he was craving one right now.  Why didn’t he just take one out and light it up?

Was Dabi… being considerate?

Then again, the action didn’t come as much of a surprise to you as it might have before.  He’d been more willing to do small acts of kindness ever since the night of his withdrawal.  Bringing ramen.  Adjusting his room for your sensory overload.

Now this.

Was it fueled by guilt? Or did he actually care?

He looked like he was waiting for something.  You watched as he rubbed at his scarred arm with his free hand, irritation flashing across his eyes.  Of course. He was waiting for you and your quirk. You ate your muffin faster.  As soon as it had disappeared into your mouth, you reached for your bag and took out the pill bottle.  His eyes were on it instantly, the shaking in his leg stilled by the sight of it, his shoulders releasing some of their tension.

“Here.” You offered, handing him his pills.  He took them and swallowed them dry before opening up a beverage and taking a swig.

Dabi eyed the bottle in your hand as you closed it.  “That’s looking awfully low there, isn’t it?”

You put the container back in your bag, enclosing it in a zippered space.  “It’ll be enough to last us through tomorrow morning.”

“That’s cutting it real close, don’tcha think?” he replied.

You looked up to see his brow furrowed in concern and offered him a reassuring smile.  “It is.  But I’ll be picking up the refills tomorrow before our evening session, so there’s nothing to worry about.  Now let’s take a look at your back real quick.”

He stood up and dragged his chair over to where you sat and straddled the seat with his back facing you. The bandage was still on, but you could tell it had gotten wet in the shower.  You’d have to be careful when changing it this time, since the bits of skin that were starting to heal might reopen.

You applied your quirk first around the bandages, then began to delicately remove the wet gauze and tape. Your fingers were cold on Dabi’s skin and a small shiver ran up his spine at the sensation of your touch.  The wound didn’t show any signs of infection or fresh damage, so you continued business as usual, applying the antiseptic followed by fresh gauze.  As you patched him up, your eyes kept drifting to your towels, thinking about what had happened that night.  There was something important you’d been meaning to ask him.  Something you had to know.

“I… have a question.” You ventured.

“Hm?” Dabi responded, his head turning slightly to the sound of your voice.

“The next day… after I helped you out that one night… was there anything… off?  About you specifically?” you asked.

There was a long pause and you could tell Dabi was thinking heavily, which only made the dread in your gut sink in deeper.

“I couldn’t feel anything.” He finally admitted. 

“I’m not talking about the pain.  I’m talking about… I don’t know.  Anything else.”

“I know.” He replied. “When I woke up, I couldn’t feel anything.”

Your brow furrowed and the dread hardened into a stone.  “…what does that mean?”

“It means I didn’t care about a thing, doll.  Everything was turned off.” He was facing away from you and in that moment, you wished he wasn’t – you desperately wanted to see the expression on his face.  Your hands felt clammy as you processed his words.

“You mean your emotions?” you clarified.  You needed to understand more.  You needed to know how bad it was.  “What… did it feel like?”

“Empty.”

You finished putting the last bandage on him but you barely noticed as your vision became unfocused, your thoughts whirling.  Holy shit. You had turned off his emotions?  You supposed in hindsight it made sense, since it was likely his memories and the emotions attached to them that were torturing him that night.  Why else would he have been blabbering incoherent apologies as if he were desperately trying to atone for something? But still… the severity of that made your blood run cold. Emotions were everything, contrary to what some people might think. They fuel how people think, how they act, how they react… entire personalities – entire identities are built around how emotions are felt and how they are dealt with.  You very well could have entirely erased Dabi as a person. In fact, you likely did, at least temporarily.

You swallowed the hard lump in your throat and tried to calm your panicked breathing.  “…How long did it last?”

He was quiet again, and the silence was worse than anything.

“Please tell me.” You begged.  “How long?”

“Hours.”

Your heart was racing and your ears ringing.  Your eyes began to sting but you fought it, focusing on a patch of scarred flesh on his back to distract yourself, memorizing its pattern.  You didn’t want to cry in front of him. Not again.  And certainly not twice in one day.  You wanted to apologize, to beg his forgiveness, but you couldn’t make the words come out, not without your emotions spilling out with them.  Instead, you forced yourself into action, treating his scars with your quirk. 

There was so much more you wanted to know. How did he get his emotions back?  What did it feel like? Was it slow, or at all at once? Did he feel relieved?

Did it hurt?

But you couldn’t bring yourself to ask those questions, no matter how badly you wanted to know, no matter how badly you wanted to understand.  They were too personal, and you could already tell by Dabi’s growing reluctance that he didn’t want to talk about it any further.

You’d apologize to him. At some point, once your emotions were under control, you’d apologize.

You finished numbing his back and shoulders, even tracing down his triceps a little.  “Turn around,” you instructed.

He did as you asked, adjusting himself in the chair so he was now facing you.  You avoided looking at him, the shame and guilt far too heavy for you to lift your eyes.  Unbeknownst to you, a frown pulled at his brow, his lips.  You wore your emotions so plainly…

You took his hand in yours and continued your quirk as your skin began to prickle and sting. The sound of the shower dripping in the bathroom was louder now. Dabi shifted slightly in his chair and the scraping sound against the floor was like nails on a chalkboard.  The odors in the room went from pleasant to offensive.

“I gotta question for ya,” Dabi suddenly ventured.  “Did you change my clothes that night?”

Your hands faltered and you glanced up at his face before you could catch yourself.  His eyes had a glint in them you couldn’t quite place in your distracted mental state.  You felt embarrassment creep across your skin.

“I did.  I had to get you into the shower before you combusted.” You replied as you continued to treat him, your hands on his collarbone. The feel of it was so familiar now…

“I was naked?”

“Only for a moment!” you replied.  “You were in your boxers for most of it, but I had to change you out of those after the shower.” God, this entire conversation was so embarrassing… why did he have to ask about this of all things?

“…did ya peek?” he asked.

Your mouth struggled like a fish out of water for a moment as you glared at him.  “NO!” You finally exclaimed.  “Of course, I didn’t!  Why would you even…”  but then you saw the grin on his face and you realized he was teasing you. 

You playfully punched his arm.  “You’re an asshole.” You fumed.

He laughed.  “That didn’t even hurt.” He mocked.

“Of course it didn’t, idiot. I already used my quirk there.” You shot back.  “Now stay still so I can get your damn face.”

“So feisty…” he murmured.

Shit.  With your senses heightened, you could almost feel the vibration in his voice, as if he were closer to you than he actually was. For the briefest moment, it distracted you from the growing pain of your scar, from the sound of the drip drip from the bathroom shower.  You wondered what it would feel like to have those words uttered against your skin, his hot breath warming your flesh, the feel of his rough lower lip brushing…

You clenched your jaw until you nearly gave yourself a headache, forcing the intrusive thoughts out of your mind.  You weren’t here for this.  You were here to treat him and get out of his space.  You weren’t his type.  You repeated it to yourself like a mantra, a prayer, a reminder to the illogical part of you that wanted to follow the lure of his voice.  Why did he have to be such a flirt?  It didn’t surprise you, but it certainly left you feeling confused when his actions and words sometimes contradicted themselves.

All it meant was that he was getting comfortable with you again. He was treating you like a friend, and friends teased all the time.  Right?

His eyes watched you closely as your hands caressed his jaw, relieving the ache there.  You seemed lost in your thoughts and while you certainly didn’t look comfortable, you also didn’t look too be too horribly in pain. You were doing better today.  Still, your fingers danced quickly across his skin, skating under his eyes which he instinctively closed, and barely touching his lower lip.  It happened far too quickly before the presence of you disappeared, and it left him feeling empty.  How badly he wanted to grab your hands right then and put them back onto his face. 

When he opened his eyes again, your own eyes were downcast as you stretched your fingers slightly.

“You okay?” he ventured. The question sounded odd coming from him, even to his own ears.

You looked up at him then, and you could see he was concerned. That’s right… he knew about your quirk and your scar now.  You clasped your hands in your lap to keep them from shaking.  Shaking from the pain you were feeling, shaking from the fear of your own thoughts and desires.

“I’m fine.” You lied. Did he know you were lying with this too?

He knew.  In fact, you’d given him the same false words he always gave you.  It was like looking into a mirror.

“You don’t gotta do the legs.” He offered.  “I’m not dressed for it anyway.”

“Don’t be ridiculous.” You chided.  “Of course I’m going to do your legs.  The better I treat you, the better you can rest.  And your body needs rest to heal your burn.”

He noticed that you made no comment on his withdrawal, which a part of him appreciated; it helped him avoid the discomfort of shame that was always associated with it. Still…

“It’s not like I’m going anywhere, doll.  I won’t be needing them.  Besides, the drugs help.” He replied.

You eyed him for a moment, assessing.  “How about I just do your calves then?” you bartered.

He assessed you in return before he gave a small half-smirk.  “Deal.”

By the time you’d treated his calves down to the tops of his feet, you were definitely grateful you didn’t have to do any more.

PING……..PING……

You rubbed at the bridge of your nose, feeling the onset of a headache as you skirted just shy of overload. You closed your eyes, hoping maybe the lack of visual stimulation might make the auditory more bearable.  Or at least bearable enough that you could actually move your body instead of feeling frozen.  But it only made it worse, allowing your brain to hyperfixate on it. You covered your ears against it as you struggled to find your way out of it, to regain control of yourself.

While you lost yourself in your senses, Dabi watched you in displeasure.  He’d made sure to have everything ready before you showed up.  He even made sure not to light up a cigarette, as much as that had grated on him, since he knew the smell would linger long after. But clearly, something was bothering you.  What had he missed?

He watched, waiting, giving you time to figure yourself out or ask for help while he secretly tried to decode the mystery.  Your eyes were closed, your hands over your ears.  Was it multiple sensory attacks?  You flinched again.  And again. There was a rhythm.  So, it was something you were hearing.

Curiously, Dabi closed his own eyes listening for anything that stood out.  Slowly, the quiet sound of water dripping greeted his ears like a whisper.  He opened his eyes just in time to see your flinch match with the sound.

That was it.

“It’s the shower.” He commented. 

It wasn’t a question – it was a statement.  You opened your eyes and looked at him with surprise before giving a nod, your hands still over your ears.  He knew his shower leaked for a bit after he used it, but he’d gotten so used to it that he just tuned out the sound by this point.  But for you… especially after using your quirk on him…

Why didn’t you just get up and leave?  Why stay here if it was bothering you this much?  Obviously, you wanted to get away from it…

Maybe you couldn’t.  Maybe, for some reason, you were stuck in what you were experiencing, unable to find your way out.

Dabi could relate to that.

And he didn’t like it.

He stood up and closed the bathroom door before returning to sit in the chair in front of you, waiting.

You could still hear it. But it was manageable now, muffled. Quieter.  You could feel yourself start to process the rest of what you were feeling.  The pain on your back; the feel of your clothes, your hair; the smell of Dabi’s body wash, fresh linen… cigarettes.  Slowly, your hands lowered from your ears as you focused on each sense, identifying all you recognized.  The world was still loud around you, but at least you could somewhat function again. Slowly, you opened your eyes to see him watching you through an unreadable expression.

“Better?” he asked.

“Much.” You replied. “Thank you.  Again.”

“It’s fine.”

A heavy, awkward quiet filled the space, and in that moment, despite Dabi’s kindness, all you wanted was to be back safely in your room.  Maybe it was because you were feeling overwhelmed by your own emotions, unable to properly control how your heart pounded around him, or how you couldn’t keep your eyes off him. Or maybe it was the way he kept looking at you, his expression unreadable yet his gaze intense, as if you were all that he was focused on and he was determined to discover all of your secrets.

Either way, you felt an ache grow within you, threatening to drown you. But you couldn’t focus on it, couldn’t dismantle it or bury it, not while your brain fought the senses overwhelming you. You could handle one or the other… but you couldn’t handle both.

You needed the comfort of your room; you needed your safe space.

“I’m… going to go lay down.” You said quietly, as you grabbed your bag.  It felt heavy in your hand.

If Dabi noticed the shift in your mood, he didn’t say so.  Instead, he stood from his seat and shoved his hands into the pockets of his sweatpants.

“Yeah.  Me too.” He replied.

Despite the suddenly aloof atmosphere, he still walked you to his door.  After you left, he leaned his back against the cold wood and ran his hand down his face.

So much for not caring…

________________________________________________

Part 10 ________________________________________________

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[otpnessmess]

For you, there’s nothing I wouldn't do

Here it is finally! The first part of the Jasonette fake dating AU I had promised. I’m working on the following parts already as I will have a couple of weeks with a lot of free time. I’m so sorry for disappearing. Enjoy!

Ao3 - Masterlist

Next

-

“You’ve officially lost your mind, Jay, I swear to God.”

When Marinette had agreed to get up early on a Sunday morning because Jason had asked her to hang out, she didn’t think she’d regret it five seconds into meeting her best friend at their favorite restaurant. And she hadn’t yet, but it was very close.

“Nette, please, I’m begging you right now. Do you want me to kneel and plead? Because I will, don’t try me.” His blue eyes had always been her weakness and the puppy face he was making at her right now almost made her agree on the spot to whatever insane plan he had come up with. The keyword being almost.

“Alright, let me just reiterate to make sure I’m understanding. Your father is hosting a gala in a month and you want me to pretend to be your girlfriend?” Marinette tried to keep her face as straight and serious as possible but it was proving hard since the words she had just said sounded utterly ridiculous.

“Pretty much, yeah. So, will you? I swear I’ll pay you if I have to, I just need you to help me out with this.” He had started to look hopeful since she had yet to outright deny him his request. “You know I love you Bug, and you’re the only one I can trust with something like this.”

Damn, he was good at telling her exactly what she liked to hear, and Mari was just not strong enough to say no to him, though she did plan to at least make him sweat a bit more for it. “Oh really? And what if I asked you for, I don’t know, a new car?”

Her forced attempt at being difficult hadn’t flown under Jason’s radar as he seemed to pick up on it and smirked. “We both know you would never ask for that since you refuse to let me pay for anything every time we go out, but if you did ask for that, know that I’m ready to do whatever you wish me to do. Do you maybe want an apartment? You did mention wanting to stop paying rent… ”

Despite the teasing tone in his voice paired with the sly smirk on his face Marinette knew he was dead serious which, even if it flattered her that her friend would even think about doing such a thing for her, made her backtrack on being difficult immediately.

“No! Argh, you’re impossible. Fine, I’ll follow along to whatever your brilliant plan is, but don’t you dare buy me an apartment, you crazy knobhead.” The look she shot at him tried to be venomous but seemed to be ineffective when the brightest grin took over Jason’s face as he moved to sit by her side to squish the living daylights out of the tiny woman.

“I swear I don’t know what I did to deserve you Nette, I love you.”

That earned him a playful smack on the arm as Marinette gave in and chuckled at his antics. “I love you too, you goofball. Now, get off of me and finish your breakfast.”

The man sat across her once again looking like the cat that got the canary, Cheshire grin in place. “You’re the best."

She pretended not to notice the way her heart paused for a beat when she saw the way Jason was looking at her, with caring eyes as if she was incredibly precious. Instead, the woman hid her face behind her mug of coffee.

"W-why do you need me to do this anyway? What do you need a fake girlfriend for?”

Jason’s demeanor instantly changed, his shoulders squared up and he frowned. “The annual gala my father holds for the company’s investors and partners is always full of old men who are full of themselves-”

“Doesn’t that remind me of someone?”

“Oh shut up, I at least have a good reason for it. They’re nothing more than a bunch of old hags who like to brag 24/7, and since this gala is in their "honor” they can bring guests with them. If I have to go by another year hearing them pitch their daughters and grand-daughters to me hoping I’ll date one of them, I’ll simply kill one of them. Some of the girls over the years have been nice but for every decent one you can actually talk to, you have at least 9 others doing the most ridiculous things to try and get your attention. I assume it’s what they are asked to do but I swear… And everyone else gets out of it too. Dick is already married to Kor'i, Tim is forever married to his job and Damian is not old enough for most of them. So that leaves me, the handsome Jason Todd, to carry the family’s weight on my shoulders.“

She snorted at the theatrical sigh he let out before laying his head on the table, immediately regretting it as he looked up at her with a glint in his eyes. "That’s where you, my dear Miss Dupain-Cheng come in. If I have a girlfriend, those girls will have to effectively back off of me as well, and I won’t have to restrain myself from being incredibly rude to them.”

“As if you could actually restrain yourself from being rude.”

Whether he didn’t hear her or just decided to ignore her comment Mari didn’t know, but once the monologue had been delivered, he leaned back on his seat with his signature smirk. “I’m a genius, I know.”

It took a whole lot from Marinette not to smack her dumbass of a friend again, but even she had to admit no one deserved to have their space invaded as she knew Jason had had in some of the other events his father organized, and if he was being truthful with her, then this gala was shaping to be even worse in that regard. If she could help her friend it would be enough for her, but in doing this she would also have an opportunity to design a gown to wear and hopefully get some people interested in her designs. Maybe she didn’t regret agreeing to this that much anymore.

“You’re one hell of a crazy person, Jay. You’re lucky you’re my best friend.” She rolled her eyes and nudged his leg with hers under the table with a smile. “We’ll have to do some planning this month and you better be ready. I’m not meeting your family for the first time as your fake girlfriend without running through each and every way this could catastrophically end.”

His shoulders relaxed as he nudged her leg back, relief flooding his face seeing her so committed. “Don’t worry Bug, they will love you, and I’ll explain everything to them after this is over, but if they are in on it from the start I just know one of my brothers will screw it up. I think we can pull it off though, and you know I’m always up for a challenge.”

The already familiar confidence rush that ran through Marinette whenever Jason reassured her that everything would be fine made an appearance once more, and at that moment she completely trusted themselves to be able to make do with this crazy-ass plan. After all, Jay was stubborn and always ready to jump in head-first into the weirdest situations.

Newsflash. This time he wasn’t.

Jason had known it was risky to ask his best friend to play pretend so he could get rid of the sticky girls from the gala.

Not because he thought she would refuse, but because of his own feelings.

Truth is, he was in love with Marinette and had been ever since five months into their friendship they encountered two thugs trying to rob a teenager on their way to school. Jason had put one of them down but, before he could go for the second one, Marinette already had knocked him out.

Her breathing was just a bit labored from throwing the man over her shoulder and one of her pigtails had come off from where the robber had grabbed it, but then she turned to wink at him with a smile before going to see if the teen was alright. Red Hood could only feel the sound of his heartbeat in his ears.

Knowing Marinette was potentially able to kick his ass at any given moment had made him feel all kinds of things, and he was already a goner by the time she was back by his side.

That same night, and back in his bed, Jason was mulling over the earlier events. Read: thinking about Marinette. He had never felt so flustered around the tiny woman and it had proven to be a hard task to get her out of his head even when she had left for her own house several hours ago.

One thing led to another and soon he found himself reminiscing about the past months spent in Marinette’s company. How she always seemed to brighten up any room she walked into, making him feel like he should look away but being unable to. Her caring nature taking over whenever someone in need of help was in the vicinity, the tenderness with which she treated people’s injuries, be it physical or emotional.

Jason remembered the first time he had been at the receiving end of it. It had been the time when his identity as Red Hood was also revealed to her.

In his defense, he hadn’t expected Marinette to arrive early to his flat for their movie night only to find him trying to get the cuts all over his abdomen and arms to stop bleeding. Time seemed to freeze as they stared at each other, one sitting on a barstool at the kitchen isle, the other standing at the door with a bag of snacks in her arms. Marinette, being the quick-witted and resourceful person she was, recovered astoundingly quickly from her stupor and started chastising him while tending to the cuts herself while he could only look at her in awe.

Later, when he explained where he got injured, she didn’t seem fazed by discovering his identity. If anything she seemed…smug?

“What’s with that face? I expected more of a reaction:”

Her smile only grew at that as she put on the last bandage around his arm. “I’m glad you finally told me, but I kind of…already knew? I mean, I had my suspicions. You two had roughly the same measurements as far as I could tell, you also happened to go MIA whenever there was an emergency a time too many for it to feel like a coincidence. Also the little stunt you pulled the other day talking to me in the mask? You should’ve at least tried to fake your voice or something.”  Once she was done she patted his head with a wink and left him to process everything while she prepared the popcorn.

That wink had been so cheeky it left him swooning, heartbeat pounding in his ears.

Wait. That had felt familiar.

Oh.

Oh.

Jason was brought back to the present with such force he thought someone had slapped him. Laying on his bed, staring at the ceiling at 3 am he couldn’t tiptoe around the issue anymore. He wondered how he hadn’t reached this conclusion much earlier.

He was in love with Marinette.

He was in love with his best friend.

Dear God, he was so fucked.

That had been the moment he accepted he was so utterly in love with Marinette, and even though Jason had hoped that what he thought was a very one-sided love would subside eventually, with each passing day where he got to know her better and better he only fell harder for her.

Why was he even thinking about all of this? Oh right. He had asked Mari to play pretend as his girlfriend that same afternoon.

What could possibly go wrong?

Marinette had taken it upon her to have their lie be as believable as possible, which meant she wanted them to at least plan out what they’d do if certain situations arose while they were navigating the gala. What this meant was that the following month they had spent a whole lot of time together, maybe too much for Jason’s sanity to remain as stable as it could.

Even if he was used to meeting her at least twice a week and spending their weekly movie night together, Mari practically lived in his apartment now. And he wasn’t complaining at all, but by the gods, if it wasn’t so damn distracting to have her around. She would often keep him company while asking questions about the people who would attend the gala, working on her dress for it, or simply walking around the house jokingly complaining about how Jason tasteless choice of furniture and decorations made the living room look like a yard sale.

Oh, and there was also all the teasing. There had been a consistent amount of it between them before, but now it had turned into a constant stream of cheeky comments, smirk exchanges and usually a smack or two from Mari.

All in all, Jason had lived through both the most blissful yet most frustrating month of his life and the worst of it had yet to arrive, though time did pass by way faster than he would’ve hoped for.

And just like that, the big night was upon them.

-

And that’s it! Hope you liked this little thing and look forward to the next parts! Thank you a lot for reading <3

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[teacup-tyrant]

SHADOW & BONE REVIEW: EP 2

On this episode: Kaz and Inej have a lovers quarrel, I still love editing and scene transitions, Pekka Rollins is a bag of dicks, and a bunch of really good quotes.

- Oh ok the title screens are all different, cool

- Again with the scene transitions mimicking body movements, good editing, good editing

- Oh damn Kaz is scrambling to make a plan and then him and Inej are fighting, I love it. AHA and he feels bad about it when she walks away. (My roommate just woke up and I had to rewind this part and be like "LOOK, LOOK AT THEM." her response to Kaz was: *shakes head* "Idiot." Lololol)

- If y’all thought Kaz was a drama queen HAH he is nothing compared to the Darkling. Full disclosure, I don’t like the Darkling so this will be me seeing if Ben can change my mind. God, his eyes are SO BIG, it's like he’s wearing circle lenses but he isn’t.

- YES, FIRST CANE WALLOPING, GET EM BOY-O!!! Oh Jesus, I yelled when they smashed Kaz's face on the desk. YOU GET YOUR HANDS OFF HIS CANE, I WILL KILL YOU MYSELF. That is some good rage in Kaz's eyes there, as there should be with Pekka.

-“And dump you in the harbor” Pekka says, omfg this hurts meeee, this hurts me so much. Book readers, we know how important that was

- "Never make decisions out of fear, only out of spite." AHAHA that is an excellent Kazy line, 10/10 would spite again

- Scene transitions on the word “go.” Sorry, I’m going to be on about their scene transitions the entire time, get used to it

-There’s kind of a mix of various accents between everyone and every country and I like that

- Is that a fucking furry outside the Menagerie, Jesus Christ ahahaha. Ok laughing over, this scene is going to break me I just know it

- Ah yes, a removing of all the hidden knives trope scene. Classic.

- Why did she call Inej "little bird?" No no Nina is a bird. Should she not have called Inej a lynx?

- I do really like Heleen's office though. I like her peacock stained glass window.

- Ayyy he’s a slaver, why not kill him? 2 years down the line and Inej would do that job for nothing. So I suppose this is the... her getting to that stage part. This is pre-SoC Inej, remember. No killing. Yet.

- Also, jfc this one 6 hour night is going to last forever isn’t it?

- Ok so apparently Jesper and Inej have some secrets about each other they know and then Kaz appears and WOOOOSH goodbye she is gone

- Noooo I was enjoying these scenes so much, I I don’t want to go back to Ravka yet, let me stay here in Ketterdam :(

- Fedyor is cute. I like him and I like his accent, I wish they all sounded like him

- Shaky cam for inside a carriage always makes it more believable, good good

- Oh a tree in the road, you say? Call Kaz, he’ll help, he’ll get her outa there

- So this is all wonderfully violent so far, which made Netflix give it its adult rating I assume and I’m loving it ahaha sorry.

- Ohhhh the Druskelle are here! I just heard one yell "drusje." NICE

- "Listen to their heartbeats, how many are there." Ohhh that is a clever use of grisha power, I like that

- Oh shit, Darkling with a running dismount, epic

- I don’t like how these Fjerdians look like thugs. Maybe it’s just their camouflage uniforms. But I pictured them more... regal-looking since Druskelle are such an honorable straight-laced bunch. Uniforms could have reinforced that trait

- Oh my god, the cut just sliced that dude in half. Brutal.

- Jesper said he wants a demo man; Wesper stans are frothing at the mouth

- I don’t like how much they call Kaz "boss." Maybe that' because I don’t want him being the boss because he shouldn’t be a boss yet, but that’s just my book brain taking

- "That’s evil." "It’s what I would do." Hahahaaaaa yes, Kaz, tell us more about how evil you are. And also he touched his arm and Kaz was like WOAH WOAH, STEADY ON

- So Inej refuses to kill, does she? Well that’s gonna change and it’s gonna be tragic and painful. I’m here for it eh heh heh

- Even the Darkling's hankie is black. So on brand.

- Oh he pronounced Druskelle correctly. Good job, considering Ben Barnes recorded himself saying all the words and sent it to the entire cast. He was Production Dad to all these young fresh actors and I just think that’s beautiful.

- Is he riding a Frisian? I need to know. For science. Because goddamn if those horses not the most beautiful in the entire world. They are literally hair goals.

- Was that just SOME RANDOM DUDE riding a horse that was used in every promo shot?!?! Ahahaha that’s hilarious. It’s not Kaz in a fancy coat sorry lololol

- POPPY. An instant favorite new character for everyone. "Yes, you snoop." This is fucking amazing, best scene of this episode hands down

- Little Palace still looks French with Russian onion domes slapped on top. Ok.

- The Darkling has such a haughty presence. His nose is always up in the air. Yes, you're better than everyone else, we get it. Also, I cannot stress how much I love the Ravka theme music

- Oh Alina my girl, let me hug you. I would like to live in her bedroom; I would host so many tea parties

- "When our closest friend is in trouble we do foolish things." Cuts to Kaz. LOL. More magical editing at work.

- Oh god, Kaz just staked the Crow Club on her.

- I’m glad we’re staying in Ketterdam for a while and not like immediately fucking off to Ravka bc that’s a little what it felt like in SoC. Because I love Ketterdam and I want to stay there as much as possible. Also, my autocorrect keeps trying to change it to Rotterdam and yep yep, it's right but also, no.

- Ok. Lemme dish here for a sec. MY THEORY about how he’s the boss and not per Haskell how we’re going to get there by the end of the series is coming together. Helen says it’s “all yours to lose” and I think he IS going to lose it and that’s how we’re going to get to the dregs. Somehow Haskell will take over the gang and the club and he’ll hold Inejs contact and Kaz is going to have to work his way back up to get it. Calling it now.

- (*edit - so in hindsight... I guess Kaz did actually lose it? Until Alina gives him some fancy jewelry to sell in a deus ex machina move. We don't really know what else happened while they were away. Idk. Jury's still out. What do you think of my theory?)

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[hobbitsnapes]

The Red Hoods Protègè chapter 16

Older Damian Wayne x ofc

(Photo made by my lovely friend @tyuuniverse)

Summary:Red hood has taken a young vigilante under his wing and subsequently changes Damians life forever.

Tags: @comic-nerd-dc @comic-brew @psychovigilantewrites @psych0crybaby

Days go by, and each one sandy feels more comfortable being here. Now coming out each day of her room. No longer staying in feeling as though she’s trapped inside the room like the rest of the manor was hell. Most of her days she’d frequent the garden, walking around and taking in the beautiful flowers and trees.

But the majority of her time was spent in tims room. Having grown a friendship with the insomniac. But she couldn’t really say anything, due to usually coming in at the wea hours of the night to the earliest of the day.

And that’s where she found herself, at the early hour of 3:57 AM hanging upside down on tims bed with him beside her.

“why do they make decaffeinated coffee? Who does that help?” He asks. The pair hadn’t said a word in minutes. “People who like coffee but not the caffeine. Or Constipated people.” She replies. Tim nodding his reddening face due to the blood flow from being upside down. “Do you think the ocean is so salty because of whale sperm?” She asks, making him laugh. “Where in the fuck do you think of these things?” He asks, still laughing. Sandy pulls herself up, Tim following in suit. “I could ask you the same question.” She asks. They both lay back on the bed this time, heads fitting comfortably against the plush blankets. “Wanna play a game?” He asks, she tunes to him, “I want to play a game.” She says in a deep voice. This causes Tim to roll his eyes. “Okay jiggy. Let’s play 20 questions.”

“Most embarrassing story?” She asks. “The time everyone went out and I popped a hard on and the thug laughed thinking it was because of him. When in reality it was cause I was young and couldn’t control them.” This caused sandy to let out a large laugh, dubling over clutching her stomach. “Alright alright alright, it’s my turn to ask.” Tim chuckles. Her eyes look up at him, nodding her head slightly. “Favorite memory?” He asks. Her brow furrows as she looks to the side. Eyes slightly squinted. “I have 2 that I can’t pick between.” She sighs. “Then tell me what they are.” Tim says.

She pauses for a moment, looking back over to him. Letting out a large breath. “My 8th birthday. My dad was always busy but would always make sure to come into my room each night, and if I wasn’t asleep, he'd take me out to our living room, and with my mom we’d all take a huge blanket and all the pillows and make a huge heap on our couch. Most nights we’d end up falling asleep together. Sometimes we’d watch a movie or they’d tell me a bedtime story. Each one was different from the last. Well that night my dad brought me out into our living room, he took the day off to spend it with me. And he said to sit there by myself and wait patiently. So o did, and after 10 minutes my mom and dad came out.” She starts laughing as she’s speaking, trying to calm herself down to tell the rest. “T-they both came out in what I think was an 80s rendition of the Renaissance. They then gave me a dress to put on, along with a crown. The dress was a ball gown that was white with light blue lace, it also had small pearls on it. The crown was beautiful, it almost looked real with the shine of the diamonds and sapphires. We then spent the rest of the night dancing, to anything that played. We then all got in my parents bed, and they held me until we all fell asleep.” A tear fell down her eye, wiping it away almost immediately after it cascaded down her face. An ache reasoned within her heart at the fond memory. “The next one had to be at the fair with Jaso. I hadn’t been there with him long. I don’t even think it was a month at that point. He, he really was trying. I saw every attempt he made to get closer with me, and each time I’d pretend I didn’t notice or not be interested and go to my room. God, my room. I hated it at first. It was originally the weapon room, he has removed all of them but it was almost completely bare.”

Both of them step into the small room, both silent apart from their breathing.

Jason had gotten all of the guns, the knives, anything out of the room when she took a shower. Both just meeting an hour prior.

She eyes around the mostly bare room. A small cot bed was nestled into the corner of the room, along with a small bedside table with a lamp on top of it. Apart from those, dark curtains cover the window. The floorboards were bare, cold on her feet. “I’m sorry about the bed. I-I can have you take mine if you’d like?” He asks her. She looks over at him, seeing the panic in his face. “No no, this is more than enough. Thank you.” She says, looking down at the large t-shirt that hung below to her boney knees. “Do you need anything? I have some books, I don’t have a tv here but-“ she looks up at him, his rambling stopping. “I’m honestly really tired right now.” She says. “Alright, get some rest.” He says.

He walks to the door, but stops. “Thank you, um?” She says, her eyes scrunching slightly. “Jason. Jason Todd.”

A tear slipped down both her eyes, but was snapped out of it when she felt tims hand on her shoulder. She wipes both away and looked up at him, his face contorted in worry. “Sorry, but back to what I was saying. The fair was amazing, we had so much fun playing all the games, riding most of the rides, and the others I watched biting my nails as I watched him go on the extreme ones. God I, I felt like he was my actual dad, and that we were just normal father and daughter going to the fair for the first time. I finally felt like there was some normalcy in my life, that I could just be a kid again. I, I didn’t feel guilty. Each time he would try bonding with me, it killed me because I felt like I was replacing my parents with him. That I shouldn’t bond with another person because it’s not fair to my actual parents.” Small tracks of tears fell down her face, no longer trying to wipe them away. “But that day, I felt like my parents wanted me to. They wanted me to feel like a kid, to have fun again. I felt them with me that day, and that was also the day I started slowly seeing him as my dad.” Her tears had dried at this point, having been replaced with a smile. Fond memories of the day played through her mind. No longer a pain in her heart, but a warmth flooded through her as she remembers one of the best days of her life. “Alright, my turn. Why Red Robin? And why not add him to the end of it?” She asked, a smirk on her face. “Oh for fucks sake.” A large laughter reasoned throughout the room.

“Then when I came in to tell Bruce what happened he was balls deep blowing her back out on the-“ Tim was cut off from laughing so hard, both him and sandy laying on his bed clutching their chests due to the heavens of their laughter. It had been some time, the sun started creeping over the trees for a few minutes at that point.

They both lay there as their laughter started to die down, that is until footsteps were heard walking by. Sandy abruptly stopped laughing, turning to the door with wide eyes and tensed muscles. Her heart fell but Accelerated to the point of it being painful, until the door remained closed and the footsteps drifted away. She felt a hand on her shoulder, turning back to Tim. Worry overtook his face. “It’s alright, he doesn’t even come in here anyways.” A large sigh escaped her as she ducked her head down. “I know, I just can’t help but get worried whenever I hear him.” She says, a frown painted on her lips. Tim brought her in for a hug, wrapping her in his arms and rubbing his hands along her back. Her head rested on his shoulder as small tracks of tears fell down her cheeks.

“Alright, last question.” Tim says, looking over to her as she played with the strings on her jacket. She turns her head to him, looking into his eyes as her heart speeds up, the fear of the question but the Curiosity outwayung her fear. “Why does my dad not y’all to you guys? He told me he was robin, and that he was killed. But he never said what happened besides that?” She asks softly, her brows slightly furrowed. A sigh leaves Tim as he looks away. “It’s, complicated. It’s not my place to tell. But I will tell you, it came after what happened to him.”

Dick sighs as he puts his head in his hands. His brow furrowed as lips in a tight line. He pulls at his hair, meshing his hands into knots into it. “God what am I gonna do?” He whispers to himself.

He paces back and forth along the floor. Eying his feet as he bites at his nails. It’s a bad habit he developed as a child, but with the help of Alfred he stopped it for the most part. That is unless he’s very stressed. Sometimes he’ll chew them raw, pain coating the tips of his fingers for days. A knock at the door abruptly stopping him, looking over to it but seeing nothing. Could it have been another room? He wonders.

He walks over to it and opens it, and looking out and meeting sandy standing there. She was clad in a an oversized sweater and high waisted jeans. “Hey, you need anything?” He asks, curious as to why she had knocked at the door. “I heard you pacing when I was walking by. I got worried if you were alright is all.” She replies. Worry taking over her face. He sighs, and steps to the side to let her in.

“Yes and no. I, I’m planning on proposing to barabara in a few days. I’m so excited for it. But I have no idea how to do it.” He sighs. Head again in his hands as he stairs beside her. Dick had moved out long ago, but would still sometimes stay at the manor if he was needed. Him and sandy had bonded slightly over the past 2 weeks she had been there. While most of her time was spent with Tim, she did a few times come to spend time with the eldest of the brothers. They both would usually discus her father, his embarrassing stories when he was young. Or her love for ballet. Dick promising her that he’ll come by to practice with her sometime. “Alright, you want some advice?” She replies, raising her brow slightly at him. “Sure, whatcha got?”

“So you guys met on top of the police department?” She asks. Her brow raised as she asks. “Yes, it was one of my first nights as robin.” Memories flooding through his mind from the memory. She sells her hands together with a wide smile. “There you go! Ask her there!” She exclaims happily. A chuckle leaving dick. “Elaborate please?”

“Tell her to meet you up there. And have ready a small table with dinner, wine, and candles. The whole 9 yards. Then, ask her there. It is after all where you guys met. It’s a special place for the both of you. I promise she’ll love it.” She says with a smile. “What if she says no? We haven’t always been the model couple. What if she doesn’t want to marry me?” He asks. Fear and doubt eating heavy in his chest. She puts a hand on his shoulder, with a warm smile on her face. “How long have you guys been back together?” “The day I plan on asking her will make 5 years.” A smile taking over his face. “And how long in total has she been by you?” A laugh leaving him briefly at the question. “Well over a decade at this point.” A large smile taking over both their faces. “That’s your answer. She’s been by your side through everything. And to this day she stays and loves you. I see the way she looks at you. It’s the same look my mom looked at my dad with. She loves you so much, and I know that she’ll be so happy to marry you.” A small tear leaves his eye. He looks over to her, tears brimming her eyes. He pulls her into a large hug, her arms wrapping around his neck. “Thank you. You really are an angel.”

The small ticks of the computers, along with the heavy noise of the waterfall nearly drown out the sound of the tumbler. The chill in the room increasing tenfold due to the opening of the large cave to the cold outside. She turns away from the boxing bag, removing her gloves. She watches as dick exits first, following along with Tim in the back. A dull ache resins within her when Damian exits. Turning her head away before he saw her. Hearing his footsteps head for the showers.

She starts walking over to Tim, eying him over at the med table stripping the top of his suit off. A cut ran along his left peck. Only scraping the skin and no muscle, with the blood nearly gone and congealed slightly. It looked to not need any stitching, just s good clean and bandage.

A grunt was heard behind her, taking her focus away from Alfred cleaning up tims wound.

She turns around and spots Bruce, he was lugging boxes out of the tumbler over to the computer desks. She ran over and grabbed a box herself, bringing it over to the table and going back over to help him. “You don’t have to, I've got it.” Bruce replies, his voice strained slightly. Sweat poured down his ghostly white face. Worry struck her as she watched as he had a hard time taking the box in his arms. “I wanna help. I didn’t go out tonight so the least I can do is help bring in the information.” She replies back. Eying him closely the entire time.

A groan leaves him as he picks up another box, stumbling slightly and dropping the box. Worry floods her as she watches him. Dropping her box on the table and running over. “Hey hey hey. What’s going on?” She asks. She notices His hand clutching his side. She removes it to see blood covering his hand. “Hey it’s gonna be okay.” She says. Taking her jacket off and handing it to him. “Apply this to it and I’ll be right back.” She runs over to the end station, grabbing the first aid kit along with anything else she needs and runs back over. She kneels down to him, taking out the scissors and cutting the top of his suit off. She slips the top of his suit off, gently removing his hand from the wound. It didn’t look to be internally deep, no ripped muscles were shown and the blood looked external rather than coming internally. The skin was torn slightly, but overall it didn’t appear to be life threatening. She slips on a pair of gloves and grabs a bottle of saline solution “It doesn’t look that bad, but I am gonna do some stitches okay? Do you want me to numb it?” She asks. Her face no longer full of worry. “No need, I barely feel them now.” She nods her head to him. She soaks the wound in the saline, the water running down his side onto the floor. She dabs it slightly with gauze and soaks the area a couple more times until the water ran to a light pink. She applies the gauze to the area, having him hold it as she soaks the suture in alcohol. She pulls the skin together, and locates the center of the cut. Slowly pulling the needle through the first part of the skin to the other side, then out the wound, back through the wound on the other side and out the skin. She pulls the skin together again and ties it off with a double knot. She works back toward the edge placing a new suture halfway between the end of the gash and the closest stitch. “You’re doing a great job at this.” He says, eying her as she slowly makes the next stitch. “Thanks, if I had a penny for the amount of times I’ve had to stitch my dad up, I’d be richer than you in a year.” She jokes back. Causing a smile to grow on his face. “My actual dad was also a surgeon. I guess I got his doctor's hands.” She chuckles. Bruce’s brow furrows. “What was his name?” He asks. “Hal hawks. He was a surgeon here in Gotham.” A sad smile on her face when she said his name. “I remember him. I had gone to him for a shattered kneecap a few years ago. Doctors said I wouldn’t be able to walk again. But your dad did the surgery and I was walking in no time. He was a good man.” A tear slipped down from her eye at his reply. “They both are. Look, I don’t know what happened between you and my dad. But he’s a great father. With everything that’s happened to me in the last few years, I would give up my life for him for everything he’s done for me.” A sigh leave him as he looks at her, Tara brimming her eyes. “If I know one thing, it’s that Jason is a good man. And a good father. He’s exactly the kind of father for you. And I couldn’t be happier.”

The room was almost completely dark, the only light coming from the full moon shining in through the blinds. She tossed and turned, not being able to find a comfortable position to lay in. Her mind wouldn’t calm down, racing heavily on multiple things. Glancing over to her bedside table, and reading it was 4:26 in the morning. A sigh leaving her as she sits up in bed. She knew Tim would be up, this time usually being their time they go to each other’s rooms to either watch a movie, play a game, or sometimes paperwork.

Slipping out of bed and over to her closet, grabbing a robe and slipping it on. The silk inside felt warm to her exposed skin. Having only wearing a pair of underwear underneath.She wasn’t worried about wearing this around him. Having worn this before when he came to her room and he never once tried anything or even taken a glance. She suspected she knew the reason as to why, but not quite sure if it was true. Her room would get quite hot in the night. With the cold weather outside the heat would be cranked up higher during the night. This causing her to strip almost to the nude as to not sweat all night. Walking out of her door she was met with the chilled air of the hallway. A shiver ran up her spine. Her feet almost feeling painful against the cold wood.

She starts her way over to his room down the other end of the hallway. But stopping abruptly at the door opening to her side. Her stomach dropping as she’s met with damian towering over her. Shock takes over both their faces briefly as they just stand there. They were frozen in place, hearts beating so heavily they were sure the other could hear it. Their eyes just locked into one another’s. They both tear their eyes away as she looks down from his gaze. Another shiver ran through her. He was shirtless. His tan skin glistening with a fine layer of sweat, probably due to the heating. Clad in only sweatpants that stopped at just above his v line. His chest rose and fell fast due to his heavy breathing. His hair was messy. No longer slicked back and straight. Now a mass of soft curls that puffed slightly. She’d almost say he looked cute. But pain shoots through her heart when the thought played in her mind. His eyes were locked on her. Her hair had grown ever slightly since the last time he saw it. The blank locks soft curls around her face. A feeling of electricity flowed through him along with warmth when he looked at what she was wearing. Or lack thereof. She wore a thin ivory colored robe. The thinness of the silk laid against her soft skin. His heart sped up when he noticed she wasn’t wearing anything underneath. Her breasts were framed against the silk. Her skin looking as soft as a petal. From the cold of the hallway, he could clearly see her nipples poking out of the fabric. His body now hot as he fought with himself as to not grab a hold of her to feel her skin against his again. A fire slightly burning inside him as he looks at her.

His mouth was slightly open, as if he was about to speak but couldn’t.“I was just going-“ “to drakes room. I know.” He cuts her off. His usual hard voice sounding tired and deadpan. She looked up at him again. His face was blank, but his eyes showed a slight strain in them. “Can’t sleep?” She asks. Her voice an almost whisper. He closes his eyes and nods. “Yeah.” He whispers. His eyes slightly crinkled. “Do, do you need anything? Are you alright?” She asks. Her voice slightly wavering. Her heart aching as she looks up at him. Tears wanting to spill from her eyes. His eyes shut tighter. “I’m good. Goodnight.” He whispers. His face in pain as she shuts the door. A tear slipping down her face.

A quietness filled the large room as everyone finished their plates, all of them apart from her and Alfred bid their goodnights and thank yous to the butler before walking to their rooms. She watches as he stacked some of the plates, his hands shaking slightly under the weight. “Hey, why don’t you let me do the washing up tonight.” She asks. Her eyes hopeful as she eyes the elderly butler. “Oh it’s perfectly fine miss-“ “please, you always do it for us. And I know it’s your job but, I wanna do it and help around here.” She says. She puts her hand against his shoulder. A warm smile on her face. “Alright miss Todd. Thank you.” A soft smile on his face when he hands her the plates. “No problem Alfey.”

Plates clinked together as she scrubbed them. The water hot against her hands as she removed the sticky sauce from the plate. Humming a song in her head as she did them.

She turns around to put the dish on the rack. Having not noticed before that Damian has walked in to grab some water from the fridge. She gasped and dropped the plate, letting out a small yell when it shattered on the floor. He put his hands out in front of him to her. The crash startling her and not seeing it was Damian due to the low light in the room and his hand out. She let out another tell as she quickly spun around, grabbing a small knife and throwing it at him.

He caught in just before it hit his face, his heart beating out of his chest as he watched her heaving for air. “What the fuck was that!” He yelled out. Anger flowing through him. “I didn’t see it was you! And you put your hands out like that, what was I supposed to do! Don’t get fuckin mad at ME that you jumped me!” She yelled at him. Her fists in balls are her sides. “NOT THROW A FUCKING KNIFE AT ME! GOD WHO THE FUCK DOES THAT!” He screams out. His whole body tensed up as anger overtook his face. “Why don’t you ask yourself that.” She snaps back. Her arms folded on her chest. “I fuckin ask myself a lot of questions about you.” He snarls back. A pain shoots through her heart at the venom in his voice. “Oh and what’s that supposed to mean.” She bites back. “How I didn’t see it. How I didn’t realize who you actually were. I’m not even mad about what you and Todd do. I’m mad that you act like you’re this perfect little thing that’s so kind to everyone. And then you just waltz right in here and get all buddy buddy with everyone! And I’m angry that I fell for you. I’m angry that the first time I have feelings for someone it was you. I’m not even angry like I was. I’m angry because it still hurts me every time I look at you because you weren’t who I thought you were!” He yelled out. Tears streaming down his face. A vain popping out of his temple as he yelled. Her eyes flowing out tears as her heart broke for the forth time. A deep pain shooting through her as tears rolled out like a waterfall down her face and chest. “What you’re not getting is THIS IS ME! I showed you who I truly am that entire time Damian! I let myself for the first time bare my heart for someone besides my dad. You just think I’m 2 different people when IM NOT! AND HOW DO YOU THINK I FEEL! IT KILLS ME THAT YOU LOOK AT ME WITH DISGUST BECAUSE I WAS FALLING IN LOVE WITH YOU! HOW IS IT FAIR THAT YOU TAKE YOUR ANGER OUT ON ME WHEN I'M HURTING TOO! GOD IT FUCKING HIRTS SO BAD!” She screams out, her voice breaking due to the heavy tears. Her heart now nothing but filled with hard pain that squeezed her chest and throat. She beat her hands against his chest, tears streaming down her face as she lets out yells. He grabs a hold of her wrists, trying not to be hard as to got hurt her. Tears falling down his face as his heart broke as he watched her. Her face was contorted in pain as sobs wrecked her body. “WHY! WHY DID I HAVE TO FALL FOR YOU!” She sobbed out. Her head liply laying against his chest. She keeps whispering why as she soaked his shirt. “Why do you keep doing this to me?” She weakly whispers out. Tears fall even harder down his face. He laid his head in her hair, soaking her scalp. “I-I can’t do this.” She says. She rips her wrists from his hands, looking away as she runs out of the room. Her sobs being heard until she gets far enough away. Sobs overtaking his body as he falls to his knees. His head in his hands as he sobs violently. His heart breaking again.

Dick runs down the hallway towards her room, his heart beating heavily in his chest. He had heard everything, tears brimming his eyes the entire time he heard the level of pain in their voices. His heart falling when he heard her running towards her room.

He walked in and saw the window was open. The blinds shielding the outside view. But he heard her quiet sobs from her door. He walked out onto the balcony, seeing her looking over the ledge with her head in her arms. The puddle of tears soaking the floor. He wrapped his arms around her. Holding her tight as she turned around into his chest and sobbed even harder. Tears now escaping his eyes as he watches as she shakes with how violent she’s sobbing. “Shhh it’s okay. Everything’s gonna be okay.” He whispers, rubbing his hand on the middle of her back. Avoiding her shoulders. “W-why is he doing this?” She sobs out. Her voice quiet due to her throat being raw. “Damians never had feelings for someone. He’s always had anger problems and doesn’t know how to handle his emotions well. And whenever he’s scared or hurt, he lashes out. I’m gonna have a talk with him. I’m sorry I haven’t sooner.” He says, her sobs slowing down as he talked. “It’s okay. I understand. I just wish I had my dad with me right now.” Tears fell down her face at the end. Pain shooting through her as she misses her father being with her. Having grown used to his hold and presence whenever she was sad or hurt. “I know, and I promise you’ll see him soon. Want me to stay out here with you till you feel better?” He asks. Looking down at her. Her sapphire eyes brimmed red. “Please.”

“That was the best prank we did on Bruce, god he couldn’t figure out how to stop the ghostbusters theme playing over the coms for a month!” He laughed out. Both of them laughing hard at the story. “Sounds like you and my dad were his worst nightmare kids.” Age laughed out. A fond smile grew on his face. “You have no idea. Him and I were really close when he was robin. He was the little brother I had dreamed of having my whole life.” He replied. His face slightly falling at the end. Her eyes squinted slightly as she watched as his face fell a bit more. “Dick, can I ask you something?” He looks over at her, her face painted in concern. “Sure.” He replies. She takes in a deep breath, her heart beating fast again against her rib cage. “What, happened? Nobody’s told me why he didn’t speak to all of you for so long.” A sigh leave him at her question. Pain in his chest creeping up his neck when he thought about it. “Alright, I’ll tell you. But please, understand we love him and didn’t do this to hurt him.” Her eyes widen slightly. “Okay.”

“He, told you about joker right?” He asked. Both now lying on her bed. “Yeah, he killed him but he came back.” She replies. Her eyes watching as his face fell again. “That’s, not entirely what happened. Joker didn’t just kill him. He held him in an abandoned building near Arkham asylum. He Tortured him for over 6 months. None of us could find them because whenever we thought we did, he’d switch buildings. Until he brought him to an abandoned wing of the asylum. There he, did things to him. Things that he hasn’t even spoken about. And one day, Bruce got a video. It was Jason tied to a wheelchair. He was hurt so badly. His suit was torn and almost completely red from blood. He was slumped over. And, out walked joker from behind him. And he, he shot him in the head.” Tears fell down both their faces as he says the last part. “We, found his body. We took him back here and buried him. Well, damians mom talia took his body for some reason. And she put him in this thing called the lazarus pit. Its able to heal all wounds, and some can bring back someone’s life. Well, it worked. But not exactly. It changes people, what was once a kind, sane person, can go mad and angry from it. Jason lashes out, and ran away from the league. He ended up back in Gotham. And he, because of his anger, started killing criminals. He was eventually found by Barbara’s dad Jim. And he’s known about ya since I was robin. And he called Bruce. Jason couldn’t speak. He didn’t look the same as he used to and he was dubbed a John Doe. But jim knew. Bruce, he didn’t know what to do. So, he had Jason admitted to Arkham. The place had cleaned up a lot in the last year. Now actually helping people. Bruce paid off the doctors for Jason not to let the word out that he was there. And he made all of us promise, not to speak or let him see us. He didn’t know if he’d handle it well and lash out again. So we didn’t. For 3 years we watched as he was there. And he was doing amazing. He grew to be massive, and his hair grew out and was bright reddish blonde. He even grew a beard that was firey ginger. You literally couldn’t recognize him if you knew him when he was robin. And, we all thought he had forgotten us. He never once mentioned us, his life at the manor, being robin, joker, nothing. We thought that entire time was wiped from his memory. And it killed me. God the amount of times I’d go there to bring back someone like croc or pyg, I’d always fight with myself not to go to his room to see my little brother.”

Pain shot through dicks chest when he walked down the hallway, knowing he was behind that door. He stopped at it, tears threatening to spill over his mask as he looked at the door. Hands shaking at his sides, until he reaches up and skids the window of the door, looking in. There sat Jason on his bed, his hair had grown long, even longer than his own and was a light red. His firey bead covered his face. His body was massive, you wouldn’t believe he was only 21 due to the size of his body. No longer the scrawny street kid he once was. Now he was large with bulging muscles and towering height. He looked, calm. And happy. He was at ease in the room. Reading his book and sipping some water. Tears fell down dicks eyes as he watched, his little brother not seeing him, and wouldn’t recognize who he was.

“He did so amazing, so amazing that he was being let out. We knew the date he was, and Bruce, Alfred and I prepared ourselves for how bad it’d hurt. Knowing he wouldn’t come back. Never remembering who we are. At this point Damian has become robin. He was about 15 at the time. Him and Tim has never met him before. So it wouldn’t hurt them to watch as he built his life without us. But we were wrong. The day he was let out, all 3 of us had cried a little. But, that night, Alfred cane to the door, and he fainted. Because there at the door, was Jason. Turns out, he remembered everything. But the doctors did such a good job, he forgave us. He came in and, I don’t think I had ever hugged someone for so long. We both were crying, eventually Bruce and Alfred joined in and we all stayed in the living room for hours catching up. And things were perfect, he stayed here in his room and wouldn’t really leave the manor. He, even grew close to Tim and a little bit with Damian. He actually was our computer guy, you wouldn’t know it but damn he knows his way around a computer and tracking. And it was like this for about a year. Them that night, he had come into the cave and told us he wanted to go back out with us. It was gonna be a really difficult night and he wanted to go back out to help. But Damian said he couldn’t. They got into a huge fight, and, Damian let it out that Bruce had him admitted to Arkham. Jason he, he thought we didn’t know he was alive. He never knew, and that’s when he, he lost it on us, and he left. It kills me that I never went to see him. I wish I had, maybe he wouldn’t hate-“ “stop it dick.” She cuts him off, hand on his shoulder. Tears falling from his eyes. He looks into hers, no longer red with tears. “He doesn’t hate you. You were doing what you were told for the safety of your brother. You did nothing wrong. I’m not mad at what you did or didn’t do. No, who I’m mad at, is Bruce.”

[itsallavengers]

A bullet and a kiss

“Why’d you do it?”

The man underneath him whimpered, scrabbled uselessly at the fists pinning him up against the wall, but it was no use. The only reason Tony would be letting go right now was if a certain 5′4 angel-looking blond man told him to, and he was pretty confident that wouldn’t be happening any time soon. 

“I don’t know,” the guy wheezed, frantic, “please. It was just a routine stick-up, I had no other motive and if I’d have known he was--”

Tony punched him in the nose, unwilling to hear whatever drivel came out of this degenerate’s mouth next. The man moaned, head cracking back painfully against the concrete. Behind Tony, all of the thug’s friends watched on in terror, frozen in place by the menacing-looking gun that Tony had brandished as he’d stormed into their basement. 

It wasn’t every day that New York’s most notorious mob-boss paid the average criminal a visit, after all. 

Tony glared at the man in front of him for a second, noting the fact that the cuff of his suit was now stained with blood. He liked this suit. This suit was his above-board suit, and he hated using his above-board suits for below-board business. It made a mockery of his system. 

With a growl, Tony dropped the man’s collar from his grip and stepped back. His victim was shaking like a leaf. “Steve liked that wallet,” he said softly, placing his hands into his pockets in a way that brandished the holsters strapped to his midsection, “real leather, first good-quality thing he ever managed to buy. There’s a picture of his best friend in there-- a man who died in the Afghan war-- and his mother, who is also dead. He was pretty upset when he came home today and informed me someone had stolen it from him while he’d been walking back from work. And I’ll admit, so was I.”

“Sir, I swear, if I’d have known--”

“I want to give it back to him,” Tony continued as if no one had ever spoken over him, extending a hand out. “I suggest you allow me to. So hand it over.”

There was a second of silence, and then the man stumbled clumsily over to the big table in the centre of the room, shaking hands heading over to the top left drawer. Tony glanced over to his two pals. Still stuck to the walls like Tony had glued them there. Clearly these men weren’t professionals. That was good. Tony had thought earlier that they might be mafia, which would’ve meant smoothing over some feathers once he got around to killing this guy. Mafia didn’t like other criminals stepping on their turf or roughing up their guys, and usually Tony would probably have a little more tact than this. 

But they’d mugged Steve. And like he’d said: Steve loved that wallet. 

“Here,” the man held out his hands, full of everything that he’d stolen from Steve that morning, including the chewing-gum wrapper that this guy must’ve accidentally grabbed as he’d raided Steve’s pockets. “Here, it’s all here, I promise. I’m so sorry. I had no idea that he was one of yours--”

Tony shot him in the head.

The bullet rang out in the cold empty space of the room, and a second later there was a dull thump as a body hit concrete. Tony didn’t spend time looking at it; it was already irrelevant to him. Instead, he turned to the remaining two in the room, both of them now staring in blatant terror at Tony as he approached them. One of them started to pray, falling to his knees with his hands clasped in front of his face.

Tony curled his lip. “Get up,” he barked, and with a stuttered apology, the man did. 

He looked at them for a few seconds. They were on the younger side; clearly having lived through their years without much to show for it. They weren’t much good at the criminal life either, considering they’d been a part of the team that had broken the one single rule that was more important than anything else in the underworld of New York:

Do not touch Steve Rogers.

Tony cleared his throat, running a thumb over the worn leather. The thing was getting faded with use; Steve had had it since he was 12. But no matter how many times Tony suggested he buy a new one, Steve chose instead to keep using this. It meant something to him. More than just monetary value. It was a concept Tony hadn’t truly understood- until he’d met Steve, of course. Then everything in his world had changed. 

But some things... well, some things stayed much the same. 

He pointed a finger at the men in front of him. “I’d like for this to be a learning curve,” he declared finally, watching how the two individuals shrunk under his glare, “about how this fucking city works. I thought I’d made it clear, but apparently a newer version of the message needs to be sent out..” He turned around and gestured to the corpse propped up messily against the desk. Its eyes were lifeless, caught up in the echo of mild surprise. He’d not been expecting the shot to come so suddenly. “That,” he snapped, “is what happens to people who decide to mess with Steve Rogers. Do you understand?”

The men were nodding as Tony turned back around to them. “I can’t hear you,” Tony said, because really, he’d asked a question, and as reigning crime-lord of the city and, arguably, the entire country, Tony thought he was owed a verbal response.

“Yes, yes sir, we understand, we didn’t know what he’d done--”

“Well, now you’re enlightened.” Tony smiled at them and gestured once more to the body, before stuffing his gun away. He wouldn’t kill these people. He hadn’t particularly wanted to kill the first one if he was being honest, and if all he’d done was steal from Steve then Tony might even have been kind enough to let him go with his life. But the thing was, Steve had come home with a black eye. And he hadn’t said directly that it was because of the now-dead man in front of him- too proud- but Tony wasn’t a fool. The guy had clipped him to get him to comply. And that... well, that just wouldn’t stand. Not ever. 

“I suggest,” Tony said softly, “that you spread this warning to whoever you meet. If you see Steve Rogers-- hell, if you even think that you could maybe have seen Steve Rogers-- If a small, skinny blond man is walking past you on the sidewalk and you clock him and think, ‘hey, there’s a 0.2% chance that could be Steve Rogers’, you do not fucking touch him. You do not even fucking look at him, do you understand me?”

“Yessir, oh God, please don’t kill us--”

“If I find out that anyone else even so much as lays a finger on that man, I will come for the perpetrator first, and you next.” Tony stepped forward so he was within touching distance, revelling in the terror that radiated off the two people in front of him. It had taken him years to garner this reputation, but now it spoke for itself. Tony didn’t even have to raise a gun to make sure he was heard. “So believe me when I say that it is in your best interests to make sure this information spreads. I hope I’ve made myself clear.”

“Crystal clear sir, we won’t let you down again.”

Tony paused for a second, and then nodded. He had nothing more to say to these people. They’d dispose of the body in their own way. It wasn’t Tony’s problem now. 

Without a word, he turned on his heel and walked back out the front door that he’d come in through, pulling out his phone as he did so. He looked on forlornly at the bloodstain on his cuff while he dialled the familiar number. That was probably not going to come out in the wash. He really hated using his above-board suits for below-board business.

It was a few seconds after he’d stepped out from the warehouse and into the street that his phone connected with Steve’s, and a familiar voice spoke down the line. “Howdy,” Steve said cheerfully, pulling an involuntary smile from Tony’s mouth, “what can I do for you this fine evening, good sir?”

Tony glanced up dubiously at the grey-looking sky. “I will mercifully forget the fact you just tried to greet me like I was a 17th century cowboy and you an exuberant barmaid at the local tavern, because I love you for all of your flaws, including the terrible southern accent.”

“Hey, that accent was absolutely not terrible. You just have no idea how southern people speak,” Steve said grumpily, and Tony heard something clatter down the line. He checked his watch. Steve was probably cooking. 

“Darling, what in the hell would I need to know what a southern accent sounds like? It’s not like I’m ever going to lower my standards enough to go there.” Tony grinned and then did a little skip of excitement on the sidewalk, hailing a cab as he switched the phone from left ear to right. “But anyway, listen, you’ll never guess what I managed to get my hands on just now.”

There was a pause. “Hozier tickets?”

“No. But I can get them if you wanna go, I know a guy--”

“Tony,” Steve’s voice was full of fond exasperation, “what did you get your hands on?”

Tony mulled it over for a second as he found a taxi and slid into the back seat. “You know what, I have decided to turn up the suspense and keep you waiting. I’ll show you when I get home, okay?” Steve made a noise of protest down the line, but Tony just grinned happily and then barked out his address to the cab-driver before turning his attention back to the phone. “Love you lots sweetheart!”

“Tony, for God’s sake, just tell--”

Tony ended the call quickly, feeling the weight of Steve’s wallet in his breast pocket as the car began to move. Steve had only been without it for about a day-- Tony had been busy, and tracking down your average-joe criminal was a little tricky- but he was sure Steve would be happy to have it back anyway. He knew about Tony’s... somewhat shady lifestyle, but he chose not to ask when it wasn’t necessary to know, and Tony would helpfully omit the part where he’d shot a guy in the head. It was easier for everyone. 

He wasn’t thinking much about that bit though. All he was thinking about was the look on Steve’s face when he was presented with his good old wallet again, complete with the pictures and mementos of everything he held dear.

He was going to be so happy. Tony couldn’t wait. 

Today was a good day.

[toothlessturtle21]

Cold Blooded

So as some of y’all know, I’m a fanfic author, so I figured why not publish some of my oneshots on Tumblr? So, here’s the first one in a (maybe) series of oneshots being posted. Enjoy!

---

Jay's talking gets him into a lot of trouble, sure, but when he's faced with a mob boss who wants to work with him to resurrect his dead father, his chatter might be his only weapon. (Mafia AU) (tw: kidnapping, guns, mentioned death)

All of his life, Jay had been told that his excessive blabbering was annoying. His friends and his family were not safe from the chatter, everywhere and all the time. And god forbid  that he was nervous, because butterflies in his stomach seemed to equate to words spewing from his mouth like a fountain. So when he found himself tied up and blindfolded after a nasty run-in with some gang members, what else was he supposed to do?

"So, uh, what kind of wood is the chair I'm in made of? It feels pretty strong, but I also can't see the color to make any guesses," Jay quirked his mouth, and one of the men nearby grumbled, having put up with his incessant rambling for the better part of the hour. "Is it grainy? I can't really tell through my pants, but if it is you guys should really sand it. Splinters are no joke, even if you're wearing gloves. They always wait until you're least expecting it and then ouch, there's wood in your hand."

His company was silent, perhaps hoping that he would shut up if left unanswered. After a few beats of silence, Jay tapped his feet on the floor, an uneven rhythm that was in no way musical. He tried to think of some beat to mimic that would take his mind off of his situation. He hummed some jingles, some pop songs, and even snuck a little bit of some showtunes in there before a harsh slap to the cheek stopped him, causing Jay to cry out indignantly.

"Hey, I'm just messing around! What's the big deal anyway? You guys are the ones who nabbed me off the street, why should I listen to- mmph!"

A hand was slapped over his mouth very quickly, accompanied by a sharp shh. For once, Jay decided to listen, and heard another man in the room on the phone.

"Please sir, he's driving us insane, can't we just..."

Silence for a few minutes. Jay's heart raced at the thought of there being a man higher up waiting to get his hands on him, despite his current situation already being pretty undesirable.

"Wait, really?"

Muffled words from the other side of the line were audible now, and the man with him laughed a little, obviously relieved.

"Thank you, boss! We'll get him to you right away."

And just like that, Jay was in the air, the chair he was tied to lifted by some thug, and he squawked in surprise as he was gripped roughly by strong hands, the grunts talking amongst themselves as they brought him along. Finally, they stopped, and set him down onto a tile floor, judging by the sound of the legs hitting the ground. One ripped off his blindfold, and they immediately scurried away, leaving Jay to blink his eyes like a newborn kitten to adjust to the light.

"Ah, so you're the famed Ninja of Lightning. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Mr. Walker."

Jay finally found his sight, and discovered he was in an office, of sorts. The walls were a circle, bookshelves lining the room, except for the one area where a cabinet full of guns stood. The furniture was elegant, smooth curves and a sleek black sheen to everything made for a very intimidating look.

What was even more intimidating, however, was the figure perched on top of the desk at the far back. He looked to be young, black leather clothes contrasting with his stark white hair, combed back into a feathery undercut. Clear blue eyes stared the ninja down, and Jay felt his skin crawl under the scrutiny.

"Oh, don't tell me they harmed your vocal chords on the journey over, I've heard so much about your jabber," The man slid off the desk, striding over with quiet steps. Now that Jay was closer, he was quite tall, most definitely taller than himself.

"No, they didn't," He managed to squeak out, clearing his throat afterwards. "And how do you know my name?"

"I know a lot of things," The man shrugged. "For example, I know that you were born and raised in a trash heap, your favorite food is blackberry pie, and your name is James."

"If you know so much about me," Jay's cheeks burned from hearing his birth name and from the insult towards his parents' livelihood. "Then who are you?"

The man thought for a moment before answering, almost as if questioning himself. He seemed to finally decide on an answer after a few tense moments.

"Call me Snake."

"No offense, but you don't really don't look like a Snake," Jay blurted, and the man raised an eyebrow in amusement. "I mean, you have a pretty blue, black, white color scheme going on, and snakes are usually green. You seem more like an Spider or Shark to me than a Snake. You don't give me slimy vibes."

"Thank you for the feedback," Snake nodded, stepping back a little. "I suppose I will keep that in mind for the next time I have to choose a persona to give to strangers."

"Was that a joke I heard?" Jay asked, and Snake's expression never wavered. The blonde looked at his gun cabinet for a split second before returning his gaze to his hostage.

"So, Mr. Walker, it has come to my attention that you are especially skilled in robotics, correct?"

"I mean, yeah, but-"

"What do you normally create?"

"Small robots, mostly. Y'know, can sweep things, stack bricks, charge phones, and..." Jay trailed off, mentally slapping himself. "Actually, it's none of your business what I do. You're the one who organized my kidnapping, I'm not telling you anything!"

"Hm, just as we were doing so swimmingly. Very well then," Snake walked away, returning to his desk. He once again avoided the chair, choosing to stalk Jay from his desk like a bird of prey.

"Also, consider changing your name to Falcon. Still fits better than Snake."

"I thought we had moved on from my name, James," Snake smiled amusedly. "Although Falcon does have a nice ring to it, thank you. Perhaps I will keep that one in mind."

He pulled his legs up, crossing them on his desk. It was then that Jay noticed the portrait sitting next to his knee.

"Hey, who's in the picture?"

Snake's expression darkened, and Jay's heart picked up once more at the thought of his last words being so lame.

"Perhaps you don't understand your situation. You are in no position to be asking questions, especially ones about my personal life. As far as guests go, you have been treated rather graciously, Mr. Walker. Although I do consider myself rather forgiving in the face of insubordination, I too have a limit."

Jay went quiet, at least for a few moments, but a sudden bird cry followed by a black shape swooping past his face made him shriek, and Snake laughed at his expense. He held out his arm as a black bird rested on him, and Snake gently took the note from its mouth.

"You really are quite entertaining. I might keep you just for that."

"Usually my jokes are a little more thought out than- wait, what do you mean by keep-"

"Hush, I am trying to read, James. Do be polite."

You could hear a pin drop as the man read, cool blues scanning the page. He bristled as he hit the bulk of the letter, presumably receiving bad news.

Snake scoffed, and snatched a lighter from beside him on the desk. He lit the flame, and held it up to the paper.

"Burning letters is so much safer than texting, wouldn't you agree? Plus, fire can be oh so fun to play with if done properly."

"I'm not really a big fan of fire. I guess I just don't like heat."

"I would be inclined to agree. Ice is often much more effective, anyway. It is a silent killer, with much less destruction than fire."

"Um, killer?"

"I run an organized crime ring, do you think I reached where I am by playing nice and holding hands?"

"How did you weaponize ice?" Jay asked, and then quickly backpedaled. "Uh, sorry, no questions, I'll stop."

"There are many ways, but I will indulge you with my personal favorite," Snake released his bird, the avian flying out the small window it had come in from, and stalked towards Jay. He touched a gentle hand to his bound arm, and Jay felt his breath quicken at the contact.

"I am the master of ice. Blood is half water. If I were to concentrate right now, I could freeze your veins and arteries, leaving you stiff like a doll. My ice does not melt easily, and so it creates a wonderful display if presented properly. Of course, the victim would need to be positioned correctly, but that is beside the point."

"You're sick," Jay strained against his bonds, suddenly comprehending the danger he was in. "Is killing people a game to you?"

"Not necessarily. If I kill by necessity, then deaths are quick and painless. If they have wronged me greatly, however, I enjoy watching them writhe to the best of their ability as they feel their blood freeze under my grasp."

"Then why am I here? I haven't wronged you, as far as I know, and I'm not already dead. What do you want from me?"

"I want your expertise. I am interested in your abilities. You are skilled at creating artificial life, James. While I have trained myself in many areas, capturing the essence of a living being is something I've yet to grasp."

All of a sudden, the puzzle pieces clicked in Jay's head. The color scheme, the white hair, the obsession with birds and robotics, and the ice all suddenly brought back memories that Jay forgot that he had.

"...Zane?"

The blonde smiled sadly, and then let out a small, hollow laugh.

"Ah, so you do remember. It's been a while, I know."

"Yeah, since we were toddlers."

"Are your parents well?"

"As far as I know, yeah, they're pretty good. How about your dad?"

Zane scowled, resting his chin on his hand.

"Dead. Killed in one of your little endeavors fighting Garmadon. Tasteless, really. My father deserved a death more fitting of the great mind he was than rubble crushing his body."

"I'm so sorry," Jay bit his lip, dread filling his bones. "So, uh, you're a gang leader now?"

"In a way, yes. I was already rising to power when he died, and his passing only drove me further. And now we are here," Zane gestured to the Lightning Ninja, still tied up. Jay's fingers twitched from their bound position.

"So why didn't you tell me your name off the bat?"

"What would be the point in that? None of the men under me know my name, so why I would I tell a stranger?"

"Fair, I guess. So why am I here?"

"Considering that you killed my father, I feel it is only right that you bring him back too."

"I'm the master of lightning, not a necromancer!" Jay writhed in his bonds. "And I haven't killed anyone. You're insane!"

"I'm not insane, I'm insulted you would think that way," Zane frowned. "You recall how I told you that my ice was especially cold, correct?"

"Yeah? What's that got to do with anything?"

"I have his body frozen downstairs. My ice takes an incredibly long time to melt."

"You what?" Jay shrieked. "I'm going nowhere near a frozen corpse!"

"You won't need to," Zane reassured, although his tone was anything but lenient. "I have brought you here for your mechanical skill. Together, we can bring my father back to life."

"And if I say no?"

"I have a cabinet full of guns to my side as well as the power to freeze your blood, and you're tied up at my mercy. We may have met in our earlier years, but familiarity has never stopped me from killing before."

"Uh, okay, noted," Jay said hurriedly, annoyed at himself for forgetting his situation. "So you want me to help you bring your father back to life by building him a body? But what about his memory?"

"You leave the software to me. You're here for the hardware."

"Ok, ok," Jay nodded slowly, although his mind was going a mile a minute trying to figure out how to escape. "Can you untie me though? I can't exactly build if I'm stuck here."

"You just called me insane and have been nothing but resistant this whole time. Why would I let you roam?" Zane sneered, crossing his arms. "However, I can release you to some extent, since you will be working for me."

And with that Zane untied and retied him so that his hands were still bound, but had enough wiggle room to work. Zane kept a length of rope knotted around the middle, to prevent the Lightning Ninja from breaking away.

Jay's cheeks burned at the thought of being led around like some pet, although he supposed his captivity could have been more humiliating. At least Zane was holding him by the wrists and not by some borderline kinky rope collar.

"What, don't like it?" The blonde laughed genuinely, albeit a little cruelly. He glanced over Jay, almost as if reading his mind. "I could change the positioning, if you'd rather. I was trying to spare you some dignity."

"No, it's fine," Jay looked down and away, refusing to make eye contact with the man currently holding him on a leash.

"James, if we're going to be working together, you need to be able to look at me."

"Don't call me James."

"Why not? If you call me Zane, I feel as though me calling you James is just as personal. Although I do request that you call me Snake in front of the others. I have worked for a long time to reach my status, and I would hate to have my persona crumbled by one pesky ninja."

"Fine, I'll call you Snake, just don't call me James."

"You are in no position to bargain, but I suppose I could allow you this one reward."

"Don't call it a reward, I'm not your pet," Jay hissed, and Zane raised an eyebrow threateningly. Jay gulped. "Sorry."

"Now then, shall we get started?" The blonde purred, and Jay bit his lip to stifle a snarky comeback. His stomach decided to respond for him in the form of a growl.

"Uh, actually, do you have any food?"

"Pardon?"

"I haven't eaten in a while, and nerves makes me extra hungry once I stop feeling anxious. Do you have anything to eat?"

"I'll have someone grab some food for you."

"Thanks," Jay said quietly, and silence fell over the pair, Zane staring off into the distance as if calculating something. "I really am sorry about your dad. I remember him being pretty nice."

"The last memory I have with him is the day before he died. He was telling me about his newest plans for building a robot capable of passing the Turing Test. It was shaping up to be a wonderful project, I would have loved to have seen it."

"Yeah, that would've been really cool. I wish I was better at programming, y'know? People like hardware and stuff, but it's really the code that makes a machine cool. Like, I wish I had a fraction of the capability that your dad had. Wait, if you're planning on bringing him back, that must mean that you're pretty good at coding too, right?"

"I suppose so. But what does this have to do with resurrecting my father?"

"If you miss him more for his inventions than his company, maybe you shouldn't be bringing him back."

Zane didn't say anything, but his eyes bore holes into Jay's head, blue iris filled with cold fury. If looks could kill, Jay's blood would already be solid. Just as Jay was about to backtrack and retract the statement, sensing that it did way more harm than good, Zane yanked Jay towards the side of the room, holding fast to the rope while rifling through the cabinet holding his guns.

"Z- Zane, wait, what are you-"

"Shut up."

The room was silent except for Jay's panicked breathing and his own heartbeat pounding in his ears. Zane pulled out a handgun, the sleek black barrel glinting in the low light of the room.

"Are you religious, Jay?"

"N- No."

"Then pick a god and pray."

Zane loaded it quickly, and pulled Jay closer before he could react, pressing the weapon against his forehead. Jay felt tears form in his eyes, the realization that he was about to die making his muscles spasm and he kicked out, landing a hit on Zane's knee but also handicapping himself, his shaky limbs betraying him as he fell to the floor.

"No-! Don't, please, I'm sorry, just please don't shoot!"

"Too late. We cannot work together, and now that you know who I am I cannot leave you alive."

"I won't tell anyone, I promise! I don't want to die!"

"Neither did my father, and yet you still killed him anyway."

"I- I think I understand why you want him back."

Zane kept the gun pointed at his head, but allowed him to continue.

"You feel like you have no one left for you. Sure, you have your cronies and whatever, but you're just lonely. And you don't have to be," Jay offered, and squeezed his eyes shut just in case the next feeling he knew was a bullet going through his brain. Seconds passed, and nothing happened. The rope around his wrists was still pulled taught in Zane's grasp, but nothing changed.

After a few more moments, Jay slowly opened his eyes to see the gun still pointed at him, but the expression on Zane's face had changed into one of uncertainty.

"What do you mean I don't have to be? I have nothing left."

"You're the master of ice, right? I'm sure Sensei wouldn't mind another student, if you're willing."

"You- you want me to join you?"

"Okay, if I'm being honest, maybe not. You did just almost shoot me. But maybe you could make some friends. It wouldn't do any harm to lower your guard a little."

Zane looked away, and the hand holding the gun shook.

"Damn it," Zane muttered to himself, voice broken, and roughly untied the ropes holding Jay's wrists together. "Just go."

"You're letting me leave?"

"Just get out before I change my mind," Zane mumbled, throwing his gun down on his desk and sitting with his head in his hands. "You're right."

"Hey, woah," Jay couldn't believe his own actions even as he performed them, but he walked towards his captor and rested an easy hand on his shoulder. "I mean, thanks for letting me go, but take care of yourself, alright? We may on opposite sides here, but I'm sure you can be a nice guy if you set your mind to it."

Zane looked up, gaze weary.

"I'm not sure about the truth of your statement, but I appreciate the sentiment. Goodbye, Jay. Perhaps this will not be our last meeting."

"Maybe not," Jay pat him once on the shoulder before walking away, finding his way out pretty easily. Sure, he could run back to his friends and storm Zane's hiding spot if he wanted to, but something told him that would just end up with Zane putting a bullet through his own head instead of Jay's. As he was greeted by the cool night air, he decided on two things.

One, he needed to go back and talk to Zane again sometime, as he was still sure that there was a good guy down there somewhere. And two, never before in his life had been so thankful for his chatter.

[enchantedsugden]

hold my gaze and we'll be fine

ao3 link

what if aaron had walked into robert trying to pay jason off

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

“We had a deal, you just took the money.”

“Hmm you wanna try and get it back?” He saw Jason take another step closer to Robert, if that was even possible. He saw Robert trying to straighten up, to keep looking Jason in the eye but Aaron knew Robert better than anyone and could see how the older man was trembling, he could tell he was scared. Both men hadn’t seen him yet, Aaron was standing behind the wall, just outside the actual gym room.

There was a part of Aaron that was angry at Robert for trying to intervene again, even now. But most of him wanted to protect Robert, get his husband, ex-husband, away from Jason. It hurt seeing Robert near someone who caused him so much pain.

 He had watched Robert suddenly disappear out of the pub and he just got this niggling feeling, after all he could read his ex-husband like a book. So not too surprisingly he had been right, saw Robert’s car when he got here, and all but ran inside- his heart pounding.

 Aaron didn’t care about Jason and his threats towards him, the word body bag didn’t scare him right that moment, what did scare him was Jason grabbing Robert’s face. He wasn’t having that, before he could stop himself he ran in.

“Oi get off him!” Aaron yells, taking Jason by surprise as he pulls him right back, not missing Robert’s expression, the fear so evident now. Aaron notices how taken aback Robert is, takes the opportunity to stand in between him and Jason, praying that Robert isn’t about to do something stupid. He stares Jason down.

“Well well if it isn’t lover boy” Jason smirks “and you really tried telling me he wasn’t in on it.”

“I’m not- but that doesn’t matter now. This is between you and me.”

“According to blondie it isn’t, princess.” Aaron bites his lip, tries to stay calm.

“Aaron leave it, it’s okay, I’ll handle it.” Robert says softly and Aaron instinctively put his arms out as if to shield Robert, telling himself it’s mostly to make sure Robert doesn’t get nearer to Jason.

“No you won’t Robert.” Aaron tries to keep his anger at bay while also trying to ignore Jason’s smirking. “Go home I’ll finish up in here.”

“But-“

“Listen to your boyfriend blondie.”

“We had a deal-” Aaron resists rolling his eyes.

“Now’s not the time” he hisses and Jason laughs “like I said, you want it back?”

Aaron still has his arms out slightly but realises it isn’t going to be enough, before he knows it he can feel Robert trying to push past him but Jason’s quick to react, reaches past Aaron as he grabs Robert and pulls him away to push him against the wall.

“Let him go right now.” Aaron says darkly- watches Robert’s face. It’s horrible to see the older man looking so anxious, scared, but Aaron also knows that Robert is frightened not just for himself but also for Aaron.

“Now listen up Aaron- I won’t hurt your boyfriend right here, oh sorry ex-boyfriend” Jason suddenly starts, he’s watching Aaron, a hand on Robert’s chest keeping him in place. “If you agree to have a little pre-fight right here right now, in front of blondie here if he’d like to watch. Oh and we’re fighting again tomorrow, if you come out of this one alive that is.”

“Fine whatever, let him go alright.”

“No- Aaron you can’t-“ Aaron sighs, hates the fact Robert’s never able to keep himself safe, always wants to put Aaron first or something.

“Don’t be ridiculous Rob- I do this and we can just go home yeah.” Aaron says, tries to sounds reasonable but knows that there is no way Robert is going to let him do this.

“I am sorry lovebirds- but I think this was a reasonable offer. I am not used to people taking this long to accept my offers.”

Before Aaron can react Jason punches Robert’s in the face while pulling him off the wall and pushing him to the ground- Aaron lunges for Jason, tries to pull him away but not before Jason manages to kick Robert in the ribs. There’s hardly any reaction from the older man and it scares Aaron. Jason turns around watching Aaron with a challenging expression.

“You fucking- I swear to god he better be okay or I’ll kill you.” Aaron says, not recognizing his own voice. He wants to go to Robert but he needs to get Jason out of here first in whatever way, he needs Robert safe and he can’t be with Jason here.

“Get away from him.” Aaron wants to go for Jason but can’t risk him kicking Robert some more, Jason still standing next to Robert and Aaron wills the tears to go away. He isn’t helpless he knows that but it doesn’t stop himself from feeling exactly that. He can fight but he feels like he’s failed Robert- Robert who tried to keep Aaron safe was now lying on the floor hurt and Aaron just wanted to get to him.

Jason comes towards him and Aaron sees Robert starting to twitch, the protectiveness he feels adds to his anger, adds to all this aggression and his fist comes flying towards Jason- it shouldn’t be enough, at least Aaron doesn’t expect it to be but he just keeps punching and punching and punching.

    Aaron didn’t want to be that person anymore, he just didn't. He takes a shaky breath- dares to stand up. He feels blood trickling down his face but he can’t be worse off than Jason. His hands are shaking. He doesn’t even know how he managed it- it's almost like a blur. Jason’s on the floor and Aaron is still standing.

Suddenly reality properly kicks in again and he rushes over to Robert.

“Rob- Robert, please.” He says shaking the older man ever so slightly, one hand gently placed on his face.

He hears the older man groan and breathes a sigh of relief. Praying that Jason is going to be out for a long long time he gently cradles Robert’s head. There’s also blood trickling down his face but his eyes are starting to flicker open.

“Hey, you’re alright. It will be fine.” He whispers, can’t be anything but gentle, the fear slowly leaving him. “Can you sit up you think?” Robert nods, winces as Aaron tries to help him up. He feels the older man’s head rest against his shoulder and hears him hiss out in pain.

“Robert?” he panics.

“S’okay” Robert slurs, “it’s my ribs- but I’m fine.” Aaron wants to call him a liar but sees how it’s starting to dawn on his ex-husband where they are, what must have happened. He watches him look at Jason wide eyed.

“Is he-?”

“He’s not dead.”

“Right.” Aaron doesn’t know what to say, has his arm still on Robert’s back, supporting him. He wants to get them something to wipe off the blood but doesn’t want to leave the older man here.

“God are you alright?” Robert suddenly interrupts him and Aaron struggles with the way Robert’s looking at him, gazing at his face. “You’re hurt but not too bad right? Not as bad as-“ Robert concludes not finishing his sentence. Aaron can only nod.

“We need to get out of here Aaron.”

“I know but can you stand?”

“I am gonna have to aren’t I.”

Robert manages to stand, his face twisted in pain and Aaron wants it to stop. He’s supporting most of Robert’s weight and the older man smiles at him, albeit a sad one “sorry about this” he whispers and it almost knocks Aaron back. At this point he doesn’t even know what the older man is referring to but it’s wrong all the same. He’s is the sorry one.

“Don’t be daft- let’s get out of here.” Is all he says.

   They’re in Aaron’s car. Aaron’s hands are still shaking and he knows Robert’s watching him.

“Do you need a doctor?”

“No” comes the expected answer and Aaron rolls his eyes “what about your ribs?”

“I don’t think they are broken and I don’t fancy any questions about what happened, do you?”

“You’re a good liar” it’s a snidey remark that Aaron didn’t even really want to make. Their banter isn’t the same, can’t be the same now they are broken up and all of this feels weird. It feels like it has been ages since they were together like this, ages since Aaron wasn’t deliberately trying to come across hostile.

Robert ignores the comment, instead asks “what are we going to do?”

“What do you mean?”

“Oh I don’t know, maybe I mean what are we going to do about the fact that that thug is lying in there bleeding out. Anyone can find him any minute if you don’t start driving- and what about security camera’s.” Aaron’s eyes widen at Robert’s unexpected outburst, even though it’s proof that Robert can’t be feeling too rotten.

But yeah the security cameras are a problem, among other things.

“I’ll sort it” he says thinks of asking Cain or Adam for help before making a decision. “Wait here- don’t you dare get out, I mean it.” Robert looks at him shocked, “what-“

“Just wait here.”

  It can’t have been more than five minutes Aaron thinks, he runs back to the car where Robert, thank god, is still waiting for him.

“It’s sorted.”

“Why do I not like the sound of that.”

“I smashed all the cameras.”

“With what- and are you sure you got all of them?”

“An umbrella” Aaron smirks and watches Robert supress a smile “it’s not that big a place, I know I got all of the important ones”

“Right” Robert says shaking his head slightly “I just can’t believe this has happened, why do these things always end up happening with us.”

Aaron lets out a laugh, can’t help himself “I honestly don’t even know what you mean with these things but I agree” he adds more seriously “it’s a mess, we’re a mess.”

Robert’s smile falters and he nods. Aaron sighs, “let’s go yeah, Jason will be fine well at least I think so, and we never show our faces here ever again alright?”

There’s no reaction and Aaron looks at his ex-husband, his heart twisting painfully. Robert has tears running down his face, blood still matting his hair.

“Hey, hey it’s alright” he stammers “Rob are you in pain- is it your ribs?” Aaron asks trying to get a reaction out of Robert, feels the panic rising once again.

“No! it’s me!”

“What-?”

“I shouldn’t have- I never meant for this to happen. All I wanted was for you to be safe. I know I shouldn’t have gotten myself involved but- and now you’re hurt and what if you’re going to be in trouble now. Jason’s going to come after you, you do realise that don’t you? I am so sorry. I hate myself-“

“Robert please stop that.” Aaron interrupts him, needs to stop Robert from talking about himself like that. He wants to reach out for his hands but can’t decide whether that’s a good idea. “Take a deep breath yeah, for me.” He tries to hold his own tears back, needs to keep his focus on Robert for now. He watches the older man calm down slightly.

“Now look at me.”

Robert meets his gaze and Aaron smiles. “I don’t blame you, I don’t. Yeah, you shouldn’t have tried to pay him off but I get it I do- look at what happened. I wanted him to get away from you I- this wasn’t your fault alright Robert? We’re both relatively okay and we’re going to forget about this. Yes, Jason is going to come after me but by the time he tries that I will have already reported him to the police. I am going to drop you off at Vic’s now, and I will ask Cain to get your car tomorrow yeah?” Aaron spoke calmly, knew that that was what Robert needed right now.

Robert nods timidly before saying “I can’t.”

“What?”

“I can’t go to Vic’s, um- could you possibly drop me off at Diane’s. Vic can’t know yet.”

“What? And Diane won’t be asking any questions?”

“She will but she'll buy my lies.”

Fair enough Aaron thinks but he’s already made his decision “you can stay at mine if you like? Liv’s in Dublin anyway so-“

“No Aaron that’s-“

“I won’t be asking any questions now will I?”

“Okay but only if you’re sure.”

“Wouldn’t have asked if I wasn’t” the truth is that Aaron isn't sure, knows that this isn't going to help the both of them down the line, but then again what has just happened isn't normal either, isn't something they were just going to forget about.

 He drove them home in silence, every now and then checking if Robert was sleeping, he didn’t sleep just stared out of the window the whole way instead.

 They’re nearly there now. It’s weird Aaron thinks, it’s like old times. The two of them getting home after a night out somewhere, as a couple. He sighs.

Aaron knows exactly what’s going to happen next and he wants it to happen. He knows he’s going to make the both of them a cup of tea. He knows he’s going to reassure Robert some more, while tending to his wounds. He also knows he’ll let Robert sleep on the couch, but not before they have talked about them, their relationship, how they don’t work well without each other.

He knows this because he can’t shake off that feeling of fear and protectiveness he felt when he saw Robert with Jason, when he saw Robert hurt on the floor. He wants to be the one that is always there to protect the older man, and he knows that Robert feels the same way about him.

    They are going to be alright and it feels good.

[lilacmoon83]

Dreaming Out Loud

Also on Fanfiction.net and A03

Chapter 116: Calm Before the Storm

Emma parked the squad car and James pulled up in his behind her. They got out and went into the Rabbit Hole, straight into an all out brawl.

"Oh crap…" Emma complained.

"Well...you first," James told his twin.

"Why me?" David asked.

"Well...you're the famed dragon slayer and the man that's been boasted as the one that easily defeated Blackbeard to rise to glory. This is right up your alley," James replied.

"You're never going to let that glory thing go, are you?" David argued. James smirked.

"Nope...get in there, baby brother," he joked.

"We're twins," David reminded.

"I'm seven and a half minutes older than you, according to mother," James argued.

"Seriously?" David argued back.

"Dad...we don't really have all day. Just be careful though. You know how much Mom will fuss if I take you back to her all scraped up," Emma said. David gave his daughter an incredulous look and she shrugged.

"He's not wrong. You have the reputation of the best swordsman in all the United Realms," she reminded. He rolled his eyes and unsheathed his sword, before jumping into the fray.

"You know...you're a good swordsman too. You could help," Emma told him.

"Nah, this is more fun," James retorted and she shook her head.

"You're terrible to him sometimes, you know that right?" she asked.

"I have twenty some years of giving him a hard time to make up for," he replied. The drunks stupidly tried to swing at David, some even with knifes, but they were no match for his skills, even if they had been sober. He grabbed the first one by the arm and tossed him into a table, while another picked up a chair in an attempt to hit him with it. He was obviously too drunk to realize what kind of sentence that attempting to assault a King would come with, but David was quick to duck and tossed him onto the now broken table with the other man. The pile of drunken thugs continued to grow, as David made quick work of them and soon had them all lined up, ready to be cuffed, which Emma and James proceeded to do.

"Oh...are you actually going to help for a change?" David asked, as he sheathed his sword.

"That's what we employ Knights for," James retorted, as Lancelot and several other Knights arrived to take them to the Sheriff's station, which was much larger now, to process them. Shortly after Snow and David took their Thrones, they decided that Storybrooke's Sheriff's station was now much too small to handle the justice system of the United Realms. But they wanted it to remain the hub of criminal defense in the United Realms, so they allocated the funds to build an addition to it, as well as an actual prison next door. Up until then, long term prisoners had been housed in the basement level of the hospital, which would not suffice any longer.

The Knights that David, James, and Lancelot had trained in the last three years were extremely impressive and noticed by all the other Kingdoms. There was talk that the Knights they had trained were even more impressive than King Arthur's famed Knights of the roundtable, something Lancelot personally knew would be a point of contention for his former liege. Arthur had remained fairly silent though. He attended the United Realms council meetings and participated in a minimal capacity, while largely remaining mysterious to mostly everyone. Lancelot knew the reasons, but since Arthur had not made any aggressive movements, the Knight had chosen to let him keep his secret, until the time that changed.

"A little above your pay grade, don't you think?" Lancelot teased David, as his Knights marched the drunks responsible for the brawl. David shrugged.

"Emma got the call and you know I can't help myself," he joked. Lancelot smiled.

"You never put yourself above the people. That's why you are the leader you are," the Knight said, as he left to take care of those they had placed under arrest. David was always humbled by Lancelot's respect for him and was well aware of his falling out with his former King. Arthur had done much to let Lancelot down it seemed, though David had no inkling of what exactly had happened between them, other than it involved Queen Guinevere. But by the ever present tension between them, it was clear that it went beyond that. David never pried though and Lancelot never offered details. With them, Lancelot had a new start and they allowed him that.

"My bar is in shambles!" the owner complained.

"And you know the procedure. Submit the damages to the United Realms insurance bureau and the damages will be covered," David offered to appease him.

"Yeah...and maybe consider some new security tactics or watering down your booze. This place seems to be a constant source of trouble," Emma added.

"Oh, I don't know...I find it a perfectly fine place, but then a girl like me is always drawn to chaos," a voice purred. They turned and found Cruella De Vil sitting at a booth, sipping a cocktail.

"You always get a show here...and then I can always count on a very attractive line of men to come in to rectify the situation," she added, as she looked the twin brothers with a feral gleam.

"Oh yes...now that is a such a pretty sandwich that I'd love to be in between," she purred, as she licked her lips.

"Oh my God…" Emma complained at her blatant sexual innuendo.

"Oh yes Dahlings...the fun we could have," she continued, as her eyes undressed them both.

"Hard pass," David retorted, as he started to leave.

"It's too bad...I knew he'd never go for it. But I had hope for you when I first learned you were back. The bad twin...think of all the fun we could have had and the chaos we could have created. A pity you've gone soft," Cruella purred in his ear.

"You're not my type," James refuted. She cackled at that.

"Oh, but I used to be…" she reminded.

"I've changed, as has my wife...but not that much. Hands off or she'll fry you and this monstrosity you're wearing," he warned, but that just seemed to thrill her more.

"Do you like it? I just had it made and I'm already scouting for my next," she boasted.

"Poaching is illegal and if we catch you killing innocent creatures just to use their pelts, I throw you in prison myself," James warned. She pretended to pout.

"It would almost be worth it to be put in handcuffs by you," she leered.

"I mean it, Cruella…" he warned again, as he followed his niece and his brother out. There was a time that Cruella's lust and praise of him would have been very attractive, but he had come a long way in three years. He still had moments where he felt inferior to David and his twin had the golden reputation and glory he had thought he wanted and still sometimes did. But he had come to love his brother, as well and their parents. He had the family he had always wanted, deep down, and would never throw love away to be with someone like Cruella; a woman he was certain was incapable of love. He had love now, with a woman that was much like him. They had both wanted to be good and had been molded into monsters; him by his abusive adopted father and Regina by her mother. But they had sought redemption and walked the difficult path back to the light. Together, they had found love and neither of them was letting it go for anything.

"This meeting of the Council of the United Realms will come to order," Persephone announced.

David heard those words, as he, Emma and James entered the chamber just in time, as the meeting was brought to order. He took his seat next to Snow and kissed her cheek, as he sat down.

"Let's get this meeting underway then. No one wants to sit here and watch you two and your incessant public displays of affection," Ravenna snapped in irritation.

"Well, then why don't you start us off, Queen Ravenna. What efforts have you made in the last month to improve the lives of your people?" Persephone questioned.

"Oh you're going to love that, aren't you? Because my Kingdom is struggling and your daughter's is thriving, you make it your mission to point it out every single time," Ravenna complained.

"Your Kingdom is struggling, because your people are being unfairly taxed, yet your treasury is empty," Persephone stated.

"Which would warrant an investigation into your Kingdom's finances, because it screams fraud," Regina added.

"The only fraud here is this joke of Council! I have never been treated fairly and it's because of her," Ravenna claimed, as she glared at Snow.

"Your perception is not reality, Queen Ravenna. While you claim unfair treatment, you turn a deaf ear to your people cries for help. You must improve the state of your Kingdom or you will force others to step in," Persephone warned.

"Such would be an act of war!" Ravenna claimed.

"No...it would be an act of mercy on your people at this point. You're staring down the barrel of a full revolt in your Kingdom if you do not make changes," James argued.

"Says the Prince that was raised to be a tyrant," Ravenna retorted.

"With the difference being that my brother changed and rose above that raising. All you can seem to focus on is your hatred for my wife," David snapped.

"And I always will," Ravenna promised, as she glared at them.

"As usual, this is getting us no where. Queen Ravenna...you've been warned about the condition of your Kingdom. Now to move on to other matters," Persephone announced, while Ravenna silently seethed.

"If we're going to discuss monetary matters, then perhaps we should discuss all the funds that are constantly eaten up by all the advancement in Storybrooke," Midas interjected. Abigail sighed.

"Father…" she chided.

"It's okay Abigail...we have put a lot of our joint Kingdom's funding into the ongoing projects in Storybrooke. The community center has been finished for a year now and it's a huge asset the entire United Realms. And the University is on schedule to be ready for fall semester in just a few months time," Snow announced proudly.

"The education reform of this is unprecedented. I've already had many approach me about enrollment," Elsa confirmed.

"And the community center classes and events are always fully booked," Anna added.

"Yes...and the Community Center also offers counseling for addiction, victims of crime or abuse, and many other topics. It's giving battered women and their children a place to go as well," Snow added.

"Yes...you've been on quite a crusade to shut down my business, but I assure you that it won't happen now that I've moved it to Lord Cronus' Kingdom," Deimos interjected, as he sat beside King Cronus.

"Only because he has chosen not to outlaw brothels," Snow retorted distastefully. Deimos smirked.

"And many other Kingdoms still have them as well. I'm now just one in a sea of many and while you may have outlawed them in your Kingdom and Storybrooke, fairest Snow...you do not have the pull to do so in any others," he retorted.

"You exploit young women," she spat.

"I employ them," he argued.

"You make me sick," she hissed, but he only smirked.

"And you're still as fiery as ever. It's too bad I never got the opportunity to tame you," he leered, causing David to nearly launch himself across the room.

"Enough…" Hades bellowed.

"Lord Cronus...if your right hand insists on speaking to our daughter in such a manner then he will be banned from this and any future meetings," he warned, as his father glared at him.

"Of course...Lord Hades. It won't happen again," Cronus assured.

"Well, as usual, the financials are a point of contention. Perhaps we'll do better in discussing defense," Persephone stated.

"Crime in our Kingdoms and Storybrooke is down forty percent," David reported.

"Yes, which is impressive. Your methods and training techniques are being adopted by many Kingdoms," she stated.

"That's nothing...crime is almost non-existent in Paris," Frollo boasted.

"And your prisons are filled with innocent people," David interjected, as he glared at the unjust ruler.

"Then by all means, King Charming, why don't you come blazing in to liberate the souls you say are innocent and take them to your Kingdom. I'm sure that will keep crime low," he retorted. David seethed and glared at the bigot, but took the high road, as he felt Snow put her hand on his.

"I won't need to. The harsher you rule your people, the angrier they will become and when they revolt...you'll get some of that justice you're always spouting about," he warned.

"You and yours have made it quite clear that you disapprove of my rule, but there is money in my treasury and food in the stomachs of my people. There is more than one way to rule," he retorted.

"However, if you want to speak of a spike in crime...then perhaps you should look to Camelot," he interjected, as the attention turned to Arthur and his Queen.

"Camelot is secure...I'll admit that there has been a spike in crime, but the Knights of the Roundtable, the most valiant Knights in the United Realms are working to quell the increase in violence," Arthur stated sternly.

"Word has it that the Knights of the Roundtable is a dying order. If anything, King Charming's Knights are far superior to yours these days," Frollo argued, as he attempted to stir the pot, as usual.

"Misthaven has no quarrel with Camelot. Crime happens everywhere and I assume this small spike is just one of those things. Am I right, Your Majesty?" David questioned. Arthur looked nervous, but the other King didn't let on like he noticed and it made the wielder of Excalibur wonder what, if anything, his father-in-law might have told him about his Kingdom.

"It would appear so, King David and the situation is being handled," Arthur confirmed, as they thankfully moved on, as a few other matters were discussed, until Persephone finally dismissed the weekly meeting. Ravenna stormed out, while Frollo casually followed her.

"This trip we're about to take better yield results," she hissed to him.

"It is a promising endeavor, I assure you," he replied.

"It better be!" she snapped.

"Because I want that little brat to suffer at my hand and there to be nothing her stupid mother can do to stop her demise," Ravenna growled.

"Then we had better be on our way to the Harbor," he responded.

"Well...that wasn't very productive, but I guess I knew what to expect," Snow mentioned, as he led her out with his arm around her.

"Perhaps not...but you're a tough act to live up to," he mused. She smiled.

"So are you...saying you and your Knights are superior to even the Knights of the Roundtable. David...that's incredible," she gushed. He kissed her hair.

"I want my family to have the best protection and our people deserve the same as well," he agreed humbly.

"Do you need to get back to the station right away?" she asked. He smirked.

"I think Emma and Lancelot can handle things for a while and my parents have the babies. I'd say you and I could enjoy a romantic walk," he replied, as he offered her his elbow and she hook her hand on it, as he led her out.

Killian Jones hurriedly made his way to the Harbor, spotting his ship or rather the ship he had given up to Mr. Smee three years ago. Upon arrival in this new magical forest, he had sought an item he had heard could be used to trap someone. He had planned to find this item and then return to Storybrooke in order to use it on his nemesis: the crocodile.

Upon reaching the tower where this golden flower was rumored to be, he instead found a young woman trapped there. Entranced by her beauty, he promised to free her and they slept together. But when he awoke that morning, he discovered that the young woman was not what she appeared to be and rather was an evil sorceress that had used him to conceive a child. With her magic, she had accelerated the pregnancy and gave birth, allowing the baby to take her place in the enchanted tower. He was shocked and appalled that the witch, whom called herself Gothel, abandoned the baby without a thought. But he could not do that. Despite the terrible deeds that littered his past, he could never leave his own child to suffer. His own father had done so to him and he would be damned if he did so to her. So he stayed and took care of his daughter, as suddenly he had something more important than revenge. She became everything to him and was his pride and joy, allowing him to finally let his revenge go. Alice was his world now and so when the witch return to try and poison his heart to take her away, he had managed to trick her and escape. He knew she would be after him, but he knew if he could get to Storybrooke, that he could ask for protection. He knew he had done a lot of things they didn't like, but he was positive that Snow and David would help him for the sake of his child.

"Mr. Smee…" Hook called and the portly man looked up in surprise.

"Captain!" Smee said, pleasantly surprised.

"I need a ride to Storybrooke, post haste. Care to help your former Captain out?" he asked. Smee smiled.

"Of course Captain...of course. Whose the kid?" he asked. Killian smiled.

"She's my daughter, Mr. Smee," he announced proudly, as the three-year-old in his arms looked shy and buried her face in her father's shoulder.

"Your daughter?" Smee asked in surprise.

"Much has changed, Mr. Smee and it is not safe here for us any longer. I'm taking her to Storybrooke," Killian replied.

"Of course...we'll set sail right away," Smee agreed, as they boarded the ship and set off across the ocean.

Greg sighed in frustration, as they watched Henry at school.

"We've been watching this kid all day...he's never alone. This is impossible," Greg complained.

"Then maybe we need a different target," Landon responded.

"Like who?" Greg asked.

"What about the blonde Sheriff?" Landon replied. Greg's eyes widened.

"Emma Swan? Queen Snow and King Charming's daughter? That blonde Sheriff?" Greg asked, looking at him like he had grown three heads.

"Why not? What better target to cause panic and lure all the of the major players out of Storybrooke?" Landon questioned.

"Think about it. We get Emma Swan and we for sure will lure her parents and Regina out since the former Evil Queen is not married to her Uncle. We get her husband, which means we'll get Rumpelstiltskin as well. And we'll likely get Hades and Persephone as well," he continued.

"But there is magic here...and Emma Swan has a ton of it," Greg reminded.

"But we have this," Landon reminded, as he held up the cuff. Greg smirked.

"You're right and once we lure them all outside...there's no magic for any of them to use. Not even Persephone and Hades will have power in New York," he agreed.

"Exactly. We take her there and introduce her to all the interested parties on the dark web that went wild over our video and then the rest of them will walk right into the thick of it," Landon said.

"Okay...but getting Emma Swan won't be easy either," he warned.

"Easier than getting the kid though. The next time she responds to a call alone...we'll be waiting to ambush her," Landon said. Greg nodded. This was it. Once he lured them all out of Storybrooke, they would get a confession out of Regina and get the attention of the FBI. Then any fringe groups that had believed their video would surely pay them handsomely for the rest of them.

"There's my babies…" Snow cooed, as she and David met his parents outside Granny's that evening.

"Mommy!" Xander called, as he toddled to her. She scooped him up and they both kissed his head, as their baby reached for David upon seeing him.

"And there's my tiny angel," he cooed to her, as he took her in his arms and kissed her head. Snow leaned over to kiss her as well. It may have only been a few hours since they had seen them, but they missed their babies fiercely.

"Did you have fun with Grandpa Robert and Nanas Ruth and Sera?" Snow cooed.

"Uh huh," Xander answered. The three of them smiled.

"As usual, they kept us on our toes," Sera said fondly.

"But we love every minute of it," Ruth added.

"Yeah...I'd say we definitely have the best job in all the United Realms," Robert agreed, as Emma arrived with Neal, Henry, and baby Tallie. Snow's three parents gathered with them next and finally Gold and Belle arrived with Gideon, as they planned to go into Granny's. Neal happened to turn and see someone that none of them had seen in three years in the street though.

"Hook?" he questioned, a bit apprehensively at first. He then relaxed as he spotted the little girl in his arms.

"Hello mate...it seems I'm not the only one that things have changed for," he replied.

"Is she yours?" Snow asked curiously. Killian smiled at the blonde child in his arms.

"She is. This is Alice and I've come back here to make a life for her. It's a bit of a long story, but I think Storybrooke is the ideal place to raise her...unless I'm unwelcome," he replied.

"That depends...you still out for revenge on my father?" Neal asked.

"I gave up revenge when she was born. Has he?" Hook replied, as he looked at Gold.

"It seems we have both embraced a second chance," Rumple stated firmly. Snow looked at her husband and David looked at his father. Robert nodded, signaling that he had mostly put what Hook had done behind him as well. He had his second chance as well and wasn't going to deny such to another father.

"Then why don't you and your daughter join us for dinner. She will definitely have plenty of playmates," Snow stated. Hook nodded.

"Thank you," he agreed, as he followed them into the diner. The saying that time healed wounds may have been a myth, for it was love that healed those wounds and it seemed that Hook was now an example of how children changed everything for the better...

[makeste]

BnHA Chapter 165: The Baby-Sitters Club

Previously on BnHA: The kids began their supplementary lesson for the day. Tired Mera (upgraded to his final form from just plain old Mera) introduced Camie from Shiketsu and said she would be joining the lessons moving forward. Gang Orca showed up and flung Bakugou, Todoroki, and Yoarashi around some just for the hell of it before announcing that the three of them plus Camie would have a special assignment for the day. Cue the arrival of about 25 screaming children. They immediately set upon the lot of them and stole Bakugou’s grenade gauntlet and piled onto both Todoroki and Yoarashi and we’ll probably never see either of them again. Present Mic got all hyped up and stole Mera’s mic to start narrating all of the action. Meanwhile, Endeavor quietly asked All Might just how the fuck one goes about being a Symbol of Peace anyway.

Today on BnHA: The babysitting squad struggles to figure out how to “win the hearts” of this vicious group of six-year-olds. Bakugou proposes that they single out the kids’ leader and break their spirit to establish dominance. Inasa tries to bond with them. Todoroki tries to show the kids what kind of person he is by giving a five-hour oral presentation of his entire life story up to this point. Shockingly, none of these approaches is very effective. Meanwhile Endeavor opens up to All Might (I know guys, shit’s crazy) and says he’s obsessed his entire life over trying to be stronger than everyone else, but he knew from the start that he would never be able to top All Might. All Might says that he simply wanted to be a symbol the people could believe in to give them hope and help them not to be afraid. He says that he and Endeavor are different and that Endeavor should try to find his own way of doing things. Meanwhile the babysitting mayhem continues as the kids face off against the young heroes and activate their quirks.

(As always, all comments not marked with an ETA are my unspoiled reactions from my first readthrough of this chapter. I’ve read up through chapter 187 now, so any ETAs will reflect that. I accidentally spoiled myself for something huge related to Deku and I’m so mad lmao. so now I’m going off on a frustrated reading binge and so help me god I will catch up with this manga if it kills me.)

our new squad!

“win the brats’ hearts” omg

I’m telling you guys, Kacchan has this in the bag. he has so much experience with being a brat. he knows how to reach the hearts and souls of brats. he is a natural leader. like Steve Harrington before him, he is a babysitting legend and doesn’t even know it yet

that’s it Katsuki. assert your authority. remember, they can smell fear

how did they get both of them??

this boy fought off six grown villains at once, and yet he has been completely outmaneuvered by four preschoolers in a matter of minutes

and yet, please note how even as he tries to get this under control and also finds the time to yell at Todoroki (who makes an excellent point btw), he effortlessly dodges this one kid who was trying to sweep his legs

Camie is all “I have no idea what to do next” and over in what has now become the announcer booth, Present Mic is all “I can just tell they have no idea what to do next”

he can just tell

now he’s handing the microphone over to the sobbing kindergarten teacher so she can clarify what exactly the hero kids’ task is here

“basically I want them to do my job for me k thanks byyyyyyyyyyye”

so she wants them to inspire these kids somehow

wow Shouto and Inasa are so moved

meanwhile Bakugou is just like (╬◣益◢)

well at least he’s motivated. you really want to go get yourself flung around by Gang Orca some more huh

now he’s ranting about how this is what happens when the teacher fails to carry out their role as the leader of the kids, and that the kids have sensed that weakness and taken advantage of it

and that somewhere out there is an alpha kid “who sets the mood for the rest of the class” and they just have to find them

like you, you little thug? speaking from experience are we?

he knows just how to deal with them once they find them too

this is all very Lord of the Flies

and now he is demanding that the strongest child come out to fight him lmaooooo

and he’s being called out by the Monoma child

more like he never mentally matured past the age of six. this right here is the lawless jungle of schoolyard politics. your civilized rules have no place here

the kindergarten teacher is asking Mic if this is really going to be all right lol

and actually, Mic seems to have a surprising amount of faith in Bakugou, stating that he’s “just doing a little side show” that’s all

yep. sure he is

meanwhile Camie is informing Bakugou that delinquents are out of fashion

and he’s all “WELL THEY SHOULDN’T BE”

delinquents in general are, but Delinquents With A Heart Of Gold are still as popular as ever, so you’re good, Kacchan, don’t you worry

now Inasa’s stepping up to the plate!

he says the fast track to becoming best friends is just to get to know each other. I assume he also turned to wink at Todoroki and I just missed it

“who wants to be a hero?! raise your hand!”

ooh, it’s working!

CAN HE FOLLOW THROUGH?

wow he’s a natural

okay in all honesty, Inasa would be a great dad. frankly, looking at his performance here just drives it home how absurd it is that he didn’t manage to pass the provisional exam the first time around. he has all of the qualifications and then some. it’s just that he’s Dumb

holy shit

THESE KIDS ARE CALLING THEM OUT LEFT AND RIGHT

looks like Team Rocket’s blasting off againnnn nnnn nnnnnn... *ping*

at this point should I be concerned for Todoroki

like, I’m starting to sense a pattern here

so now Inasa’s smashing his head onto the ground in his trademark deep bow from a standing position, and apologizing to the kids and saying he had no right to preach at them from his high horse

Camie is all “wow these kids are pretty fucked up huh”

and Bakugou is all “THAT’S WHAT I’VE BEEN SAYING”

he says sometimes you need violence to “put ‘em in their place” and that’s how he was raised

oh boy. so this is why everyone is all “Mitsuki is abusive”, isn’t it

goddamn you Horikoshi and your throwaway lines. does this mean I’m gonna have to do a Mitsuki meta after all

well for now I’m just gonna say that I don’t believe this line is meant to imply that Bakugou is being seriously abused at home in any way. it’s like... this, to me, is the same as when they had him all chained up on that podium at the end of the sports festival arc. something that was done for comedic effect. like, yes, if this was real life, that would be pretty fucked up and would definitely warrant some looking into. but this is a shounen manga where they had children battle each other to the point of unconsciousness for sport, and everyone was cool with it and cheering them on. when Bakugou says he was raised in a violent household, it’s clearly meant to be comedic sitcom violence where no one actually gets hurt. I’m not saying it’s not something that can’t be interpreted more deeply, because that’s half the fun of reading a manga. but I’m just saying that I myself am choosing to take it in the more zany/cartoonish tone in which I believe it’s intended, because in this case I think reading too deeply into it would lead to projecting issues onto Bakugou’s character that I don’t actually think are there. giving him angst I don’t think he actually has, in other words

I don’t think I’m doing a very good job of explaining this, though, so like I said, I really will end up having to post that meta I think

(ETA: so yeah, I posted that yesterday. thank you for everyone who took the time to read my rambling thoughts on this very touchy subject!)

anyway!!

meanwhile this kid absolutely was abused at home, though, and that’s a certified fact. and this is what he has to say about that

and immediately Bakugou is thinking back to the conversation he overheard at the sports festival

oh my god

this fucking kid omg

just. look at this shit though. he understands immediately that Todoroki is referring to his own violent upbringing, and he’s like oh snap, and then he actually backs down in his own way and doesn’t try to argue the point and is just like, fair enough, why don’t you give it a go then

and yet the way he does it is just. so exquisitely obnoxious. “let’s see... how can I try to be understanding, but like, in the rudest fucking way possible”

just. it’s magnificent. dammit Katsuki why are you like this

oh hey we’re cutting back to Endeavor and All Might

Endeav says he’s entrusted everything to Shouto

he says that he had already climbed to the number two spot when he was only twenty years old, and that he immediately understood that number one would always be out of his reach

okay, gonna press pause for a second now here. so just a reminder that we know Endeavor is 45 years old. maybe 46 now, idk. anyway though, so this means that he’s been the number two hero for 25 years. and that means that All Might must have been active for at least the same amount of time, and that he was already number one even 25 years ago. not just that, but he was well-established enough that Endeavor already knew he would never be able to beat him

so the question is, how long do we think it took All Might to become that established. could he have done it just two years after graduating U.A.? I think in all likelihood this means he’s probably a little older than Endeavor. I really can’t see him as any older than 50, though, so it’s hard to say. maybe he just ages like Paul Rudd. at any rate, he has obviously been around for quite a while

(ETA: to add onto this, we know from chapter 185 that no one had ever reached the top 10 as a teenager before Hawks did. so at minimum All Might would have had to be at least 20 years old before he became #1. so yeah, I’m gonna go ahead and say he’s definitely older than Endeavor by at least a little bit. honestly would it kill Horikoshi to go ahead and give this man an official age already.)

anyway, Endeav says he didn’t just want the title (which is obvious enough, given how he reacted when it was just handed to him following All Might’s retirement). otherwise he could have just gone around “foolishly smiling at everyone” the way All Might did

okay man, if you’re seriously trying to change your ways though, you might want to start with reconsidering that particular part of your attitude there

(ETA: though it seems his fans don’t like when he does this lol. no one wants a friendly neighborhood Endeavor apparently)

anyway, so yeah, he says he wanted to be the strongest

All Might’s saying this isn’t like Endeavor at all, and Endeavor is all “>:( JUST TELL ME THE ANSWER ALREADY”

All Might says he has no idea what to say to him. but All Might is a fucking liar, because you just know he’s about to go off into inspirational speech mode though

yeeeeep

basically he just tried to be a good, strong hero who could reassure people that everything would be okay. he won their trust. the reason why Endeavor is struggling is because no one trusts him in that same way. he’s just not a reassuring guy. people don’t feel safer just with him being there. he’s strong, yes, but more in a don’t-mess-with-this-guy way than a putting-your-mind-at-ease type of way. he doesn’t comfort people, he puts them on edge

anyway. while I went on my little tangent, All Might was continuing, and he mentioned how he ended up pushing away most of the people around him, and that was the path he chose

and there’s a flashback to Nighteye, and Endeavor is actually picking up on that

All Might says he know what kind of situation Endeavor is in and what people are saying about him

yeah we just got a nice demonstration of that less than a chapter ago

he says people keep comparing the two of them, but that they’re different

hmm

part of me is like “because he already has another successor in mind lol”

but he’s saying that Endeavor simply needs to find his own way of doing things. “and there’s no need to rush it”

wow, where did this chill, no-worries attitude come from all of a sudden I wonder. I seem to recall the six-years-ago All Might shouting at Nighteye that he had to continue carrying on even as a wounded Symbol of Peace, because even a small interim without that symbol would be disastrous

but now we’re all “it’s cool man, you just do you and you’ll figure it out, no rush.” it’s not like there’s a whole league of villains out there plotting or anything

though on the other hand, All for One is currently behind bars, and as for Tomura, All Might currently thinks of him as “Shimura’s grandson, so he can’t be that bad! I just have to get through to the misguided little tyke.” so maybe we’re not on the same page right now as far as urgency goes

now Mic’s commentary is drawing their attention back to the Baby-sitters Club over here

this is it, Shouto. all eyes on you my man

I have no idea what’s about to go down, but Endeavor is again aggressively showing his support

honestly, it’s very possible that even if Endeavor had actually not been a dick this whole time and had actually tried to be a good parent before now, Shouto would have still come out of it traumatized. Endeavor strikes me as the kind of guy who would have signed Shouto up for Little League and worn a shirt with his face on it to every single one of his games. “THAT’S MY SON!!! SHOUTOOOOO! DO YOUR BEST!!”

is that your dad, the other kids ask. in mortification, baby Shouto creates a little igloo with his quirk and ends up just hiding in there and refusing to come out for the rest of the game

you guys

I feel like. he actually has no clue what to do next

he’s thinking to himself that first he needs to show them what kind of person he is, and until he does that “everything I say will fall on deaf ears”

...please don’t break your arms. felt like I needed to say that. this is not a “what would Midoriya do” type of situation. he would get punched in the nuts is what

sfdalhkdhf

I fucking can’t with this dramatic fucking family

lol what

this is “showing them what kind of person you are”??

and the kids are not having it omg

lol he’s apologizing

YOU BLEW IT KID

lmao Camie is all “it seems like the three of you have been trying to do things the normal way this whole time”

not sure what chapter she’s been reading that she thinks all of this is normal

she’s suggesting that they use their quirks

you know what, I’m on board with that! because WHAT IS YOUR QUIRK, ANYWAY. I want to know omg

Kacchan is all “I WAS JUST ABOUT TO SAY THAT”, but were you. were you really

but wow, though

who does this nerdy gung-ho take-charge analysis remind you of? because I’ll tell you, it reminds me of a certain gung-ho take-charge green haired nerd

oh my god they got in a huddle

this really is my new squad. omg. look at them formulating their nerdy gung-ho take-charge plan to take on these two dozen six-year-olds

meanwhile said six-year-olds are gathering their power

did this one kid really fucking unhinge his jaw and produce a fucking cannon wtf

and then there’s rabid Pacman kid, Akatsuki jacket kid who appears to be sprouting moss, triangle eyes kid who’s producing some sort of hula hoop wave, some kid with antennae who really has no business being all “OUR GENERATION IS BETTER” when all he has is a fucking antennae quirk, and lastly this sixth child who isn’t doing anything at all except hovering above all of the other children in such a way that I can’t tell if it’s just wacky panel design or if that’s actually his quirk

at any rate though, these kids better watch out, because these high schoolers appear fully prepared to Stoop To Their Level

can anyone tell what Camie’s quirk is from this panel. I can’t make out a damn thing. is this something where when I come back to look at it later it’ll be obvious and I’ll just be like “how the fuck did I miss that”

(ETA: oh man you guys. I can’t fucking wait for tomorrow’s chapter lol)

anyway. we all already know that Bakugou will take virtually any challenger seriously whether it’s Deku, Ochako, All Might, a bunch of villains, or Deku again. so it’s not all that surprising that this would extend even to a bunch of literal grade-schoolers

but what is surprising is that the others are following his lead here. well, maybe not so much surprising as just hilarious

why don’t you come down here and try your hand at it then if you think you’re so smart, Mic

he’d probably just offer to sign autographs and then wind up devastated when they don’t all fall over starstruck because none of them listens to the radio

will our heroes be able to impress the group of jaded small children?? will they actually end up resorting to violence after all and to hell with Todoroki’s earlier objections?? will we ever find out what the fuck is wrong with these kids’ parents?? STAY TUNED

once again there is no bonus page. there’s only one more of them (since I always skip the staff introduction pages), and it goes with chapter 167 I think. but it doesn’t matter much since this recap is already super fucking long good god

[snovyda]

Some little bits and pieces from the Mission: Impossible - Fallout audio commentary

Christopher McQuarrie: I am writer/director Christopher McQuarrie. Tom Cruise: I am.... Tom Cruise. Writer/director’s friend and co-worker. *********

Christopher McQuarrie: Alec Baldwin was originally going to be the minister. And Alec Baldwin was unavailable. He couldn’t come to New Zealand. And Sean Harris was available, and now it is unimaginable to me that it could be anyone else. Tom Cruise: And also.... we were talking about at some point maybe having Benji and Luther there also. *********

Tom Cruise: First of all, great actors, Ving and Simon... Christopher McQuarrie: Phenomenal. Tom Cruise: Every time you just go to these guys... it was such a pleasure, always a pleasure working with them. Any time you put the camera on them, you just... Christopher McQuarrie: Well, you’re talking about two actors who understand: a) the characters they’re playing so well, but [b)] understand the genre so well. Tom Cruise: Yes, and how to make this movie. *********

Christopher McQuarrie (about the credits): We wanted to make it like... “imagine if the film itself was melting”. *********

Tom Cruise (about Angela Bassett, slightly hyperventilating): Look at her. She’s got so much power. So much. [...] She’s just... Ugh. Oof. *********

Tom Cruise: And this shot (of the plane in the sky at the distance) is... Christopher McQuarrie: Entirely CG! Tom Cruise: ... awesome. Christopher McQuarrie: It’s the first entirely CG shot that doesn’t make me want to shoot myself. *********

Christopher McQuarrie (about needing to film the HALO jump for real): It took one look at you and I’m like, (exasperated) “I know how I’m going to do this...” And everybody standing in the room was like, “Oh my God, I know what he’s going to do...” It was straight out of a Mission Impossible movie, it was like, “aaahhhhhh, no”. Except, in a Mission Impossible movie, Ethan is the one going, “Ohhh no”, and in making of Mission Impossible, everybody else in the room is going, “Ohhh no”. Tom Cruise: *laughing uncontrollably throughout the entire speech* *********

Tom Cruise (about how they didn’t break anything in Paris): I was very nervous driving past all these churches from the 14th and 15th century. I was thinking, “I am NOT going to drift into any of these walls”. That would be so bad! I would feel horrible! *********

Tom Cruise: Here’s Simon... Christopher McQuarrie : There’s Simon Pegg, he learned how to swim with a re-breather. Tom Cruise: Yep. Got certified in a re-breather.  Christopher McQuarrie : He’s certifiable anyway. Tom Cruise: Yes, he is! He’s fantastic, love him.  *********

Tom Cruise: Benji.... Simon learned to drive the boat. Not as easy as it looks, I just want to tell you. Christopher McQuarrie: Definitely not. And when we... And it was the sort of thing that our... we had our heads down, and we were shooting so quickly that it wasn’t until Paris was done that we were like, this scene had boats and trucks and cars and motocycles and helicopters, it was crazy! *********

Tom Cruise (about driving against the traffic during the high speed chase in Paris): It’s... uncomfortable. *********

Tom Cruise (about the scene where Ethan shoots the thugs): That’s a great response... you know, great reaction by Simon going... you know, the Mission team are not killers. They’re trying to do the least amount of damage. *********

Christopher McQuarrie: Im fact, breaking Lane out we talked about in Rogue Nation. During the very last night of making Rogue Nation... Tom Cruise: That’s right! Yes, yes, yes! We were talking about breaking him out and how we were going to do it. Christopher McQuarrie: Because Sean Harris was so upset that he wasn’t going to be killed. Because he only wanted to do one movie... Tom Cruise: Yeah, Sean Harris, who plays Lane, he was like, “I only want to do one movie. Promise me you’ll kill me”. And then at the end of Rogue, we couldn’t figure out how to kill him and realised it’s not the right thing to do. And he was like, “Oh my God!” Christopher McQuarrie: And Don Granger, the producer, said, “Oh, you don’t have to worry. Sean’s character’s never coming back”, and I said, “Well... unless Ethan needs to break him out to accomplish his next mission”. Don said, “Oh my God, oh my God, I want to see that movie!” And I ran to you, you were in your trailer. Sean was waiting to shoot the scene where he’s chasing you. And I went to your trailer and said to you, “Tom, I’ve got this great idea!”, and you turned around and said, “I’ve got to break Lane out in the next movie?”, and I was like, WHAT? [...] So I was like, great, let’s go tell Sean! And he was like, “you bastards, I’m never going to get out of here...” *********

(about the White Widow kissing Ethan) Tom Cruise: That kiss is “I own you”. It’s not flirty, it’s like... “you’re mine”. Christopher McQuarrie: It’s dangerous. *********

Tom Cruise: This is so much fun! Here’s Sean playing Benji. Christopher McQuarrie: And Sean’s method was to say, “I think I’m Benji now. And Benji thinks he’s giving the performance of a lifetime. So he’s overdoing it”. And I said, “Sean, no offense.... You should overdo it more often. You’re really good at it”. *********

(On Hunley’s final word to Ethan) Christopher McQuarrie: Alec actually recorded it on an iPhone. He recorded several versions of “Go...” and texted them to me. *********

(About the fight between Benji, Ilsa and Lane) Christopher McQuarrie: And of course... and all the weight of the movie comes to this point where you’re not quite sure, are they going to do what you think they’re going to do?  Tom Cruise: Yes. Are we going to kill Benji? Christopher McQuarrie: Are we going to kill Benji? And I had a delightful time on social media, when people... I posted a picture of the funeral, and they said, “Who did you kill?” And people were saying, “You’re going to kill Benji, I know you’re going to kill Benji! There will be rioting in the streets!”, and I would reply, “Oh...” [...] So, to everybody I tortured - I enjoyed that. [...] Christopher McQuarrie: Simon is so good here. Tom Cruise: Yep. Christopher McQuarrie: And Rebecca... how quickly they become a team at this point of the movie... [...] Tom Cruise: I just love the story of what’s going on. Look at this. She’s getting hit, and Benji gets in a kick, and that kicks him off. That’s... Christopher McQuarrie: And you remember, a lot of this was workshopped with you and me and Wade [Eastwood]. Wade came to us with the choreography, and we came up with the idea of the box and we would just add layers to what was a pretty simple fight choreography. We weren’t trying to be stunty and showy... This dilemma of trying to choke the villain... Tom Cruise: That’s just.... McQuarrie.... You came up with that and I love it, it’s just.... ah. Christopher McQuarrie: And you remember where it came up from? It’s that Sean Harris early on said, “I want to kill Benji”.  Tom Cruise: Yes, exactly. Christopher McQuarrie: He was like, “All I want to do is kill Benji”, and I go, “You know what, Sean? You can’t kill him, but it gives me an idea”. And I knew I was going to have Sean in some way or another choking Simon. And that’s all I had going into that room. And I said to Wade, “Find a way for him to choke him”, and Wade came up with the hanging. Tom Cruise: It’s fantastic. Christopher McQuarrie: And then one layer after another, all because Sean... Sean was so funny, he goes, “I’m the funny one. He’s not funny, I’m funny”.

[aerialsquid]

A small interlude of gourmet donuts.

Fandom: Legends of Tomorrow Characters: Mick Rory, “Leo” Snart Notes: Spoilers for “Crisis on Earth X” and for LoT up to “Beebo the God of War”. I’m apparently not the first to have this idea on Leo’s motivations but I am the first to put it with bacon donuts.

“No, I don’t want to talk,” said Mick, before ‘Call-Me-Leo’ had time to fully enter the Waverider’s dining room.

“I feel like we got off on the wrong foot before, Mick.”

“All your feet are wrong. Get out of my face.” Feelings talk. Leonard Snart and feelings talk. He could spit.

“That’s a shame. I’ll have to eat all of these myself, then.”

Leo set down the pink (pink!) cardboard box he was carrying and opened it, peering inside with a casual gaze.Mick looked up from his sulking and found himself trying not to drool.

Light glinted off the glaze of a half-dozen artisanal donuts nestled together, one dripping with caramel and another adorned with tiny chocolate chips that stuck out like the sharp spikes of a hedgehog. Leo delicately picked one up and examined it.

“Bacon and maple syrup. What will they think of next?” He had it halfway to his mouth before Mick tackled him.

“Give me that!” He snatched the donut from Leo’s fingers and shoved him away from the box of delights, stuffing into his mouth.

Leo perched on the edge of the table, folding his arms. At least he’d left the parka behind, though the cold gun was still dangling at his hip. “It’s nice to know some things stay the same between worlds. In my world Mickey had the same chronic sweet tooth.”

“Don’t compare me to some freak who goes down like a chump trying to save cops.”

“I know you’re only saying that because you think it will hurt me and make me leave.”

“Is it working?” asked Mick, bits of fried dough flying from his overstuffed mouth.

Leo let out one of those long breaths that he claimed let the stress flow out in a healthy way. Trying to offend this guy was like trying to offend a lump of jello. For a man who built his reputation on being able to offend delicate sensitivities, it was infuriating.

“I lied about how my Mickey died, before. Well, left out a few details.”

“What, were there some orphans and puppies in there too? …oh hell, there were, weren’t there.” Mick made a disgusted face but didn’t stop stuffing the face with donuts.

“Well, Tara’s guide dog wasn’t technically a puppy anymore—”

“Oh, for fuck’s sake.”

“And they weren’t police officers like you have here, supported by the government with personalized jackboots. Our police officers kept the peace between people in the Rebellion, resolved conflicts and consequences. A lot more dialogue facilitation, a lot less handcuffs.”

“Goodie. Cops but nicer.” Mick went for the next donut. Pistachio. He didn’t even like pistachio but anything would be a welcome distraction from Leo.

“The point isn’t who he pulled out of the fire. It’s why he went in again after everyone was out. I was trying to play it up, flatter you, so I told you what I told everyone else. Hadn’t had the chance to talk with your friends about what really got your attention.”

“Yeah. Boobs, beer, and bonfires. Not rescuing pigs.”

“I like the alliteration.” Something about the way Leo emphasized words set Mick’s teeth on edge. Snart did the same thing but he did it for different words, different sentences. If the real Snart was here Leo would be an iceblock in minutes. No, seconds.

“Look, I’m not your therapist. You want to work through your fee-fees, go talk to Haircut. Or your friend with the sunshine coming out of his ass.”

Leo laughed.

“I’ll have to tell Ray that one. It’s cute, I like it.” The grin dropped to that sad, sympathetic smile that seemed to be trying to reach inside your chest and give your aching heart a hug. “To my point, Mick was a good man but he wasn’t a happy man. He’d seen terrible things, and some of them were things he’d done himself.”

“Good.” Okay, pistachio out of the way. He could move on to the caramel cream donut now.

“We could have been free and clear. He should have gotten out as soon as the last guy was clear, the fire would have taken out most of the Nazi battalion we were fighting. Nobody would have had to die. He could have, and he knew it. He didn’t.”

Mick fully expected a lip-quiver, maybe eyes on the floor or biting the lip in a mournful fashion. The other goody-two-shoeses he knew would have done it. Instead, Leo kept talking like they were on about the weather.

“He went back into that fire to kill Nazis because he knew they’d kill him right back. Nazi assisted suicide. I told everyone it was an accident, made him out to be a hero…he was a hero, but that doesn’t mean he wasn’t hurting. He kept it all bottled up, and when he couldn’t keep it bottled he tried to drown it in cheap beer.”

Mick falsified a dramatically loud burp of derision, and took pleasure in seeing Leo tense one fist.

“Why does it bother you that some version of you was a good person?” he said, through a gritted jaw he was trying to unclench.

“Because I don’t like nice people.”

“I said good, not nice.”

“If he’s anything like you, he was nice. Look at you.” Mick waved a sticky hand at the doppelganger. “You’re an embarrassment. You’re everything Len couldn’t stand to be. The guy I know, he was a criminal, an outsider. Never met a rule he wanted to follow and definitely never gave a shit about other people’s feelings.”

Again came the long, soothing exhale, which Mick interrupted with another loud burp. If this continued he might have to escalate to groin-scratching.

“When you live in heaven, you rebel by acting like a devil,” Leo said, lingering over every word with care. “When you live in hell, the best way to fight back is by acting like an angel. Do you know how hard it is to be a nice person where I come from?”

Mick snorted. “Yeah, tell me about how hard it is to be a wuss.”

Leo stood and paced the floor of the dining room. His gentle voice rose gradually in volume as he smoke, elegant thief-like fingers gesturing in the air. “Where I come from, the people we’re fighting think cruelty is a strength. You’re supposed to act with your gut instead of think, your masculinity determines your value, you can sleep with women as long as they don’t enjoy it too much, but god forbid you touch a man except to hurt him. You’re defined by who you hate instead of who you care about. The people I fight with? They’re—”

And Leo rattled off a series of slurs that made even Mick blink, crossing the board from the n-word to the f-word to a few that Mick hadn’t even heard of but was sure at least one person on the Waverider would punch him for using in normal conversation. Mick’s eyes grew wide as the list just kept going, each word spat out with the same emphasis as a bullet from a machine gun.

At the end of it Leo scooped up a fingertip of Boston crème and slipped it between his lips, then swirled it about with a disgusted expression before spitting into a napkin. “Need to wash my mouth out after all that. I don’t usually use that language, even to make a point. But those are my people. And I care about them, and I’d die for them, and Mick would have too, and those Nazi bastards can’t stand the idea of that. Being a nice guy is more foreign to them than the idea of being a thug.”

“Are you calling me a Nazi?” Mick grunted with a scowl.

Leo held up both hands. “No! God, no. I’ve seen your team. Just the company you keep would disgust them. Also you dress like you’ve never heard of Hugo Boss.”

“I haven’t.” He hadn’t.

“What I’m saying is that kindness is an act of rebellion in my world. My sister loving a person with the last name Ramon and me with one who has the first name Ray, that’s rebellion. Mick saving the lives of terrified people he’d never met before, that’s as much rebellion as you robbing a bank. What you see as a weakness is my strength, as much as your willingness to go against social norms is yours.”

He sat under Mick’s silent glare while the man continued chewing through caramel filling. Mick scrutinized every inch of him, picking apart where he differentiated from Len in the calluses on his fingers and marks on his coat, forcing his brain to see the man as a total stranger instead of something inside his friend’s skin.

“The puppet thing was still stupid,” he said, for lack of anything stronger to say.

“I know. I’m sorry. Gideon’s been bringing me up to speed with more effective counseling techniques. The puppet is the one I usually use for working with children.”

Mick considered the final donut, with a pose reminiscent of Hamlet considering Horatio’s skull.

“What the hell does it take to make you mad?” he asked. “Like really lose your shit. Everybody’s got a breaking point. Don’t tell me you don’t have one.”

“Oh, I have one.” Leo sucked the sticky remains of the Boston crème from his thumb. He rested his hand on his cold gun, gave it a gentle caress on the handle.

“I hit it a long time ago. And then I kept right on going.”

.

[lordvonthunderporkvi]

and here we go another 20 pages of thoughts on episode 4 dear gods why am i like this

It took me four hours to play through episode 3 because i kept stopping to take notes but is that going to slow down my notes this time? Nope didn’t think so ready to waste another four hours of my life on this game yes i am

Aight who’s narrating this time

ooh it’s Radar again

“Be careful when you get close to an admin” sound advice Radar

Oh calm down jack i wanted to save nurm I really did but it was either leave lluna, the animal without coherent thought, or nurm, the villager who asked me to leave him behind

Geez jack i’m sorry about your husband calm down

Wait did we not tell radar that the admin’s name is romeo

Apparently not i guess

Oh dear notch xara i’m so sorry

OH NO BABY I’M SORRY-

Holy frick what was that

Oh it’s the enderman

OH NO RADAR

DONT LOOK IT IN THE EYES WHAT ARE YOU DOING

Aw lluna helped me up

It’s the ninja

Nice radar knocked the camera over

Aw radar “not asking for me cause i’m tough” you’re so cute

Oh no

I’m so sorry xara

WAIT THERE’S ANOTHER TERMINAL

Hey you know what jack if you keep disrespecting lluna like this i’m gonna have to poke out your other eye

Good jack apologize

Oh no baby don’t cry

RADAR THAT IS THE WORST THING YOU COULD HAVE SAID RIGHT NOW HAVE SOME SYMPATHY YOUR BED WILL PROBABLY BE GONE TOO WHEN YOU GET BACK TO BEACONTOWN DON’T YOU DARE-

PETRA YOU TOO REALLY?

COME ON GUYS HOW WOULD YOU FEEL IF YOUR HOME WAS IN SHREDS

No you aren’t Petra you are certainly not being “nice” if that’s what you consider to be “nice” then we’ve got a problem

Thank you Radar

Gods Xara I am so sorry

We’ll avenge your bed Xara

FINALLY WE’RE LEARNING ABOUT THE TERMINALS

THEY’RE PORTALS

Yes Xara where does it go

Where did it go Xara we know it’s broken

Oh Xara I’m so sorry

“He loved birch.” I feel so sad

Oh we get to find something personal to Romeo

What is it like a potato or something

Nice good luck Xara

Screw off Jack

Take the gunpowder that’s gonna be useful

Fudge it’s the enderman

RADAR COME ON

Ooh is it porkchop

Nope Romeo smells like cinnamon not sulfur sorry boys

Fudge they’re annoying

I’m not that heavy it’s not that much work

It’s not like we have anything interesting in our inventories Romeo cleared them when he sent us to the Institute

Oh right we have weapons

Why can’t we just tell them we don’t have swords why isn’t that an option it’s not like they’ve been watching us this whole time

They haven’t been watching us this whole time right?

I don’t think they have

Oh it is PorkChop

Holy frick they’re annoying

That was rude and unnecessary Radar take Petra’s hand next time

At least you’re alive be grateful Jack

Oh it’s so pretty

Ooh who’s that she’s cute

FRED

THEY KNEW FRED

Who the heck is Binta

Ooh it’s a bunch of people

Faithful Friends of Fred heck yeah

Fred-o-clock wow

Gosh Radar is adorable

Hi Binta

Ooh we have to win the trivia competition

This is really sad Fred sounded amazing and now we’ll never get to meet him because Romeo is a horrible person

Couldn’t we just ask Xara she knew Fred very well

This dog is so cute

Can i adopt it

That was completely useless but seriously adorable I regret nothing

Sticks nice

It’s okay Petra I know you’re you and that’s all that matters

Yep that’s me

Actually that is incorrect Xara is the most Faithful Friend of Fred ™

Ok his favorite tool is a diamond hoe I’ll keep that in mind

I have learned a Fred Fact ™

Oh no no it’s okay i’m not going to hurt you don’t worry i promise i’m a nice stranger

“Like water...in a bucket...becomes the bucket!” yeah that makes sense Radar what the heck

Good idea you be ready Radar

No of course he won’t we won’t let him

Heck yeah I’m scary

Radar stop this you are not a thug

“One! Hngg… Two!  Hngg- and a half!” a child after my own heart

Radar stop this please

Willy looks kinda like Soren

Ok Fred’s cherished pet is a chicken got it

Ooh a puzzle

Don’t kill the chicken just play with him

The chicken’s name is Waffles nice

I have learned a Fred Fact ™

Aw I’m sorry about your hands Wanda

Oh I have plenty of sticks don’t worry Wanda

The real question is how do all these people know so much about Fred and still the only person who ever wins the trivia contest is Kent

His favorite color was Lapis Blue ™

I have learned a Fred Fact ™

Jesse wears blue underwear

Wanda does too okay

What what just happened why’d the game close

It better have saved my progress

What I’m all the way back here?

Come on

Okay I am sure Romeo never said “We come in peace” to Fred

Wait no a fireworks display is a very bad idea you’ll draw the attention of the giant enderman and if any of you are like Radar you’ll be staring directly at it any you’ll provoke it that’s a horrible idea Binta

Fred’s favorite color is lapis blue I’m sure he’d love Radar’s bandanna

I miss Xara

Those hoes look pretty iron to me Hilda

Maybe it’s just the light

I have learned a Fred Fact ™

I’m not going to hurt you Cam

Welp now I’m imagining Lukas seeing RomeoJesse in their underwear and saying “you’re not the real Jesse Jesse only wears lapis blue underwear this is POWDER BLUE”

“The slammer” Radar please stop

His name is Waffles Willy I’m smarter than you think

Blocco the dog

I have learned a Fred Fact ™

Wanda you cannot paint with your feet while you are wearing shoes come on

I have learned a Fred Fact ™

Also a Jesse Fact ™

And we’re all caught up

Please don’t crash again

Fred looked a lot different than I thought

Stop telling stories Jack don’t you want to get Nurm back come on

Okay is there absolutely nothing else I can do

No there isn’t

Okay let’s go talk to Binta

I really don’t think I’m ready I learned that Fred liked the most useless item in the game, he has a chicken named after my favorite food, and Jesse’s underwear are lapis blue I really don’t think that’s enough information

Oh well I’ve already started

Kent more like Salt

Come on Kent I’ve survived and F-bomb, defeated a Witherstorm, survived a fall into the Void, survived a killer’s mansion, survived a useful computer, beaten a weirdly good at fighting 60-year-old man, survived Romeo’s sea temple, survived Romeo’s icy palace of despair, made it out of the Sunshine Institute, survived the giant freaking enderman and I’ve managed to lead a town and romance Lukas along the way- wait what

You’re not intimidating Kent

Oh no I’m not good at building things

Okay this better be good enough

Fred is dead Xara watched him die guys come on

Okay thank gosh

Okay it’s a draw good enough

I thought you were doing something different this year what do you mean “in the history of this competition”

Fred, dead, bred- I’m sensing a theme

The same color blue as my underwear

I am good

Oh it’s a diamond hoe

It was Waffles the chicken

Nice we’re talking about Benedict

I don’t know any more trivia Xara please come help me

The most Faithful Friend of Fred ™ was Xara she better get her butt in here and help me

BIRCH

AH YEAH THANKS XARA YOU’RE THE BEST

I am smart

I am the most Faithful Friend of Fred ™

So what would’ve happened if I lost that competition

Oh well doesn’t matter now because I won

Wow pajamas okay

Oh no now I feel really bad I should’ve given them to Kent

Oh well Kent’s won plenty He’s gotten the pajamas plenty of times

Thanks Binta

Ooh I can jump on the bed fun

Jesse you dork oh my notch

ANOTHER FRICKIN BOOK BY SOREN

Soren is Romeo pass it on

Oh no that’s actually possible

They both have red hair

Are you kidding that’s Rudolph the red nosed reindeer

Wow okay just a random button in Fred’s closet

Nice a secret room

Romeoburg wow

I really have no other words except...wow, he named his town “Romeoburg”

Surely it has an author someone had to have written it

Maybe it’s like Tom Riddle’s journal and when you write in it it writes the same words in another version of itself for someone else to see

Aw “I’m glad I had Xara and Romeo with me” that is so sweet

“I don’t know what Romeo wants anymore.  It hurts.  All I wanted was the three of us, together.”  that is actually the saddest line in the game you can fight me on this

“We weren’t just happy there.  We were home.”  Okay I better go fight myself because that definitely tops the last one as saddest line in the game

Yeah Binta what’s wrong

Oh well I kinda know Fred’s old best friend and she told me

Fred’s Xara

Xara is there something you’re not telling us

I mean other than everything

How freaking long has it been since the admin war

Well gee thanks Binda

This is making me so sad I want to see the three admins back before Romeo went all Romeo

Don’t just announce this to the crowd Jesse gods

What do you need Binda

Okay sure I’ll take you with me

“The needle points home.”  I’m about to fight myself again that’s the saddest-

Fireworks are a bad idea

Okay bye Jack be safe

Notch Petra please don’t be mad

Nice spit fight

Good to see Jack’s warming up to Lluna

Stop yelling Radar

Ray

Don’t provoke her Radar that is a bad idea

Slowness potion-

WHERE’S THE LAST TIME WE SAW A SLOWNESS POTION?  THAT’S RIGHT, WITH IVOR AT THE END OF S1 EPISODE 2.

It’s the ninja again

This is really bad

Oh crap

I’M WEAPONLESS

WHERE HAVE WE SEEN THAT IMAGERY BEFORE?  THAT’S RIGHT, WITH IVOR AT THE END OF S1 EPISODE 2.

NO LET ME GO

Jesse you dork

He’s a shadow

I WEAR BLUE UNDERWEAR

THAT’S ACTUALLY AN OPTION I’M SO HAPPY

THAT WAS GREAT

...Ivor?

IT’S HIM

IVOR IVOR IVOR

HE’S BAAAAACK

He’s so happy

Where is Harper

HE’S SO WONDERFUL

HUGS

Yeah where is she by the way

Nope not me

I’m a ninja is a perfect excuse

I’ll hurry Ivor don’t worry

Ooh is that Romeoburg

Oh who’s that

I love her already wow

That was kind of mean Jesse don’t elbow Radar he’s just a bean

She’s just as much of a dork as me I love her

“Let’s take these invaders out!”  to lunch or…

Is there actually an army

They sound like they’re bluffing

I am not an audio disk I am Jesse with the blue underwear

Soup okay

Okay I was right there’s no army

Ooh a challenge

Challenge accepted

Val and Soup okay

We didn’t exactly escape the Institute Xara escaped the Institute and she took us with her and Xara’s not here anymore this is a bad idea Jesse

Soup is great

It’s a llama

The heck are they doing

Wow spit on me okay

Jesse you say this like she’s a human who has any clue what you’re saying she’s not a human she is a llama she does not have coherent thought

I have to build something again are you kidding I’m not good at building stuff

What if I build a Romeo

I don’t have any gray blocks dang it I can’t build Romeo

That thing isn’t going to have any effect on visitors but whatever good enough

No it won’t Val it’s a stack of quartz blocks with a couple redstone blocks thrown in there

Armor yeah

The names of this armor are gold

“Dangerous...but also damaged, so it’s more relatable.” just like me

“Please don’t hit me”

The name is “Llama brown-ish” that’s not a very inspired name Soup

I’m going with Please Don’t Hit Me

Best armor I ever put on

Radar no you need a shirt

I look great in this armor wow

Lluna wants to stay with her mate nice

PETRA COME ON YOU DON’T STEP ON THE PRESSURE PLATE GODS

Oh it’s a means of extinguishing yourself

That means we might be set on fire though

Oh well whatever we’ll be fine

Oh no that’s sad

Let’s not pull the mystery levers that’s a bad idea

No I’m not Romeo

Aw that was a very cute little giggle

Another freaking golem are you kidding me

We can’t even hit the golem that’s just great

Water perfect

Gee thanks Romeo

SIX HUNDRED STAGES?

COME ON ROMEO YOU COULDN’T HAVE MADE THIS ANY EASIER COULD YOU

Or maybe those three levers will summon a Giant Golem ™

This soundtrack is great massive props to Antimo and Welles

STOP RADAR YOU’RE GONNA MESS IT UP CALM DOWN AND THINK PLEASE

well crap

Dear notch Romeo why are you like this

YES YOU ARE, WHY ELSE WOULD YOU HAVE KILLED FRED?

That’s a big “maybe” Jesse

WHY IS THIS SO HARD ROMEO COME ON

WHY ARE YOU LIKE THIS, ROMEO?

Haha it’s Mettaton except a giant freaking magma golem

GUNPOWDER

Alright I’m ready for some more riDICULOUSLY HARD FIGHT SEQUENCES

DEAR NOTCH AND I THOUGHT WITHERSTORM-TRACTOR-BEAM-CRAFTING WAS STRESSFUL

I know how to make tnt Petra come on

You’re surrounded in fire and lava don’t tell me you’re that clueless Jesse come on

We are not friends Romeo

It’s llunaaa

This entire game is a feels trip bye

Beautiful birch trees

Radar you are so adorable

Poor Radar those are gonna be some hospital-level burns on his feet

“For Fred” -feels incoming-

Romeo really cared about his friends what changed

This honestly makes me so sad

...is Fred still here?

No he can’t be Xara watched him die

This is so sad

Why doesn’t Xara’s frame have anything in it?

...Petra are you okay?

Something seems..wrong

Jesse used to read all the time Jesse’s a fangirl pass it on

Petra?  What’s wrong why are you crying?

Okay i understand being really sad about stories about puppies but that’s not what’s wrong

“Puppies just make me really sad, okay?”  a girl after my own heart

Petra my baby

Same color as your underwear Jesse

It is freaking important Petra

You are not okay Petra

This music is so beautiful and yet heartbreaking all at once

Red for Romeo

Ooh something happened

We have Xara’s bed now we promised her we’d avenge it and we did

This is the saddest game I’ve ever played

The key to defeating Romeo…?

#potato451?

POTATO

Dear notch so that’s what the potato means

Wow okay Petra where’s all this potato hate coming from what did the potato do to deserve this

Which terminal?  The one in the sea temple?

Yeah probably the one in the sea temple...right

This entire episode is just a bundle of feels

I’m crying a little bit this is so sad

I’m sensing some similarities between Romeo and Petra a little bit

Petra I do want to be your friend what are you talking about

I’ll be right by your side Petra

This is the saddest freaking game

This game is so incredible

Oh hey there Xara

I KNOW THAT’S WHAT I SAID BUT NOOOO, THEY COULDN’T LISTEN TO ME

Well...yeah Radar, she used to be an admin so of course she’s sounding admin-ish

(ʘ‿ʘ✿) DO NOT SPEAK OF NURM THAT WAY, XARA

She is acting exactly like Romeo this is a very bad sign

Alright ready to cry again yes I am

Everyone thinks it’s weird Petra

Of course Xara

fuDGING ENDERMAN

NO

NO STOP

I TOLD YOU THE FIREWORKS WERE A BAD- UGH

Nope Radar those are monsters

Yeah Xara you go

RADAR

RADAR STOP WITH THIS “I will not run anymore” GET OUT OF THERE RUN

crap it’s got me

Radar it is an e n d e r m a n of course it doesn’t have any decency

Wow it actually let me go

JACK

Thank you Jack

Hug everyone yeah

More hugs nice

YEAH BINTA

Are Soup and Val coming too

Soup and Val should come too

“Nothing like a little pressure to make building fun”  truer words have never been spoken

LET’S GO HOME

WELL OF COURSE IT IS AFTER YOU RADAR YOU KEEP FREAKING LOOKING AT IT

radAR NO-

YES YOU HELPED DEFEAT THAT MAGMA GOLEM BUT YOU CAN’T JUST STAY DOWN HERE

ex-freaking-cuse me?

I can’t just leave him behind

But at the same time I’ve been so loving and supportive of him all along and if I abandoned him now it would be cruel

But I also told Xara “no one gets left behind” and if i leave Radar behind she would just be like “you said ‘no one gets left behind’!  If you were going to leave someone behind you should’ve just left Jack and friends behind and not attracted the enderman with that firework in the first place!”

But I also promised the Faithful Friends of Fred ™ that I would get them out and I can’t just go back on that promise

…

...I’ll come back for him right?

Oh dear notch this game

I’ll be back for you Radar

Until then, stay alive

Make them taste your bravery

Radar your arms are tiny

Come on guys

Come on Xara

What about Xara come on Jesse whatever happened to “no one gets left behind”

Hey we’re in the old Order’s temple!

..are we in the old Order’s temple

o h n o

That’s not the old Order’s temple

That is the Order hall in Beacontown

Nice lluna

Oh okay good it is the old Order’s temple

DON’T SPEAK ABOUT RADAR, PETRA

WE’LL GET HIM BACK OKAY

um

What are those fireworks

Why is the music suddenly really foreboding

Oh no this is probably really bad

wHY ARE THE CLOUDS RED

ROMEO WHAT ARE YOU DOING

no

No no no no no

Romeo

Romeo I’m going to freaking demolish you

Also where the heck is Xara why hasn’t she come through yet

WHAAT

THAT’S JUST IT?

WHAT

NO

WHY

S T O P T H A T C O M E B A C K H E R E

lukas!!

..Lukas that’s not Jesse

um

w h a t

no

how is that the end

come on

Screw this gameeee

I’m gonna actually scream  how is that the end

I’m gonna kill Romeo

And w h e r e i s x a r a

[therainroguefanfiction]

🔥 ℝise Ⱥbove I̾t ◈ Chapter 018 [Calming Peppermint]

📑 Table of Contents | ◂Backward

Word Count: 3,126

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〈“Did you think that I would surrender easily? That just like that, you were gettin’ rid of me? Is that the way you saw it all go down? I don’t think so.” Simple Plan, “Last One Standing”〉

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The defeated villains were beginning to stir and decided to try and stop Toshi, but he easily took them down, heading straight toward the broken and battered Aizawa. I kneeled down, looking at the hole in my skin; I could see the muscle tissue.

Toshi turned to us and in the blink of an eye, I felt my body being lifted off the ground. A second later, he put us all down on the ground a safe distance from the two villains. “Everybody, back to the entrance. And take Aizawa with you, he doesn’t have much time!”

I had never heard his voice so full of anger before. I couldn’t tell if it was because of the villains or anger toward himself for not being here. Probably a bit of both.

“Y-Yes, sir!”

“Ribbit!”

“You saved us, All Might…”

I helped lift Aizawa onto Izuku’s back, the perverted grape holding up his feet up off the ground.

“All Might, you can’t. That brain villain took One for – uh, I smashed him and it didn’t break my arm this time, but he wasn’t fazed at all! He’s too strong!”

“Young Midoriya!” Toshi turned around with a wide smile, a bit forced, in my opinion, and flashed him a peace sign. “I got this!” This reassured the three and they started toward the entrance, but I stayed put. “You, too, young Jen.”

I scoffed. “Not even on a taco’s life, mate.”

“Now is not the time to be stubborn,”

I grinned, squatting down with my hand between my legs to steady myself. “Take the stage, Toshi. I think they’re getting impatient.”

He heaved a deep sigh before turning around and rushing at the big guy, fist poised for attack. “Carolina… SMASH!”

Despite taking the full brunt of the attack, that fuckin’ bird brain wasn’t even fazed by the attack. He tried to grab Toshi but he bent backward to dodge before punching him again. Punch after punch after punch, none of it fazed this fucker.

“Doesn’t even matter where I punch you, does it?”

“That’s because Nomu here has shock absorption, All Might. The only way you’re going to hurt him is to slowly gouge out his flesh. Of course, I don’t think he’ll sit back and let you do that. You’ve finally met your match!”

God, that blue-haired prick is really annoying.

“Thanks for telling me how to beat him!” Toshi grabbed the thing around the waist. “All I have to do is wear him down, then it’s on to you!” He performed a suplex on the thing, slamming his head into the ground. Dust filled the area, a strong gust of wind nearly knocking me back onto my ass.

The smoke cleared and my eyes widened.

“Oh, come on, what kind of cheap move was that?”

That goddamn warp gate! He opened up a portal before the attack, allowing Nomu to appear from the ground under Toshi, his fingers digging into his sides. I could see the blood soaking his white dress shirt.

“Nice! You were trying to bury him in the concrete so he couldn’t move around anymore. Sorry, that won’t work. Nomu’s as strong as you are, that won’t stop him. Nice work, Kurogiri, we’ve got him just where we want him now.”

Toshi let go of Nomu’s waist, trying to pry his grip from his waist. Should I try and help? But my flames do no damage to that thing, and I risk hurting Toshi in the process. Shit.

“Kurogiri,”

His golden eyes narrowed as his portal started to shrink. “Normally, I wouldn’t want blood and viscera flooding the insides of my warp gates, but I’ll make an exception for a hero as great as you. Since you’re too fast to see with the human eye, Nomu had to restrain you. And once he’s pulled your body halfway through, I’ll squeeze the gate shut! I’m going to enjoy tearing you to pieces!”

My blood started to boil as my quirk activated, but before I could act, a green blur rushed past me.

“I’m coming!” Izuku was rushing toward Toshi.

Dumbass!

The warp appeared in front of him and I sprung forward. My arm wrapped around his waist just as Bakugo appeared, setting off an explosion right in our face. “Get the hell out of my way, Deku! Bitch!”

I grunted, shoving Izuku behind me as Bakugo grabbed the metal piece hidden within the shadow body, pinning him to the ground. The temperature around us dropped, sending a chill down my spine as a stream of ice shot toward Nomu, stopping just before it touched Toshi. What amazing control.

“One of your poorly trained thugs told me you’re here because you think you can kill All Might.”

That goddamn Peppermint. Why do I always feel so calm when his voice reaches my ears? It makes no goddamn sense! What makes this brat so special? I shook my head. No, stay focused, dumbass. This ain’t over yet.

With Nomu frozen, Toshi was able to break free from his grip. A flash of red went straight for Tomura, but the villain dodged, jumping backward. “Man, that was gonna be so cool.”

“Guess I found your body that time, you smoky bastard!” Bakugo grinned.

“The symbol of peace will not be defeated by delinquents like you,” Peppermint announced.

“Kacchan… everyone…” Izuku looked ready to start crying.

I stepped forward, making sure I was standing between Tomura and the boys.

“Kurogiri… how could you let this brat get the best of you? You’ve gotten us into a real jam, here…”

“Heh, you got careless, ya dumb villain! It wasn’t hard to figure you out! Only certain parts of you turn into that smoking warp gate. You use that mist to hide your actual body as a kind of distraction. Thinking that made you safe. That’s why we missed… but if you didn’t have a body, you wouldn’t be wearing this neck armor, right?! You’re not immune to physical attacks if they’re well aimed!”

I glanced back at him. This kid is pretty smart. “Don’t get over-confident, Bakugo.”

“Don’t tell me what to do, bitch! And you – don’t move!” Small explosions came from behind me. “You try anything funny and I’ll blow your ass up so bad they’ll be piecing you back together for weeks!”

My lips twitched up at that. I like this kid’s style.

“That doesn’t sound very heroic…” Red sweatdropped.

“Nomu,”

At this simple command, the creature pulled its body through the gate, its frozen limbs breaking and falling off.

“How is that thing still moving? He’s all messed up!”

I took a defensive stance, hands heating up.

“Stay back, everybody!” Toshi ordered.

Wait… are his limbs regenerating?! Is this bitch Deadpool’s ugly ass cousin?

“What is this? I thought you said his power was shock absorption!” Toshi took a fighting stance, waiting for the enemy’s next move.

“I didn’t say that was his only quirk. He also has super regeneration. Nomu has been modified to take you on even at one hundred percent of your power. He’s basically a highly efficient punching bag that hits back.”

Modified? Like a human experiment? What the fuck…

“First, we need to free our method of escape. Get ’em, Nomu!”

“Bakugo!” I screamed, turning my body, but Nomu was a lot faster than me.

“Jen!” Toshi screamed my name as he turned and I knew what he wanted.

“I got ’em!” I ignored the pain surging through me, focusing my mind on the spot directly beside the blonde. Toshi was too fast for me to see, but just as I appeared in that spot, Bakugo’s body slammed into mine, making me slide backward. His elbow hit my ribs and I bit back a string of curses, tasting blood on my tongue. The force of Nomu slamming into Toshi created a huge gust of wind. I had to dig my heels into the ground to stay upright, my arms tightening around the boy’s waist.

“Ugh, such force… Kacchan!”

“Stop screaming,” I muttered, shoving the blonde away from me, spitting out the blood onto the ground. Man, that is not a good taste, especially on an empty stomach.

Peppermint sent me a look similar to worry, but I looked away from him, wiping my mouth.

“Woah, that’s awesome! You dodged him!”

“Shut up. No, I didn’t, ya damn nerd.”

“Then how’d you get over here?” Red asked.

“Ya’ll can’t seriously be this fucking dumb,” I muttered.

“Isn’t it obvious?” Peppermint snapped his eyes to the clearing smoke where Toshi stood, coughing. “All Might threw him out of the way, and Winchester caught him.”

“These are kids and you didn’t hold back?” Toshi was sounding angry again.

“I didn’t have much choice. He was threatening my companion. Besides, these kids are no angels! The plain-looking one, he tried to kill me with a maxed out punch. What kind of hero does something like that? You think you can get away with being as violent as you want if you say it’s for the sake of others. Well, you know what, All Might? That pisses me off!”

“Will you shut the fuck up already?” I growled, taking a step forward. “You came here and challenged us and then you wanna talk about violence? You’re whining and bitching like a little kid that got his fucking toy stolen. Grow the fuck up, Tomura!”

“Shut your mouth, Jen Winchester.” He glared at me. “I’ll deal with you after I get done with All Might. Wait your turn.”

“Suck my dick, you blue-haired freak!”

“How vulgar. You may look like your mother, but you certainly didn’t get her personality.” He grinned widely and I felt a presence appear behind me. I turned my body just as Golem snatched the dagger from my waist, slashing the tip of the blade across my stomach and chest in one fluid motion.

“Jen!” Izuku cried, but I lifted my hand, raising a line of fire between them and me.

“Mind your own fuckin’ business, Izuku!” I glared at Golem. “I’ve had about enough of your ugly ass fuckin’ face!” One hand grabbed the wrist holding the dagger while the other hand grabbed his face, my hand engulfed in flame. He screamed in pain, clawing at my wrist. My body beat in time with my heart and I felt my control starting to slip. I’ve been in this form for too long and with my injuries, I can’t hold on much longer. Damn it all to hell!

I cried out, slamming the back of his head against the ground. It didn’t make a crater like Nomu’s had, but the cement still split from the force.

I stood up on shaky legs, my skin burning as I gasped in air. “Oi… Peppermint.”

He blinked, tilting his head. “Me?”

Yes you, you fuckin’ – “Listen carefully. If I lose control… of my quirk. You gotta… you gotta freeze my body, understand?”

“But -”

“Just fucking do it!”

He chewed on his lip for a moment before slowly nodding. “Okay… I will.��

“Good,” Because I don’t think I can hold on much longer. Is this what it feels like when Toshi is fighting to keep his muscled form up?

“Jen-san…” Izuku stepped closer to the fire, which had lowered considerably.

Tomura clicked his tongue. “See what I mean? She just burned the face off of my companion. Why do people get to decide that some violent acts are ‘heroic’ and others are ‘villainous’? Casting judgment as to what’s good and what’s evil. You think you’re the symbol of peace? You’re just another government-sponsored instrument of violence. And violence always breeds more violence. I’ll make sure the world understands that once you’re dead.”

“You’re nothing but a lunatic. Criminals like you always try to make your actions sound noble, but admit it – you’re only doing this because you like it. Isn’t that right?” Toshi responded.

“He’s got me figured out.”

“We’ve got them outnumbered,” Peppermint commented.

“And Kacchan found the mist guy’s weakness.”

“These dudes may act really tough, but we can take ’em all down now with All Might’s help. Heh, let’s do this!”

I glanced back at them with a scowl. “Are you guys mentally stunted or just suicidal? Sorry, but you four ain’t nowhere near strong enough to handle those three villains. You’ll just get in the way.”

“That’s not fair, Winchester! You’re on the same level as us!” Red complained.

“No, she’s stronger than we are,” Peppermint spoke up, his cold eyes meeting mine.

“Don’t attack! Get out of here!” Toshi ordered, glancing back at them.

“You would’ve been in trouble earlier if it weren’t for me, remember? You need our help.” His cold gaze snapped to Toshi.

“I thank you for your assistance, but this is different! It’s gonna be alright. Just sit back and watch a pro at work.”

Toshi… your voice has changed. You sound stronger, more full of life. But how? You’re hurt, and I know you’re struggling to maintain that form right now. What’s your secret? How do you push so goddamn hard and keep going above and beyond? I don’t get it.

“But you’re too hurt… you’re bleeding and you’re almost out of tim -” Izuku caught himself, quickly glancing at the three boys.

Toshi gave him a thumbs up and a signature grin that looked like he just stepped out of Crest White Strips commercial. He turned to me. “Jen, are you okay?”

I let out a slow breath, mindful of my ribs as I squatted down, placing my palms flat on the ground between my legs. “I’m gonna be honest with you here, Tosh, I don’t know how much longer I got in this form.” Slow, steady breaths. Think of happy thoughts, Jen. Like tacos, yeah tacos are gre – my stomach growled painfully and I blanched. Abort, abort, don’t think of tacos!

“I believe in you, young Jen! Just give me a little more time.” He paused as he turned toward the villains. “When this is all over, I will lift the taco ban.”

“Taco ban? What’s that?” Red whispered to the others.

I laughed despite the pain. “Well, shit, Toshi. Why the fuck didn’t you start with that? I woulda fought harder!” I grinned, feeling my palms heating up. The flame wall shot higher before circling around the four boys, trapping them inside.

“H-Hey!”

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing, bitch?!”

I closed my eyes and hummed, focusing on the sound of the flames. “Don’t get too close, Bakugo, fire is hot.”

“You bitch! Are you fucking working with those guys?! Huh?! Answer me, damn it!”

“That shadow guy did know her name…”

I knew you were a dumbass, Bakugo, but come on. I take back what I said about you being smart! Shit, my concentration is slipping…

“You’re wrong. She’s trying to protect us by preventing us from getting involved.”

Calm spread over me and my arms stopped shaking. Damn, this is gonna be embarrassing, but I need the help. “Oi, Peppermint.”

“My name is Todoroki Shoto,”

“That’s great. Don’t care. Just keep talkin’, will ya?”

“…what?”

“Every time my body starts to shake, say something to me.”

I could hear him shift behind me. “Why?”

For fuck’s sake. “Just fucking do it!” I started coughing, blood splattering onto the ground. Fu~ck, my whole body is hurting. It’s getting harder to breathe. I hope my rib doesn’t puncture my fucking lungs.

“What… should I say?”

“I don’t fucking care,” I groaned, lowering my throbbing head. “Your voice keeps me calm and I can’t afford to lose control here, not now!”

“Hah?! What kind of stupid excuse is that?!”

“Bakugo, I swear to the ruler of hell if you don’t shut up – your voice has the opposite effect!”

“Burn…”

“Shut up, shitty hair!”

“I’ve had enough of this. Nomu, Kurogiri, kill him. I’ll deal with Jen Winchester and the children.”

“Like hell, you will, bastard,” I growled, standing up.

“Let’s clear this level and go home.”

“Heads up, Winchester!” Red yelled as Tomura rushed toward me. I grabbed the dagger from the ground, taking a defensive stance. Let’s see if I can’t create some friends to help me out here.

“Flaming creation!” I yelled, sweeping my left hand through the air. The temperature around me rose as fire spread out around me, forming and molding to take the shape of two flaming tigers on either side of me. Before we could even get close to one another, an overwhelming aura flooded my senses, stopping Tomura in his tracks.

Toshi rushed at Nomu, their fists colliding. The blast sent Tomura flying backward and I fell to my knees, the tigers jumping in front of me to shield me from the force.

“Weren’t you listening? One of his powers is shock absorption.”

“Yeah, and what about it?” They matched each other’s punches, going inhumanly fast, their arms nothing but a blur. How the fuck can they move that fast? My eyes can’t follow them at all. The force coming from the two blew out my flames, the tigers turning to smoke as they fizzled out, but it didn’t matter, the boys were unable to stand.

“Whoah, they’re… so fast!” Red slid back against the ground.

“No, I can’t get near them!” Kurogiri cried.

“He said your quirk was only shock absorption, not nullification,” Toshi commented. “That means there’s a limit to what you can take, right?! So, you were made to fight me, huh, big guy? If you can really withstand me firing at one hundred percent of my power, then I’ll have to go beyond that and force you to surrender!”

Holy fucking tap-dancing tacos, are you even human, Toshi?

He sent Nomu flying into the air before giving chase. “A real hero will always find a way for justice to be served!” He grabbed Nomu mid-air, turning his body in a circle before using the force to slam him down to the earth, the ground shattering beneath him. “Now, for a lesson. You may have heard these words before, but I’ll teach you what they really mean. Go beyond…” he cocked his arm back and I felt a wave of stifling power coming from him. “Plus…” his fist slammed into Nomu’s stomach. “…ULTRA!!”

Nomu went flying, slamming into the ceiling of the dome. The lights exploded around him as his body broke through the glass, the entire dome shaking from the sheer force of the blow.

“That was like the finishing move in a video game… He beat the shock absorption right out of him! I’ve never seen that kind of brute strength.”

“Imagine having power like that… He must have been punching that guy so fast he couldn’t regenerate…”

Goddamn, Toshi.

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