#and she does so for years until a group of vigilantes comes to investigate the disappearances

[zikadraws]

I couldn't exactly get what I wanted for Halloween done, sooo you're getting some OC stuff.

Her name is Salomé, and she's been 11 for twelve thousand years.

Happy Halloween.

[msfcatlover]

Reverse!Robins/Titans Timeline

Still trying to pin this down. Not bothering with time intervals, just order of events.

(Gee, can you tell which parts of this team I’m still ironing out, and which ones I’ve put the most thought into?)

Batman: Zero Year

Joker debuts. (Duke’s parents caught in one of the attacks)

Duke starts patrolling/searching for his parents.

After running into Duke several times, Bruce makes Duke his crime-fighting partner to both train & keep an eye on him. Duke chooses the name “Moonbeam.”

Yara Flor becomes Wonder Girl. Bruce & Diana encourage their proteges to become friends, so that they have someone their own age who understands their vigilante problems to talk to.

Connor Hawke reunites with his father, and becomes Marksman (Green Arrow’s first sidekick.) Connor is also encouraged to join this friend group.

(Clark occasionally asks the teens to babysit his son Jon, when the adults are busy.)

Damian shows up in Gotham, making a huge splash & overturning the Batfam status quo. After killing a few criminals, Damian is forbidden from patrolling until he proves himself trustworthy.

(Damian does not join the group, but the others know about him because Duke complains. Damian does become friends with Jon after a little while.)

A ship crashes while the JL is busy. The teens go to investigate it, finding a single survivor who turns out to have speedster powers & complete amnesia. They use the Batcomputer to trace the ship, trying to help their new friend.

Damian sneaks onboard the shuttle the teens “borrow” to follow their trace, still trying to prove himself.

This team finds an illegal alien market and breaks it up, rescuing Pam in the process.

Upon return to Earth, the JL commends the kids for their work. A new team is formed with Yara as their leader, and named the “Teen Titans.” The lineup is:

Wonder Girl (Yara Flor)

Moonbeam (Duke Thomas)

Marksman (Connor Hawke)

Kid Flash (Bartholomew “Tolly” Taurus)

Menagerie (Pamela “Pam” Merlo)

Damian does not get to be part of the team, deemed too young, but he has proven himself enough to officially join Batman & Moonbeam on the streets. He goes by “Shadow.”

Arthur Curry asks if his protege, Kaldur'ahm, can join the Titans. Aqualad is added to the lineup.

Pam’s sister, Sonja, tries to get in contact. Whole arc occurs of Pam struggling with her own transformation and the two of them reuniting.

Chimera (Ra'ut L'lwer) joins the Titans.

Yara’s arc where she’s manipulated by Eros & Hera happens here.

Jon becomes Superboy, and joins the Titans.

Damian joins the Titans.

Tolly’s past comes to light, throwing his relationships with everyone in the community into chaos. The team barely manages to pull themselves together in time to mount a defense and keep him from being punished for the crimes of a life that was not his. 

Tolly still feels the need to pull away from the Titans a little out of guilt over what he’s done (especially to Pam.)

Barry Allen dies, and Tolly becomes the Flash.

Yara is at this point over 20, and feeling out of place at the head of the team. She starts to pull back a bit, trying to figure out where her life is going next.

Cassandra Cain is adopted by Bruce Wayne. Duke is the only one who can train against her, as his precognition lets him just about keep up with her body-reading abilities. They bond, and he introduces her to the team.

Spoiler debuts in Gotham. Batman tells her to go home.

Damian decides to make Spoiler his apprentice.

Anima (Courtney Mason) joins the Titans.

Yara announces she’s officially stepping down as leader of the Titans. Duke steps up, announcing his own change of name to “The Signal,” and officially passing his mantle to his little sister, Cassandra.

Anima & Chimera manage to figure out how to free Pamela from her swarm. Duke’s first official mission as team leader is facilitating this.

Pam leaves the Titans for a normal life with her sister. Many tears are shed.

[I’m just double-checking my current lineup.]

The Signal (Duke Thomas)

Marksman (Connor Hawke)

Aqualad (Jackson Hyde/Kaldur’ahm)

Chimera (Ra'ut L'lwer) 

Superboy (Jonathan Kent/Jon-El)

Shadow (Damian Wayne)

Moonbeam (Cassandra Wayne)

Anima (Courtney Mason)

Steph’s mom goes to rehab. Bruce fosters Steph in the meantime, and this is how she discovers their identities.

Damage (Grant Emerson) joins the Titans as community service, after his powers manifest by going completely haywire.

(Yara decides going by “Wonder Girl” is undermining her attempts to be an independent adult hero. She changes her name to “Diadem.”)

Damian introduces Steph to the team. Spoiler becomes a Titan.

Chimera announces she’s going independent and leaves the team.

Just like in canon, Grant’s trauma catches up with him and he has to step down from hero work. Connor takes Grant under his wing formally and they both leave the team.

Emiko Queen takes Connor’s place on the team, going by the name “Red Arrow.”

Duke is too overwhelmed by being Gotham’s only daytime hero and running the team, as well as feeling guilty for not giving Grant more support. He goes independent, leaving the team.

Jon & Damian step up as co-leaders of the Titans.

Roundhouse (William Wu) & Blue Beetle (Jaime Reyes) join the Titans.

Anima is stranded in another dimension on a mission with the team, in a dramatic act of self-sacrifice to ensure everyone else can make it home. Everyone is very upset, but they comfort themselves knowing she’s still out there being a hero, just... somewhere else.

After a lot of introspection, Aqualad decides to dedicate himself full-time to his studies & duties in Atlantis, and steps down from the team.

[Double-checking the lineup]

Superboy (Jonathan Kent)

Shadow (Damian Wayne)

Moonbeam (Cassandra Wayne)

Spoiler (Stephanie Brown)

Red Arrow (Emiko Queen)

Roundhouse (William Wu)

Blue Beetle (Jamie Reyes)

Damian & Jon decide to go independant together, becoming Bluhaven’s new superheroes as Nightwing & Flamebird. Damian formally passes his mantle to Steph in private before they announce the change to the team.

Steph & Cass take over as co-leaders.

Steph meets Tim at school, and they become fast friends. After a couple months of being study buddies, they start dating.

Jon introduces his adoptive younger siblings, the Super-Twins, to the team.

Vaporlock (Natasha Irons) joins the team.

Atom (Ray Palmer) is de-aged. He temporarily joins the team until he can recover his memories.

Argent (Antonia Monetti), Static (Virgil Hawkins), & Power Girl (Tanya Spears) join the team.

Atom goes back to normal and leaves.

Cass takes on Tim as her apprentice after catching him following the Bats around Gotham. Steph is a bit thrown by this discovery, but training together only stengthens her & Tim’s relationship.

Until Cass decides Tim’s ready to follow them on patrol (if not fight anyone yet,) and gives Tim the Spoiler mantle without asking, assuming it’s just a placeholder name and not realizing it has any special meaning to Steph.

(This is the beginning of the end, though they don’t realize it yet.)

Steph feels betrayed by the theft of her old identity and it compounds with her initial uneasiness over Tim befriending/dating her without telling her he knew their identities. She tries to put it aside for the good of the city, but can’t.

The sudden rockiness between Steph & Cass bleeds over into the Titans. When the team meets Tim, it becomes clear something about his apprenticeship with Cass is what has lead to the rift, though none of the Bats will clarify.

Emiko introduces her own apprentice, Mia Dearden, the second Marksman.

Steph & Tim have a really nasty breakup.

Steph has the same death she suffered in War Games.

The entire Batfamily are left reeling.

Tim gets fired.

Cass struggles to go on as both Moonbeam & the leader of the Titans, when she’s supposed to be part of a matched set. She ends up quitting both, and the team completely falls apart.

Cass puts together a new costume, made originally from old Batman suits, and gains the street name “Black Bat.” (She didn’t choose it, it was given to her; Batman has the yellow belt & circle, where Cass’s suit has neither. So which Bat is attacking? “The black bat.”)

Tim gives the family until after Steph’s funeral before dropping by (to argue his case, but if that doesn’t work, to pick up his stuff.) He sees Steph’s memorial, and is furious that Bruce would reduce Steph’s legacy to that.

After weeks of arguing, Tim throws on his own version of the Shadow costume (back to Damian’s original black, but the cloak is lined with Steph’s signature purple) and eventually forces his way into the role, refusing to let Steph’s dream die with her.

Damian is incensed by the whole mess that’s happening with Tim. That’s his mantle Tim is taking, and Damian’s still wracked with guilt that Steph died, blaming himself for not training her thoroughly enough. Damian demands that before Tim ever goes out as Shadow, Tim has to go to Bludhaven every weekend to train with Damian. 

The training is absolutely brutal, but Tim refuses to give up. Eventually, Duke finds out about it and goes to ream Damian out for taking things so far (and Jon, for not having already given Damian this same lecture.) Duke essentially tells Damian that Damian’s no better than the people who originally hurt Damian and storms out.

Duke tells Tim he doesn’t have to go back the next weekend. Tim shows up anyway. Damian stares blankly for a few seconds, then takes a very confused Tim out for ice cream.

(Damian spends years trying to be better, to make up for what he’s done, but he never manages to get over that double-dose of guilt. He veers hard in the other direction, being incredibly supportive whenever they’re around eachother, but also avoids Tim whenever Damian can justify it to himself, because it just... eats at Damian.)

Tim also pulls the Titans back together. Or, more accurately, he pulls Vaporlock, Marksman, and Blue Beetle back together, before he ends up recruiting... well, basically the Young Justice lineup to be his new team.

Tim’s parents die. Tim tries the whole fake uncle thing, but Damian rats him out.

(Somewhere in there, Tim ends up on Ra’s al Ghul’s radar.)

Jason tries to steal the Batmobile’s tires.

Jason manages to convince the family to let him help. They offer him Moonbeam, but Jason doesn’t want to be Moonbeam. First of all, Jason can’t do any of that weird precog stuff Duke & Cass have going on; second, Jason’s personal hero was always the Shadow with the Crime Alley accent.

Tim gives Jason Spoiler instead (Tim himself thinking Spoiler is a training-wheel mantle, but more importantly, it was Steph’s.)

During a public event, Tim is shot by an assassin who took a contract from Ra’s. Laying in the hospital, Tim all but begs Bruce to go out on patrol and Jason to put on the Shadow costume, not wanting Tim’s injury to be the reason their identities got outed.

Tim’s spine was clipped by the bullet. While he’s not completely paralyzed, he’ll never be able to walk unassisted again, and even with mobility aids, Tim suffers from chronic pain thanks to the nerve damage.

(Tim finds a get well card from Ra’s, inviting Tim for a dip in the Lazarus pit whenever Tim’s ready to admit he “needs” it. Tim borrows Jason’s lighter and burns the note. Only Tim & Jason ever know about it.)

Tim becomes Oracle.

When Jason joins the Titans, it’s assumed he’ll be their new leader, as Shadow and/or Moonbeam have always been one of the leaders of the Titans. He also suffers a lot from the comparison to his predecessors, and with how people perceive the speed at which he took up Tim’s mantle.

Jason does win that place and prove himself as a leader, but it is a rough ride to get there.

[Jason’s Titans lineup]

Inherited from Tim:

Wonder Girl (Cassandra Sandsmark)

Impulse (Bart Allen)

Miss Martian (M’gann M’orzz)

Joined while Jason was Spoiler:

Red Devil (Edward Bloomberg)

Ravager (Rose Wilson)

DC (Daniel Chase)

(Yes, Danny thinks hero names are stupid and only ever used one to fake his own death. But, frankly, Danny used his real name as his spy code name, which makes him mocking everyone else for having hero names just… so goddam insufferable. I’m cutting the middle ground here; it’s not a full-on alias, but it’s not just shouting his real name in a high-stakes/arguably undercover situation.)

Joined under Jason’s leadership:

Beast Boy (Garfield Logan)

Raven (Rachel Roth)

Cyborg (Victor Stone)

Halo (Gabrielle Doe)

Risk (Cody Driscoll)

Redwing (Carrie Levine)

Prester (Jonathan Levine)

(I found a pair of twins I both know & like better than Jade & Obsidian. Seriously, John & Carrie are the best part of the entire Team Titans fiasco, and given we do see some overlap between the timelines, I’ve no idea why they got wiped from reality but fucking Mirage didn’t.)

Steph comes back to life. 

Cue the Lost Days/Red Hood arcs.

Steph does try to scare Jason out of being a hero with the fight at the Tower. She shows up in her Death Mask costume and frames it as a fair duel--“More fair than any other rogue will give you.”--to prove that non-powered (non-ninja) kids like them can only meet a nasty end. The fight doesn’t stay “fair” long, as Steph fights dirty to make her point, and throws both her own history & Jason’s insecurities into his face. Jason adapts, but doesn’t win, eventually left reeling by the reveal of Steph’s identity.

The fight is interrupted by Eddie, who gets back early from an off-planet mission and therefore was not factored into Steph’s contingencies for the other Titans. Steph escapes by first holding Jason in front of her with a knife to his throat, then driving the knife into his thigh, forcing Eddie to choose between going after her and keeping Jason from bleeding out.

Red Devil stays behind to cauterize the wound, and Death Mask gets away.

.

After that, the chronology gets a lot more muddled.

Steph reunites with the family after saving Jason from the Joker.

Bruce takes in Dick after Dick’s parents die, but it’s a very rough transition. Then Bruce dies, leading to the family falling apart all over again, Jason getting the Red Robin (”Bluejay”) arc, Cass becoming Batman, and Dick becoming her Moonbeam.

When Bruce comes back, Bluejay joins the Signal as a daytime hero.

When Bruce can eventually no longer be Batman and Cass steps up again, she’ll offer Jason Black Bat if he wants it. He accepts, and everyone assumes Dick will be Bluejay when Dick graduates from being Moonbeam.

When Dick grows up, his final hero identity will be Robin.

[cielrouge]

YA SFF Books by Asian Authors

Ash by Malinda Lo: In this variation on the Cinderella story, Ash grows up believing in the fairy realm that the king and his philosophers have sought to suppress, until one day she must choose between a handsome fairy cursed to love her and the King’s Huntress whom she loves.

Along the Indigo by Elsie Chapman: Marsden yearns to take her sister and escape Glory, a town famous for seedy businesses, but her friendship with Jude yields secrets that may chain them to the Indigo River forever.

Alpha Goddess by Amalie Howard:  In this sci-fi retelling of Ramayana, Sera is a Hindu goddess incarnate and must battle between her good and evil sides in order to save the world from becoming hell on earth.

Angelfall (Penryn & the End of Days #1) by Susan Ee: It's been six weeks since angels of the apocalypse descended to demolish the modern world. When warrior angels fly away with a helpless little girl, her 17-year-old sister Penryn will do anything to get her back. Anything, including making a deal with an enemy angel, Raffe. 

The Archer at Dawn (The Tiger at Midnight #2) by Swati Teerdhala: Set in an Indian & Hindu-inspired world, long-held secrets will force Kunal and Esha to reconsider their loyalties—to their country and to each other.

The Athena Protocol by Shamim Sarif: After being fired from the Athena Protocol, an organization of female spies who enact vigilante justice, Jessie Archer investigates a human trafficking case in Belgrade, while her former teammates have been tasked with bringing her down.

Blood of a Thousand Stars (Empress of a Thousand Skies #2) by Rhoda Belleza: Rhee risks her crown to negotiate peace terms with villainous media star Nero, while framed assassin Aly plots revenge and Kara seeks technology that will erase her royal past.

The Bone Witch by Rin Chupeco: Tea’s gift for death magic means that she is a bone witch, a title that makes her feared and ostracized by her community, but when an older bone witch trains her to become an asha - one who can wield elemental magic - Tea will have to overcome her obstacles and make a powerful choice in the face of danger as dark forces approach.

The Bronzed Beasts (The Gilded Wolves #3) by Roshani Chokshi: With only ten days until Laila expires, the crew will face plague pits and deadly masquerades, unearthly songs, and the shining steps of a temple whose powers might offer divinity itself, but at a price they may not be willing to pay.

The Beast Player by Nahoko Uehashi: An epic YA fantasy about a girl with a special power to communicate with magical beasts and the warring kingdom only she can save.

The Beautiful by Renee Ahdieh: In 19th century New Orleans where vampires hide in plain sight, half-Asian Celine Rosseau, a dressmaker from Paris, becomes embroiled in a murder mystery, connected to the glamorous supernatural cohort, known as the Court of Lions, and catching the eye of their mysterious, charismatic leader, Sèbastien Saint Germain.

Broken Web (Shamanborn #2) by Lori M. Lee: With Queen Meilyr bent on destroying the magical kingdoms, Sirscha becomes caught between a war in the east and the Soulless in the west.

The Candle and the Flame by Nafiza Azad: Set in the city of Noor, along the Silk Road which has become a refuge for those of all faiths, Fatima becomes embroiled in a war between two clans of powerful djinn who threaten to destroy her peace in different ways, forcing her to make unlikely alliances to survive.

Caster by Elsie Chapman: In this Chinese-inspired, magical Fight Club, Earth is already at the brink of environmental disaster due to the magic overuse. And 16-year-old spell caster Aza Wu must navigate through an illegal, underground battle magic tournament, while evading local gangs and police scouts to save her family from ruin.

Catalyst by Lydia Kang: Zelia Benten has lost her father, the love of her life, and any future she might have imagined for herself. Now she, her sister, and the band of illegal genetic outcasts they’ve come to call their family are forced to run when the safety of their foster home is compromised.

A Clash of Steel (A Treasure Island Remix) by C.B. Lee: Set in 1820s China, Xiah joins Anh and her motley crew in pursuit of the hidden treasure of the legendary Dragon Fleet.

Chainbreaker (Timekeeper #2) by Tara Sim: In 1876, someone is destroying the clock towers that control India’s time. Teenage mechanics Danny Hart and half-white, half-Indian Daphne Richards as they travel to Agra to investigate a series of clock tower bombings.

The Chariot at Dusk (Tiger at Midnight #3) by Swati Teerdhala: In the final book of this epic fantasy trilogy, the lands’ fate, their people’s livelihoods, and the bond that sustains their world all depend on what Kunal and Esha can offer—to the gods and to each other.

Champion (Legend #3) by Marie Lu: June and Day have sacrificed so much for the people of the Republic--and each other--and now their country is on the brink of a new existence. Just when a peace treaty is imminent, a plague outbreak causes panic in the Colonies, and war threatens the Republic's border cities.

Circle of Shadows by Evelyn Skye: Love, spies, and adventure abound as apprentice warriors Sora and Daemon unravel a complex web of magic and secrets that might tear them—and the entire kingdom—apart forever.

Control by Lydia Kang: In 2150, when genetic manipulation has been outlawed, seventeen-year-old Zelia must rescue her kidnapped sister with the help of a band of outcasts with mutated genes.

Court of Lions (Mirage #2) by Somaiya Daud: After being swept up into the brutal Vathek court, Amani, the ordinary girl forced to serve as the half-Vathek princess Maram’s body double, is desperate to continue helping the rebellion But can she bear to remain separated, forever, from Maram's fiancé, Idris? 

Cross Fire (Exo #2) by Fonda Lee: When the peaceful alien-run government withdraws from Earth, it seems that the terrorist group Sapience is going to get the "free" Earth it wanted; but Donovan Reyes, member of the security forces, and once a prisoner of Sapience, realizes that freedom comes with a price. 

The Crown’s Game by Evelyn Skye: Vika Andreyeva can summon the snow and turn ash into gold. Nikolai Karimov can see through walls and conjure bridges out of thin air. They are enchanters—the only two in Russia. The Tsar needs a powerful enchanter by his side.And so he initiates the Crown’s Game, an ancient duel of magical skill—the victor becomes the Imperial Enchanter and the Tsar’s most respected adviser. The defeated is sentenced to death. 

The Crown’s Fate (The Crown’s Game #2) by Evelyn Skye: Vika struggles with dangers in her new role as the Imperial Enchanter while Pasha faces disputes about his legitimacy and Nikolai considers how far he is willing to go to return to the world.

A Crown of Wishes (Star-Touched Queen #2) by Roshani Chokshi:  Gauri, princess of Bharata, has been captured by her kingdom's enemies and faces a future of exile and scorn--she has nothing left to lose. But Vikram, the notoriously cunning prince of a neighboring land, promises her freedom in exchange for her partnership on his team to win the Tournament of Wishes.

The Damned (The Beautiful #2) by Renée Ahdieh: Sébastien Saint Germain is now cursed and forever changed. The price of loving Celine Rousseau was costly. But as Bastien and Celine begin to uncover the danger around them, they learn their love could tear them apart.

Dark Goddess (Alpha Goddess #2) by Amalie Howard:  In this Indian-inspired fantasy, a girl who is the avatar of the goddess Lakshmi must work to prevent the apocalypse at the hands of demons. 

Dark Goddess (Templar Chronicles #2) by Sarwat Chadda: Billi SanGreal, a teenaged member of the Knights Templar, must prevent a young girl, who is being hunted by werewolves because of the dangerous powers she possesses, from falling into the hands of the ancient Russian witch, Baba Yaga.

Daughter of Dusk (Midnight Thief #2) by Livia Blackburne: After learning the truth about her bloodlines, Kyra can’t help but feel like a monster. As tensions rise within Forge’s Council, and a vicious Demon Rider attacks continue in surrounding villages, Kyra knows she must do something to save her city. 

Descendant of the Crane by Joan He: In this Chinese-inspired fantasy, Princess Hesina of Yan is thrust into power when her beloved father is murdered, and she’s determined to find his killer–whatever the cost.

The Devil’s Kiss (Templar Chronicles #1) by Sarwat Chadda: 15-year-old Billi SanGreal has grown up knowing that being a member of the Knights Templar puts her in danger, but if she is to save London from catastrophe she must make sacrifices greater than she imagined.

The Devil’s Thief (The Last Magician #2) by Lisa Maxwell: Esta and Harte set off on a cross-country chase through time to steal back the elemental stones they need to save the future of magic.

Divided (Dualed #2) by Elsie Chapman:  When the Board goes after West Grayer for refusing to kill her next target, West must uncover the truth of the past to survive.

Dove Arising by Karen Bao: On a lunar colony, 15-old Phaet Theta does the unthinkable and joins the Militia when her mother is imprisoned by the Moon's oppressive government. 

Dove Exiled (Dove Chronicles #2) by Karen Bao: Phaet’s past catches up with her when the Lunar Bases attack the community and reveal that Phaet is a fugitive. She’s torn between staying on Earth with Wes—whom she’s just discovered her feelings for—and stowing away on a Moon-bound ship to rescue her siblings.

Dove Alight (Dove Chronicles #3) by Karen Bao: Shy, introverted Phaet Theta has gone from being a top student to an interplanetary fugitive to the reluctant but fierce leader of a revolution. But as the death tolls rise, the cost of the war weighs heavily on Phaet. Phaet started this war because she lost someone she loved. Will she have to lose another to end it?

Eclipse the Stars by Maura Milan: Criminal mastermind and unrivaled pilot Ia Ccha and her allies make unpredictable choices as they fight to keep darkness from eclipsing the skies.

An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir: Set in a terrifyingly brutal Rome-like world, An Ember in the Ashes is an epic fantasy debut about an orphan, Laia, fighting for her family and a soldier, Elias, fighting for his freedom.

Empress of All Seasons by Emiko Jean: During a once-in-a-generation competition to find the new empress, Mari, who hides a terrible secret, Taro, the prince who would denounce the imperial throne, and Akira, a half-human outcast, will decide the fate of Honoku.

Empress of a Thousand Skies by Rhoda Belleza: Two sisters, Rhee and Kara—sole survivors of a murdered royal lineage - must reunite from opposite ends of the galaxy to salvage what’s left of their family dynasty and save the universe from a greater threat.

End of Days (Penryn & The End of Days #3) by Susan Ee: After a daring escape, Penryn and Raffe are on the run, but a startling revelation about Raffe’s past unleashes dark forces that threaten them all. When the angels release an apocalyptic nightmare onto humans, both sides are set on a path toward war. Forced to pick sides in the fight for control of the earthly realm, Raffe and Penryn must choose: Their own kind, or each other?

The Epic Crush of Genie Lo by F.C. Yee: 15-year-old Genie Lo wonders if she’s qualified enough to gain admission to an Ivy League school, then becomes powerful enough to break through the gates of Heaven with her fists.

The Eternity Cure (Blood of Eden #2) by Julie Kagawa: Cast out of Eden and separated from the boy she dared to love, Allison Sekemoto will follow the call of blood to save her creator, Kanin, from the psychotic vampire Sarren. But when the trail leads to Allie's birthplace in New Covington, what Allie finds there will change the world forever--and possibly end human and vampire existence.

The Ever Cruel Kingdom (The Never Tilting World #2) by Rin Chupeco: To break the cycle of sacrifice, twins Haidee and Odessa need answers that lie beyond the seven gates of the underworld, within the Cruel Kingdom itself. The shadows of the underworld may hunger to tear them apart, but these two sisters are determined to heal their world—together.

Exo by Fonda Lee: For a century now, Earth has been a peaceful colony of an alien race, and Donovan Reyes is a loyal member of the security forces, while his father is the Prime Liaison–but when a routine search and seizure goes bad Donovan finds himself a captive of the human revolutionary group, Sapience, terrorists who seem to prefer war to alien rule, and killing Donovan just might be the incident they are looking for.

Fair Coin by E.C. Myers: When evil versions of himself and best friend Nate appear one day, teenaged Ephraim embarks on a dangerous odyssey through parallel worlds to make things right.

Firestarter (Timekeeper #3) by Tara Sim: Colton, Daphne, and the others must choose between those striving to take down the world’s clock towers so that time can run freely, and terrorists trying to bring back the lost god of time.

Five Dark Fates (Three Dark Crowns #4) by Kendare Blake: In this conclusion to the Three Dark Crowns series, three dark sisters will rise to fight as the secrets of Fennbirn’s history are laid bare. Allegiances will shift. Bonds will be tested, and some broken forever.

Flame in the Mist by Renee Adhieh: The daughter of a prominent samurai, Mariko is promised to Minamoto Raiden. But en route to the imperial city of Inako, Mariko narrowly escapes a bloody ambush by the Black Clan. Dressed as a peasant boy, Mariko sets out to infiltrate the ranks of this gang. But she’s quickly captured and taken to the Black Clan’s secret hideout, where she meets their leader, the rebel ronin Takeda Ranmaru. 

For A Muse of Fire by Heidi Heilig: 16-year-old shadow puppeteer Jetta Chantray performs with her family’s traveling troupe, the Ros Nai. But as rebellion seethes and as Jetta meets a young smuggler, she will face truths and decisions that she never imagined—and safety will never seem so far away.

Forest of Souls by Lori M. Lee: Sirscha Ashwyn, while training to become the queen’s next royal spy, discovers she’s a rare and powerful lightwender and is summoned to the realm of the Spider King, where her newly awakened abilities are needed to cull the bloodthirsty Dead Wood.

Forest of a Thousand Lanterns by Julie C. Dao: A reimagining of the evil queen from Snow White based on Asian mythology in which 18-year-old Xifeng must unleash a jealous god on the world and set free the viciousness of her own soul in order to become Empress.

The Forever Song (Blood of Eden #3) by Julie Kagawa: Allie will embrace her cold vampire side to hunt down and end Sarren. But Sarren has left many surprises for Allie and her companions as his trail leads straight to the one place they must protect at any cost -- the last vampire-free zone on Earth.

Fury of the Phoenix (Kingdom of Xia #2) by Cindy Pon: When Ai Ling leaves her home and family to accompany Chen Yong on his quest to find his father, haunted by the ancient evil she thought she had banished to the underworld, she must use her growing supernatural powers to save Chen Yong from the curses that follow her.

Gates of Thread and Stone by Lori M. Lee: A teenage girl must keep her ability to manipulate the threads of time a secret, but when her brother goes missing, she risks getting caught up in a revolution in order to save him.

Gearbreakers by Zoe Hana Mikuta: Eris Shindanai and Sona Steelcrest, two girls on opposite sides of a war fought with Windups, giant mechanizes weapons, discover they’re fighting for a common purpose–and falling for each other.

The Gilded Wolves by Roshani Chokshi: Paris, 1889: Treasure-hunter and wealthy hotelier, Séverin Montagnet-Alarie gets the chance of a lifetime when the all-powerful society, the Order of Babel, seeks him out for help in exchange for a priceless treasure: his true inheritance.

The Girl From Everywhere by Heidi Heilig: From modern-day New York City to nineteenth-century Hawaii to places of myth and legend, 16-year-old Nix has sailed across the globe and through centuries aboard her time-traveling father’s ship. But when he gambles with her very existence, it all may be about to end.

The Girl From the Well by Rin Chupeco: Okiku has wandered the world for centuries, but when she meets Tark she knows the moody teen with the series of intricate tattoos is not a monster and needs to be freed from the demonic malevolence that clings to him.

The Girl King by Mimi Yu: Sisters Lu and Min become unwitting rivals in a war to claim the title of Emperor.

Girl, Serpent, Thorn by Melissa Bashardoust: As the day of her twin brother’s wedding approaches, Princess Soraya must decide if she’s willing to step outside of the shadows for the first time.

Girls of Paper and Fire by Natasha Ngan: When Lei, seventeen, is stolen from her home to become one of nine Paper Girls, the Demon King's concubines, she proves to be more fire than paper.

Girls of Storm and Shadow (Girls of Paper and Fire #2) by Natasha Ngan: After escaping the Hidden Palace, Lei and her warrior love Wren must travel the kingdom to gain support from the far-flung rebel clans.

Girls of Fate and Fury (Girls of Paper and Fire #3) by Natasha Ngan: The last Lei saw of the girl she loved, Wren, was fighting an army of soldiers in a furious battle to the death. With the two girls torn apart and each in terrorizing peril, will they find each other again or have their destinies diverged forever.

The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea by Axie Oh: A feminist retelling of the Korean folktale The Tale of Shim Cheong, set in a town where every year a girl is sacrificed to the sea to stop torrential rains, but when a brave teen girl dives in herself to protect a loved one, she discovers a spirit kingdom in need of saving.

The Great Destroyers by Caroline Tung Richmond: set in alt-history, 1960s America where WWI & WII were fought with giant mechs, biracial Chinese American teen Jo Linden is Team USA’s most unlikely pick in the annual Pax Games, an Olympic-style competition that pits mecha pilots against each other.

The Heartforger (Bone Witch #2) by Rin Chupeco: With a thirst for vengeance, a band of terrifying daeva at her command, and her resurrected lover Kalen by her side, dark asha Tea is ready to face her adversaries.

A House of Rage and Sorrow (Celestial Trilogy #2) by Sangu Mandanna: As gods, beasts, and kingdoms choose sides, Alexi seeks out a weapon more devastating than even Titania. The House of Rey is at war. And the entire galaxy will bleed before the end.

Huntress by Malinda Lo: 17-year-olds Kaede and Taisin are called to go on a dangerous and unprecedented journey to Tanlili, the city of the Fairy Queen, in an effort to restore the balance of nature in the human world.

Ignite the Stars by Maura Milan: When outlaw Ia Ccha is captured by the Olympus Commonwealth and revealed to be a 16-year-old girl, they force her to serve them by joining the Commonwealth's military academy where new acquaintances cause Ia to question her own alliances.

The Immortal Rules (Blood of Eden #1) by Julie Kagawa: Allison Sekemoto survives in the Fringe, the outermost circle of a vampire city, until she too becomes an immortal vampire. Forced to flee into the unknown, outside her city walls, she joins a ragged band of humans who are seeking a legend -- a possible cure to the disease that killed off most of humankind and created the rabids, the mindless creatures who threaten humans and vampires alike.

Inferno (Talon #5) by Julie Kagawa: Ember Hill has learned a shocking truth about herself: she is the blood of the Elder Wyrm, the ancient dragon who leads Talon and who is on the verge of world domination. With the stakes rising and the Elder Wyrm declaring war, time is running out for the rogues and any dragon not allied with Talon. The final battle approaches. And if Talon is victorious, the world will burn.

The Infinity Courts by Akemi Dawn Bowman: Japanese American teen Nami Miyamoto finds herself in a limitless world where the human consciousness goes after death, where she battles an AI entity posing as a queen that has hacked its way into the afterlife.

Isle of Blood and Stone by Makiia Lucier: Mysterious maps from opposite ends of the sea cast doubt on the whereabouts of two princes, presumed dead.

Jade Fire Gold by June C.L. Tan: A debut fantasy inspired by Chinese mythology, in which peasant girl Anh, cursed with the power to steal souls enters a tenuous alliance with exiled prince Altan, bent on taking back the dragon throne, and save the empire from a cult of dangerous priests.

Journey to the Heart of the Abyss (Light in the Abyss #2) by London Shah: Leyla McQueen has finally reunited with her father after breaking him out of Broadmoor, the illegal government prison—but his freedom comes at a terrible cost. As Leyla celebrates his return, she must grapple with the pain of losing Ari. Now labeled the nation’s number one enemy, Leyla must risk illegal travel through unchartered waters for the truth behind her father’s arrest.

Hunted by the Sky by Tanaz Bhathena: Set in a world inspired by medieval India, the story tells of a girl, Gul, with a star-shaped birthmark who is prophesied to be the downfall of a tyrant king, the warrior women who come to her aid, and the boy she falls in love with.

The Keeper of the Night by Kylie Lee Baker: set in 1890s Japan, half-British reaper, half-Japanese Shinigami Ren Scarborough flees London and enters the Japanese underworld under the service of Izanami, the goddess of death.

King (Dragon King Chronicles #3) by Ellen Oh: Girl warrior, demon slayer, Tiger spirit of the Yellow Eyes - Kira is ready for her final quest! She must save her cousin, the boy fated to be the future king, uncover the third lost treasure, and face innumerable enemies in order to fulfill the famed prophecy.

A Kingdom for the Stage (For A Muse of Fire #2) by Heidi Heilig: The rebels are eager to use Le Trépas’s and necromancer Jetta’s combined magic against the invading colonists. Soon Jetta will face the choice between saving all of Chakrana or becoming like her father, and she isn’t sure which she’ll choose.

Kingdom of the Blazing Phoenix (Rise of the Empress #2) by Julie C. Dao: Princess Jade has grown up in exile while her stepmother, the ruthless Xifeng, rules Feng Lu. Ready to reclaim her place, Jade embarks on a quest to raise the Dragon Lords and defeat Xifeng and the Serpent God once and for all.

Legend by Marie Lu: In a dark future, when North America has split into two warring nations, 15-year-olds Day, a famous criminal, and prodigy June, the brilliant soldier hired to capture him, discover that they have a common enemy.

Legion (Talon #4) by Julie Kagawa: The legions are about to be unleashed, and no human, rogue dragon or former dragon slayer can stand against the coming horde in book 4 out of the Talon series.

The Library of Fates by Aditi Khorana: Amrita must unravel the mysteries of her past to save her kingdom, but in doing so, she herself might come unraveled.

The Light At the Bottom of the World by London Shah: Set in a future where the Earth is underwater, Leyla McQueen must navigate the treacherous abyss to find her missing father, but discovers a world drowning in lies.

Live in Infamy by Caroline Tung Richmond: 80 years since the Axis won World War II, and America was divided between the victors: the Nazis in the East and Imperial Japan in the West; but now resistance is growing in the Eastern territories and 16-year-old Chinese American Ren Cabot finds himself drawn into a resistance group. 

The Lost Girl by Sangu Mandanna: 15-year-old Eva is the clone of a girl living far, far away on another continent--and when this 'other' dies, Eva must step in and take over her life.

The Infinite (Gates of Thread and Stone #2) by Lori M. Lee: Kai always believed the only danger to the city came from within. Now, with a rebel force threatening the fragile government, the walls have become more of a prison than ever. To make matters worse, as Avan explores his new identity as an Infinite, Kai struggles to remind him what it means to be human. 

Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao: blending Chinese history and mecha science, Wu Zetian offers herself up as a concubine-pilot to assassinate the ace male pilot responsible for her sister’s death. Features a poly F/M/M main romance.

The Iron Will of Genie Lo (Epic Crush of Genie Lo #2) by F.C. Yee: Along with a few other contenders for the throne,  heaven-appointed guardian Genie and her friends embark on a Heavenly quest to an in-between world.

The Magic Fish by Trung Le Nguyen: An intergenerational story of a mother and son struggling to relate to each other—the mother an immigrant to America who wants to make a home for her family in an unfamiliar country; the son Tiế  trying to figure out the best way to come out to his parents. Through telling each other fairy tales, they’re able to find common ground.

The Magnolia Sword: A Ballad of Mulan by Sherry Thomas: When her ailing father is conscripted to fight invaders from the north, Mulan dresses as a man to take his place in the army, but an old enemy and an attraction for her troop's commander complicate her mission.

The Memory Keepers by Natasha Ngan: Seven is a thief with a difference - he steals downloadable memories from banks and memoriums to sell onto London’s black market. But one night, as Seven is breaking into a private memorium in a wealthy part of London, he is caught in the act by one of its residents; Alba, the teenage daughter of London’s most famous criminal prosecutor. 

The Memory Key by Liana Liu: In the not-so-distant future, everyone is implanted with a memory key to stave off a virulent form of Alzeimer's. Lora Mint fears her memories of her deceased mother are fading, but when her memory key is damaged she has perfect recall--of everything-- which brings her mother's memory vividly back--but may also drive Lora mad. 

The Mermaid, The Witch, and The Sea by Maggie Tokuda-Hall: A desperate orphan turned pirate, Flora, and a rebellious imperial daughter, Lady Evelyn Hasegawa, find a connection on the high seas abroad the Dove, in a world divided by colonialism and threaded with magic.

The Midnight Star (Young Elites #3) by Marie Lu:  Adelina is forced to revisit old wounds when a new danger appears, putting not only Adelina at risk, but every Elite. In order to save herself and preserve her empire, Adelina and her Roses must join the Daggers on a perilous quest—though this uneasy alliance may prove to be the real danger.

The Midnight Thief by Livia Blackburne: Kyra, a highly skilled 17-year-old thief, joins a guild of assassins with questionable motives. Tristam, a young knight, fights against the vicious Demon Riders that are ravaging the city. 

Mirage by Somaiya Daud: In a star system dominated by the brutal Vathek empire, 18-year-old Amani is forced to work as a body double for the princess who is hated by her conquered people.

The Never Tilting World by Rin Chupeco: In  a world ruled by goddesses that has been split in two—one half existing in perpetual scorching Day, the other in freezing Night—twins separated at birth Odessa and Haidee embark on a quest across the great divide and rule a reunited world.

Mooncakes by Wendy Xu & Suzanne Walker: Teen witch Nova Huang runs into her childhood crush, Tam Lang, battling a horse demon in the woods. Pursued by dark forces eager to claim the magic of wolves and out of options, Tam turns to Nova for help. 

Moribito, Guardian of the Spirit by Nahoko Uehashi: The wandering warrior Balsa is hired to protect Prince Chagum from both a mysterious monster and the prince's father, the Mikado.

Moribito II, Guardian of the Darkness by Nahoko Uehashi: The wandering female bodyguard Balsa returns to her native country of Kanbal, where she uncovers a conspiracy to frame her mentor and herself.

Night of the Dragon (Shadow of the Fox #3) by Julie Kagawa: As darkness rises and chaos reigns,  fierce kitsune shapeshifter Yumeko and her shadowy protector Kage Tatsumi, will face down the greatest evil of all.

Not Your Sidekick by C.B. Lee: Resigned to a life without superpowers in a world full of them, Jess takes a paid internship where she helps a heinous supervillain and works with her longtime crush Abby, but stumbles on a massive plot.

Not Your Villain (Sidekick Squad #2) by C.B. Lee: After discovering a massive cover-up by the Heroes’ League of Heroes, shapeshifter Bells Broussard and his friends Jess, Emma, and Abby set off on a secret mission to find the Resistance.

Not Your Backup by C.B. Lee (Sidekick Squad #3): As the Resistance moves to challenge the corrupt League of Heroes, Emma Robledo realizes where her place is in this fight: at the front.

On This Unworthy Scaffold (Shadow Players #3) by Heidi Heilig: Jetta’s home is spiraling into civil war.Le Trépas—the deadly necromancer—has used his blood magic to wrest control of the country. Meanwhile, Jetta’s love interest, brother, and friend are intent on infiltrating the palace to stop the Boy King and find Le Trépas to put an end to the unleashed chaos.

The Only Thing to Fear by Caroline Tung Richmond: After 70 years since Hitler's armies won the war, 16-year-old Zara St. James lives in the Shenandoah hills, part of the Eastern American Territories, under the rule of the Nazis--but a resistance movement is growing. 

The Ones We’re Meant to Find by Joan He: In a near future when life is harsh outside of Earth’s last unpolluted place, Cee tries to leave an abandoned island while her sister, STEM prodigy Kasey Mizuhara, seeks escape from the science and home she once trusted.

One Dark Throne (Three Dark Crowns #2) by Kendare Blake: Preparing for the queens' sixteenth birthday celebration and navigating the fallout of the Quickening, sisters Arsinoe, Katharine, and Mirabella reassess their strategic paths to the throne using new understandings of their powers and destinies.

Our Violent Ends (These Violent Delights #2) by Chloe Gong: In 1927, Shanghai tethers on the edge of revolution. After sacrificing her relationship with Roma to protect him from the blood feud, Juliette has been a girl on the warpath. Then a new monstrous danger emerges in the city, and while secrets keep them apart, Juliette must secure Roma’s cooperation if they are to end this threat.

Prodigy (Legend #2) by Marie Lu: June and Day make their way to Las Vegas where they join the rebel Patriot group and become involved in an assassination plot against the Elector in hopes of saving the Republic.

Quantum Coin (Fair Coin #2) by E.C. Myers: Ephraim, Jena, and Zoe embark on a mission across multiple worlds to learn what's going wrong and how to stop it. They will have to draw on every resource available and trust in alternate versions of themselves and their friends, before it's too late for all of them.

Ravage the Dark (Scavenge the Stars #2) by Tara Sim: After escaping the city of Moray, Amaya and Cayo head to the port city of Baleine to find the mysterious Benefactor and put a stop to the counterfeit currency that is spreading Ash Fever throughout the kingdoms.

The Reader by Traci Chee:  Set in a world where reading is unheard-of, Sefia makes use of a mysterious object to track down who kidnapped her aunt Nin and what really happened the night her father was murdered.

A Reaper At the Gates (An Ember in the Ashes #3) by Sabaa Tahir: Beyond the Empire and within it, the threat of war looms ever larger as the Blood Shrike, Helene Aquilla, Laia of Serra, and Elias Veturius all face increasing dangers.

Rebel (Legend #4) by Marie Lu: Brothers Eden and Daniel Wing struggle to accept who they’ve each become since their time in the Republic, but a new danger creeps into the distance that’s grown between them. Eden soon finds himself drawn so far into Ross City’s dark side, even his legendary brother can’t save him. At least not on his own.

Rebelwing by Andrea Tang: At a prestigious prep school, scholastic student Prudence Wu, who smuggles censored media in a futuristic North America divided by culture wars and becomes an unlikely revolutionary, after being imprinted by Rebelwing, a sentient cybernetic dragon.

Renegade Flight (Rebelwing #2) by Andrea Tang: Pilot-in-training Viola Park, a probationary student at GAN Academy, enters a mech combat tournament that becomes a fight for the future of Peacekeepers everywhere.

Rising Like a Storm (The Wrath of Ambar #2) by Tanaz Bhathena: Gul and Cavas must unite their magical forces―and hold onto their growing romance―to save their kingdom from tyranny.

The Righteous (The Beautiful #3) by Renée Ahdieh: Pippa Montrose is tired of losing everything she loves. When her best friend Celine disappears under mysterious circumstances, Pippa resolves to find her, even if the journey takes her into the dangerous world of the fae, where she might find more than she bargained for in the charismatic Arjun Desai.

The Rise of Kyoshi by F.C. Yee: The never-before-told backstory of Avatar Kyoshi, from a girl of humble origins to the merciless pursuer of justice who is still feared and admired centuries after she became the Avatar.

Rogue (Talon #2) by Julie Kagawa: Unable to forget the human boy who saved her from a Talon assassin, Ember is determined to save him from execution with the help of rebel dragon Cobalt and his crew of rogues.

Rogue Heart (Rebel Seoul #2) by Axie Oh: Two years after the Battle of Neo Seoul, telepath Ama must use her telepathic abilities to infiltrate the base of the Alliance’s new war commander, Alex Kim, her first love who betrayed her.

The Rose and the Dagger (Wrath and the Dawn #2) by Renee Adhieh: Unsure who to trust, Shahrzad takes matters into her own hands to try and break the curse and reunite with her one true love.

The Rose Society (Young Elites #2) by Marie Lu: Adelina Amouteru’s heart has suffered at the hands of both family and friends, turning her down the bitter path of revenge. Now known and feared as the White Wolf, she and her sister flee Kenettra to find other Young Elites in the hopes of building her own army of allies. Her goal: to strike down the Inquisition Axis.

Ruse (Want #2) by Cindy Pon: In near-future Shanghai where society is divided between the fabulously wealthy business elite and the masses they exploit, Jason Zhou must play a dangerous cat and mouse game with the ruthless CEO of an all powerful corporation which has an ever-growing choke hold on the polluted metropolis.

Scavenge the Stars by Tara Sim: In the city-state of Moray, Amaya, orphaned by a powerful merchant’s greed and condemned to seven years aboard a debtor’s ship, returns to seek revenge only to encounter the merchant’s son in this gender-swapped retelling of The Count of Monte Cristo.

Serpentine by Cindy Pon: Although 16-year-old Skybright feels lucky to be the handmaid and companion to the daughter of a wealthy family, she is hiding a secret that threatens to destroy her position and her closest relationships.

Sacrifice (Serpertine #2) by Cindy Pon: When Zhen Ni discovers that her new husband, the strange and brutish Master Hou, may not be all he seems, Skybright and Stone must travel through the terrifying underworld to save her.

Seven Deadly Shadows by Courtney Alameda & Valynne Maetani: Set in contemporary Japan, Shinto temple priestess Kira Fujikawa, must seek the aid of seven ruthless shinigami, in order to protect Kyoto from an ancient evil.

Shatter the Sky by Rebecca Kim Wells: Maren, desperate to save her kidnapped girlfriend Kaia, plans to steal one of the emperor’s dragons and storm the Aurati stronghold, but her success depends on becoming an apprentice to the mysterious dragon trainer, which proves to be a dangerous venture.

Talon by Julie Kagawa: In a world in which near-extinct dragons pass as humans to grow their numbers secretly, siblings Ember and Dante Hill prepare for destined positions in the world of Talon only to be hunted by a dragon-slaying soldier.

The Ship Beyond Time (Girl From Everywhere #2) by Heidi Heilig: Nix has escaped her past, but when the person she loves most is at risk, even the daughter of a time traveler may not be able to outrun her fate—no matter where she goes.

The Shadow Mission (The Athena Protocol #2) by Shamim Sharif: Jessie Archer faced down death to prove her dedication to Athena, the elite organization of female spies she works for. Now she’s back on the team, in time to head to Pakistan to take down the man whose actions spurred Athena’s founders to create the secretive squad. 

The Shadow of Kyoshi (Kyoshi #2) by F.C. Yee: Kyoshi’s place as the true Avatar has finally been cemented. With her mentors gone, Kyoshi voyages across the Four Nations, struggling to keep the peace. But while her reputation grows, a mysterious threat emerges from the Spirit World. To stop it, Kyoshi, Rangi, and their reluctant allies must join forces.

Shadow of the Fox by Julie Kagawa: Demons have burned the temple Yumeko was raised in to the ground, killing everyone within, including the master who trained her to both use and hide her kitsune shapeshifting powers. Yumeko escapes with the temple’s greatest treasure—one part of the ancient scroll. Fate thrusts her into the path of a mysterious samurai, Kage Tatsumi of the Shadow Clan. Yumeko knows he seeks what she has…and is under orders to kill anything and anyone who stands between him and the scroll.

Shadow Girl by Liana Liu: When Mei arrives at the beautiful home on Arrow Island, she can't help feeling relieved. She's happy to spend the summer tutoring a rich man's daughter if it means a break from her normal life. Yet she can't shake her fear that there is danger lurking in the shadows of this beautiful house, a darkness that could destroy the family inside and out...and Mei along with them. 

Shadowsong (Wintersong #2) by S. Jae-Jones: Liesl is working toward furthering both her brother’s and her own musical careers. But when troubling signs arise that the barrier between worlds is crumbling, Liesl must return to the Underground to unravel the mystery of life, death, and the Goblin King—who he was, who he is, and who he will be.

Smoke in the Sun (A Flame in the Mist #2) by Renee Ahdieh: After Okami is captured in the Jukai forest, Mariko has no choice—to rescue him, she tricks her brother, Kenshin, and betrothed, Raiden, into thinking she was being held by the Black Clan against her will. But each secret Mariko unfurls gives way to the next, ensnaring her and Okami in a political scheme that threatens their honor, their love and very the safety of the empire.

Sisters of the Snake by Sasha & Sarena Nanua: an Indian-inspired fantasy where twins separated at birth—one now a princess, the other a street thief— must switch places in a bid to stop a catastrophic war that threatens to tear their kingdom apart.

Silver Phoenix (Kingdom of Xia #1) by Cindy Pon: With her father long overdue from his journey and a lecherous merchant blackmailing her into marriage, 17-year-old Ai Ling becomes aware of a strange power within her as she goes in search of her parent.

The Silvered Serpents (The Gilded Wolves #2) by Roshani Chokshi: Séverin and his team members might have successfully thwarted the Fallen House, but at a terrible cost. Desperate to make amends, Séverin pursues a dangerous lead to find a long lost artifact rumored to grant its possessor the power of God. Their hunt lures them far from Paris, and into icy heart of Russia.

Six Crimson Cranes by Elizabeth Lim: The Wild Swans meets East Asian fantasy where an exiled princess, Shiori, must unweave the curse that turned her brothers into cranes, assisted by her spurned betrothed, a mercurial dragon, and a paper bird brought to life by her own magic.

A Sky Beyond the Storm (An Ember in the Ashes #4) by Sabaa Tahir: Laia of Serra is now allied with the Blood Shrike, Helen Aquilla. Determined to stop the approaching apocalypse, she throws herself into the destruction of the Nightbringer. In the process, she awakens an ancient power that could lead her to victory–or to an unimaginable doom.

Skyhunter by Marie Lu: Robbed of her voice and home, Talin Kanami knows firsthand the brutality of the Federation. Their cruelty forced her and her mother to seek asylum in Mara. When a mysterious prisoner is brought from the front, Talin senses there’s more to him than meets the eye. 

The Shadow Glass (Bone Witch #3) by Rin Chupeco: Bone witch Tea’s dark magic eats away at her, but she must save the one she loves most, even while her life—and the kingdoms—are on the brink of destruction.

Song of the Abyss (Towers of Wind #2) by Makiia Lucier: When menacing raiders attack her ship, navigator Reyna must use every resource at her disposal, including placing her trust in a handsome prince from a rival kingdom.

Song of the Crimson Flower by Julie C. Dao: After cruelly rejecting Bao, the poor physician’s apprentice who loves her, Lan, a wealthy nobleman’s daughter, regrets her actions. After learning that Bao’s soul has been trapped inside a flute by a witch, Lan vows to make amends and help break the spell.

Soul of the Sword (Shadow of the Fox #2) by Julie Kagawa: As the paths of Yumeko and the possessed Tatsumi cross once again, the entire empire will be thrown into chaos.

A Spark of White Fire by Sangu Mandanna: In this sci-fi retelling of the  Mahabrahata, Esmae learns that the King of Wychstar is offering the unbeatable warship Titania to the winner of his competition and she sees her chance to return home and help her brother win back his kingdom.

The Speaker (Sea of Ink and Gold #2) by Traci Chee: Having barely escaped the clutches of the Guard, Sefia and Archer are back on the run, slipping into the safety of the forest to tend to their wounds and plan their next move.

Spin the Dawn by Elizabeth Lim: 17-year-old Maia Tamarin poses as a boy to compete for the role of imperial tailor, and embarks on an impossible journey to sew three magic dresses, from the sun, the moon, and the stars, with help from the mysterious court magician, Edan.

Spell Starter (Caster #2) by Elsie Chapman: Yes, Aza Wu now has magic back, but now she’s in the employ of the gang leader, St. Willow. Who soon decides that having Aza as a fighter is much more lucrative than as a fixer.

Star Daughter by Shveta Thakrar: Inspired by Hindu mythology, half-mortal, half-star Sheetal enters a celestial competition to save her human father’s life.

The Star-Touched Queen by Roshani Chokshi:  Treated with scorn and fear in her father's kingdom because of a formidable horoscope, 16-year-old Maya commits herself to her education only to land in an arranged marriage that culminates in her sudden elevation to the throne, a situation that is threatened by dark secrets and Otherworldly magic.

Star-Touched Stories by Roshani Choski:Three lush and adventurous stories in the Star-Touched world.

Steelstriker (Skyhunter #2) by Marie Lu: After the fall of Mara, and with the fate of a broken world hanging in the balance, Talin and Red must reunite the Strikers and find their way back to one another.

Storm the Earth (Shatter the Sky #2) by Rebecca Kim Wells: Maren and her girlfriend Kaia set out to rescue Sev  in Zafed, and free the dragons from the corrupt emperor.

The Storyteller (Sea of Ink and Gold #3) by Traci Chee: Sefia is determined to keep Archer out of the Guard’s clutches and their plans for war between the Five Kingdoms. As Sefia and Archer watch Kelanna start to crumble to the Guard’s will, they will have to choose between their love and joining a war that just might tear them apart.

Stronger Than A Bronze Dragon by Mary Fan: In this steampunk fantasy set in Qing dynasty-inspired China, warrior girl Anlei teams up with a thief to save her village from shadow spirits, but after arriving at the Courts of Hell, a discovery challenges everything they know about who the real enemy is.

The Suffering (Girl From the Well #2) by Rin Chupeco: When an old friend disappears in Aokigahara, Japan's infamous 'suicide forest,' Tark and the ghostly Okiku must resolve their differences and return to find her. In a strange village inside Aokigahara, old ghosts and an ancient evil lie waiting. 

These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong: In 1920s Shanghai, starcrossed heirs to rival gangs, Juliette Cai and Roma Montagov, must work together to face a monster that hunts the city streets before the outbreak of the Chinese Civil War.

Three Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake: A fantasy about triplet sisters separated at birth, where one of the sisters will grow up to be queen of their magical island, but in order to ascend to the throne she must hone her magic for a dark purpose: assassinating her other two sisters before they kill her first.

A Thousand Beginnings and Endings edited by Ellen Oh & Elsie Chapman: 15 bestselling and acclaimed authors reimagine the folklore and mythology of East and South Asia in short stories that are by turns enchanting, heartbreaking, romantic, and passionate.

A Thousand Fires by Shannon Price: In modern-day San Francisco where three gangs rule the city streets, half-Filipina teen Valerie Simons enters the Red Bridge Wars to seek vengeance for her younger brother’s death, but soon finds herself torn between old love and new loyalty.

The Tiger at Midnight by Swati Teerdhala: In ancient India, soldier Kunal hunts the “Viper,” rebel girl Esha accused of killing his General, embarking on a dangerous cat and mouse game and where both must decide—loyalty to their old lives or to a love that’s made them dream of new ones.

Timekeeper by Tara Sim: set in an alternate Victorian era where clock towers control time, about a teen clock mechanic who is assigned to repair a damaged tower and finds himself falling in forbidden love with the boy he mistakes for his apprentice, but is actually the tower’s clock spirit, and whose life is threatened by a mysterious attacker planting bombs in clock towers across England.

A Torch Against the Night (An Ember in the Ashes #2) by Sabaa Tahir: Laia and Elias fight their way north to liberate Laia’s brother from the horrors of Kauf Prison. Hunted by Empire soldiers, manipulated by the Commandant, and haunted by their pasts, Laia and Elias must outfox their enemies and confront the treacherousness of their own hearts.

Two Dark Reigns (Three Dark Crowns #3) by Kendare Blake: A victorious Katharine sits on the throne, Mirabella and Arsinoe are in hiding, and an unexpected renegade is about to wage a war of her own. The crown has been won, but these queens are far from done.

Unravel the Dusk (The Blood of Stars #2) by Elizabeth Lim: With a war brewing, master tailor Maia Tamarin will stop at nothing to find her love Edan, protect her family, and bring lasting peace to her country.

Vicious Spirits (Gumiho #2) by Kat Cho: With the support of Somin and Junu, Miyoung and Jihoon might just have a shot at normalcy. But Miyoung is getting sicker by the day and her friends don’t know how to save her. With few options remaining, Junu has an idea but it might require the ultimate sacrifice and, let’s be honest, Junu isn’t known for his “generosity.”

Want by Cindy Pon: Set in a teeming, pollution choked Taipei which follows a group of teens living on the seedy fringes of a highly divided society that works only for the elite as they decide to risk everything to take down the powerful company which controls the city. 

Warcross by Marie Lu: When teenage coder Emika Chen hacks her way into the opening tournament of the Warcross Championships, she glitches herself into the game as well as a sinister plot with major consequences for the entire Warcross empire. 

Warrior (Dragon King Chronicles #2) by Ellen Oh: Kira, the yellow-eyed demon slayer of Hansong, continues her quest to find the lost treasures of the dragon king's prophecy, save her cousin, the prince, unite her kingdom, and defeat the demon lord

We Hunt the Flame (Sands of Arawiya #1) by Hafsah Faizal: In a world inspired by ancient Arabia, 17-year-old huntress Zafira must disguise herself as a man to seek a lost artifact that could return magic to her cursed world.

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[calwrites]

The Illusion (part 2)

Summary: Reader’s secrets are revealed during the worst funeral ever. Five returns with some not so great news.

Pairing: Spencer Reid x Umbrella Academy!Reader

Warnings: Umbrella Academy spoilers I guess?

Word Count: 7k

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

Earlier that morning

“So what’s with the early meeting, Hotch? I thought we had the weekend off.” Derek dropped into a seat in the briefing room. The only person still missing was Y/N.

“A high profile case came up. The director wants us to look into it. As discreetly as possible.” Hotch pressed a button on the clicker and a picture of Reginald Hargreeves came onto the screen.

“Shouldn’t we wait for Y/N?” Spencer asked.

“And aren’t the news reports saying he died of natural causes?” Emily added.

“Y/N is taking a few days off, so she won’t be coming with us. I’ll give her an update on the case when we get there, so she is aware of it,” Hotch answered, his face stoic. “The coroner says Hargreeves died of heart failure. The director wants us to go in and determine whether there’s anything pointing towards foul play that the local PD missed. Considering who Hargreeves and his children are, there’s bound to be some conspiracy theorists who say he was murdered.”

“Wouldn’t the presence of the FBI just make them think that the government killed him and we’re there to cover it up?” Emily asked.

“The idea is that if both the FBI and his children say that he died of natural causes, the conspiracy theorists will have to believe it. If the government killed him, his children wouldn’t let that go. If someone else killed him, we find out who. We treat this like it’s any other case.”

“Are his children suspects?” Derek asked carefully. Hotch levelled his gaze at him.

“They grew up as vigilantes working outside the law. At least one of them still does that. They all have reasons to be upset with their father. We can’t rule them out.”

“I can’t believe I’m finally meeting the Umbrella Academy and I have to investigate them for murder,” Derek muttered as he flipped through the file.

“I can’t believe Y/N isn’t going to be there,” Spencer sighed. Immediately, everyone’s eyes were either rolling or staring at him.

“Maybe you should just ask her out already,” JJ suggested in a tone that made it clear she had made the suggestion before.

“You take her on enough dates,” Derek teased. Spencer’s face grew red, but he didn’t respond. Instead, he sped through the files.

The varying levels of knowledge about each member of The Umbrella Academy was strange. On the one hand was Allison, who was now famous enough that everyone knew everything about her life, and Vanya, who had revealed everything about her childhood in her tell-all book. On the other hand was The Illusion, who had left the team when she was 17. Nothing was known about her, not even her name. Even the other three didn’t have a lot about them in the files. One never left The Umbrella Academy. One was a vigilante. One was in and out of rehab pretty regularly.

Based on what they did know about Hargreeves’s adopted children, it could be difficult getting anything from them if they were hiding anything. Based on their childhood, it would be doubtful that they would turn one of their own over to outsiders, even if one of them did kill their father. It was more likely that they would sort it out amongst themselves after pushing the outsiders away. That would make the BAU’s job difficult.

“Wheels’ up in 30.”

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

“Nice house,” Emily commented as she, Derek, and Spencer got out of the car. They had been sent to talk to Hargreeves’s kids, while the rest of the team set up at the local PD. The three FBI agents walked up the steps and knocked on the door. They waited for a minute, but there was no answer, so Derek knocked again, harder this time.

The door flew open. “Can I help you?”

Spencer blinked in surprise. Standing before them was Allison Hargreeves. Spencer was normally pretty lost when it came to celebrities, but Y/N had taken him to a few of her movies over the years. Even though he knew that he would probably meet her during the case, it was strange to see her in person.

“FBI, ma’am,” Derek said, showing her his badge. Emily and Spencer followed suit. Allison’s eyes widened and it looked, Spencer thought, like she was worried about something. “We’re here to investigate your father’s death.”

“My father died of natural causes. That’s what the coroner told us.” Voices floated through the door. It sounded like some people in the house were having a very loud conversation.

“That’s what the coroner told us too. We’re just here to make sure local PD didn’t miss anything that could set the conspiracy theorists off. Stop them before they can really start,” Emily explained.

“Do you have to do it now?” Allison asked. “We were in the middle of trying to plan a memorial for our father.”

“We realize that this is a difficult time for your family. However, we really need to take a look around before the scene is any more contaminated than it already is,” Derek said. The voices coming from inside the house were growing louder.

“You think one of us did it, don’t you?” Spencer hadn’t noticed the woman standing behind Allison. Vanya, the normal one. She didn’t sound surprised or angry, like Spencer had expected. She just looked weary. Allison too didn’t look shocked by the news that they were suspects. It was like someone already told her.

“I think it would be better if you came back tomorrow,” Allison said firmly. “This has all been a shock to us. We just want to spread our father’s ashes and then get back to our lives.”

“We’d like to look around now. We won’t disturb you until you tell us that you’re ready to talk to us, but we really need to look at the scene now. We have a warrant.” Emily held up the warrant. Allison and Vanya looked at it with distaste, but didn’t say anything. They were trying to figure out a way to get them to leave.

The voices suddenly became screams coming from inside the house. Probably cause. Derek and Emily immediately had their guns drawn and were making their way towards the noise. Spencer followed slightly behind them. They reached what appeared to be the main living room. Two men were screaming, clutching their heads. On the ground, her back to the FBI agents, was a familiar figure. Spencer couldn’t see her face, but it looked so much like Y/N. The hair. The posture. But it couldn’t be her.

Allison made her way in front of the agents. She shook her head slightly, like she was a mom about to have to deal with misbehaving kids. “I heard a rumor that you stopped.”

Immediately, the two men collapsed on the floor. A third man was at the woman’s side quickly, keeping her from falling completely onto the floor. He handed her a drink, which she drank quickly.

“Remind me not to mess with Y/N again,” one man said. Y/N? It couldn’t actually be Y/N. It was just a coincidence.

“I guess I got a little carried away.” That was definitely Y/N’s voice. And the laugh that followed was Y/N’s laugh. Spencer looked in shock at Derek and Emily. Their eyes were wide as the two men started to laugh with Y/N.

“Y/N?” Spencer asked before he could stop himself.

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

You stared in shock at Spencer. Emily and Derek were next to him. It didn’t make any sense, though. There was no reason for them to be here. From the looks on their faces it didn’t look like they were expecting to see you either. Which meant, you realized, that they were here to investigate your father’s death.

“You can’t be serious, Luther.” Evidently Diego came to the same conclusion. “I mean, you got detectives here? Or PIs? You’re really that sure that one of us killed Dad.”

“Diego,” Luther responded harshly. “I didn’t hire any PIs. I don’t know who these people are.” Diego’s eyes widened. He and Luther both stood up quickly. Klaus helped you up. Your legs were still a bit shaky, but you tried not to let it show.

“FBI,” Derek said. The three of them showed their badges. Spencer was still staring at you. Emily and Derek were trying to focus on your brothers, but their eyes kept glancing at you every few seconds.

“Oh, maybe you know my sister-”

“Klaus,” Luther and Diego both interjected quickly.

“-my sister Allison,” Klaus corrected himself. “She’s very famous. Do you know of her?”

“Don’t worry, Klaus,” you said. “They’re on the BAU. Agents Derek Morgan and Emily Prentiss and Dr. Spencer Reid. My coworkers.” You looked awkwardly between the two groups. “And these are my siblings. It looks like you’ve met Vanya and Allison. This is Luther, Diego, and Klaus.”

It was very awkward watching your friends meet your siblings. These were two groups that were never supposed to meet. Derek quickly explained that they were going to look around the house and then talk to each of you individually. It seemed like their presence made your siblings remember why you all were mad at each other in the first place. Once Derek was done talkings, you all started to go off in your own way.

“Y/L/N,” Derek called, stopping you. You sighed and grabbed a bottle of some kind of fancy alcohol from the bar before going over to your friends. You ignored the looks when you took a drink directly from the bottle. You knew what they were going to try.

“We couldn’t say anything while the rest of your siblings were here, but we obviously know that you didn’t do anything, so-”

“Morgan, stop,” you said. You were suddenly so tired. What you wanted more than anything was to just be alone. You couldn’t deal with whatever angle the BAU was trying to play. “Yes, I was with you guys working a case when he died, but I could have helped plan it. I could be helping to cover it up. I could very easily be an accessory. Not that there’s anything to be an accessory to, but whatever. I know that the team has a job to do, but I don’t want to know what it is and I don’t want you playing games with me. I’m not here as a member of the BAU, but don’t try to establish a connection with me like I’m some random victim. I just want to get through this memorial and then get back to my life. So whenever you want to talk to me about why I hated my father and what I think about my siblings, I’ll be in the courtyard.”

Without a second glance, you walked away, grabbing a second bottle on your way out. This was certainly not how you expected the day to go. You sank to the ground once you reached the gazebo, taking another couple sips from a bottle. It was hard enough dealing with all of your siblings, but now you had to deal with the fact that your team was investigating your family.

Music started playing. Coming from Luther’s room, no doubt. He had done something to his record player when you were children so it played so loudly that you could hear it throughout the house. It drove you crazy when you were young, but now it made a small smile tug at your lips as you shook your head.

It was such a familiar occurrence when you were younger. An argument would break out during training or lessons. You all would go off on your own to cool down. Someone would start playing music or watching TV or playing a game. Normally the noise would cause someone to get even more mad. More often than not it was you yelling at Luther to turn down the music. It was one of the few things you and Diego always agreed on. There was something nice about it now though. Something familiar.

Another drink and you were on your feet, swaying slightly to the music. Before you knew it, you were dancing around the gazebo. It didn’t matter that your siblings were somewhere and might think that you were crazy if they saw you. It didn’t matter that your coworkers could walk out at any minute and would definitely think that you were crazy.

CRACK

Thunder started booming around you as a strange blue light grew. A temporal anomaly, if you had to guess. Maybe a black hole. You backed up quickly as the doors behind you opened and your siblings came rushing out.

“What is it?”

“Don’t get too close!”

You huddled together. Then, Klaus came running out and chucked a fire extinguisher into it.

“Well what’s that going to do?” you asked, pulling him away from the light. Some part of your brain registered your friends come running out too.

“I don’t know,” Klaus responded. “Do you have a better idea?”

You all watched in disbelief as a figure seemed to start emerging from the blue thing. An old man, but you didn’t recognize him. Before your eyes, his face began looking younger and younger until-

“Five?” you whispered in disbelief as the small figure dropped to the ground. As suddenly as it started, the thunder and blue light stopped.

“Does anyone else see little Number Five, or is that just me?” Klaus asked as you all moved closer to what appeared to be your missing brother.

Your brother’s explanations made more sense to you than they did to the rest of your siblings. From a young age, your father had decided that you were the smart one, so you knew all about his theories about time travel. You had tried to figure out yourself what had happened to Five after he disappeared, but you had never quite been able to fully wrap your head around the nuances of time travel. 

What made slightly less sense was how nonchalant Five was. Sure, he was 58 now, but he was also your brother who hadn’t seen you in years. Yet, he acted like he couldn’t care less that he was back with his family now. It made you think that there was something Five wasn’t telling you all. Part of you was tempted to press Five about it, but it wouldn’t do any good. Even as a child, Five had been stubborn. All of that time in the future would only have made him more so.

“Well,” Luther said as Five left the kitchen, “that was interesting.” Interesting was certainly one way to describe it.

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

“Y/N, why didn’t you tell us about your family?”

You regretted getting ready for the memorial so quickly. After changing into a different outfit because the one you had been wearing got dirty during the little fight earlier, you had gone to sit in the living room. That’s where Hotch had found you.

Apparently Derek had called him after they found out you were one of the Hargreeves siblings. Now you were sitting across from him in the living room. Spencer, Emily, and Derek were also perched around. You weren’t sure if they were all there because they felt like they needed to be close, or if they were just all curious.

“I didn’t think it mattered, Hotch.”

“You didn’t think it mattered?”

“If I had known that the team was going to investigate my father’s death, I would have told you before I left. It’s never affected a case before. I never thought it would.”

“You see anything wrong with using a false background to get into the FBI?” Hotch pushed.

“Everything from college onward is true. I use a fake last name and a fake childhood. I don’t think that really changes anything. I’ve still been a member of the BAU for years.”

“You realize that it looks bad that you didn’t tell us.”

“Hotch, I really thought that there would never be a need for anyone to know.”

“You didn’t think that we should know that you have powers?”

You sighed and rubbed your head tiredly before taking another few gulps from the bottle still clutched in your hand.

“Maybe you should take it easy on the booze,” Emily suggested cautiously.

“My father just died. I have to deal with my crazy siblings. And now I’m being questioned by my friends. I think I more than deserve this.” You didn’t drink much normally, even when the team went out together. Some part of your father’s “You must always be prepared for danger” teachings had stuck with you, despite your best efforts to forget them, so you knew it was alarming for your friends to see you drinking so much. It was only with your siblings that you allowed yourself to let go. That way if your father somehow appeared to lecture you, he would have to focus on all of your siblings rather than just you.

“I never told you guys about my power because it doesn’t affect how I do my work. Today was the first time I’ve used my powers in years. Besides when Klaus visits and I talk to Ben.”

“Ben?” Spencer asked. “Isn’t he dead?”

“Doesn’t matter.” You waved your hand to emphasize moving past it. Spencer’s brow stayed furrowed. “I’ve never used my power on a suspect. I know that you guys were talking about how reading someone’s mind would be helpful when interrogating a suspect, but I’ve never done that. I do my job just like the rest of you.”

You stared into Hotch’s eyes, forcing yourself not to break eye contact. You knew what he was wondering. What they were all wondering. It was another reason you never told them about your powers. It was bad enough growing up with your siblings always wondering. You didn’t want to have to deal with your coworkers not trusting you too.

“I’ve never read your mind either,” you said quietly. You glanced at Derek and Emily before your eyes landed on Spencer. “Any of you. I’d never do that. I wouldn’t invade your privacy like that.”

“We’ll need to speak more about this back at Quantico. I’m sure they’ll want to do an investigation about this. But let’s move on.”

“Your brother Diego said that your brother Luther thinks one of your siblings killed your father,” Derek said. You rolled your eyes. “You don’t agree?”

“No, I don’t. The coroner’s report says heart failure. It looks legit.”

“You’ve seen the coroner’s report?” Emily asked.

“Diego stole it from the coroner’s office,” you told her. “He does stuff like that sometimes. The point is, I looked over the scene. No forced entry. No sign of a struggle. Luther thinks that someone killed Dad because he doesn’t want to admit that Dad died because that would mean that he has to move on. If someone killed Dad, then there’s a new mission for The Umbrella Academy, so he can hold on for a little bit longer. The rest of us, except for Vanya kind of, have moved on. We have real lives. I bet none of us, except for Luther, even remember the last time we talked to our father.”

“It doesn’t sound like you think too highly of Luther,” Derek prodded.

You thought about it for a few seconds. There was no way that your friends could really understand what it was like for you all growing up like you had. “Luther is Number One. Dad never let him forget it, so Luther never let us forget it. Even now, when the rest of us have left the team and moved on, Luther still feels the need to act like Number One. I think it’s annoying. I always have. At first, maybe it was because I was jealous because I was ranked so low. Now, it’s because I just want him to grow up, get a life, and stop trying to control ours. We all deserve to be happy. I just wish Luther would realize that before it’s too late.”

“Is it normal for your siblings to speak for each other like you speak for them?”

“Dad valued us more as a unit than as individuals. When we were young we all spoke for each other because we really didn’t know that we were different people. As we got older and began to develop our own personalities, they all stopped. Growing up, I always spoke for my siblings because I knew how they felt. I spent as much time in their heads as I did in my own. I know how they think. I knew how they were feeling about everything. I haven’t read their minds in years, but I know what they thought. I can still guess what they’re thinking now.”

“Did your siblings ever resent your father for making you train on each other?” Hotch asked.

 You scoffed. The memories flashed in your head. The hand to hand combat. The agility courses. The survival training. The foreign languages. Everything. You were a master of martial arts by the time you were 6. You were fluent in 5 languages by the age of 4. You had a handful of PhDs by the time you were 13. 

“Of course. We were children being forced to fight against each other and with each other. We would have much rather been going to school and playing sports or doing anything normal kids do. He stole our childhoods, which is why we all left. He wouldn’t take our adulthoods too.”

“Y/N?” Allison stood in the doorway. “It’s time.”

“Except for today.” You stood slowly. You met your friends’ eyes one more time. “He’s taking today.”

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

Of course it was raining. You all filed out into the courtyard. Klaus had managed to find a clear umbrella somewhere. Very Klaus. Luther and Diego had both forgone umbrellas for some reason. You could sense your friends standing at a window, watching you all. You tried to reign your consciousness in, but it seemed like confining it to just your mind was too claustrophobic suddenly. It was like you had remembered what it had felt like to use your powers and now they wanted more room to stretch.

You would box it all back up in the back of your mind later. Reginald would have loved it though. Even from the grave he was influencing your life.

“Did something happen?” You felt a stab of worry at your mother’s question. It didn’t take a mindreader to know that Diego was lying when he said that she just needed to recharge. Leaving your mother here with just your father and Pogo had always made you feel guilty. As far as you knew, her whole purpose was to take care of you and your siblings. What would your father do if he no longer saw a use for her? And now that your father was gone, what would she do? She and Pogo were now without a purpose, as far as you knew. If she needed maintenance, who would fix her?

Those were questions for later though.

You watched as Luther poured your father’s ashes out. They landed in a pile on the ground. You nodded slightly as you stared at them. Even in death, your father was being difficult. No doubt he wanted your siblings to have to clean it up and do it again, but right this time.

“Probably would have been better with some wind,” Luther noted. You all stood around for a second, unsure of what to do next.

“Does anyone wish to speak?” You avoided eye contact with everyone else. You had nothing kind to say about your father, but you wouldn’t make a fuss now. Pogo sighed before he started to speak. It was strange listening to what Pogo said. Somehow, despite everything that Pogo had seen, he remained loyal to your father. You could feel Diego reaching the end of his string. “He leaves behind a complicated legacy-”

“He was a monster.” Diego said simply. Beside you, Klaus laughed. “He was a bad person and a worse father. The world’s better off without him.”

“Diego!” Allison interrupted.

“My name is Number Two.” That made Allison snap her mouth shut. She couldn’t argue that, to your father, you all were just numbers, ranked by how useful you were to him. “Look, you wanna pay your respects? Go ahead. But at least be honest about the kind of man that he was.”

“You should stop talking now.” Diego glared at Luther, who returned the look. Of course one fight wasn’t enough for them. There had to be another. You and Allison met eyes, silently agreeing to stay out of it.

“He had to ship you a million miles away.”

“Diego, stop talking.”

“That’s how much he couldn’t stand the sight of you.” Luther batted away the finger that was pushing into his chest before swinging at Diego. Allison rolled her eyes. Vanya guided your mother away from the two. Klaus tried to shield you and Five, but you both pushed him off. Pogo sighed and walked off as the blows increased in power. The door behind you opened. Probably your teammates coming out to make sure no one got killed.

“Hit him! Hit him!” Klaus cheered. He grabbed your hand and squeezed. You laughed and joined in his calls. “Five bucks on Luther.”

You considered the offer. As quick and strong as Diego was, he was no match for the new monkey Luther. “Ten bucks Diego pulls a knife pretty soon.”

“We don’t have time for this,” Five muttered. You almost followed him inside, wondering what he was talking about, but you weren’t going to miss the end of this fight.

Diego managed to dodge out of Luther’s way, causing Luther to knock over the statue of Ben that your father had made after his death.

“And there goes Ben’s statue,” Allison sighed, turning to go back inside.

“Good thing Ben’s not here to see that,” Klaus muttered to you. You frowned slightly, a little upset that Ben wasn’t there.

“Diego, no,” Vanya yelled when Diego pulled a knife out. You cheered as Klaus groaned. The knife sliced the edge of Luther’s sleeve. Nothing serious. Even now, Diego wouldn't want to actually injure Luther. The yelling behind you reminded you that your teammates were still there.

“You never know when to quit, do you?” Vanya asked Diego as she followed Luther inside.

“Got enough material for your sequel yet?” was Diego’s response.

“He was my father too.”

Diego looked at you as you sat on the bench next to Klaus. “She doesn’t understand.”

“I know,” you replied. You watched as he gently took your mother’s arm and led her back inside. Hopefully she would sit, recharge, and be good as new tomorrow.

Klaus stood and walked over the pile of ashes still sitting on the ground. You couldn’t hear what he said, but you saw him stick his cigarette into the pile before walking away. He threw an arm around your shoulders as you both turned to go inside.

Your teammates were still standing by the door, shock on their faces. “I hope you understand why I didn’t want to talk about all of this,” you said as you passed them.

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

The kitchen had always been your favorite room in the house. It was one place where your father never bothered to go. Naturally, it’s where you and Klaus sat to decompress from this awful day. Five rummaged through the shelves, muttering to himself occasionally.

Without Diego and Luther, you were able to exist together without the threat of an explosion. Even when Allison came in, the four of you managed to keep a civil conversation going. Granted, it was about the lack of coffee in the house. You had to agree with Five. It was a crime that your father banned coffee from the house. You basically lived on it since joining the BAU.

You would have gone with Five to get some coffee, but he had teleported out of the kitchen before you could say anything.

“All right. Guess I’ll see you guys in, what, ten years? When Pogo dies?” Diego said as he walked through the kitchen, a bag over his shoulder.

“Not if you die first,” Allison retorted.

“Yeah, love you too, sis,” he replied. “Good luck on your next film. Hope it turns out better than your marriage, huh?” Allison’s jaw clenched as she watched Diego leave, Klaus trailing behind him.

“I’m going with Diego. Want to come?” Klaus asked as he ran through the kitchen again.

You shook your head before letting it collapse onto the table. Alone in the kitchen, you yelled in frustration. Your perfectly falsified past was now ruined. When you returned to work, you would probably have a trial of some sort to determine how much trouble you were in. Worst of all, your friends might not trust you anymore. They would be worried constantly that you’re reading their minds. They had gone back to the local PD after the fight in the courtyard, so you hadn’t had to deal with them yet. By now, you were sure Penelope had already pulled everything about The Illusion and was in the process of putting your past together.

The ringing of the doorbell pulled you out of your self pity. You weren’t sure where anyone else still in the house was, so you decided to answer the door yourself.

“Reid,” you said in surprise as you pulled open the door. Spencer stood in front of you, alone. That was maybe a good sign. If they were going to arrest anyone, they wouldn't send Reid by himself.

“Hotch wanted me to tell you that we’re going to the DC. Jet leaves in 30 minutes if you want to come back with us.”

“God, yes,” you groaned. “I just need to grab my stuff. You can come in, if you want. Diego’s gone and I don’t know where Luther is, so there shouldn’t be any more fights.” Spencer stepped in slowly. His eyes were wide as they took everything in. It was probably different getting to see the house now that he wasn’t working. “You can stay here or come up with me.”

Spencer hesitated, obviously torn about what to do. 

“There’s some really cool artwork upstairs. I bet you can’t name it all,” you offered, smiling slightly. To your great relief, Spencer smiled back and followed you up the stairs. “I put my stuff in my old room. I wasn’t sure how long I would be here for, but it seems like we’re all leaving.”

Spencer slowed as you reached the paintings. It took you a second to realize why. You mom was sitting in her chair, wires coming out of her to connect her to the chair. “What-” he started to ask.

“She’s recharging,” you told him gently. Taking his hand, you led him past. “Bye, Mom,” you said softly. She didn’t respond.

“Your mom’s a robot,” Spencer said as you turned down the hallway toward your bedroom.

“Reginald made her to take care of us. Technically, I don’t know who my real mom is.” You opened the door to your bedroom. You watched Spencer take everything.

“I didn’t realize other kids were so interested in time travel growing up,” Spencer commented as he quickly read everything. An entire wall in your room was covered in everything you and your father had come with regarding time travel.

“I wanted to find out what happened to Five,” you told him. “It seems like I was surprisingly close, if I understand his explanation correctly.”

“Why,” Spencer hesitated, looking at you for confirmation to continue. You nodded. “Why doesn’t he have a name?”

“He disappeared before Mom named us.” Spencer’s shocked look almost made you laugh. Instead, you smiled sadly at your childhood room. “We were just numbers for a long time growing up. So really, Y/N is a fake name too. Just like Y/L/N.”

“Don’t say that,” Spencer said. He took your hands in his own, making you face him. “You are Y/N Y/L/N. Your childhood is just a little different than we thought. Based on what I saw today, I don’t really blame you.”

You laughed joylessly. “I hope everyone else is as understanding. I think I might have really screwed this all up.” Looking into Spencer’s eyes, you knew you weren’t just talking about your job.

“They’ll all come around. It might just take some time to get used to the fact that you’re a superhero.”

“I was a superhero. And not by choice,” you reminded him. You squeezed Spencer’s hands tightly. “I meant what I said earlier. I never read your mind. I’m not sure I’d be able to keep up with your thoughts anyway.”

Spencer smiled slightly. “I think everyone knows that you wouldn’t do that. We just have to get used to it. They all know that.”

“It’s really important to me that you know that.” You looked into Spencer’s eyes, trying to tell him what you couldn’t say the words for. You could basically see his brain moving at a million miles a minute.

“Y/N?” Allison was at the door. Spencer dropped your hands quickly and picked up your bag. Your sister looked between the two of you for a second. “Did Klaus leave? I was going to suggest getting some dinner.”

“Klaus left with Diego. He might be back soon. I doubt Diego lets him stick around for long. My team is headed back to DC, so I’m heading to the airport to meet them.”

Allison’s face fell slightly. You crossed the room to pull her into a hug. “You seriously have to come to DC sometime. I have a guest room. Whenever it’s not being used by Klaus or Diego, you can use it. If you see Five, tell him that he’s free to crash there too. I don’t know what his plans are, but I don’t think anyone will let him rent or buy any property. He is thirteen again.”

“I guess it’s just me and Luther,” Allison sighed. Your face automatically twisted into a grimace, causing Allison to blush and Spencer to look confused.

“Don’t get into any mischief,” you told her. “I’ll see you soon, hopefully.”

You led Spencer back through the house, reading to leave and go back to your normal life.

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

For the third time that morning, you contemplated taking Hotch up on the offer to take a couple more days off. They had already scheduled your trial for next week. Until then, you were stuck on desk duty. Hotch had suggested you take a few days off, but you had insisted on coming back immediately.

Yesterday already seemed like a bad dream. There was no way that half of your team had seen your childhood home the day before. No way that less than 12 hours ago you and Spencer had been standing in your childhood bedroom.

But then you would catch someone’s eyes on you and you were forced to accept that your secret was out. It seemed to have spread like wildfire through the whole FBI. There were people you never saw on this floor walking by multiple times, eyes on you the entire time. You’d think FBI agents could be more subtle.

The worst was how weird your teammates acted around you. Emily managed to act the most normal, probably because she could kind of relate thanks to her background with Interpol. But Derek could barely look at you, JJ kept starting to say something before stopping herself, and even Rossi seemed unsure about whether or not to give you any more pearls of Italian wisdom. Spencer’s eyes had been on you almost all morning. It was almost a relief when the rest of the team went into the briefing room, no doubt to go over your father’s death again. You had been told that there would be severe consequences if you even looked in the direction of anything pertaining to that case.

You heard a familiar sound, one that you had thought you would never hear again until yesterday. “This is a lot more boring than I thought the FBI would be.”

You turned to see Five leaning against a desk. “You need to get some new clothes,” you told him, eyeing the Umbrella Academy uniform he was still wearing. He rolled his eyes. “Did you talk to Allison?”

“Allison? No. I waited around your room at the house for a few hours, then Pogo told me that you left. I got some weird looks on the highway, but I made pretty good time.”

“Still haven’t managed long distance teleportation?”

“I just made it back here. The last thing I want is to end up on another continent or in a different year.”

“That’s fair. Well, I told Allison to tell you that my guest room is free if you need a place to stay while you figure everything out.”

“Actually, I need you to come back to the house with me.” 

You looked at Five incredulously, waiting for him to tell you he was joking. His face was serious though. “You’re joking.” He shook his head. “Why would I do that?”

Five sighed. He moved closer to you and lowered his voice so no one would be able to overhear. “There’s something big going on. I’ve decided that you’re the only one I can trust.”

“Why me?”

“Beause you’ll listen. You’ll believe me.” There was a look in Five’s eyes that frightened you a little. You saw it sometimes in very determined unsub’s. You saw it sometimes in the mirror. 

“Okay. But I get to bandage your arm while you do. I don’t want you dripping any more blood onto my desk.” Five nodded, so you pulled out a small first aid kit you kept in a drawer and began to clean the wound.

“When I jumped forward and got stuck in the future,” Five started, “do you know what I found?” You shook your head, your eyes flicking up to meet his while you worked. “Nothing.” You looked up sharply, your brows pulling together in confusion. “Aboslutely nothing. As far as I could tell, I was the last person alive. I never figured out what killed the human race, but I did find something else. The date it happens. The world ends in eight days, and I have no idea how to stop it.”

You breathed out sharply, your head spinning with the implication of what Five just told you. Your head moved to the briefing room as the door opened and Hotch stepped out. “Y/N? Everything all right?” He eyed Five’s arm, which still had some old blood on it. Your brother pulled his sleeve down quickly.

“Everything’s fine,” you lied. “I think I will take those extra days off, though. I’m going to go back with my brother.” Hotch nodded and went back into the briefing room. Everyone turned to look at you, so you waved slightly.

“There’s some coffee in the break room. It’s not the best, but it’s better than nothing and I think we’re going to need a lot of coffee,” you told Five.

“You’re coming with me?” You nodded. “And you didn’t tell them about what I saw.”

“Do you want me to?”

“They would just think I’m crazy.”

“Probably.”

“But you don’t?” You considered it for a second. It would be much easier to just brush off Five’s warning as the ramblings of a crazy person, but you knew your brother. You shook your head. “Did you look already?”

“I don’t need to see your memories to know you’re telling the truth,” you told him. “Let’s go.” You packed up your stuff and began to head out when you turned back around for another look at your friends. If this was the end of the world, then…

You forced yourself to stop thinking like that as you caught Spencer’s eyes through the glass. You gave him a small smile, but you couldn’t stop the tears that welled up as you took your last look at him.

“Y/N, wait.” You paused by the elevators as Spencer came rushing out. “What’s wrong? Are you okay?”

“I’ll go start the car,” Five said, slipping into the elevator and leaving you with Spencer.

“Nothing’s wrong,” you said thickly, tears still threatening to spill out. “I’m just really going to miss you guys. Especially you, Spencer.”

“Miss us? You’re not leaving forever. It’s just a few days, right? This isn’t goodbye.” Spencer’s face was concerned as he studied you. He glanced back at the rest of the team, probably wondering if he should warn them that you were acting strange.

“It’s just a few days,” you agreed. Eight days to be exact. “It’s just, between my family stuff and the trial, I’m just not sure what’s going to happen.”

“Everything’s going to be fine,” Spencer insisted. He grabbed your arm gently, like he was trying to hold you there.

“But just in case it’s not, there’s something you need to know.” You took a deep breath before taking Spencer’s face in your hands. “I love you, Spencer Reid. I love going to all of your niche activities. I love listening to you talk about subjects that interest you. I love how kind you are. I love you.”

A tear slipped out of your eyes as Spencer looked at you in shock.

“I have to go now,” you said hoarsely. “I just needed you to know that.”

You pressed the button for the elevator, but before the doors could open, Spencer took your face in his hands and pressed his lips to yours. You kissed Spencer until you heard the elevator ding behind you. You pulled away sadly, aware that there was a good chance that would be your first and last kiss with Spencer. The smile on Spencer’s face broke your heart. He couldn’t know that it was a goodbye kiss.

“I love you too,” he breathed as you stepped into the elevator. You let the tears fall freely as the doors closed between you two.

At least, no matter what happened with the apocalypse, you knew that Spencer Reid loved you back.

[queerbutstillhere]

Damian never really intended to make an announcement to his family about his courtship with Jonathan Kent.

He had, of course, asked the Kryptonian permission to court his son, and the teens mother, but he never addressed the situation to his own father. It simply wasn't necessary. Bruce never asked his consent on the dozens of women he had dated since Damian arrived, why should Damian ask him? Besides. He had an excellent judge of character, and everyone who had ever met Jon knew he was the purest person alive. He knew Damian's background and his current life, and never judged him for it. He was, in a word, perfect.

Jon had assumed Damian told his family, and with most the Wayne's and their various extended relations off on their own missions and agendas, no one ever saw them together doing anything that wasn't passed off as best friend stuff. So Jon never questioned it. He trusted, and assumed, his boyfriend has told his family members.

Only he hadn't. He had just deemed it irrelevant and then after a while, it never came up.

For three years.

They had moved in together, Jon's freshman year of college. Damian had moved to Metropolis, removing himself from Wayne Enterprises, from Batco, from everything. He made a name for himself without them, got a very nice job in Metropolis as vice president of a very well to do research company, moved into a huge loft apartment with his boyfriend and learned to live in the sun. Everyone in his family just accepted it. They never questioned the two, knowing they were "best friends" and it was only logical for the two to move in together, since they were "best friends" and knew each other's nightly activities.

It wasn't a far stretch for people, specifically the Metropolis Police, to figure out that the new masked vigilante who had suddenly appeared in Metropolis one night and started investigating crimes the police couldn't figure out was one of Batman's birds. Especially with the prior Robin, a muscular adult male, disappearing and briefly being replaced by thin teenage girl. But they soon learned that Damian was more then his past, as everyone else did.

A year or so after they had moved in together, they were planning to get married. They hadn't tried to surprise propose to each other, it would be nearly impossible, what with Damian being able to read Jon like a bold font newspaper, and Jon having super senses, and knowing Damian better then anyone else in the world. They had a talk about it over dinner, agreeing that they were ready to be wed. They briefly discussed it with the Kent's, who were overjoyed, and not a month after, sent wedding invitations.

It wasn't until a week later, they were laying in bed after a long day patrolling when Damian heard a thump. It had come from downstairs, in their living room. Jon grumbled and sat up, clearly having been on the verge of sleep.

"Its your dad," Jon stated, standing and reaching for a pair of pants.

"What does he want? He never comes to Metropolis anymore."

"Dunno. Maybe he has complaints about our wedding venue."

Damian was pulling on a shirt when he remembered.

"Oh."

"Oh?" Jon looked over, mussing up his wet hair.

Footsteps were coming up the stairs.

"Ah ha."

"Babe, what's wrong?" Jon asked, clearly concerned.

"It occurs to me. . . ." Damian said gently, knowing how Jon would react. "I may have neglected to inform my family that we were dating."

Jon's jaw dropped, eyes almost bulging out of his skull.

"We've been dating for four years!" He screeched in horror.

"Yes. I am aware," Damian said dryly, moving towards the door.

"How did you not tell them!?!"

"It never came up, and they're surprisingly oblivious."

"Holy shit, your dad is gonna kill me. And your brothers and your aunt and- oh my God."

Damian rolled his eyes.

"Calm down, Habibi, I'm not going to let anyone touch you, not this close to our wedding."

He pulled open the door and walked out, meeting the Batman at the top of the stairs.

"Father."

"Damian."

He glanced behind Bruce to spot his latest ward, the blonde haired teen looking around the apartment in amazement.

"Can I help you?" Damian asked, tilting his head to the left slightly.

He heard Jon walking over, and a hand gently touched the small of his back. Bruce reached up, pulling off his cowl, eyes flickering over the both of them.

"Can we talk?"

"Of course."

Damian brushed past his father easily on the wide industrial style stairs, jogging down the metal steps and heading to the kitchen.

"Lacey," he greeted with a nod, passing the teen now wearing the Robin uniform.

"Hi," she breathed out.

Damian went to the kitchen, starting a kettle of water boiling.

"Your siblings are on their way."

"I expected no less."

"Oh god," Jon whined, Damian looked up to see him standing at the bottom of the stairs, a hand in his hair.

Damian rolled his eyes and simply adjusted for the additional company, getting out more tea cups, as well as starting the coffee pot.

An awkward silence settled over the room, and then one by one, his siblings filed into the apartment until the sofas were full and everyone had a steaming hot mug in hand. Jon stalked over, looking anxious and snagged Damian's hand, pulling him to the furthest corner, the one that held their small round dining table that overlooked the city.

"You're not fucking with me, you never told them?" Jon hissed.

"No."

"Why not."

"It slipped my mind, and you never asked me about it."

"I assumed you had told them or they already knew! They're detectives!"

Damian shrugged. "Well, I never told them, and with our decision to keep our relationship out of the public eye, it was probably never suspected. After all, we were best friends first."

"You're telling them. I can't handle this."

Damian hummed, lightly patting his fiance's cheek.

"You'll be fine. Go sit down."

Jon obeyed, snagging his cup of tea and walking away, slumping in his armchair. Damian followed, lightly sitting on the arm of Jon's chair, looking at each of his family members, only nine of the surprisingly large bunch. Duke seemed the most amused by this situation. Lacey, the new Robin, seemed a little intimidated by being in a room with all her predecessors.

"What is the matter, then?" Damian asked finally.

"Tim?" Bruce said, looking at his third child.

The vigilante stood, reaching into a pocket and producing an envelope folded in half. He held it out to Damian, who took it, pretending he didn't know what it was, as if he hadn't designed the entire thing and would be able to recognize it on the spot. Jon gave a tiny whimper, letting his head fall on Damian's side.

"Oh quit," Damian muttered, smacking the man's knee.

He pulled the invitation out, eyes scanning over it quickly, looking for defects in the soft blue over white card. Of course there were none, he smile fondly, he had loved the design the moment it was in his hands and he still did. The invitation was well worn from having lived in Drake's belt, and he was sure it had been looked at many a times.

"And?" He said, looking up. "If you are all unable to make the date, im sure we can arrange for another time."

Jason busted out laughing, then swore as he spilled coffee in his lap.

"Don't get coffee on my sofa, Todd," Damian commented, passing the invitation back to Tim.

"Damian." Bruce was clearly displeased.

Damian arched an eyebrow.

"This is real?" Dick asked, motioning at the invitation which had been set on the coffee table.

"Why would we send out a fake wedding invitation."

"Oh, maybe because no one except Alfred knew you two were even dating!" Stephanie exclaimed.

"Oh so you did tell someone."

"Ah. No. . . I didn't. Alfred is just far more observant then everyone else."

Jon laughed bitterly and shook his head, sipping his tea.

"Damian. Explain."

"I mean, how long have you two?" Barbara motioned at them vaguely.

"Four years," Damian answered easily.

They all rightfully looked shocked.

"And you never told us?!" Dick hissed, offended.

"I didn't see that it would matter much, I wasn't dating him for your approval, and still do not need it. He never mentioned it so I never remembered to address it. You should be more disappointed in yourselves that you never figured it out in four years."

"I knew," Cassandra said finally. "Saw how you acted."

Damian nodded while Dick whirled on her, scolding her for not bringing it up. Bruce was just watching them, a mask of curiosity replacing his cowl, then he turned his gaze to Jon.

"Did your parents know?"

"From day one," the Kryptonian responded, an arm sliding around Damian's hips.

Bruce scoffed and shook his head.

"I can't believe this. Four years?!?" Jason exclaimed, looking shocked.

"I mean, its really not that surprising if you think about it," Duke inputted.

"All the signs we missed!" Tim bemoaned, slumping into his seat.

They all continued making comments and talking over each other. Damian and Jon sighed, looking at each other.

"Children," Bruce snapped and everyone went silent, looking up at the one common factor this ragtag group. Well, except for Jon. He was here for another Wayne. "Were you ever going to tell us?"

"We did." Damian gestured at the invitation.

"How the hell did you forget that you hadn't told us?" Tim asked.

"I got busy."

Jason snorted, looking away, mouthing some sarcastic comment. Damian ignored him.

"It was not an intentional act, to leave you clueless for so long. I simply forgot, to the point where I didn't even remember that you didn't know. So when we sent out the invitations I didn't think twice about it."

They didn't seem to know what to say to that, Jon finally inputted.

"I really thought he had told you, or I assumed he would, which is why I never brought it up either. We wanted to keep our relationship away from the public, and I guess you guys accidentally became a part of that group."

A little giggle came from Lacey, and everyone looked at her.

"I'm sorry, I think this is just really funny," she said. "Damian, I think its lovely that you're getting married, congratulations, mazel tov, live long and prosper and all that."

Damian felt himself smiling slightly, something he did a lot these days.

"Thank you, Lacey."

She giggled lightly, looking down as she tried to stiffle her laughs and still her shaking shoulders.

One by one, the rest of the family gave their congratulations, though still dumbfounded by the news, and made their way out, off the balcony. Bruce and Lacey were the last to leave, and he sent the teen out to wait for him.

"Damian. . . " He said with a sigh, glancing at Jon.

Damian felt something like anger, protectiveness, bubble up in him. He knew his fathers opinions of metas. He often shared them, but Jon. Jon was something else.

"Father, I'm marrying him. With or without your approval."

Jon's hand squeezed his hip.

Bruce sighed again, shaking his head.

"That's not it, Damian. You don't have to rush to be defensive all the time. I just wish you would've told me, I would have supported you the whole time, and I will from this moment on."

Damian nodded. Jon's hand moved to his back, pushing until Damian took the hint and stood. Bruce was standing at the edge of the sofa, looking at his son. Jon's foot kicked his ankle. Damian sighed and walked closer, and when Bruce moved to hug him, he wrapped his arms around his father's back. Bruce hugged him for a moment before pulling away, giving a sad smile.

"All my boys are so grown up," he murmured softly, reaching up to pat Damian's head like he was a toddler.

Then he looked past Damian at Jon. "I don't need to tell you what will happen if you hurt him."

"If I hurt him, I shall well and truly deserve it."

Bruce nodded, satisfied. He turned and walked towards the balcony.

"Damian, I love you. And if you need anything, you know you can call."

"I know, Father."

Bruce turned, tightly shutting the balcony door behind him. Damian sighed and turned back to Jon.

"Well, they know, and no one tried to kill you, satisfied?"

"Oh, no, I'm terrified that I'll wake up tomorrow with a chunk of Kryptonite in my face, but," Jon shrugged, standing and beginning to gather abandoned mugs.

"You're dramatic."

Silently, they cleaned up and then turned off lights, heading back to bed. Jon laid down and watched Damian move around, fussing with a few things in their room for a bit before finally calming and turning off the light. He came and laid down, facing his fiance.

"I love you, Damian."

"And I you, Habibi."

Jon hummed, rolling over and stretching, kissing Damian softly. In a months time they'd be husband's, and neither one could imagine life any other way. Damian secretly believed, if such things were true, they were soulmates, destined to always be lovers in every universe and timeline. He would, of course, never say this out loud, but he could think it, and he would.

[nobody-wants-ice-cream]

Everything Wrong With The Umbrella Academy. Episode 3, Extra Ordinary.

We Only See Each Other at Weddings and Funerals

Run Boy Run

Usual disclaimer: This is all in good fun! I wanted to do a really nitpicky re-watch of the series and found some really cool and interesting things I didn’t notice before. This is meant to have a Cinema Sins-esque tone. However, I did take off a lot more sins than Cinema Sins would have because I do genuinely like the series and the people that made it possible. So all of the good things got one sin off and all the bad things got one sin added. This is a really long post, so grab some popcorn. If there’s anything that I missed, feel free to add it!

Vanya was clearly about to sell her violin. She looked dejected and sad and was detached from her violin case. This is in character for Vanya on her pills, who must have decided that she wasn’t good enough at one point. Sin for putting Vanya through trauma. +1

The Umbrella Academy comics are priced weirdly. The one on the right is $25.00 and the one on the left is $15.00. What makes the one on the right more expensive? It even says on the cover that the one on the right was supposed to be $0.50. So why the inflation? Taking a closer look, all six heroes are on the cover, so it’s not that either of them are pre-Five leaving and therefore more expensive because Five is on both of them. Though, the one on the right does have a picture of Luther, Diego, Allison, Klaus, Ben, and Reginald under where it says that the comic is 50 cents. To make a long rant short, the comics that Vanya looks at in the pawn shop window are confusing. +1

However, Gabriel Ba’s art. -1

The strange lack of technology means that Vanya’s book was written on a typewriter. +1

Vanya needed 6 pencils to write her book with. These are maybe supposed to symbolize Vanya’s 6 siblings, in which case, interesting detail, but still. Six pencils. As opposed to one pencil and a pencil sharpener? Why all the tools Vanya? +1

The six pencils (with two pointer up) symbolize Vanya’s six siblings, two of which turned around since the siblings they are supposed to represent (Five and Ben) are no longer around. -1

Vanya’s dying houseplant. Water that! +1

Vanya collects another houseplant and it looks relatively healthy. -1

The messy table garbage still has the same plate and same crumpled papers/napkins in the same position. Either Vanya was super lazy, or the set designer/director was. +1

Vanya replaced the dying houseplant with the fresh one. Poor houseplant. I will mourn you. +1

“Lost Woman” has some really on the nose lyrics. Playing the phrase “lonely woman” before Vanya starts narrating her book is ridiculously on the nose. +1

However, “Lost Woman” happens to be one of my favorite tracks from the series. -1

Luther should be part ape in this scene, (as it takes place five years ago, not seven), but he looks completely normal. This is a massive continuity error so I’m adding two sins. +2

“Starved for attention” is the line Vanya narrates over Allison reading it. On. The. Nose. +1

Diego is so pissed off at Vanya that he tapes her likeness to a punching bag and punches it. You know, like a rational adult. +1

Klaus is wearing birkenstocks and burgundy capris. +1

Also, Ben and Klaus work together to read a book. -1

But I have to ask, why did the rehab let Klaus read during group therapy. And shush his dead brother’s ghost. +1

Ben is pissed off by the line “and haunted by what might have been.” On the nose. +1

Five reads the harsh line “we all wanted to be loved by a man incapable of giving love” while next to Dolores, who is also incapable of giving love because she is a mannequin. Also, Five reads this book, full of vitriol and hate, as the last connection he has to his siblings, at age thirteen. +2

Reginald doesn’t read the book that his daughter wrote. As usual, Reggie is a dick to Vanya. +1

Vanya’s reaction to being late to rehearsal is so relatable. I swear I have done this a thousand times as a musician. -1

The Netflix captions (yes I watch with captions) say “Chamber music playing”. They have a conductor. +1

The conductor has the character of all conductors. Dick. +1

Vanya isn’t vibrating when the rest of the orchestra is. Late or not, you still need to follow the concertmaster, Vanya. +1

The rainy weather matching Vanya’s stormy mood. Foreshadowing. -1

Badass umbrella title screen. -1

However, why are all those people stopping in the street? It’s raining, get to where you’re going! +1

Allison and Luther watch the tape where Reggie dies over and over. This is weird, even if they are trying to figure out if Grace killed him. Who would want to watch someone die over and over? Not even I want to replay Reggie dying, and I genuinely hate him. +1

Luther says that Reggie thought people were out to get him. On the first watch, the audience can chalk this up to Reggie being a paranoid old man, however on the second watch we know that the Commission exists and that Reggie is probably not from this world. So either of those groups could have been out to get him. But who? This remains a sin until they explain it. +1

Training posters in the kitchen. The kitchen! Really, Reggie. +1

There’s this weird caterpillar thing with a face behind Grace in this scene. What the hell is that? +1

There was also a radio in the kitchen, which implies that Reggie either let them listen to tunes, or had training cassettes the same way he had training records. Either way, what the hell, Reggie? +1

There is a ridiculous amount of light sources in this one room. +1

Grace has a cactus full of toothpicks or skewers by the stove. Cute art project, whichever kid but likely Diego based on his fascination with pointy things. -1

The “your father was a great man” speech. Poor Grace. +1

Jordan Clare Robbins is an excellent actress. -1

Smiley face made of two eggs and a strip of bacon. -1

Diego doesn’t understand the chain of custody regarding evidence. Patch says that if he touches a piece of evidence, she can’t use it in her case. How many murderers have walked free because of Diego? +1

Hazel and Cha Cha use bullets from 1963. Dallas foreshadowing? Remains a sin until season two confirms the Dallas plot. +1

These bullets were found on the random local hires Five killed at Griddy’s. Why does the Commission use bullets from the early 60’s? Isn’t that a big red flag to their time organization? +1

Patch indulges Diego the Vigilante by asking for his help. You’re a police officer, you got this, Patch. Also, this foreshadows her death when she does things his way and gets killed for it.  +1

Diego tells Patch to investigate Five. Oh, the irony. +1

“I do give a shit” is such a weird line to try to portray as romantic with the music, tone, and lighting, show. +1

Beeman, unprofessionally, brings up the fact that Patch and Diego used to date while at a crime scene. +1

Vanya washes her hands for two seconds and then goes to talk to Helen. Almost like that was the real reason why she was in there. +1

Vanya attempts to compliment Helen Cho, who is overall, not interested. Is this Vanya’s repressed way of flirting? Pick a better time.+1

Seriously, what is with Vanya and starting conversations at the absolute worst time. It’s like she wants to get insulted. +1

No way in hell would one professional musician to another be this bitchy, Helen Cho. +1

Helen straight up calls Vanya talentless. What an awful thing to say! +1

She softens, as if she just gave Vanya legitimate career advice, but she didn’t. She really just insulted the time and effort Vanya put into her instrument. As a musician, I can confirm that what Helen just said is the equivalent of saying something really, really nasty. Tumblr hate anons have nothing on what Helen just said. +3

Vanya takes a pill after being called talentless. Pill foreshadowing. -1

Cha Cha uses a curling iron to cauterise the wound Five gave her from the shovel. Where did the curling iron come from? +1

“The entire fate of the universe” oh Hazel. Thanks for the irony. +1

How did no one in the history of this shady motel notice the hidden panel? You would think at least one person attempting to have shower sex or someone cleaning or  someone doing matinence should have noticed that, right? +1

Five stitches up his wound by himself despite the fact that multiple people are in the house that are capable. He’s going to pull a few of those based on the angle. Also, Five didn’t bother to clean the blood off his arm, so who knows if he bothered to sterilize the needle or his hands or anything. +1

The wound on Cha Cha and the wound on Five are eerily similar. However, what makes them interesting is that Cha Cha decided to cauterize where Five decided to stitch. Both are decent methods, but Cha Cha’s way is going to leave severe permanent scarring and Five’s way might heal. This could foreshadow the way they treat the end of the world. Cha Cha wants to end it, Five wants to fix it. Maybe not Cha Cha herself, but she does represent the Commission and their ideals. She is a stickler for their rules and uses her last moments to try to call them and get rescued. Point is. This is an English teacher moment full of symbolism, and I respect the show for this choice. -1

Billy the Choo Choo bandages. First of all, Five can never get away from the childishness of his current form. Second of all, Reggie let Five have “Billy the Choo Choo” licenced bandages??? +1

Or, Five chose to buy/steal these bandages. +1

Five puts a clean, white uniform shirt over blood that he still hasn’t cleaned up. At this point, that has got to be uncomfortably sticky. +1

Five didn’t bother to clean his wound until morning. “I guess I’ll go to sleep and bleed”???+1

Or, it took Five several hours to get the supplies. Bullshit. No way in hell did Reggie not have those supplies lying around. +1

Five still chooses to wear the full uniform ensemble even though he could at the very least get rid of the tie. +1

The teleporting kid gets the fire escape bedroom. It’s like Reggie was begging Five to sneak out of the house. +1

Dumpster Bagel: Do Not Eat. +1

“I’m done funding your drug habit” you never did in the first place? You didn’t pay him at all for that magnificent acting?? Unless Five did this before he left the mansion, in which case, Five funded Klaus’s drug habit. +1

Justin Min looks so incredibly creepy sitting on the dumpster. He has such a blank expression. Also, when did he move from the fire escape? +1

“I love you. Even if you can’t love yourself!” is a great line. -1

When Five drives away in the stolen van, he passes an absolutely bewildered guy. How the hell did Five function as an assassin? He can’t do subtlety. This contradicts “I know how to do everything”. +1

Was Aidan Gallagher actually driving in this scene? Because it kind of looks like the way a beginner would drive. This also contradicts “I know how to do everything” +1

There’s a lady passing Meritech that actually chose to wear a baby pink fedora. M’costume. +1

Five left his wife stuck in a bag and didn’t remember her. +1

He also left a bottle of some clear liquor on top of her. +1

“This is the place that it was made. Or will be made.” The delivery on this line was kinda bad. +1

Allison used her power on Claire. Claire was three years old. No matter which way you slice it, this is the shittiest thing Allison has ever done. She’s working on it, but the fact that it happened deserves a sin. +1

Emmy Raver-Lampman is a kick ass actress. -1

Allison has the most warranted case of impostor syndrome ever. Sin off because this is the one of the few scenes where two characters actually talk about their emotions. -1

Luther and Allison had that conversation sitting ridiculously far apart. +1

Leonard’s shop is called “Imperial Woodwares” Apparently, he delivers as well. How did Leonard get the business and woodworking skills necessary for running a relatively successful shop while in prison? +1

Leonard somehow knows that Vanya’s orchestra (which rehearses and performs in the Icarus Theatre) is far from Bricktown. At this point, he shouldn’t know that unless that is the only orchestra in the entire city. There is no way that that is the only orchestra in the entire city. +1

Leonard took up wood carving in prison. Is that allowed? +1

If a guy you just met makes a wood carving in your likeness you should run. Run like hell. Get a restraining order. That is so creepy. Obvious villain is obvious. +1

Also, I once read a fanfic (The Moon Laughs by Lady_Origami on ao3 https://archiveofourown.org/works/17959847/chapters/42417584) where a character is kidnaped by Leonard and tortured in this backroom where he’s showing Vanya the creepy statue. I can see where the inspiration came from. This back room has “place to keep the person I kidnaped and torture them” vibes.+1

Leonard stayed up all night to make the creepy woodcarving. He then insists that Vanya take it. And Vanya doesn’t recognize the creepy vibes. +1

And she does take it! +1

Leonard says that he made the carving for her and that she inspired him. Obvious manipulation is obvious.  +1

Leonard is a dick to Vanya by using Allison’s successful career. +1

Leonard doesn’t like the Beatles. +1

Why did Allison go to Bricktown to find Vanya when that is nowhere near the theatre or Vanya’s apartment? Was she just wandering around hoping to find Vanya? +1

Allison is the Queen of actually talking out her thoughts and feelings. She just apologized to Vanya and explained why she was so angry in the last episode. Well done. I respect that. -1

Allison and Vanya sisterly bonding. -1

Five sees children playing and then immediately starts having an apocalypse flashback. This shows that Five lost his childhood as soon as he time traveled to the apocalypse. I’m sad now. +1

Aidan Gallagher plays this really well. -1

If you look closely, you can see Five/Aidan Gallagher laughing at Luther/Tom Hopper because he can’t fit in the van. I can’t tell if Five is laughing at Luther or if Aidan is laughing at Tom. Either way, that slaps. -1

However, corpsing. +1

No one has written Klaus/Dolores fanfic yet. They really hit it off in the van, y’all. +1

Five throws an empty can at Klaus for messing with Dolores. +1

Klaus’s expression after Five says “does it matter, it’s Klaus.” Sinning because Five is a dick to Klaus. +1

“Did I ever tell you about the time I tried to wax my ass with chocolate pudding. It was so painful.” I love this line. God bless Robert Sheehan. -1

Aidan Gallagher contemplates this line then starts corpsing. I don’t blame him. I’ve been trying to figure out how that would be possible too. -1

How can you use chocolate pudding to wax any hair? +1

Aidan Gallagher laughs at this line, meaning Five found this funny, but didn’t want to give Klaus the satisfaction of laughing. +1

Luther and Five are dicks to Klaus. They kicked him out of the van! Assholes. +1

Luther is sort of trying to connect with Five, but he fails miserably because it comes out really condescending. +1

“I don’t think that I’m better than you, Number One. I know I am.” Hubris much, Five? +1

Luther is already sick of Five’s “I’m better than you, I’ve done things you couldn’t comprehend” schtick and Five has only been back for three days. And we make fun of Luther’s moon thing. We get it, Five, you’re a badass. Actions speak louder than words, old man. +1

On the side of the Variety Store Klaus steals from is a billboard for Clever Crisp Cereal, which is the cereal that  Reggie invented in the comics. I guess he did that here too. -1

Also, Klaus steals from the Variety Store and drops everything while running away. Why did you steal so much shit if you knew you were going to drop it all Klaus? +1

Ben’s reaction to this buffoonery must have been hilarious. Sinning the show for not showing us that. +1

“Now I’m starting to wonder if that was the wisest decision.” What? Kicking Klaus out of the van or Klaus deciding to rob the store? Because both were pretty stupid. +1

Does Agnes own Griddy’s? +1

Agnes just gave some valuable baking tips when it comes to doughnuts. Thanks, Agnes. -1

Agnes and Hazel are really cute together. -1

The Hazel and Agnes theme is my favorite instrumental piece from the whole show. -1

There are still bullet holes in the walls. Attention to detail! -1

Hazel and Cha Cha pretend to be social workers or private detectives concerned for Five’s well being. Oh, the irony. +1

“I mean who lets a kid get a tattoo” Reginald Hargreeves. That’s who. +12

Agnes is indignant about Five’s tattoo, citing his age. This whole episode has a ridiculous amount of irony. +1

Agnes draws the umbrella tattoo a bit too perfectly for someone who only saw it once and at the wrong angle. +1

Diego straight up threatens Luther at knifepoint. +1

This family meeting is a complete shitshow. +1

The monocle is likely to become a s2 plotpoint because Diego put it in a place where anyone could take it. If you’ve read the comics, you know why I think that’s important, but I won’t spoil it for anyone who hasn’t. Either way, that was a dumb way to dispose of the monocle, Diego. +1

Diego is a dick to Vanya until she agrees with him. +1

They are legitimately talking about killing their mother. What the fuck. +1

Klaus references the van when only Luther, Five, and presumably Ben know about it. This makes no sense. +1

Votes to kill Mom: Luther, Allison, Ben +3

Klaus hisses at Ben and no one thinks this is weird. +1

Grace definitely heard Luther and Allison voting to kill her. After she made them breakfast too! Luther and Allison are dicks in this scene. (And so is Ben but Grace couldn’t hear him.) +2

Grace tries to prove her worth by making cookies. Fuck Luther, Allison, and Ben for voting to turn her off. +3

Diego and Vanya actually have a civil conversation. Well done for doing the bare minimum, Diego? -1

Vanya’s pills suggest that she was friendlier with Diego at some point. +1

Pogo for sure saw that whole thing and he saw Vanya take the pills. Dr. Complicit. +1

Reginald is a total soccer mom in Diego’s flashback scenes. This amuses me. -1

However, Reginald raised six child soldiers as “crime deterrents” so +6

Luther is casually working out in his bedroom while the mission alarm is going off. +1

“Where’s my knives” was a phrase Diego practiced. Also, Diego would never lose his knives. +1

Vanya’s room is a fucking closet. +1

“Thank you, Mother” Dante Albidone is a treasure. -1

“Boys will be boys” this is the only time that phrase is acceptable. When you’re putting out a fire your son caused for no reason. -1

“You did it! I’m so proud of you!” -1

Reginald interrupts this. +2

Diego’s flashbacks were very unorganized, which makes sense. This is probably several years worth of mission flashbacks. -1

“It’s okay if you hated him” “I would understand if you wanted to hurt him”-2

David Castaneda and Jordan Claire Robbins nailed this scene. Two kick ass actors being incredible. -1

Did Five really sit there all day with no breaks? +1

Five is arguing with Dolores and losing. She is a manifestation of his subconscious. And she is winning this argument. +1

Aidan Gallagher looked directly into the camera. We made eye contact. It was weird. +1

Lance straight up sells those illegal prosthetics where anyone could see it. Lance is an idiot. +1

Agnes’s drawing led Hazel and Cha Cha to the Academy. +1

Cha Cha left the window down in the car. +1

Would that air thing actually work? If it wouldn’t then sin on Reggie for getting cheap locks. If it would, sin on me for not getting better locks sooner. +1

Hazel and Cha Cha don’t have their masks on. What if somebody saw them? +1

The portrait of Five comes back to bite the Academy in the ass. Why haven’t they gotten rid of it? Five has been back for three days. +1

Klaus has black nail polish on his toes. -1

No way in hell is Klaus able to have his eyes open in a soapy bathtub. +1

The ghosts are creepy. Sin because Klaus is traumatized. +1

“We’re Through” by the Hollies is one of my favorite songs to play on guitar. It’s a decent coffee shop piece and I like playing it live. Thank you show, for helping me discover it. -1

Klaus is taking a bath with the door open. +1

Luther has been eating his Wheaties, Cha Cha. If you call experimental ape drugs, Wheaties. +1

Luther describing sunrise on the moon. I like this bit of writing. -1

Where were Hazel and Cha Cha keeping their guns and masks? Special pockets? +1

Diego is the only person who could possibly bring knives to a gun fight and win. Diego is a badass. -1

Hazel and Cha Cha continue to have stormtrooper aim. There are so many times when either could have shot Diego, but magically miss because Diego has plot armor. +1

Reginald’s portrait gets shot though. Right in some lethal areas. This amuses me. -1

Grace is so out of it she doesn’t notice heavy gunfire. Reggie, you suck. +1

“Who the hell are these guys?”/”Who the hell are these people?” +1

Diego, Luther and Allison just saved your ass. Less arguing, more fighting the crazy people. +1

Reggie keeps convenient weapons everywhere like they’re lamps. +1

Vanya is still in the Academy hours after the meeting, and she doesn’t think to hide during all this crazy gunfire and fighting. Sigh. +1

Seriously, it’s like she’s trying to get killed. +1

But she doesn’t because she has plot armor. +1

“Hey, asshole” goes back to Five’s “hey, assholes” from episode one. So did Luther learn that from Five, did Five learn that from Luther, or did Reggie decide that that was an acceptable phrase to teach his children? I lowkey want to write all three in a crackfic. Nice. -1

Vanya probably has a concussion. Otherwise, she would have attempted to run, right? Please tell me she isn’t that stupid. +1

You know that b99 meme where shit is going down and Gina is just chilling with her headphones. Yeah. That. Klaus, get some situational awareness, please. Also, what are these magic noise cancelling headphones that can block out the sound of gunfire and where can I buy them? +1

Allison, I understand why you don’t want to rumor anyone, but your life is literally in danger. I think you can forgive yourself if you rumor Hazel and Cha Cha into not killing you and your family. +1

“You wanna rumor this psycho?” “I don’t need to because this bitch just pissed me off” These are both horrible lines. I can’t tell if it’s because of the writers or because of the actors, but both of these lines are genuinely terrible. +1

“We just want the boy”. Nice comics reference, Cha Cha. -1

Diego doesn’t attempt to fight Cha Cha and give Allison the upper hand. He just sort of stands there. What the hell, Diego? +1

And when he does fight her, he doesn’t use any long range weapons. Diego, this is your house. I’m assuming you know where the knife drawer is? +1

Ben attempts to give Klaus privacy. In this situation. That’s a sin. I would risk seeing my brother’s naked body if it meant he wouldn’t be shot. Just sayin’, Ben. Get all up in his face. Put your ghost hands through his head. Get his attention! +1

Luther and Hazel can go hand to hand as equals and the show never addresses why. +1

Vanya really is that stupid. There are plenty of doors. And the fire escape from Five’s room. Vanya, run!+1

Luther had plenty of time to get out of the way of the chandaller. Why didn’t he shove his siblings and follow one of them? The motion would have made sense. +1

This ape reveal makes no sense. It would have worked in episode one, but it’s weird in episode 3. Why didn’t they reveal this to the audience earlier? +1

The dinosaur footprint sound effect. +1

Why didn’t Vanya and Allison hear Grace humming? Also, why didn’t anyone hear Hazel and Cha Cha breaking in. It was established in episode one that there is no soundproofing. +1

Grace is cross stitching the moon exploding. Foreshadowing. -1

She is pulling the needle through her own hand though. +1

Who gave Grace that nice bracelet? That’s so adorable. -1

Diego killed his own mother. +1

However, it is a mercy kill. Who knows what Luther or Allison would have done to her if they had found out how screwed up Grace was. I’m really conflicted about this scene. On one hand, fridging, on the other, it makes sense. Therefore, it’s a wash. -1

What is this magic cloth that Allison gives Vanya to mop up the blood and where can I get it? Seriously, it cleans up blood ridiculously well. To the point where it doesn’t look like Vanya’s been injured. +1

Diego takes out his anger/sadness/frustration on Vanya. Also, Diego would be excellent at cinema sins. Vanya could have been killed and she was stupid to stay, but there is no reason to raise your voice at her like that, Diego. +1

“She is a liability”. And you are an asshole. Diego just said that line to Allison as if Vanya wasn’t even there. As if she was just some inanimate burden. Fuck Diego for this line. +1

Allison doesn’t even attempt to defend Vanya. Even if Diego made a good point, there is no reason to let him get away with that kind of emotional abuse. +1

The show kind of addresses Luther’s body image issues, but doesn’t let him talk about it. +1

When did Vanya get Leonard’s address? +1

“I didn’t know where else to go”. Home perhaps? To your apartment? And not into the arms of creepy Leonard? +1

Hazel and Cha Cha didn’t discuss what to do if shit went sideways. No wonder Five was better than them. +1

When would Hazel have kidnaped Klaus? We don’t see it happen so we should just assume that Klaus appeared there magically? +1

Hazel and Cha Cha have FRC 891 as a licence plate. Neverending Chaos. Google FRC 891 Umbrella Academy. -1

Overall Review:

I forgot just how important episode three really is. Here we learn just how harmful Vanya’s book was, that Vanya is in an orchestra, and more about Leonard. This episode carves out who Vanya is as a character before Leonard sinks his claws into her. We can see the effects of the pills on her ability to connect with others and her ability to play the violin. 

We also get a lot from the other characters. The Claire reveal is a big one for Allison. So is the ape reveal for Luther, even if it should have happened two episodes ago. 

As for acting shout outs, Emmy Raver-Lampman and Jordan Claire Robbins killed it in this episode. I can’t wait to see more of Emmy in s2 and I really hope that Jordan will return. 

There was some excellent use of irony in this episode. Like a lot of irony. What killed me was the Griddy’s scene. Hazel and Cha Cha pretending to care about Five’s well being so they can murder him and Agnes being indignant about someone as young as Five getting a tattoo is just amazing. 

As for plot things, this was really a Vanya-centric episode. It establishes a lot of things about her, which makes the twist at the end even more obvious. This is not my first, second, or even third rewatch, so I know what’s coming, but how did I not see it before? When I first watched it I thought that Five was the main character and that Vanya was a self-insert. Looking back, I can see that Five and Vanya had pretty equal backstory and screen time given to them. You could make the argument that they are the main characters. You could even argue that they’re the primary protagonist and antagonist, but to be frank, that discussion should be saved for episode 10. 

Total: 133

Sentence: Eating a dumpster bagel. 

[akimmito]

Heroes are made by the path they choose

First | Previous | AO3 | Next 

Master List

Chapter 11

It's not the MT

Silent Hill: Nightwing and Robin have gone to Paris.

It’s a Nara: Do you know their motives? We are not aware of any crime or related crime network between Gotham and Paris

Silent Hill: Red Hood told them about the MT

Almost pretty: Corvus should pay him a visit and shoot him in the knee

Three balls: with real bullets

Plasticine: or a rocket launcher

Wild goat: Can I go? So I can test my confetti grenades

Silent Hill: I think that sense of humor fits in well with Gotham

Needle: With the rogues

Olive: I totally approve of any kind of aggression against the nosy man

Great mother: If you do something illegal, make sure no one knows it was you

Almost pretty: the boss has spoken

Divine gift: It’s my duty to remind you that you must be investigating, if the foreign watchers have affairs with us, we will know in due course. Let's not do anything rash.

It’s a Nara: He’s right. I'm going to check the security cameras for any sign of them… Is Nightwing wearing his own outfit or did he come as Batman?

Silent Hill: Batman can't leave Gotham

The Antibiotic: Do you think if I get on a roof I can get a Nightwing autograph?

Wild goat: If you get on it, maybe Byakko accidentally shoves you into the void

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

Marinette sighs as she watches the group chat, foreign vigilantes while she and Felix have plans to get out of Paris, just wonderful, but she can't stop to think about it. She must first speak to Damian and then prepare for her travel.

She's heading towards her son's room, she can hear the little barking of the puppies as she gets closer. Adult dogs are used to sleeping in a room set up for them, except for Ícaro, the Australian Shepherd, who likes to sleep with Damian when he visits (which means that there will now be five dogs in that room, alongside Picatso, Dafne prefers to sleep with she). She knocks on the door and before long, he opens it, wearing only his pajama bottoms because his shirt is being used as a bed by Ringo.

"Is something wrong, mother?" Damian opens the door completely for her to enter, ignoring, for the moment, his previous fight against the cubs for his kidnapped shirt.

"Yeah... Tomorrow I will go on a trip with Felix, we will go to Turkey."

"Why?"

"Oh well, it's... there's a prodigy in Turkey and it seems like a demon wants it, so we'll find it before it becomes a problem." She explains, she was about to tell him about John, but with her out of the country, there was nothing to prevent him from discovering his identity and she doesn't know what could happen for his small Machiavellian head.

Marinette loves her child, but she can't quite predict it right now. Luka, a divine gift for her, explained that Damian doesn't want to be taken away from her and that he fears that someone external can achieve it, that he desperately clings to the only person who loves him for what he is and that if they take him away from him add more weight, separate he from his new family; that she represents his whole world. He also explained that it will take a while for him to get used to receiving people outside the MT, especially if they seem to show interest in she and that after Michel Laforet, well, the boy doesn't have a good impression of men. Although he showed bewilderment about his reaction for his two new clients, since he was openly hostile and he could not give him a definitive answer, but that he would analyze his behavior to help him go through the process he's living.

"I see... why don't you take me, mother? Am I not good enough to accompany you on your missions?" She sighs to see his hurt look and sits on the sofa in the room, inviting him to sit next to her, he immediately obeys and sits down, allowing himself to be embraced by his mother.

"It has nothing to do with anyone's abilities, if it did, it will lead other team members not only to Felix." She explains, beginning to pat her son's head, looking up at the ceiling as she decides to explain herself better and be totally honest with Damian. "When I founded the MT, I had been working alone with Felix for a while we were looking for evidence to convict Gabriel Agreste once and for all, we found so many charges that the prosecution would have a field day in the case... so that our victory was bitter because someone stole the butterfly brooch..."

"Mother, why are you telling me that? I know the story. ”He interrupts, not understanding Marinette's intentions.

"I know, you know the origin, but not the process." She responds with a nostalgic smile. "We spent half a year locked up cursing the person who dared to steal the Miraculous and realized that, as heroes, we could not hunt it without attracting attention... Hence the first idea of the MT arose and we founded it officially a week after the last Gabriel's trial, along with Kagami and Tomoe, who joined Luka soon after. Adrien decided not to be an active part of everything, but he became an unofficial member a year later because of his desire to find Nathalie's murderer, becoming an informant and investigator, everything that we could not take, he did it by getting a job modeling in the city where I was supposed to go. "

Damian did not know that, he believed that Agreste was affiliated with the MT just because he was previously one of the heroes, but, considering that not all the old Miraculous wearers are related, he should have considered another possibility (especially since the old wearers still wield a prodigy and he doesn't). He credits him for his commitment and intelligence to have a reason to go to those places, that also explains why he has been modeling for so many brands (some very strange ones like a brand of sardines with yellow peppers, he still remembers the jokes in the chat about his sardine costume).

"After we had an initial team in place, we started building our local network and expanding it using my grandmother Gina's connections, before long we were up and running and took Tomoe's recommendation to build a stronger team, in part for our work and so that the prodigies would have more places to be transferred… Each person who associates with the MT and proves to be loyal, receives the tattoo of the guardians. "Damian goes away to see his mother, that is something that he didn't know,  why? "That is why everyone knows magic, although not everyone is compatible..."

"Why don't I have it?"

"Because I wanted you to have options, not because you are my son and part of the MT means that you must bear that responsibility. I took you out of an organization where you were against your will… I wasn't going to put you in another, that's why we didn't introduce you to training until you asked for it. "Damian doesn't know what to say, is she taking his decisions into consideration? Does he want to be part of it in the same way as the others? He doesn't know, because he doesn't know what it means to be a guardian, but if he ask, his mother is sure to explain and give him all the time he need to make a decision.

"Why are you telling me now?" It's the only thing he can ask, he doesn't understand how conversation came to that.

"Because it's one of the reasons I am not taking you to Turkey." He understands, that is a job for them as guardians and he's not one, it should be obvious, but he still feels displaced. "The other is directly related to the history of the MT... I learned to work with Felix, we both know what to do and we don't stop, we create our own system over the years. We have had our difficulties, like four years ago in Liverpool, but here we are... And we just need to learn to coordinate us, for you. "

Marinette draws him back into her hug, this time placing a kiss on his head.

"What is the reason for the nicknames in the chat?"The question surprises Marinette, he was complaining about it, especially since his is Olive.

"Protect the identities of informants affiliated with the MT, that is, those who received a tattoo, but who are not part of the official registry."

"Is your lover one of those?"

Marinette smiles in amusement, of course her child would start tying up dots. Taking into account that they are traveling almost unexpectedly (he knows when it's so and it not a planned one, because she would have warned him in time) and for that to happen he must have found out very recently, that is, the day before and that day was see to John.

"Yup... And I won't tell you what his code name is." He just clicks his tongue, there are four users whose identity he doesn't know: God Shit, Not in Hell, Guardian Angel and Silent Hill. It could be any one of them, but he's noticed that Silent Hill maybe a girl, so he dismisses it. Returning to the users, only one is active, the others have not spoken to date, despite the fact that they are registered and that makes it more difficult... especially since man is related to magic, the occult and those things, hardly he can dismiss one and only because he's sure Guardian Angel is too bright for someone he know deals with demons, leaving him with the last two.

"I'll find out eventually. "He declares and Marinette knows it's true, one way or another he will. She hoped that didn't imply any international problem, considering that John lives in England.

"I know." She hugs him tighter before releasing him. "I wish it lasted longer, but I have to finish packing... Rest, Damian. I will come in the morning to say goodbye, I love you. "

Marinette gets up, but not before leaving another kiss on her son's head and then leaving the room.

Damian watches her go and his head begins to form a plan to take advantage of his mother's departure.

He will find the lover and question him (he will also threaten him a lot).

----------

Marie L. @MarieLenoir

It's always a pleasure to contribute to a good cause. Istanbul wait for us.

Chloe B. @BourgeoisQueen

I also want to travel, how unfair it's to be trapped in Paris

Dick Grayson @TheFlyingGrayson

The vigilantes of this city feel very happy or maybe Batman is too gloomy

Roy @RoyHarperQ

@TheFlyingGrayson Probably, although Green Arrow can be very gloomy when he wants

Jason @IAmYisus_XD

@TheFylingGrayson yes, well, it's that Batman is the living reflection of Gotham... gloomy and a piece of shit

-------

Damian gets up early and rushes into his mother's room to get Plagg out and talk to him, the night before he placed an order for various types of gourmet cheeses and his beloved Camembert cheese (specifically Camembert from Normandy), to please the more exotic tastes of the little god (especially since he has money that he doesn't use and has been accumulating for too long and this was a strategic move for information).

He takes him to his room, Longg is already awake and looks at him without much surprise, deciding to ignore the situation, knowing that he's a boy on a mission, the best thing to do is wait and advise him in a timely manner.

"Plagg, I need you to tell me the name of my mother's lover."

"Boy, as much as you want to say it, I won't betray... What's that?" The little cat asks noticing that the computer screen is on a website that he knows well, that's where Marinette asks for some cheese on occasion.

"That is the cheese order I made for you, if you tell me the name, of course, otherwise, I will cancel... All those cheeses that mother only allows you to eat once every three months, lost by a man." Damian smiles when he sees the excitement shining in Plagg's green eyes, he is sure he will say him.

"Did you ask for Camembert?"

"The original, Camembert of Normandy. "

Plagg is in conflict, so many delicious cheeses at his fingertips.

"When you get back from Turkey, they'll be here waiting for you." Damian keeps pushing for the name, he needs to know it, and besides Felix, Plagg is the only one who knows him and the little god is easier to convince. "You just have to give me a name. "

"FINE! Don't torture me, boy. "

"So?"

"John Constantine, blond, out of the same hell. You will recognize him immediately, he never quits the damn cigarette. I don't know how Marinette enjoys being with him, it's all the unpleasantness of humans combined in the same man. ”Plagg says wearily. "I better see those cheeses when I get back or I'll cry with Marinette about how cruel you were to me. "

"I think we all know that's impossible." Longg intervenes from his location, away from both of them. He watches with a little amusement the interaction of both, he knows that to obtain that Plagg decides to cooperate normally requires less moral methods. "It would be more credible that you were cruel to my dragon. "

"I can use blackmail, however, you're warned, boy. I can also cause nightmares. ”Plagg leaves the room to give his warning, returning to Marinette.

Damian smiles and goes back to bed satisfied, waiting for his mother to say goodbye and to plan how he will get to that man to talk. He pulls out his phone and starts checking group chats, Not the MT is always one of the most active, although Let's save Adrien is also usually enough active when they plan crazy and ridiculous ways to get rid of Lila Rossi, Adrien's wife.  Among the most extreme forms is sending her to hell or offering her as a sacrifice to some ancient god in America, although he knows that they will not do that, because only his mother can and she doesn't approve (she also scared them telling her about how everything can go wrong and condemn them all to hell, no one ever mentioned it again later.)

After a while finishing reviewing all the conversation that followed about the vigilantes and as the other heroes they know or admire got sidetracked, he leaves his phone aside and lets Picatso jump on him purring happy to be petted, the puppies seem they share the idea and they also get into bed... the best they can, although their jumping skills leave a lot to be desired, at least they are creative dogs.

Several minutes later, after feeling sorry for Ringo and putting him to bed, Marinette, completely groomed, gives him a funny but affectionate look before fully entering and sitting on the bed.

"Felix will be here soon, do you want to have breakfast with me before I leave?"

"Of course, mother."

She smiles and takes Titus in her arms to carry him with her, Damian takes Ringo when he gets up and Milo jumps out of bed to go after them, with Picatso following close behind. Ícaro continues sleeping.

-----

Bruce Wayne is Batman

I can jump from eighth floor and survive: Who changed the name of the chat?

I'll rest when I die: The same one that changed our names ... at least it's right

Hell rejected me : I think it gives us more personality than our names

I can jump from eighth floor and survive: Ok?

I can jump from eighth floor and survive: So! Since we will spend several days in Paris, I thought it would be good to wait a little to see the routes without them knowing about our presence

Hell rejected me: So yeah you are going to show up

I’ll rest when I die: It seems so, although from what I discovered patrols take turns in pairs or trios, last night only the sighting of Byakko and Genbu was recorded.

I’ll rest when I die: And last night it was Pyxis and Caelum

Nothing escapes me: They must have a very well protected base of operations, perhaps magic, I identified a network that connects all of Paris, but not the source

Nothing escapes me: I deciphered the accessible code, but it's incomplete. I don't think I can go any further

I can jump from eighth floor and survive: That only tells us how competent they are, I think we can get to know them and not meddle more in their affairs

Hell rejected me: Considering that all your interest is sexual, yep it's posible

I'm not Batman: What are you talking about?

--------

Max is not usually frustrated much, he has had to develop his patience and mental strength to solve the problems he encounters, but among the attempt to find the source of the MT by an unknown hacker (although if he must guess it must be related to the bats) and appreciates the magical defenses that only allow just a bit to crack all the code, just the general parts that don't show anything from the entire system. Of course, he could hack back and issue fixed, preventing him from trying again, but his priority is developing a new algorithm for butterfly detection, the old one was unfortunate when tested with one of Duusu's feathers (being that they share the same characteristics).

He has not slept the last twenty-four hours and is beginning to resent, but he must wait for Marc's arrival to be able to drop into one of the beds at the base for a little nap, if someone else comes with him, much better, so they can check all manual while he rests.

With Marinette and Felix going on a trip, it's inevitable that the leadership will fall into the hands of Chloe, who seems ready to go to war at the first hint of the butterfly (also Kagami, but she's leaving more ready to go on a murder mission).

This is not how he thought everything would go, they had seven years of preparation and at the moment of truth, none of them really knows which direction to take. Marinette and Felix are very determined to analyze the whole situation from a general perspective, looking at each variable and, while he agree, most of the team seems to want to just go after the thief and take away the jewel, without fully considering that this new villain's way of acting is much more lethal, his Akuma are well thought out to generate problems for them if they make any mistakes, as happened with the last attack if it wasn't for the second chance they would have lost (Luka explained what happened).

"Good morning..." Marc comes in yawning, his hair totally disheveled and still wearing his pajama bottoms, but with a dark blue sweatshirt on. He decided to sleep at the headquarters the night before to facilitate his arrival, in the same way Luka and Alix, because their work schedules allow it (advantages of being their own boss).

"Good morning, today you can dedicate yourself to review the surveillance cameras... although so far none have caught the butterfly."

"Okay, I'll check."

"I'll leave you then, I'll go to sleep... will you wake me up when breakfast is served?" Max gets up from his chair and feels his bones creak with movement, resentful at his disuse.

"Sure." He smiles sleepily and adjusts himself to the vacant post, ready to manually check each camera, starting with the ones closest to the last Akuma and starting to rewind to, perhaps, identify something.

He spends about three hours like this, watching the video tapes of at least four cameras from where the Akuma originated, noting that the butterfly is arriving and then the giant rhomb is present, but when he looks for the route... he only loses it, as if it had just appeared near the victim's residence.

There are multiple cameras in that area, but there are still blind points, if someone knows the exact location, they should be able to position themselves in those places. Could it be that the new villain was close to his future victim? Will he live there or did he decide to run to the place? If it's the latter, it makes him bolder than Gabriel, that's for sure, but it should make him more sloppy and still they are unable to find a clue.

According to Max, who was reviewing footage, the first Akuma came out of nowhere. No camera records the butterfly that should have come from somewhere.

So for him there are only two viable alternatives and neither is positive for his research.

Still, the possibilities are various and he can only guess the villain's line of thought.

[itawonka-creates]

Seabourne Burnouts: Part 11 - Scuttlebutt

A Maribat! On Deck AU

Thank you @particularlygeeky for beta reading and for the chapter name idea!

Start [Here] [Part 10] [Part 12]

“I’m telling you, this is where he’s been this whole time.” Adrien looked back at Max and Markov and sent them a shrug. Alya just rolled her eyes as she peered around the corner. She relaxed and waved her hand, “Come on, coast clear.”

Max quietly followed his two friends and asked, “Alya, where exactly are we going?”

“Alya thinks Bruce Wayne is Batman and is trying to figure out why he was gone for such a long time.” Adrien looked back, a rare serious expression on his face, “I don’t think she’s wrong either. Something’s up with them.”

Markov flew up to Adrien and examined him, “Aren’t you friends? According to my data over the last 12 days, you all seemed close.”

Adrien smiled, “Oh, they’re the best. Dick, Jason, and Tim are awesome to hang out with and Damian is treating Marinette really well!”

Max blinked, surprised, “Are they together?”

“If they aren’t by the end of this trip, I’m going to have Ladybug lock them up together like she did with me and Nino.” Alya sent back a coy smirk before peering around the next corner and pointing, “That room should be the one.”

“And how do we know Bruce isn’t in there right now?”

Alya held up her phone, “I got Nino sending me updates while he hangs with the bros.”

Adrien grinned, “Hanging with ‘the bros’? Alya, we’re finally rubbing off on you.”

Alya blinked a few times before glaring at the model. Max and Markov just laughed quietly as they made their way to the door. Alya jiggled it a few times, “Locked.”

“Now what, oh great detective?”

“May I?” Alya motioned for Markov to proceed with whatever plan he has cooked up in his digital brain and Max was just surprised to see his little friend take the lead. Markov brought out something similar to a Swiss Army knife, different tools all on display as he analyzed the lock. He put all but two tools away and began working on the lock. Alya looked back at Max and smiled, “So he can pick locks now?”

Max shrugged, “He likes learning new things. Comes in handy when I forget my house keys.” Adrien chuckled and shook his head as he watched the little robot work. Suddenly there was a click and the door cracked open. Markov pulled back and looked pleased with himself.

Adrien held out a fist, “Nice job!” The little robot was happy to bump fists as the four walked inside the room. Alya closed the door behind them and turned on the light. “Oh, this isn’t suspicious.” Adrien looked around the room and noted a few things, there were some office chairs and a large circular table. All pretty standard until you took into account the large supercomputer taking up the farthest wall away from the door.

Max immediately ran over to the computer and whistled, “This is incredible. How do you even get this on a boat?”

“More importantly, why does he need this on a boat?” Alya took a few pictures before pressing the space key. The monitor lit up and everyone stared at the line requiring a password. Alya scowled, “Markov, Max, you think you could help?”

Max and Markov looked at each other before Markov plugged himself into the computer and Max pulled up a chair. “Give us a few minutes.” Alya smiled and gave them both a quick hug and pecks on the cheek and display monitor, surprising the two for a second before they returned to work.

“You guys are the best.”

“Hey, Alya?” Alya turned back to Adrien who held up a stuffed folder from a nearby drawer. Alya walked over and Adrien opened the file. The two looked through the photos of Paris’s resident heroes as well as very detailed reports of different Akuma attacks.

“Hey, that’s Rena Rouge. Carapace and Queen Bee too.” Adrien set the file on the table and Alya began looking through the photos. “Queen Bee and-“ her breath hitched and Adrien peered over her shoulder to look at the photo. He was shocked to see the photo of the core five fighting against Hawkmoth on the Eifel Tower.

“This is from Heroes Day.”

“Look there.” Alya point behind Hawkmoth, “Isn’t that the first Amok?”

“Yeah, it is.” Adrien looked through the reports and found details such as first sightings, hair color, eye color, appeared race and ethnicity, appeared age range, and much more. He found details on their powers and fighting styles. On almost all of them, he found the same line of text. “Appears to be a novice in both fighting styles and control of power. May be children.” 

Adrien looked over his and Ladybug’s reports, “Two most seasoned out of the heroes. Always active. Patrol frequently. Appear to be close, but no romantic relationship noted besides light banter from Cat Noir. Most likely in early adolescence when beginning hero work. Do not appear to know each other’s identities.” He bit his lip at the different photos of him and his teammates.

Alya furrowed her eyebrows, “How did they get these? Some of these aren’t even on the Ladyblog.” Adrien licked his lips and ran his fingers through his hair. The two felt their anxiety spike the more information they uncovered in the documents. “Who are they?”

Adrien turned his attention to some pictures of Pegasus, Viperion, and King Monkey along with a few other rare heroes. “These are heroes Ladybug rarely uses. I mean, they have to be if you don’t recognize them.” Alya took some photos of the files on her phone and Adrien felt his heart racing, “How did-“

“We’re in.” The two quickly turned to Max and Markov and watched the monitor blew up in different windows, all displaying different videos and reports. “What is all of this?”

Adrien gathered all the files together and held them under his arm as he walked over to the computer. He looked at all the windows before pointing at one of them, “Expand that one.” Max clicked on the window and it showed the image of a hallway, “Press play.”

They were shocked to watch footage of the raid, men storming the halls and causing mayhem. Alya paused it and minimized the window before clicking on a different one. She pressed the play button and watched as Damian and Marinette narrowly escaped some of the raiders passing through a hallway. Adrien gulped audibly, not realizing how close of a call it was for his two friends. Alya minimized the window and clicked on one more window. She found herself looking at her own blog.

Adrien shook his head and licked his lips, “Alya-“

“This is it.” Alya let out a nervous laugh, “This is it. This is the evidence I’ve been looking for.”

Markov shook his head, “We’ll need something more substantial than this if you are going to accuse a man of being a famous vigilante.”

Adrien grabbed the mouse, “What’s this one?” He expanded the window and they all found themselves looking at an image of the raiders in cells. He hesitantly pushed play and they watched as the raiders disappeared in a black and purple haze, leaving behind two boys. One was injured in his leg and police suddenly stormed the cell.

“Adrien, that’s-”

“What’s going on here?” The four all turned to the doorway and found a very stern looking Bruce standing in the doorway, arms crossed. While he didn’t yell, nor did he make a move towards them, the four flinched.

Alya looked at her phone, realizing it was on ‘Do Not Disturb’ and completely missing all of Nino’s messages. She gulped and stepped up first, “Why didn’t you tell us the raiders were Akumas?”

Bruce blinked and uncrossed his arms, “What?”

“The raiders.” Alya turned back to the computer to rewind the video and played back the moment they disappeared. She paused it when the black and purple haze covered the screen and then brought back up her Ladyblog. She pulled up a video of a former Akuma and forwarded the video to the part where Ladybug captured the Akuma. The monster was covered in a purple and black haze before being turned back to normal. She pulled up the two videos side by side and pressed play on both windows. The room fell silent as they realized the haze was the exact same in both videos. Bruce walked up to the monitor and replayed both clips a few times as if to make sure what he was seeing was real.

Bruce turned to the kids, “One, you are all in big trouble. You are not allowed in this area and you clearly broke in as this door is always locked.” The kids all looked at each other nervously before turning their attention back to Bruce. He sighed, “Two, you are all going to help me in my investigation.”

The group blinked before Adrien shook his head, “What?”

“I thought this was a computer glitch, but clearly this is out of my depth of knowledge. I don’t know much about what’s going on in Paris, but you three clearly do.” He pointed at Alya, “Especially you.”

Alya gulped and nodded. She bit her lip before finally asking meekly, “So it’s true?” Bruce didn’t say anything, instead turning his attention back to the monitor. Alya smiled and laughed quietly, “Oh, Tim owes me so much.”

Bruce sighed, “Yes. Yes, he does.” He turned to the four and then locked his attention to Alya, “No one can know. I know you are a reporter and this is asking to go against everything you stand for, but no one can know.”

Alya held up her hands in surrender and shook her head, “No way. Gotham is crazy dangerous. This evidence is to prove to Tim and to myself that I am a good reporter and investigator. None of this information is leaving this ship.” She smiled and giggled, “Besides, when Marinette and Damian get married, I don’t want to have you glaring at me from across the room during the wedding.”

Bruce cracked a smile before he returned to a stoic expression, “That goes for you two boys as well.”

Adrien placed a hand on Max’s shoulder and gave it a small squeeze, “Bruce, we would never.” He sighed and his expression was grim, “Over the past few years, we’ve all accumulated secrets. One’s we’ll take to the grave.”

Bruce blinked, this boy has done nothing but smile and look at the bright side of things whenever they’ve interacted. To see him so serious and so tired made him feel an even greater sense of urgency to figure out what was going on in Paris. Bruce moved to log off of the computer before Alya grabbed his arm, “Wait!” She moved one of the windows up to the center of the screen and they realized it was a live feed of one of the security cameras. She narrowed her eyes, “Is that-”

Bruce watched in disbelief along with the other kids in the room as his youngest and the girl of honor walked together down the halls, unusually close and attention solely on each other. “You know when Dick told me they were close, I didn’t think they were that close.”

“They’re close, but something’s different.” She hesitated turning on the sound, but ultimately rose the volume.

“-e’s not picking up.” Marinette groaned, “I just want to get this over with.”

“Considering we can’t find my brothers either, they’re probably all hanging out together.” He rubbed his neck and flinched.

Marinette looked him over and frowned, “I’m sorry, we should’ve-”

“Don’t apologize.” Damian rolled his head and smiled at her, “It was nice.” She returned the smile and the two leaned into each other.

A quick kiss between the two and Alya screeched, “SHE DIDN’T TELL ME!”

All the males in the room flinched and Markov just flittered around happily, “How sweet!”

Bruce turned to Adrien who just shrugged and stepped slowly away from the panting reporter, “Alya, she just said she was looking for us. She’s probably looking for us to tell us.”

Alya snarled, “NO! We have a code! If she were to ever get a boyfriend she needs to text me ‘Code Pink’ and I was supposed to march over and interrogate the guy. That’s been our plan since she was still crushing on you!”

Max pointed at her phone, “Did you check your messages?”

“Of course I-” She stopped and then frantically looked through her phone. Sure enough, a message from Marinette reading ‘Code Pink. Please don’t freak out too bad!’ She took a deep breath and nodded, “Okay. Okay, I missed the message. I won’t kill them.” She turned to Bruce and wagged her finger in his face, “Me and you are discussing this later, Bats. Right now, I’ve got to have a few words with your son.” She ran out of the room and the remaining three uttered apologizes before chasing after her.

He paused before he felt his phone vibrate and he answered the call, “Yes.”

Dick chuckled, “Nino was following you because of Alya. Jason and Tim are distracting him with some rhythm games in the arcade now. What was Alya doing?”

Bruce sighed, “Tell Tim he owes her an apology and some praise.”

Dick went silent for a few moments before scoffing, “You’re kidding.”

“I wish. First Tim figures me out and now a bunch of French teenagers? This is getting ridiculous.”

“Not your fault she’s just as stubborn as Tim.” Dick sighed, “So what now?”

“Right now, you’ll want to go look for Damian. He was last seen on the floor above you roaming through the halls.”

Dick sounded confused, “Why?”

“Alya may kill him.”

“Do I want to know why?”

“Let’s just say we saw something very interesting on the camera feed.” Dick didn’t respond and Bruce rolled his eyes, “Trust me, you’ll want to see this.”

Dick groaned and nodded, “Okay. Okay. Sure. We’ll talk later.” Dick turned back to his brothers and Nino playing a few games. He walked over and motioned for them to come follow him, “Come on, we got to go save Damian.”

Tim’s eyebrows furrowed, “What? Why?”

“Apparently Alya’s going to kill him.”

Nino blinked and pulled away from the game, “Why?”

“Don’t know, but Bruce said we wouldn’t want to miss this.” Jason shrugged and the three followed Dick as he led them upstairs. As they walked through the halls they could hear Alya yelling.

Nino made a face before running in front of the group, following her voice until he found Adrien and Max standing in between Alya, Damian, and Marinette. Nino could tell she wasn’t really angry, but she was feeling something intense. “Alya?”

Alya turned to the four and then made a grand gesture to Damian and Marinette, “Can you believe these two? Unbelievable! You are so lucky Chloe wasn’t with me otherwise we’d kick your-”

“As much as I love seeing Damian being yelled at, what is going on?” Jason’s voice cut through the commotion and the two teens in question flinched. The three brothers were slightly unnerved, Damian rarely flinched. Marinette poked her head out from behind Damian and waved nervously, “Marinette?”

“Um, well-” She looked to Damian for help and then suddenly pushed him forward, “You tell them. They’re your brothers.”

Damian glared at her before turning to his brothers and rubbing the back of his neck. “It would seem that our relationship has evolved.” His cheeks seemed to get the slightest hint of pink and Tim was the first to break the silence.

“No way, you actually did it? You actually got yourself a girlfriend?” The three brothers looked at each other before grinning and lunging at their brother.

Jason got Damian in a headlock and started messing with his hair, “We’re so proud of you! Seriously, who knew you had a heart!”

Damian growled and pulled out the headlock only to be jumped by Dick, “You’re growing up! You finally found love!”

Before Damian could say anything back Tim grabbed his shoulders and looked him dead in the eyes, “You are Damian, right? Not some weird clone Talia made?”

“IF YOU DON’T LET GO I WILL KILL ALL OF YOU!” Damian thrashed around in their grips and got nowhere as they continued to tease him until Dick felt a tap on his shoulder.

Dick turned to a very concerned looking Marinette, “I would prefer he’s in one piece, please.”

She lit up bright red when Dick picked her up with almost no effort, “You’re magic you know that!”

She sent Damian a look of uncertainty and laughed nervously, “Um, I also met Kory. She’s really nice!” The three brothers froze and Damian took the chance to get out of their grips. He walked over and helped Marinette down from Dick’s hold and pulled her closer to him. She gulped, “Did I say something wrong?”

Tim narrowed his eyes at Damian, “Who else did she meet?”

“She met the team.”

“So-”

“She knows.”

Before either Jason or Tim could say anything Dick spoke up, “Apparently she’s not the only one who knows.” Dick motioned to Alya and she stood, hands on her hips, proud and smirking at Tim.

Tim’s eyes widened, “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

Nino looked between the groups and smiled at Alya, “Dude! You were right!”

Marinette and Damian snapped their heads to Alya, “Right about Bruce?”

Alya nodded and high fived Nino as he ran over, “Heck yeah!” She nudged Max and Adrien, “These two helped me.”

“Max?” Marinette looked apologetic, “Oh, Max I’m sorry you got roped into this.”

“Honestly, this is going to be the highlight of this whole vacation. I mean, I’m helping the great big bat with an Akuma investigation!”

Damian narrowed his eyes at the boy, “What investigation?”

Alya and Adrien looked between each other before Adrien stepped up, “Marinette, the raiders that night were Akumas. We saw the police footage, they disappear exactly the same way Akumas do after Ladybug releases the butterfly.” He could tell gears were beginning to turn in her head, “Marinette-”

Marinette shook her head, “No. No way.” She began pacing, “No, no, no, no.” Damian knew the reason why but everyone else seemed concerned for the girl. She suddenly turned to Tim, “Hey, did you send the list of all French passengers on the ship?”

Tim blinked and looked at his phone, “I thought Damian asked me for that.”

“We both did. Did you do it or not, Drake?” Damian walked over and looked Marinette in the eyes, a conversation passing between them as she bit her thumb’s nail. He sighed and turned back to his brothers, “Drake?”

“Sent.” A notification went off on both of their phones and they began walking off. “Hey-”

“Tell Father, we’re doing a bit of our own investigation. For now, the rest of you inform Chloe and start looking through all the files.”

Adrien ran up and grabbed Marinette arm, “Marinette, later we’ll have to talk.”

“Adrien-”

His voice got low and he whispered, “Princess, we have to talk.”

Marinette froze for a second before finally nodding, “I’ll text you later tonight.” She turned back to Damian and the two continued walking down the hallway, leaving behind a very concerned and confused friend group.

Damian looked over at Marinette’s stern expression and sighed, “This doesn’t prove anything.”

“Damian, you and I both know we were out in the water when that happened. There’s no way that’s a rouge Akuma. He’s on the ship.” Damian’s lips pressed into a hard line as Marinette walked to the nearest dining area. She sat herself down at the nearly empty bar and began looking through the files.

Damian sat next to her, looked around the room for anyone who could possibly be listening in, then looked through his phone. “That doesn’t mean he knows.”

“Why else would he-”

“A very rich man and his sons are on a ship worth hundreds of millions of dollars. An attack here could prove valuable to anyone with the right motive.”

“But he’s has never wanted money. He’s looking for me, he has to be!”

“Will you two quiet down?” The two turned their attention to the redhead at the bar sitting on the other end. The redhead looked up at the couple and glared, “Have you no mercy for those suffering hangovers?”

“It’s Thursday. Why the hell were you drinking so much on a Wednesday?”

She frowned and turned to the two, heavy Irish accent dripping with every word, “Because I’m pretty sure my boyfriend is cheating on me!” She let her head drop back down onto the bar’s counter as she groaned. Marinette and Damian looked at each other and, despite Damian shaking his head and aggressively mouthing the word ‘No’, Marinette walked over and rubbed the woman’s back.

“I’m sorry. That must hurt so much.”

The lady sniffed and turned her head to face Marinette. She paused before raising her head, “I know you.”

Marinette rolled her eyes, “I know. I’m the one that wrote the essay.”

“No, no. I know you.” The woman stared Marinette down as Marinette stepped back a few steps and Damian stood next to her. “I was the one who moved you into your room.”

Marinette blinked and tilted her head in confusion, “But I don’t remember your-”

“My accent? Yeah, the manager doesn’t like it. Told me to speak like a true American or I would be demoted.” She shook her head and scoffed, “Such an ass.”

Damian frowned, “Oh really, what manager is that?”

She snorted, “Manager of residential life. He looks over everything involving passengers who are staying on the boat for extended periods of time.” She shook her head, “He doesn’t even do his job either. I did most of the work for you and your class.”

Marinette frowned and gave her shoulder a small squeeze, “If it makes you feel better, I prefer this accent. Sounds real and it’s a lot more memorable.”

The woman smiled at Marinette and held out her hand, “Name’s Tess. From Limerick.”

Marinette shook her hand eagerly, “Marinette, from Paris.”

Damian sent a few texts and held out his hand, “Damian, Gotham.”

The lady shook it and laughed, “You know you look like Bruce’s runt.”

Damian glared at Tess and sternly said, “I’m not a runt.”

Tess waved her hand as she looked at the empty glass in her hand, “Yeah. Yeah. Do you know how to make drinks kid?” Marinette covered her mouth to keep from laughing while Damian begrudgingly took the glass and made his way behind the bar. Tess smiled, “Now that’s a good man!” She turned to Marinette wiggled her eyebrows, “Lucky lass, aren’t you?”

Marinette blushed and nodded, “I guess I am.” The two laughed and Damian set down the new drink in front of Tess.

Tess held up the glass and glared, “This is water.”

“I’m fifteen, lady. What did you expect?” He smirked, “Besides you need to sober up.”

Tess glared at the boy before reluctantly sipping her water, “Smart kid.” She turned back to Marinette, “So what were you two talking about? You got a stalker or something?”

Marinette sighed, “In a way.”

Tess held a look of pity, “Oh sweetheart, I’m sorry.” She turned to Damian and waved her hand, “And what the hell are you still doing here? Shouldn’t you be fighting for her honor or something?”

Damian rolled his eyes, “We don’t even know if he’s on the boat.”

“He has to be!” Marinette stared at her lap as she played with the hem of her shirt, “I mean-”

Tess held her shoulders and turned Marinette to look her in the eye, “Women have great intuition when it comes to these things. If you feel unsafe, you probably are.” Tess smiled sadly at the girl in front of her and gave her cheek a few pats, “Oh you’re so pretty. That must be hard.”

Marinette smiled, “Not really! I mean, I’ve only ever been attacked a few times-”

Both Tess and Damian snapped their heads to look at her and asked, “Wait, what? By who?”

Marinette pursed her lips together in a line, “A few people. All because of-“ She gulped as she worded her next line carefully, “- all because of the guy. He wants something from me, but I won’t give it to him. I never will.”

Tess bit her lip and looked at her glass, “I’m sorry you’re going through this.” She stared at her glass for a moment before chugging it down and slamming the glass onto the counter, catching the attention of everyone in the room when it shattered. She just blinked a few times and then looked at her bleeding hand, “Aw, crap.”

Marinette jumped off her chair, her words coming out incoherent and panicked, and left to grab a cloth napkin while Damian took her hand. He looked for any large shards that may be making the bleeding worse. He cursed under his breath and scolded her, “What were thinking? I know you’re hungover, but are you really that far gone that you forgot glass breaks?” He shook his head, “There aren’t any big pieces or anything, but you cut yourself bad. Go to the nurse or something.” Marinette came running back with a clean cloth and started carefully wrapping Tess’s hand.

Marinette shook her head, “What on earth was going through your head? This is glass! You could’ve seriously hurt yourself!”

Tess looked between the two before beginning to laugh. Marinette finished wrapping her hand and looked over to Damian for answers. He shrugged and they waited for her to calm down. She waved her hand between the two of them, “You two!” She wiped a tear from her eyes, “Did you guys rehearse that?” She sniffed and sighed, “Oh, Lord, I haven’t laughed like that for weeks.”

The two teens frowned at that statement and Marinette placed a hand on Tess’s shoulder, “Anything we can do?”

“Hey, don’t worry about me. I’m worried about you.” She smiled, “If he’s on this ship, I’ll know. I’ve taken care of all the European passengers on this ship. If you have anyone you want to look into, call me.”

Damian looked surprised before leaning over the counter, careful to avoid the shattered glass, “Do you know if any older male passengers boarded the ship when Marinette and her class did?”

Tess thought for a second and snapped her fingers, “Yes, but he’s American. He was on a business trip.” Damian frowned and started to clean off the counter before Tess hummed, “Does it have to be right when you boarded?”

Marinette shook her head, “No, I guess not.”

“There was a couple who got onto the ship a few days before you did when we were at a different port.” She paused for a moment to think, “He looked very professional and I couldn’t tell if the woman was his lover or his secretary. Probably both.” She looked at Marinette concerned, “Wait, your stalker is an older fella? What kind of pedophile-“

“Marinette?” Damian watched as she pondered over the new information and her eyes darted around along with the thoughts in her head.

Marinette’s eyes widened and she mumbled, “Mayura.”

“Hm?”

Marinette shook her head, “Nothing. Where are they now?”

Tess thought before groaning, “I need my clipboard to tell you that.”

Damian looked at Tess, “You know you could get into serious trouble for this. This is a breach of privacy.”

Tess glared at Damian, “Are you really going to tell me you’re going to tell my manager for helping your girlfriend?”

Damian smirked, “No. I just wanted to make sure you knew what you were doing.” Damian looked at his phone and looked back up at Tess, “As far as I’m concerned you are in need of a promotion and a raise for helping us out.”

Tess rolled her eyes, “Oh yeah, like that’s going to happen.” She looked at her wrapped hand and frowned, “I need to go to the nurse first.”

Marinette smiled, “You want us to come along?”

“No, Marinette, you stay with your man. I’ll come find you later tonight. You’ll be in your room around 6, right?”

“We can be.”

“I’ll see you then.”

Damian spoke up, “Can you tell us the names of the couple?”

Tess turned back to the boy and hummed, “I think the last name started with an A. I’ll have to check.”

Damian shook his head, “No need. We’ll see you tonight.” Tess nodded and headed out of the room, leaving the two teens at the bar. Damian scrolled through the list Tim sent him, “The only A names are Aaron, Azreth, and Agreste. Unless Adrien is Hawkmoth, I say we check out the other two.”

Marinette shook her head, “No, I know for a fact he isn’t.” She sat back down and let her head fall onto the counter, a small smack could be her from where her head made contact. Damian poked her and she turned her head, “What?”

“You okay there?”

“No.”

“At least you’re honest.” Damian handed Marinette a glass of water and she smiled. He leaned against the counter and scowled, “When you talked about Hawkmoth with Tess just now, the way you worded your situation-“

“What about it? I couldn’t exactly tell her I’m being chased by a supervillain.”

Damian shook his head, “No, it just didn’t sit well with me. Even worse than the actual situation sits with me. You make it sound like a creepy old man is trying to force you to sleep with him.”

She shuttered, “Oh god, no. If that ever happens, my mom would murder the man.”

“I’ll help her. I’m trained to do so anyway.” She glared at Damian, but he kept a serious expression. “I’m serious. He’s forcing people to do things they don’t want to do. They don’t remember any of what happened. And all of it is because he’s trying to take care of his own needs.”

Marinette scrunched up her nose and scowled, “When you put it that way, yes he sounds like a monster.”

“He is a monster.”

“But even worse.” She sighed and looked around the room, “You know when I got on this boat I took comfort in the fact that Hawkmoth’s Akumas wouldn’t get to me. Now I don’t even have that anymore.”

Damian grabbed Marinette’s hand and rubbed the top of her hand with his thumb. He leaned in close and whispered, “We’ll figure this out. You got Robin on your side, which means Batman and the rest are soon to follow.”

She smiled and poked him, “Ah yes, the son of the dark knight. How could I forget?” She giggled, “So I’m assuming your brothers are also-“

“Yes.”

“Of course.” She shook her head and giggled, “That makes total sense.”

“What about your friends? Are any of them miraculous holders? I know Chloe’s Queen Bee but-“

“I actually can’t answer that. At least not right now. Me telling you about Ladybug is one thing, but if anyone else on this boat is a miraculous holder I can’t say.”

“You know about my family.”

“Yeah, but I doubt you would’ve told me. Alya found you guys out.” Damian didn’t say anything to argue with the statement, only proving Marinette’s point. Marinette took a few sips of her water, “We should investigate tonight.”

“Okay. Tess at 6, leave by 6:30. We’ll have to research their routines first though to see if they leave their rooms at all. We can use the main computer downstairs to look at the security footage.”

“We should split up. It’s easier to sneak around on your own than it is with two people.”

Damian shook his head, “No way. I’m going with you.”

“No, we need to figure this out as soon as possible. It’d be easier to just look through both rooms tonight separately than searching through the rooms together over the course of two days.” Damian still looked hesitant and she smiled at him, “I’ll be-“

“DUPAIN-CHENG!” The two turned to see Chloe fuming at the entranceway and the couple tensed. She stomped over and wagged her finger in Marinette’s face, “How many times do I have to tell you, YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO TELL ME IN PERSON IF ANYTHING BIG HAPPENS!” She pointed at Damian behind the bar, “So why on earth do I have to hear from Alya that you started DATING DAMIAN WAYNE?” Marinette seemed to shrink the louder Chloe got and she smiled shamefully. Chloe looked between the two and groaned, fixing her ponytail and taking a few breaths. “I’m very happy for you, but I feel left out.”

Marinette sighed and hugged Chloe, “Sorry, we just had something urgent to take care of.”

Chloe lowered her voice and pointed at Damian, “You mean regarding the fact that your boyfriend’s dad dresses like nocturnal furry?”

Damian choked and glared at the blonde, “One, will you keep it down? I know there are only like four people in here but you catch people’s attention. Two, he does not!” Marinette giggled, earning a glare before he turned back to Chloe. “Alya told us the raid was caused by an Akuma.”

Chloe paused for a moment before biting her lip, “Well, that’s not good.” She thought for a moment and looked between the two, “So he may be on the ship?”

“It’s a theory.”

“If you need me for anything, I’ll do what I can. I’ll keep track of the gossip on the ship and see if any stories seem suspicious. I’ve gotten close with a few of the crew members since we got on the ship.”

Damian blinked, “You and the servants? Who knew?”

Chloe glared, “Just because you’re a Wayne doesn’t make you untouchable, Damian.” Damian rolled his eyes at the hollow threat and she turned back to Marinette, “Stay away from Lila.”

“Lila?”

“She gets under your skin. I don’t want to have to face you as an Akuma.” Marinette nodded and Chloe pulled away from the two, “I’ll let you know if I hear anything.” She waved and left the room, leaving the couple in silence as they imagined how bad an akumatized Marinette could be.

Damian shuttered, “You’d kick ass as an Akuma, but I’d rather not fight you.”

Marinette smiled and shook her head, “I almost was akumatized a few times. The closest call I had was when I was about to take off my earrings. I snapped out of it right before that happened. After that, I started to just push down everything. If what I felt could lead to loosing Ladybug, then I’d rather not feel at all.”

Damian left the bar and walked over to Marinette’s side, “You know that isn’t healthy.”

“Doesn’t matter, I can’t afford to lose.” He grabbed her hand and she looked up at him with a soft smile on her face, “We should go and look over the security footage. We need to prepare for tonight.” He nodded and started leading her through the hallways and stairwells to a room where Bruce stood over a large computer. Marinette knocked on the doorframe and Bruce turned to look at the couple. He smiled at the two and straightened himself out.

“Well, well, look at the two love-”

“Don’t.” Damian walked over to the computer, pushing past Bruce and clicking on various windows on the monitor.

Marinette shook her head and walked over to Bruce, “How are you? We haven’t seen you in a while.”

Bruce smiled, “I’m fine. Tired. I’ve been looking over the footage for over a week and Alya figured it out after watching it once.” He rubbed his eyes, “I’m losing my touch.”

“It would seem so, Father. Time to retire?” Bruce glared at Damian, who just smirked to himself as he pulled up a few pieces of footage and the Ladyblog. Marinette hit his shoulder lightly, trying not to laugh for Bruce’s sake, and turned her attention to the screen. “This seems to be the right video.”

He expanded the window and played back the footage of the raiders disappeared and Marinette pointed at the screen. “Wait, rewind it a few seconds and pause.” Damian did as instructed and Marinette pointed at one of the boys. “That one. That’s the one Captain Staller shot, isn’t it?”

Damian nodded, “Looks like it. It’s even his left leg too.”

Marinette looked around the boys’ cell, “Where’s the akumatized object?”

“The what?”

“The akumatized object.” She grabbed the mouse away from Damian and pulled up the Ladyblog. She pulled up some videos of previous Akuma’s and forwarded the fight videos to when they would capture the Akumas. “See? All Akumas need a catalyst. They usually enter an object of interest on the person to possess the person. Ladybug and Cat Noir have to figure out what it is to release and capture the Akuma.” She pulled back up the previous window and played back the kids returning to normal, “Now look. There’s no akumatized object on either of them. Nothing broke.”

“Do the akumatized objects have to break for the Akuma to leave?”

“Not always, but we should’ve been able to see an Akuma flying away from the boys. They aren’t that fast.”

“Meaning the object wasn’t on the kids.” Damian hummed, “What were the police able to confiscate?”

Bruce looked through some of his files and pulled out a picture of a plastic bag. “They wouldn’t give me the evidence, but they allowed me to take a photo.”

Marinette looked at the photo and shuttered. She examined the photo of the odd gun and licked her lips, “I didn’t notice this before.”

“Didn’t notice what?”

She pointed at the gun’s barrel, “Look, there are three different types of ‘bullets’. Red, green, and white.” She thought for a moment and gulped, “We know green had the laughing gas.”

Bruce went to go grab some more photos from the raid and pulled out ones documenting the rooms where there were explosions. He pointed at one of the photos, “So this red residue must be from the red chamber.”

“Then what does white do?” Damian looked up at Bruce and asked, “Do we have any photos of the boys after they turned back?”

Bruce thought for a second before pulling out two photos. Marinette didn’t like the idea of two boys taking mug shots, especially when one was injured, but it was evidence. She looked at the one with the injured leg and studied him carefully until she found a picture of him from behind, “There. White residue.” She pointed at a small dot of white on the back of the boy’s shirt and hummed, “Okay, so let’s say white turns people into raiders. Where did the others come from then?”

Bruce frowned, “More importantly, where are they now? If the boys are back to normal, then shouldn’t there be more people in that cell?”

Damian looked over the footage and zoomed in on the floor surrounding the boys. The footage was grainy, but there were clearly things surrounding them once they transformed back. “What if it’s not just people? What if the white bullets just make henchmen in general?”

Bruce pulled out his phone and walked over to the other side of the room, “Excuse me, I need to make some calls.”

Marinette started to get frustrated and mumbled to herself, “Where are you now?”

“Where’s who now?” She looked up and found herself looking up at Adrien, Alya, and the others. “Figured something out?”

Damian scoffed, “Yes, we did. What took you guys so long?”

“Alya and Tim were arguing about what her prize would be.”

Tim growled, “I’m not giving her a prize because I still can prove Marinette is Ladybug!”

“Give it a rest already!” Alya walked over to Marinette’s side, “I love my girl here, but she’s not Ladybug. I would know.” Damian bit his lip to keep from laughing and turned away from the group. Marinette just rolled her eyes and hugged Alya. Alya happily accepted, “Not to say you wouldn’t make a good Ladybug, though. You would totally rock at superhero business.”

Adrien looked over to Nino and pouted, “Why can’t we be like that?”

Nino rolled his eyes and pulled Adrien into a hug, “You’re so needy.” The two boys snickered as they pulled away and joined the girls as they gathered around the table.

Dick turned to his brothers, “Now, why can’t we be-”

A collective “No” resonated in the room, making Dick grumble as they listened to Marinette’s explanation on how they think the gun works. Jason hummed, “Given the weird style of the thing I’d say the akumatized object was some kind of dart gun. Look, the chambers are stupid wide and there’s a pump when this is supposed to be a pistol.”

Bruce walked back over and nodded, “Jason’s right. After the boys turned back the gun in the bag turned out to be a toy.”

“And the stuff on the floor?”

“Action figures.”

Alya hummed, “So kind of like a mix between Befena and Puppeteer. Interesting.”

“How so?”

Alya motioned for Tim and the others to gather around the computer as she pulled up more footage, “If you look at previous Akumas, they’ve all had one kind of power set. At least most of them have. Befena is one of the few that could do two different things, turn people to coal or transform them into her army of angels. Puppeteer, on the other hand, had the ability to control any sort of toy, statue, etc. It’s interesting that this Akuma is a bit of a mix with more complex powers.”

Chloe crossed her arms, “Okay, but that doesn’t really give us much to work on. So what if this one had one extra power? The other ones have been normal. Probably just a fluke.”

“Or his powers are evolving.” The group turned to Adrien as he thought, “No seriously, he’s been at this for years. Who’s to say he’s not getting stronger?”

Nino shuttered and shook his head, “Don’t even say that, dude. I don’t want to put that out there.”

Damian turned to Adrien, “Besides, Chloe’s right the others have been relatively normal. I agree it could’ve been a fluke.”

“What if it isn’t, though?” Marinette eyes darted between everyone in the group, fearful and tense, “Guys, when this Akuma attacked we were out on open waters.”

“So?”

Tim’s eyes widened, “That’s why you asked for the list. You think he’s on the ship.”

Marinette’s expression only hardened and she gripped onto the chair in front of her. Adrien looked her over and reached out to put a hand on her shoulder, “Marinette-”

She stepped away and started pacing, “What if he is getting stronger? What if he’s the reason everyone on this ship is acting so weird?”

“What do you mean?”

Damian looked at the group and spoke as if this was common knowledge, “You guys haven’t noticed? Everyone’s on edge. Tim lashed out at us. People have been fighting with their good friends. Hell, even the captain says his depression’s getting worse.” He stared at the photo of Hawkmoth on top of the Eifel Tower and resisted the urge to crumple it up. “It would make sense he’s on this ship. Most of the cities we’ve gone to have been attacked, as well as the ship itself, while Paris has had a quiet streak.”

Jason shook his head, “Why the hell is he on the ship, though?” Adrien and Marinette locked eyes for a brief moment, panic passing between the two as they debated saying anything at all.

Adrien gulped, “Probably because-”

“It’s me.” Everyone turned to Marinette and she tensed up, clearly going off of impulse instead of logic. “It’s me, guys.” Damian narrowed his eyes at her as everyone waited with baited breath. She reached into her purse and made eye contact with Tikki. Tikki was about to fly out when she gently pushed her out of the way and pulled out a familiar red and black box. She opened it and a bright light flashed in the room before everyone came to notice a small horse-like creature flying around the room. “Kaalki-”

She floated around the room before landing on Damian’s head. Her British accent was present in every word, “Now these are holders I approve of. Clearly noble blood. Which one am I working with?”

Marinette shook her head and motioned for Kaalki to return to her. Kaalki rolled her eyes before floating back over to the girl and sitting on her shoulder. Marinette turned back to the group and figured she should’ve expected these reactions. Her friends were not necessarily impressed, rather they were simply taking in the appearance of the kwami. However, most of the Wayne family wore various expressions of shock on their faces. Damian didn’t outwardly react, but she could tell he still was intrigued by Kaalki’s appearance. “Ladybug gave me the horse miraculous because she knew our class has been an epicenter for Akumas since Hawkmoth first appeared. If she ever needed to come over for whatever reason, I was supposed to hide, transform, and make a portal for her and Cat Noir.”

“So every time you disappeared during an Akuma attack you-” Marinette nodded and Tim groaned, “Damn it!”

Alya ran over and bounced on the balls of her feet, “You’re a hero. You’re a hero! You’re a hero!” She squealed and spun Marinette around, nearly making her trip. “Yes! I knew it was only a matter of time!”

Marinette snorted as she rebalanced herself and Nino patted her back. Nino beamed, “Dude! You’ve been doing great!”

Chloe and Adrien shared a look before smiling softly at the girl. Adrien looked visibly relieved at her explanation and sent a thumbs up. However, the other men in the room looked disapprovingly at her. She pulled away from Alya and took back a serious demeanor. She coughed, “Um-”

“I mean I get it. Still, why the hell would she choose a kid?”

“I’m with Jason on this one. That’s not fair to put that on you while you’re on vacation. Precaution or not they should’ve given it to a teacher.” Dick’s expression was unusually grim, making Marinette shrink under his gaze.

Damian pushed forward and glared back at the oldest. It wasn’t unusual for Damian to challenge the others, but they were surprised that he wasn’t mad on Marinette’s behalf with them. Damian's voice was stern and unwavering, “Well, for whatever reason she has one of these things. If this Hawkmoth even had the slightest suspicion there was a miraculous on the boat, of course he would board.”

Bruce nodded, “That’s true. Your class winning the competition made headlines, so he would definitely know about you all being on the ship.”

“But does he know you have it specifically?” Jason stared between Kaalki and Marinette, “Does he know Marinette Dupain-Cheng has the horse miraculous?”

“I don’t know.”

Tim shook his head, “I doubt it. I mean, he may know it’s on the ship but I doubt he knows who has it. Otherwise he would’ve been targeting you from the beginning.”

Chloe waved her hand and scoffed, “You say that as if he’s going by his normal pattern. He hasn’t been talking to any of his Akumas lately. He’s clearly trying to smoke out Ladybug and Cat Noir.”

Bruce turned to the blonde and frowned, “Chloe has a point. He’s trying to make them run out of time outside of Paris. Get them away from their usual playing field, make them disoriented in a different country and use it against them.”

Chloe nodded and turned back to the computer screen. “So if that’s what he’s getting at, then he’s probably going to send out another Akuma tomorrow when we dock. It’s obvious what we should do.”

Nino raised an eyebrow, almost not believing he’s hearing this all from the mayor’s daughter, “And what do we do, Queenie?”

She turned to the Wayne family and pointed at them, “We send them out first. That’ll confuse the heck out of Hawkmoth. If we do what we did last time where some of us kept watch for possible akumatized objects while Alya films for Ladybug we won’t have to worry about them possibly running out of time. They can just swoop in and get the Akuma while they act as a distraction and buy time.”

“We can’t ask them to do that!” The room turned to Marinette and she shook her head, “You forget, they don’t have magic to keep them safe. You know how dangerous Akumas can be! They could get hurt!”

Dick’s face deadpanned and his voice was monotone, “You realize we’ve been at this since before you guys were born, right?”

Jason walked over to Marinette and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, “Yeah! You don’t have to worry about us, we’ve faced threats way worse than some of these guys!”

Marinette’s eyes widened and Tim was quick to reassure, “What he means is that we’re seasoned heroes. Yes, we’ve fought a lot of bad guys, but we’re still here! We know what we’re doing!”

“Unlike you.” The group turned to Bruce who still looked disgruntled, “It frustrates me that you were just given this responsibility. You’re a child.”

Dick rolled his eyes, “Look who’s calling the kettle black.”

The three boys snickered and Bruce glared, “I gave you all choices and trained you. I gave you this opportunity because it was the best path to take for all of you to grow and heal from your pasts.” He then pointed at the third Robin, “Except Tim, Tim found me and asked for this.” Tim nodded smugly and Bruce motioned to Marinette, ���What does she gain from this? She doesn’t have training, she doesn’t have trauma to heal from, and she doesn’t need this.” He turned to the kids and sighed, “None of you do. This mess should’ve been taken care of by people who were qualified. Not a bunch of kids!”

Adrien stepped up and raised his voice, “With all due respect, for what they’ve been handed they’ve been doing the best they can. All of the heroes have been doing the best they can. Paris is still standing, the world hasn’t seen disaster from Hawkmoth’s influence, and we’re still here too!”

Alya nodded, “Adrien’s right. Ladybug and Cat Noir may not have Batman to handpick and train them, but they stepped up! They are doing what you did, without all the assets or support! They’re great heroes and I refuse to stand here and let you bash them like that!”

“Besides, Marinette is the best choice out of all of us to be handed that miraculous, anyway.” Chloe flipped back her ponytail and crossed her arms, “She’s the only one who hasn’t been akumatized. Plus, as much as I hate to admit it, she’s just as clever and resourceful as Ladybug. She made the right call!”

Marinette froze in the middle of a staredown between the Gotham heroes and the Paris ones. She backed away and looked between the two, feeling the tension rise, and she suddenly needed air. She felt someone grab her arm and pull her away towards the door. She looked up at Damian, wearing an unreadable expression on his face, and slammed the door behind him. As he turned a corner they bumped into someone and as soon as he recognized the person he scowled. “What do you want?”

Lila rubbed her nose, “Ow. If you must know, Ms. Bustier has been looking for Bruce to talk about the arrangements for tomorrow. Markov said I might find him down here, but I got lost in this maze of a floor!” She huffed and crossed her arms, “Seriously, not very hospitable.” She blinked, noticing the figure behind him, and leaned to the side to get a better look, “Marinette?”

Marinette tensed and started to walk past her, keeping her eyes trained on the ground in front of her. She didn’t look back when she heard Damian slap his hand around Lila’s wrist and warn her against following them. Marinette practically ran up the steps and ran to the middle of the main deck. She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and mumbled to herself, “Four counts in, four counts hold, four counts out.”

She took a few more breaths before opening her eyes and taking in the scenery around them. She realized she was standing near the main lounging area and noticed a bunch of her other classmates playing around and swimming in the pool. Damian walked up next to her, but before he could say anything she thought out loud, “We’re never going to be like that are we?”

Damian looked around, “Like what?”

“Normal.” She grabbed his arm and leaned onto him, “They’re here just on normal vacation. Not sitting downstairs in a dark room arguing about heroes and villains and responsibilities.”

Damian shook his head, “No, we’re-”

“Heads up!” Suddenly they were wet. Soaking wet. The two turned around, startled and confused, only to be faced with Kim holding an empty bucket surrounded by Alix, Max, Markov, Ivan, and Mylène. Kim wore a smug look on his face while the others laughed.

It took a few moments before Marinette finally snapped, “Kim, what did you-”

“Max and Markov told us you guys finally decided to go out! We didn’t have any rice or anything so we improvised!”

Damian glared, “That’s for weddings, imbecile!”

Kim looked back and laughed, “You’re right, he does use big words.”

“I told you!” Alix stepped up, jumped, and wrapped her arms around the couple’s shoulders. “Seriously though, congratulations! We were wondering who our dear class president would finally end up with. We just didn’t think it’d be you!”

Mylène just rolled her eyes and patted Marinette’s shoulder, “We’re just excited for you.” Ivan nodded and then glared at Damian, “Oh, also we’re here to intimidate him. You know how these things go.”

Marinette stepped in between the group and Damian and spread out her arms, “No! No more interrogations! Alya practically yelled our ears off this morning!”

“Oh, that’s why she was yelling. We just thought she found out a new thing about Ladybug or something.” Alix snickered, “Good for her, but we’re not done yet.”

Marinette growled, “Nuh-uh. Nope. Not happening! I just got a boyfriend and I am NOT letting you all scare him off!”

Damian blinked, taken aback by her words, before smirking and putting a hand on her shoulder. “It’s fine. Not like any of them are intimidating to me.”

Alix glared, “You take that back, Wayne!”

“No, but this is seriously so rud-” The sudden stop made Damian turn to Marinette, only to find her staring at him like he grew two heads. He raised an eyebrow at her, confused, and tried to move away slowly. He thought it may have been something behind him, but her eyes followed him wherever he moved.

“Marinette?”

She blinked, snapping out of whatever trance she was in, and a wave of red washed over her face and neck. She growled and started pointing at him, “THAT’S WHAT YOUR HAIR LOOKS LIKE WITHOUT HAIR GEL?” She snarled, “OH COME ON!”

Damian frowned, incredibly confused, “What did I do?”

“You- YOU-“ She lunged at him, “YOU CAN’T KEEP GETTING BETTER LOOKING! THAT’S NOT FAIR!” Damian dodged out of the way and then grabbed her arms when she reached for his hair. She huffed and glared at him, “What else are you hiding? You have cute glasses too, huh? I need to be mentally prepared for these things!” She got more and more red, if possible, the longer she yelled, “If this keeps happening and you keep getting better looking, I’m going to be a mess! It’ll be a complete DISASTER!”

Damian finally took note of the hair falling around his face. He was told it look similar to Dick’s hair when he was younger in the way it framed his face. Definitely takes away the professional appearance Damian was keen on keeping, but if he could get her this flustered by letting it be every once in a while might not be a bad thing. He turned back to the girl, “Marine-”

Marinette twisted her herself out of his grip and jumped on his back, “Let me mess with your hair!”

Damian stumbled around, “Marinette, get off!”

She ran her fingers through his hair in an attempt to turn it back to what she was familiar with. “Not until you get back to a tolerable level of attractiveness!”

He struggled to keep balance and looked over at her friend group, who were practically crying in laughter at the whole thing. Her movements made him take one step too many to the right and the two lost complete balance and found themselves falling into the pool. Damian came up first, soon followed by Marinette who swam immediately to the edge and jumped out. He watched her, afraid she was going to try something else, but noticed that she was hugging herself and was shaking. He got out, grabbed a towel from the nearest towel rack, and wrapped it around her. “Marinette, you okay?”

She turned to him, fear clear in her eyes, and she flinched away from his touch before recognizing him. She gulped and shook her head, “I’m fine. Just,” She paused and took a shaky breath, “Brought up bad memories.” Suddenly taking an unexpected dive into the water brought her back to the night of the raid. The spot on her cheek that the raider kissed felt on fire and her heart raced as the next moments flashed before her eyes.

Damian sighed and moved hair away from her face, “Let’s get changed, otherwise we’re going to get sick.”

Mylène and Alix walked up, the group long since stopped laughing when they saw Marinette scramble to get out of the water, and looked over the girl. Mylène smiled at Damian, “We’ll take her back to her room and get her cleaned up. We’ll see you at dinner.”

Damian nodded and placed a small kiss on the top of her head, “Okay. See you around 4?”

She blinked, pink coming back to her cheeks, and nodded as she was led away by two of her friends. Damian watched as they walked past Lila, finally coming back after finding the others and talking to his father, and she smirked as soon as she knew they couldn’t see her. When she turned back, the two locked eyes and Damian felt his anger rising just looking at the girl. He was about to step towards her before Ivan put a hand on his arm. Kim grinned, “Woah! We still gotta talk!”

Damian sighed, “About?”

Ivan smiled, “Sorry about the mean look. The girls are adamant about us talking to you and playing bad cops.”

Max adjusted his glasses, “Which is odd because they’d more likely be bad cops in this situation.”

Damian pinched the bridge of his nose and suddenly felt exhausted. “Who else do I have to worry about? So far, Alya, Chloe, Alix, and Mylène have all yelled at me. Who else?”

Max shrugged, “I mean I doubt Rose or Juleka would yell at you, they’ll be super happy for you guys. Kagami though is a different story.”

“The fencer?”

“Oh yeah, but you don’t have to worry about her until you arrive in Paris.” Kim snickered, “Oh man and that’s not even counting her family! Her grandmother is great, but I’d hate to see her mad.”

Ivan nodded, “That’s not even counting Jagged Stone, Fang, or Penny.”

Damian groaned, “At least her parents like me.”

“WOAH!” Kim grabbed Damian’s shoulders, “You met the parents? Dude!”

Damian shrugged his hands off and stepped back, “I met them back when we first explored Spain and we’ve only talked a few times since.”

“So what’d they do when you told them you guys were dating? You know they’ve been just as eager to see her date someone as her friends, right?” Max watched as Damian paled slightly, “You haven’t told them yet.”

Damian glared and got defensive, “This happened last night, we haven’t exactly had the time!”

Ivan laughed and patted Damian’s back with more force than he was expecting. He made Damian lurch forward with every pat, “Don’t worry. They’re really nice.”

Markov fluttered around the boy, “You know Damian, you’ve become much more sociable since this trip started. When we first met you, you didn’t really talk to anyone outside of Marinette and her close friends.”

“Yeah, and you kept calling us by our last names for some reason.” Kim wore a stern demeanor and pointed at Damian, “Wayne.” He immediately broke character and laughed. “Seriously though, you’re like one of us now!”

Damian blinked at the statement, “What?”

“Yeah, Damian. We need to hang out more before the trip is over.” Ivan chuckled, “If you can get away from Marinette.”

Damian gulped, not really knowing how to feel about all of this. A part of him, deep down, was actually happy. This class just welcomed him and he felt a normalcy he couldn’t even get from Jon when they were in school together. Jon knew he was a hero and went with him to go crime-fighting. While Jon gave him a friend for life, it wasn’t a normal relationship due to their abilities and duties. These kids only knew him as Damian and couldn’t care less about who his family was. The name Wayne meant nothing to them, they just cared about Damian and it was both refreshing and thought-provoking for him. He spent his whole life looking down on these types of people. Those who didn’t have to worry like he did, fight like he did, or survive like he did. They just lived and he finally got a taste of what it meant to simply be 15 with other kids his age.

However, he felt like an imposter. There was a reason he didn’t get close to normal people, he wasn’t one of them. He could never be one of them. His breeding, his training, his past, his future, all of it ruled against anything normal. He couldn’t have this, but admitting that meant he couldn’t have Marinette either. Despite being Ladybug, this was her world. One she grew up in, one she helped shape and improve, and one he couldn’t ever corrupt.

Damian forced himself to give the boys a polite smile, “We’ll see. But for now, I have to go change. See you later.” They waved their goodbyes and went back to having their fun as Damian’s mind raced. While she walked the line between hero life and normal life, she would forever be tethered by that promise of things going back to the way they were before Hawkmoth and before Ladybug. He could never have that. He was forever bound by his demons and his bloodline. Bound to be a vigilante for as long as he could stay alive or until his darkness took over, something he didn’t ever wish for but knew was a possibility.

Marinette’s words rang in his head, “How is this going to work?”

He didn’t know and it made him sick.

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

So we begin Act 2 of Seabourne Burnouts! Congratulations on making it this far! We’re in for an interesting ride!

ALSO: There is a new thing about tags for this ship and Maribat au in general! Please read this [post]! I have added the new tags suggested here and will continue to not use the names of the characters and the shows/franchises! Please REBLOG and Thank You! 

To those who want more Seabourne Burnouts content, @itawonka-creates is specifically dedicated to my writing (which is just this story rn) so you can just follow the blog and set it up to be notified just in case the tags do not work!

Tag List (Bitch I have a tag list whAT!?!?!):

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Let me know if I missed anyone and message me! I’ll be sure to see it then!

[nothingofnotereally]

Hi, it's the same anon again. I really liked your answer to my previous question, so now I also have to ask: if you were tasked with turning her into a hero, how would you do it?

okokok!  I’m sorry this took so long to answer - I was just debating whether to start from her original personality or her current characterization, and whether to involve Bruce or Damian or neither or both, and whether I should talk about making her a costumed hero or a behind the scenes player... just.

So many options so lets see.

1. THE PRE-CHARACTER ASSASSINATION CONTINUITY ANGLE:  If I’m allowed to retcon a bunch of history out in a Crisis or something, and thus pick her up from the Lexcorp days.  So as a refresher she was at odds with both Ra’s and Bruce at this time, and was striking out on her own trying to take down LexCorp from within.  Meanwhile, she was pretending to be a ruthless Lex-jr.  Also during this time,. Bruce was trying to get in touch with her and/or observing her from afar with binoculars I guess.

SO.  We go with that.  So he’s trying to see her, and she’s still dodging him - sending her reps to meetings with Bruce Wayne, etc.  And when he sees the things she’s doing as CEO of LexCorp, it’s strange to him and at odds with what he  knows of her, so he starts engaging with her on a CEO level.  Proposing deals, making strategic moves to weaken LexCorp, just... playing chess with her with their companies as the pieces.  Eventually this leads to a conference where Talia and Bruce really do show up, and Bruce finally finds out what Talia’s doing - although being Bruce he probably suspects anyway but whatever. 

They declare a truce/alliance.  They start to investigate LexCorp together and eventually, with Clark’s help, manage to expose Lex as a murdering criminal which results in him being kicked out of office as president.  Talia sells off LexCorp’s assets (to... idk, Ted Kord or something, Bruce is rich enough, I feel like if he owned LexCorp that would break some laws about monopolies).  She then becomes involved setting up an environmental advocacy foundation.

Romance Option: Bruce and Talia end up allying on some environmental causes, and reconnect, thus rekindling their relationship.

Nonromance option: That doesn’t happen, though they may still end up allying.

Either way she eventually discovers that Ra’s had found out that she really did have the baby she claimed to miscarry, and had his adopted parents executed.  Ra’s is is raising him in secret to be a perfect warrior and the perfect heir.  When Talia finds this out, she determines to get her son back from her father, and this involves Talia and Bruce joining forces to find Damian.  Once they have him, Talia realizes that she can’t protect him from Ra’s with all his resources, not alone.  So she ends up joining forces with the Batfamily to keep close to her son, and keep him safe.

This results in either Talia eventually becoming a behind the scenes helper (thus an Oracle style hero) or becoming sucked into Bruce’s adventuring world, if we want her in a costume.  More details on some ideas about how that would work below, after the base idea for the second idea.

2. THE "LOVE IS REDEMPTION” ANGLE:  Starting from current continuity.  The League of Assassins turns on Ra’s and murders him, keeping his corpse hostage.  Then they kidnap Damian and start chipping away at his mind, trying to brainwash him into becoming their new leader.  Bruce and Talia are forced to put their differences aside to rescue their son before his mind can be irrevocably changed.  There is also some disagreement as to whether Ra’s should be saved - Bruce thinks it’s his time to go.  Talia believes that, for all his faults, Ra’s is the only thing that has kept the League from going off kilter until now.  This turns into a long campaign, and during their travels and investigations, they’re forced to face some truths about their history together. 

Anyway once they find Damian, he’s sort of on the line between lost to them and fighting to retain himself.  He’s not responsive to Bruce’s attempts to get through to him because he’s angry at Bruce for being such a neglectful ass... and at first he isn’t responsive to Talia either - instead his rage over her treatment of him during That Morrison Thing is vented and he attacks them both.  Eventually, desperation to get through to her son forces her to break through her own emotional walls and apologize.  She ends up explaining how she never wanted him to die, how it was all talk and he wasn’t meant to be there.  And she didnt want to hurt Damian, she wanted to hurt Bruce, because when she needed him most he left her alone.  At this point, it comes out that she had been tortured and murdered hundreds of times in Death and the Maidens, and it broke her, and he hadn’t even realized there was something wrong with her, he just. Left her there with Nyssa.  But she begs Damian not to be broken, too - she told him once that she had never had a choice, but he did.  And he still does.

This results in Damian finally coming to himself, and we have a family hug.  

Talia initially wants to resurrect her father, but she realizes she has to let him go - centuries of constant lazarus exposure had changed him just as much as it changed her, it was just done in slow motion, and she’s sure the man he originally was would want the thing he became to rest, now.  

At this point we can go in two main directions.

- Talia could take control of the League but start to repurpose it from an assassins group/terrorist organization to a more prosocial organization - this borrows from Arrowverse where Talia recently agreed to help reform the League, but as a League of Heroes this time.  

OR

- They could attempt to dissolve the League, but have someone manage to resurrect Ra’s anyway once they’ve left, perhaps by summoning his spirit into another body or some suck like that.  At which point the League would return mostly to normal.

Either way, Bruce and Talia still have their spark, but they still go their separate ways.  Talia has a lot to do to make up for her actions for the past years, after all, and if we’re doing CURRENT current continuity then Bruce has a girlfriend already anyway.  But even so we leave them in something like their older status quo - their feelings exist, but life keeps them apart... but maybe one day.

From here we branch again, and much of this applies to the Lexcorp idea, as well.

For a behind the scenes hero!Talia: she spends the next few years doing charity work, familiarizing herself with the superheroes and vigilante world as it currently exists, and developing a network of allies.  Eventually, she naturally gravitates toward filling some of the gap left by Oracle and Alfred: she uses her engineering and technical skills for research, networking and ops for the superhero world at large, and her medical training as the medic of the Batfamily. 

For a costumed hero!Talia:

Option 1: She joins Batman’s Outsiders as a redemptive measure, and to remain close to her Beloved and her son.

Option 2: She eventually gets wind that the League (or a splinter, in the case where she took over herself) is behaving in nefarious ways.  She suspects that her father may have returned, but in order to investigate she cannot be recognized.  Therefore, she decides to blend with the costumed crowd by taking on a costumed identity, supposedly as a temporary measure, but in time she realizes that being a proactive hero helps her deal with her guilt, and makes up in part for everything she did while she was suffering lazarus madness.  ...then I’d put her in the Outsiders anyway.

[ablogthatishenceforthmine]

A Re-Evaluation of Laurel Lance: Season 4

Intro

There is not really much to say about Laurel in season 4. She barely does anything. The only significant thing she does is die. But I will try to say some things anyway.

Fully a Part of Team Arrow (Finally!)

On the positive side, Laurel is fully part of Team Arrow now! She fit seamlessly into the group dynamic, and it really feel like she belongs there. Although her friendships with a lot of the members of Team Arrow still don’t feel as specific and developed as I would like, it does feel like she’s friends with them. She is often seem helping out and emotionally supporting the other members of Team Arrow. And as a side-note, Laurel is still shown as not the greatest fighter, and definitely struggles more than the other characters, so I really do think that complaint that she become a good fighter too fast is off-base, and probably sexist.

Lack of Focus on her Character

Laurel is even more of a supporting character this season than last season. Each season her character’s importance and screentime has decreased. This season, she only has two episodes where she has an arc: “Haunted,” and “Eleven-Fifty Nine.” Apart from these, episodes she doesn’t really do much of importance, besides resurrecting Sara, which is not really about her.

Although she does have some good scenes, it is always when she is acting as the supportive friend to another member of team Arrow. And it really feels like Laurel relates to these character. When Diggle confides in her that he has been investigating Hive and his brother’s death secretly for two years, she advises him to tell others, saying that carrying the burden of a secret like that only ends up badly, talking from her own personal experience of keeping Sara’s death a secret from Lance. In a later episode, Laurel provides Diggle emotional support about his brother, as Laurel of all people she can relate to his dilemma and feelings. Her only role in episode six is to act as emotional support for Sara (and to take part in the fight scenes). Laurel supports Thea in her dealing with the affects of the Lazarus pit.

Throughout the season, she emotionally supports Oliver. She also calls him out and challenges his bullshit, sometimes even effectively.  All of these scenes with Oliver are nice scenes because he is finally treating her like an equal, and the conversations between them, for the first time, feel like they are between two equals. However, these scenes, however nice they are and however great Laurel comes off in them (coming off as wise and emotionally mature), are still all about Oliver. She even acts as support for Nyssa’s character and story arc. But she works really well as a supporting character now that she is fully integrated into Team Arrow. As the AV Club states, “ Her character can work in the right situations, and the last several episodes have established that Katie Cassidy is at her best when trading one-liners and being part of the vigilante team—when she’s a supporting character, in other words. Maybe there was a way for Laurel to be something more, but neither the creative team nor Cassidy ever hit upon a compelling way to deepen her character.”

Laurel also has emotional stuff that is underdeveloped or left hanging. For example: Laurel finding out that Lance worked for Darhk. Nothing really comes from this. I was expecting this to be a big confrontation or storyline between Laurel and Lance, especially since they made a point of Lance and Oliver keeping this info from Laurel. Laurel just tells him that she is the one who decides what protection she needs and that’s the end of it. The Laurel of previous seasons would have been really angry that Lance did bad things in the name of protecting her.

Oliver and Laurel relationship

One of the only episodes in which Laurel has an arc is “Haunted.” The show finally acknowledges the distance between Laurel and Oliver and does something about it. Oliver considers distancing himself from Laurel after Alex suggests that its a good idea for his campaign. Thus, the episode sets up how far they have drifted away from each other. And the rest of the episodes remedies that, or tries to anyway.

When Oliver finds out that Laurel resurrected Sara, and that a soulless Sara is wreaking havoc on the city, Oliver is furious at Laurel, especially that she didn’t ask for his help after Sara escaped. Laurel tells Oliver that the reason she didn’t tell him or ask for his help is because he’s always judgmental of her. Laurel is right--not about not telling him, but about how judgmental Oliver is of her, because he holds her to a higher standard than anyone else. And it is nice that the show is finally acknowledging how Oliver has treated her, if not why.  

After Sara puts Thea in the hospital, a furious Oliver calls Laurel out for keeping secrets, but Laurel says that he has kept secrets from her too. Laurel rightfully calls out Oliver’s hypocrisy: think how many times in the series Oliver has been angry at Laurel from keeping secrets from him, while he has always kept secrets from her. Laurel also says that Oliver doesn’t see her as an equal and that he never has. THIS IS TRUE!!  She brings up the past: saying he never told her that he was the Arrow, he never wanted her to be the Black Canary, and he never told her that there was a way to save her sister. I am glad that the show has finally kind of acknowledged this, but it is only for a very brief moment, and isn’t really tackled or addressed. Oliver treating Laurel as lesser is a major issue in their relationship, and not something that should easily be fixed or forgiven. But after accusing him of all this, Laurel’s last word in the fight is that she has always loved his family, and just wishes he gave a damn about hers.This is a terrible button to leave the scene on, as it frames the problem as Oliver not caring about her family enough rather than that he doesn’t view or treat her as an equal, and doesn’t view or treat her as her own person. It undermines the excellent points made in this scene by Laurel. Also, this point is blatantly not true! Oliver does care about Laurel’s family. A LOT. He may be willing to go further when it comes to his own family, but he still cares about her’s.

In their next significant interaction, Constatine says he can only take two on the mission to bring back Sara’s soul. Oliver asks Laurel if she trusts him, and she  nods. And Oliver decides the two of them should go. This moment is completely unearned. There has been nothing in the episode to build up the trust that was broken. They work together to lift Sara out of the pit. But it’s a really simple task and doesn’t really involve much communication or trust.

At the end of the episode, Oliver tells Alex that he is not going to distance himself from Laurel, and decides to be a better friend to her. So really, this episode is more of Oliver’s arc than Laurel’s. It’s the arc of them coming together yes, but only Oliver changes from the beginning of the episode; Laurel stays the same.

Their reconciliation is likewise completely unearned and hand-waves away all the valid complaints (about him not treating her as an equal) Laurel made against him this episode. Laurel is even apologetic and thankful. The narrative is that everything is okay between them now because Oliver saved Sara’s soul; Laurel even explicitly says this. However, there isn’t really a correlation between this action and the problems of their relationship. How does him helping Sara (he’s not even doing it FOR Laurel) fix the problem of him never treating her as an equal? Laurel even goes to apologize for the things she said in the hospital. At least Oliver admits that she was right. He says he hasn’t always been the best friend to her, which is kinda infuriating. The way he has treated her throughout the entire series so far is more than just being a bad friend. There is no mention from him that he has never treated her an equal, and the show doesn’t acknowledge it again. It’s frustrating. Laurel shouldn’t forgive him. But she does, easily and happily. It’s sloppy and frustrating.

However, from this point on, Oliver does treat her as an equal, and they have some nice scenes together. If only, it could have been like that since Season 1.

Laurel’s Death

I actually don’t have a problem with Laurel being killed off: the problem, for me, is how they do it. It made sense for Laurel to die; it’s even good storytelling. The show has never really known what to do with her. While she excelled as a supporting character this season, she did not have any arcs or focus - it’s clear they had no idea what direction to take her character. There was no point in keeping her around if that’s the case. Her death raises the stakes and emotional investment in the characters in taking down Darhk. And I think the show did a good job of Laurel’s death not only being for man pain. Yes, Lance, Oliver, and Diggle are the ones most effected and anguished over Laurel’s death. But the show clearly explores Thea and Felicity’s reaction to Laurel’s death and the impact it has on them.

But thy way in which she is killed off and how her character is treated after... it’s just terrible, and her character deserved better.

In Laurel’s death episode, her plot and arc is not even the one that gets the most screen time; that honor goes to the Diggle-Oliver-Andy plot. Laurel’s arc is fine enough, her debating whether or not to give up being the Black Canary to be DA, and ultimately deciding to stay the Black Canary because she loves being out there with them. But up until her death, the Diggle-Oliver-Andy plot carries the most emotional weight, and is the most interesting.

One of the most frustrating ways that Laurel’s death plays out is that she is not killed because of her own actions. She is instead killed because of Lance’s actions. She can’t even die for her own reasons, for her own mistakes, or her own triumphs or acts of heroism. Yes, she died WHILE being a hero, but she did BECAUSE she was a hero. She died for Lance’s sins and subsequent heroism. She died to punish Lance. She died because she was someone a man cared about. Laurel deserved better than to die as solely a result of another character’s actions. She lacks agency in her death, as she did throughout the series. The other major character deaths in the series for far, Tommy and Moira, (with the exception of Sara who was later resurrected) died making heroic sacrifices. They died because of choices they made. Although Tommy died because of his father, he died because he choose to save Laurel, thus he died because he was doing something heroic. Oliver’s actions are the reason for Moira’s death, and she was killed to punish him...but she got the sacrificial moment by choosing her death in order to save Thea, and to save Oliver from having to make a choice. So even if Moira’s death is a lot about Oliver, she is still given agency in it… unlike Laurel in her death.

Her death episode also does her a HUGE disservice in re-framing her relationship with Oliver. In the hospital, she takes out the photo that she gave Oliver before he boarded the gambit. She confesses her love for him, telling him that she knows that she is not the love of his life, but he will always be the love of her life. This is terrible on so many levels. One, it doesn’t make sense and doesn’t track with her character. The Laurel we’ve seen for the past 2 seasons  hasn’t shown any signs of being in love with Oliver. Oftentimes, she doesn’t even seem to like him. In Season 3, she tells Oliver that it’s difficult for her to remember a time when she actually loved him. It just makes very little sense. So, this love confession is a massive retcon of her character. So in her death, she lacks character continuity. Also, in her death, it again reduces her to a love interest, just  someone who loves Oliver unrequitedly. It just straight up sucks and Laurel deserves better. To have one of her last scenes of the series to be her confessing her long-held and unrequited love to a man who has treated her so terribly throughout the entire time they’ve known each other, and that the audience has seen them together. Someone who has rarely viewed her or treated her as her own person. Someone who has consistently denied her her agency. Someone who has not respected her. Someone who has not treated her as an equal. Laurel deserved better than this sexist death.

And then there is the way Laurel is treated after her death from this point until the end of the series. She stops being a person. She is again held up as a symbol of goodness and mortality. And they way the talk about Laurel doesn’t feel at all like the Laurel we’ve come to now. They only talk about her as a symbol and not like a person. For example. we don’t really get any scenes like the one in Season 3 of Laurel talking to Oliver about Sara’s stuffed animal while she’s grieving her death. This season 3 scene showed that Sara was a person, and that Laurel had memories that showed her personality and showed who she was as more than just a hero.

People talk about Laurel as if she was a saint, as if she always did the right thing. When that is not true at all. Laurel throughout the series has done multiple dubious things. In the episode “Schism,”  Oliver talks to Laurel’s grave about killing Darhk, and how its not what she would have wanted. Which might be true? But might not. Laurel spent all of season 3 wanting to kill Sara’s killer out of revenge. It just feels like the show is retroactively rewriting Laurel’s character. If anyone could understand wanting to kill someone to avenge the death of a loved one, it’s Laurel. Laurel wanted to kill. She would have killed someone she thought killed Sara if Oliver had not emptied the gun before hand. Worse, it feels like the show is retconning Laurel’s character from Seasons 2-4, so that she can once again be a symbol of all that is good. Oliver tells Laurel’s grave that what he loved most about her was that she was always better than him (again, this was not true in season 3!), confirming everything I said about season 1. It’s sad to see Laurel’s character backslide this way in her legacy. I have no problem with her legacy being a hero and her desire to save the world, but the show takes it too far, and again, doesn’t treat her like a real person, but like a symbol for goodness, a terrible role in which the show seemed to get away from after season 1. But alas, it’s back.

[p-artsypants]

Longest Night (28) Hunting

I’m sorry this chapter is late, I had another commission! I actually chopped it in half to get it out in time.

Next chapter MAY be late as well, because of the Christmas, but I’ll do my best.

Okay, so I made a little hiccup. The Mayor is under the Minister of Interior as far as ranking. I went to school for art, not Parisian government…

*slams on the gas pedal*

Ao3 | FF.net

—

Six Weeks Prior

—

Arthur Vanderguard’s already full plate just got another heaping helping dropped on top. Just ten minutes after the first broadcast ended, he found his phone ringing off the hook. The Chief of Police, the Mayor, the Prime Minister…everyone had questions, orders, ideas.

He just wanted a minute to think.

Chloe Bourgeois had been the first to call, demanding to know what he planned on doing to save her friends. He assured that he’d do everything in his power to make that happen.

But it had to be Ladybug and Chat Noir he was saving…

And it had to be Edward Savauge’s family he was dealing with.

Every time that man came to town, it was trouble. How many good officers had he lost to him? How many men had thought they would be the one to tackle the Big Fish?

At this point in his career, he knew that dealing with Savauge was an impossible task. The man knew too much. Knew more than Arthur did. Or he knew people that knew things. Even with undeniable evidence, he was still able to weasel his way out of the system. It was unbearable.

As for Ladybug and Chat Noir…he didn’t hate them, but he didn’t like them either. If they had just stuck to fighting akumas and Hawkmoth, they would have gotten along well enough. But when they started to branch out into regular crime, then it became a headache.

Because they weren’t equipped to handle criminals. They couldn’t make arrests. The best they could do was tie them up and call an officer out. And then, unless they stuck around to describe the crime, the person had to be let go.

It was a red tape nightmare, these vigilantes.

So saving people he actively disliked from people he had never beaten?

He needed a drink.

Hours later, late into the night, the bottle of Mondavi was half empty, and the broadcast had been rewatched about 18 times. His notebook laid on the table, scribbled notes for plans of action. He’d have to talk with Europol, and the French Gendarmerie. Because this wasn’t a typical kidnapping, they’d have to be careful. Salo and her men could move at any moment, undoing everything, if they got a whiff of what was going on. And knowing Edward Savauge, there was little that they could hide.  

There was a knock at the door.

Arthur muted his tv, and glanced at the clock. It was nearing 4am.

The knock was a little more insistent.

It was probably his police chief, coming to seek him out in person after ignoring several phone calls.

But as he opened the door, he saw a woman with red hair up in a bun with reflective sunglasses instead, flanked by huge bodyguards on both sides.

“Nope.” He said as he attempted to close the door.

A hand took hold and forced the door open, letting the group inside.

“Hello Arthur, you’re looking well.”

Arthur backed up into his couch, nearly flipping over the back. “How did you find me?”

“A wild guess.” Said Salo, waltzing around the apartment and making herself at home. The large men blocked the exits.

Salo wandered into the kitchen area, seeing the wine on the island. “Mondavi? How rude, I didn’t take you as a Napa Valley man.” She sniffed the bottle and then poured herself a glass. “It’s been a while. What, three years since you last tried to arrest me?”

Arthur didn’t respond, just looked at the men she had with her.

“Relax. We’re not here to hurt you.”

“Then why did you come?”

“Just to chat.” She sat down on his couch and kicked her boots up on his coffee table. “I can see you watched my work.”

The muted stream was still looping on the TV.

“It was hard to miss.” He answered.

“Let’s be honest. You don’t really like Ladybug and Chat Noir, do you?”

He didn’t answer.

“I mean, that’s what the word around town is. At least by my ears. You complain every time they step in to save the day.”

“Ladybug’s magic reset button is invaluable to the city. As long as she fixes damage from the akumas, I’m fine.”

“You’re avoiding the question, Artie.”

“Fine, sometimes they make my job harder. Is that what you want to hear? They’re children. I can’t hate them for wanting to keep Paris safe. Especially since they have super powers.”

“Interesting. Good to see you haven’t grown completely callus. Your ex-wife might think differently though.”

Arthur’s eyes widened.

“And your little girl, Ava. She loves Chat Noir, doesn’t she?” Salo smiled, showing her cards.

Arthur got her point. “What do you want?”

“I’m just here to give you a reminder. I have ears in Place Beauvau and The Police Prefecture. We let you take care of crimes that get in our way. We let you look like you’re keeping Paris safe. So we’ll let you look like you’re investigating this case too, because everyone will be watching you. But if you or any of your men step a toe out of line, you’ll regret it.”

“Are you threatening me?”

“No. Just warning. For your sake, and for Ava’s.” She threw her wine glass down on the floor, smashing the glass and sending little red droplets on the white carpet. “I suggest you act like a babbling moron. After all, you’d rather lose your job than lose the little family you have left, right?”

Arthur swallowed. “You make your point clear.”

“Good. Can’t wait to see what kind of lame excuses you put out when people start asking questions.”

He nodded in understanding.

“And one more thing…Eddy is going free.”

“I…will try to make that happen without looking suspicious.”

“That’s a good man.” She stood. “Now, I’m afraid I can’t sit around and talk. I have work to do. And I suppose you do too.”

He nodded sheepishly.

“I’ll be taking the rest of the Mondavi. You shouldn’t be drinking it with your heart medication.”

He didn’t say anything. He couldn’t say anything. But as soon as that door shut, he felt a cold hand on his throat. In his haze, he wandered into the bathroom. His face was pale in the mirror, and he looked ten years older. He opened the medicine cabinet and looked at the medication Salo had mentioned. How had she known about his heart condition? He had just been diagnosed a few weeks ago. He hadn’t told anyone…

The bottle was half full. Plenty to end his problems.

Since when did he become such a coward? Watching people die, having things run out of control, the stress of an entire city on your shoulders…it changes a person. It changed him.

He shook two tablets into his palm and put the rest back into his cabinet.

There would be a loophole to save the kids.

And tomorrow’s Arthur Vanderguard had to be here to find it.

—

Present Day

—

The night crept onward. The darkness deepening in the hours. Lights in homes and businesses went out as people went home and went to bed. Unsuspecting innocents that had no idea of the danger that lurked.

Minister of Interior, Arthur Vanderguard, was a dead man. And he knew it, judging how he kept his head on a swivel.

Ladybug and Chat Noir were free and akumatized. Salo was dead, along with several of her henchmen.

And now everyone was waiting apprehensively while the aftermath unfolded.

Arthur himself sat at his desk, while the mayor sat in a chair nearby. The mayor’s daughter, Chloe Bourgeois, who refused to listen to anyone, sat next to him. Officers were dispatched all over the city, keeping an eye out for the akumas, while the phones were manned, waiting for any sightings.

They could be anywhere.

Doubtless, Edward Savauge knew that they were free and someone was responsible for it.

So Arthur was understandably stressed.

Chloe was not helping, with the tapping of the keys on her phone.

“Miss Bourgeois, I must state again that this is a very sensitive situation—“

“And I’ll state again that Adrien is my best friend and I’m one of the only other heroes out there that can stop them. I’m in contact with Rena Rouge and Carapace. I’m staying.”

Arthur grunted, tapping his fingers on his desk.

A knock came from the door.

“Yes?”

“A man is here to see you sir, a witness.”

“Bring him in.”

A bald man, dripping with blood, but relatively unharmed, was escorted into his office.

“M. Pierre Rouso.” One of the officers introduced. “He said he was the camera man during the akuma attack with Salo.”

Arthur paled. “Someone survived?”

“Y-yes sir,” said the man. He was sweaty, panting, and pale. “I…I think she let me live so I could give them directions out.”

“She?”

“Lady Lacrima.”

“Alright. How much time do we have until they reach Paris?”

“They never left.”

Arthur flicked his gaze up to the two lower ranked officers. “Close and lock the door.”

He waited until the deed was done before asking quietly. “What do you mean, they never left?”

“We’ve been in Paris the whole time. In a bunker in the catacombs.”

Arthur rolled his eyes in disgust. The catacombs. Wasn’t it obvious? “Does anyone know you came here?”

“Only Lady Lacrima and Grimalkin.”

“You haven’t talked to anyone else? Not any pedestrians?”

“No! I ran straight here…well, I disconnected from the server and locked the gate so no one came get in or out.”

Arthur came closer to the man. “Out? There’s other survivors?”

“No, I mean…prisoners. Ladybug and Chat Noir weren’t the only one’s being tortured down there.”

“Sweet Jesus…”

“I think she wanted me to come here to get men down there right away…cleaning up the bodies and rescuing the other prisoners. I’m willing to work with you 100%. I was being blackmailed and—“

“Everyone’s being blackmailed.” Arthur interrupted. “There’s no one working under Salo or Savauge that hasn’t been blackmailed or threatened in some capacity. That’s how they stay on top. If M. Savauge finds out you’re still alive…you’re going to wish Lady Lacrima had killed you.”

The man shrunk back. “Are…are you being blackmailed?”

Arthur’s gaze flicked over to Chloe. It would be so much easier to just confess the truth. He had been hiding it for so long… “I’m afraid that’s none of your business.”

Mayor Bourgeois took out a handkerchief and dabbed his forehead. “Surely M. Savauge wouldn’t be angry with a survivor, right?”

A new voice spoke from the window. “You’re worried about the wrong person, M. Vanderguard.”

Arthur whipped his head around, coming face to face with Lady Lacrima and Grimalkin. They looked much more volatile in real life. “How—How did you get in?”

“Just because you’re on the top floor, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t lock your windows.” The curtains fluttered in the evening breeze.

Arthur went to take his gun from his holster, but before he could, steel claws closed around his throat.

Chloe shrieked.

Pierre fell to the ground while the other officers withdrew guns. “Freeze!”

Lady Lacrima took no heed as she summoned a lance.

The men opened fire on her as she leapt off the desk and impaled one of the officers with a pole. The other grabbed her and flipped her into a glass cabinet.

“Bad move!” She hissed, grabbing a vase nearby. She careened it into the side of his head, knocking him out. Still filled with rage, she summoned a pipe and wailed on his body.

Chloe watched this all in stunned horror before she ran to Grimalkin and grabbed his wrist. “Let him go Adrien! You don’t hurt people! Please!”

Grimalkin turned his blood red eyes on her, boring holes into her soul. This was not the Adrien she knew. Not by a long shot.

“Adrikins…?”

Lady Lacrima grabbed her by the shoulder and yanked her back so she fell on her rear. “Chloe, Chloe, Chloe…” She chastised.

Chloe scooted back, trying in vain to get away.

“You know, you’re on my list too. Years and years of being the bigger person, trying to turn the other cheek…years of suffering, self doubt, injustice…and now there’s nothing you or your ‘daddy’ can do to stop me.” She summoned a giant meat hook.

Chloe’s back ran into a bookshelf. She was overwhelmed with fear. “I’m sorry, Marinette!”

“You’re sorry now, now that there’s no where to run.”  

Chloe summoned every ounce of courage left inside her. “I was sorry the second I saw you were Ladybug!”

Lady Lacrima stopped her advancement and listened.

“Ladybug made me want to be a better person. The person I respected the most…and I was so awful to you. And you still put up with me! I’ve been doing everything I could to find you! Why do you think I’m here right now?!”

Lady Lacrima snarled. “I just hear a bunch of excuses!”

“Pollen, Buzz On!”

In a flash of gold light, Queen Bee appeared in Chloe’s place.

That only served to enrage Lady Lacrima as she plunged the hook into the wood of the shelf. “You don’t deserve that! I took that from you!”

Chloe scrambled to her feet. She was too terrified to argue.

“He replaced me!” Lady Lacrima screamed. “He just gave out more Miraculous!”

“To save you! Not to replace you!” Chloe called, as she ran to her father. “You’re irreplaceable!”

“They why didn’t you come for me!?”

The Mayor grabbed his daughter. “Don’t argue with her Chloe! She can’t hear you!”

“She won’t remember what I say anyways!” Chloe cried back, wrapping her arm around her father. “Let’s get out of here!” She cast her spinning top out the open window and together they fled.

Lady Lacrima scoffed. “Cowards.”

Grimalkin still had Arthur by the throat.

Pierre sat on the ground not too far away, watching them with horror.

Lady Lacrima stood over him, smiling gently. “You did good. Just as I asked. So I’ll spare you.”

The man sniveled in response.

“But you…” she stated, walking up to Arthur. His face was red as sweat and tears covered his skin. “You have some explaining to do.”

Arthur clawed at the hand on his throat, trying to get air to speak. “I—I tried…” he choked.

“I heard you though.” She said, plainly. “You’re just another one of Edward Savauge’s pawns. Too afraid to get your hands dirty.”

“I—I have a little girl—“ He begged.

“You have a job! And you failed us!”

Arthur choked.

Grimalkin grunted and dragged the man over to the window. Then with ungodly strength, he held him out, dangling freely over the street.

Arthur held onto his wrist and kicked his legs.

“Where is Edward Savauge?” She asked.

He didn’t answer, staring her right in the eye.

Grimalkin removed a finger from his throat, and Arthur could feel himself sliding.

“Where is Edward Savauge!?” She screamed.

“At—At his Penthouse—on the south side of the Arc de Triomphe—blue roof—orange…bricks…top floor…”

Lady Lacrima simply nodded at Grimalkin, prompting him to let go.

They didn’t watch him fall. Didn’t wait for him to hit the ground. Only dropped, and then moved onto the next target.

—

Edward Savauge was a patriot through and through. He loved Italy. It gave him everything. He only ever left for business.

France was…a disappointment, but he chose to enjoy the finer things Paris had to offer. That’s why he had a penthouse with a view to his favorite Landmark.

He had stayed much longer than he ever had before, and longed with every part of his being to go home. He was only supposed to be in town for a week, to deal with his failed contact. After disposing of Charles, he would collect the insurance money from his wife, and then set up a new contact. And even then, finding a new dealer wouldn’t necessitate him to stay in Paris.

But alas, he had to stay now. Especially now that those children were loose. Honestly, he expected more from his top girl.

But Hawkmoth’s secret was just one of a few he didn’t know. The man was shaping up to be a real rival. After he took care of those kids, he’d find the Mothman, and take his jewelry from him!

“Sir, if I may be so bold...aren’t you afraid of the Akuma?” Asked his butler, an older gentleman.

Edward sat is his library, ambient light casting the room with a soft glow. He swirled the grappa in his glass, and leaned his head on his hand.

“A man like me doesn’t feel fear, Rupert. Do you have children?”

“You know the answer to that, sir.”

“Play with me.” Edward smiled.

“No, I have no children.”

“Then allow me to explain something to you. When children become afraid, they become unreasonable. I simply intend to show them there’s nothing to be afraid of, and they will submit.”

“That’s awfully presumptuous of you, sir.”

“Hawkmoth, Ladybug and Chat Noir, the police, all of them are predictable.”

“What…if they aren’t afraid?”

Edward laughed. “Why wouldn’t they be afraid? I’m the reason they were captured. Fear doesn’t mean they’d hide from me. It can mean they’re taking advantage of their heightened state to attack me.”

“And you don’t believe they could be a threat to you?”

“Not those kids. They’re too soft. They won’t kill me.”

“Just like they killed Miss Bianca and her men?”

“You’ve got me there, friend.” He sipped his drink. “But that’s what the men downstairs are for. We’ll wrangle them, and they’ll just be another pawn for my collection. It’s as I’ve done to every enemy of mine. Now that I know the identities of the Cat and Bug, they will be even more willing to listen to reason.” He gestured to a manilla envelope on the table. “Miss Dupain-Cheng has family in close proximity to our home office. And Mr. Agreste has family unprotected and unaware in England. Plenty of reasons why getting on my bad side is a bad idea…if they haven’t already figured that out.” He set down his glass and picked up a box of Toscanos. “Would you like one Rupert?”

“You’re offering me one of your cigars?”

“Think of it as a special occasion.”

The butler came closer and took a cigar, allowing his boss to light it.

“Take a seat, old friend. I could use the company.”

Rupert did as he was told, sitting and smoking in the silent night. He chanced a glance at Edward, seeing the cigar shaking slightly in his hand.

Ah.

They were going to die, then.

When music started to play from the other room, Edward tensed and closed his eyes. He sighed, smoke exhaling. “How ironic. Una Furtiva Lacrima. I used to love that song.”  

A single secret tear

from her eye did spring:

as if she envied all the youths

that laughingly passed her by.

The door behind them creaked open. There was no bursting down the door, no shouting and yelling, no gun shots. They had made their way here almost effortlessly.

Swallowing, Edward swiveled his chair around. “It seems you and I both have a penchant for theatrics. Not something I would have expected from you.”

But as he looked to the opened doorway, there was no one there. No light coming from the hall, just a wall of darkness.

Then a thump of something hitting the floor, before a red stain bled over into the carpet.   What more searching need I do?

What more searching need I do?

She loves me! Yes, she loves me, I see it. I see it.

For just an instant the beating

of her beautiful heart I could feel!

Lady Lacrima stood in the frame, the blood that had washed off by the rain was accompanied by even more. Splatters on her cheek, blood dripping from the deadly mace in her hand. Her face showed no emotion, no mercy, no anger, nothing.

She looked like the angel of death, coming to claim his soul.

As if my sighs were hers,

and her sighs were mine!

The beating, the beating of her heart I could feel,

to merge my sighs with hers...

“I don’t suppose we could talk this out? You know, I can give you anything you want. And unlike with my usual contacts, I wouldn’t ask for much in return. Just my life spared, as well as my friend Rupert here. He’s my butler, you see. Never did a thing wrong, just worked for an honest wage.”

Lady Lacrima just stared him down, and it felt impossible to tell if she was listening or not.

Or if she was just trying to make him squirm.

Finally, she raised her chin to look at him levelly. “Others begged. Salo, she spent her last breath threatening me, Pasolini promised us wealth and power…and you are here bartering, as if this is another day in business.”

Edward took another puff on his cigar. “No one’s ever beaten me before, you know? I haven’t served prison time since I was a boy. Plenty of guns have pointed me down, but not a single has gone off. Ladybug, you’ve been the first to get so close. I might actually be scared of you.”

“This is how you show fear? By flattery?”

“Is it working?”

She shook her head.

“Thought not.” He finished off his grappa. “But what can I say, I’m a gambling man. I thought I’d try my luck.” His brows furrowed. “Where’s the Cat?”

Lady Lacrima didn’t answer, but judging by the ever so slight smile on her lips, he didn’t want to hear it.      

Heavens! Yes, I could die!

I could ask for nothing more, nothing more.

Oh, heavens! Yes, I could, I could die!

I could ask for nothing more, nothing more.

A thud hit the ground behind him and a ball rolled forward between his feet.

No, not a ball.

A head.

The head of one of his men downstairs, completely covered in blood. It stopped, facing him, jaw open and eyes staring lifelessly into his.

Yes, I could die! Yes, I could die.

—

Queen Bee and Mayor Bourgeois swung through the pouring rain to the Agreste Mansion. She landed inside the gate, before running up the stairs and pounding on the door. “Madam Cheng! Madam Cheng!” She cried.

In mere seconds, the door flew open and Sabine gaped at them in shock.

“Chloe?”

Chloe, still reeling from the horrific scene at the police prefecture, all but collapsed against the woman, sobbing.

Sabine looked to the Mayor in confusion.

He was pale, windswept, and stricken.

She led them both inside.

“Where’s Gabriel? Alya?”

Sabine didn’t answer. “What happened to you two?”

The mayor responded, “I received a call from the chief of police that Adrien and Marinette had become akumatized and escaped. So Chloe and I went to the precinct to check in with the Minister of Interior…”

“They showed up and killed some police officers! We didn’t stay but I’m sure they killed the minister too!” Chloe lamented. “And Marinette! She tried to—she tried to kill me too! She was so angry! I didn’t know what to do!”

Tom and Sabine looked at each other, holding a silent conversation.

Tom took an arm around the Mayor and led him away, “you look like you can use a nice drink Mr. Mayor. M. Agreste has a bottle of Sherry in the kitchen. We’ll let the superheroes take care of this.”

The mayor nodded. “Yes, yes…at this point, the less I know the better…”

Once they left the room, Sabine gently pulled Queen Bee away from her. “Come with me.” Together, they went into the office, and Queen Bee fell into a chair.

“It was horrifying! I heard they were akumatized, but I had no idea—I’m so scared!”

Sabine petted her hair, her voice shaking. “It’s going to be alright Chloe. We’re going to fix this.” She then took out her phone and called Alya.

“Yes, mom?”

“Queen Bee is here, Tom took the Mayor to the kitchen. Marinette and Adrien were spotted over at the police station…and it seems they did some damage.”

“We’ll be right down.”

“Now Chloe,” Sabine said patiently after hanging up. “A lot has happened in the last few hours. What was the last thing you saw?”

Chloe wiped her eyes. “I saw Adrien getting—getting whipped! I couldn’t—I haven’t be able to even think about watching since then. It hurt too much!”

“Yes, I know.” Sabine agreed, gently moving her bangs from her face. “Well…we’ll wait for the others to get here, and then we’ll get you up to date, alright?”

At that moment, the sound of hydraulics came from the other side of the room. Rena Rouge, Carapace, and Hawkmoth emerged from the floor.

“Hawk…moth…?” She squeaked.

“Hello Chloe,” he said, his voice much more calm than she’d ever heard from the villain.

“No…you’re…” She leapt to her feet. “Gabriel!?”

He nodded.

“This whole time—you’ve—! I can’t believe—!” She ran at him, angry and feral, beating on him with her fists. “Adrien trusted you! You let him down over and over and he swore to me that you were good! That you only had his best interests at heart! He never listened to me! But he insisted—!” Overwhelmed with emotion, she slid to the floor, only to be caught around the arm by Rena. “The whole time…you neglected him in favor of—of hurting people! Of taking advantage of people suffering!”

Hawkmoth just stared down at her.

“He’s cried so many times because of you! And all you’ve done is lied! And now you—“ She grit her teeth and spat at him. “You’ve turned him into a monster! A heartless killing machine!”

“Chloe…” Alya placated.

“What was this even for?!” She screamed. “You have fame! Wealth! Power! What were you even trying to do with the Miraculous!?”

Hawkmoth couldn’t meet her eyes. “It’s a long story…one we don’t have time for right now.”

“Actually, I’d really like to know too.” Said Nino. “Chloe makes a great point. You always forced Adrien to stay home for his own safety, but you were the most dangerous thing in Paris. I know you put him in danger too. Besides Chat Noir.”  He frowned. “Hey, did you purposefully piss me off when I asked about his birthday party? Did you purposely set me up to be akumatized?!”

The brooch on Hawkmoth’s chest burned with the anger in the room.

“Yeah! And you akumatized Adrien’s bodyguard! The big gorilla threw Adrien off the side of the building!” Alya added.

Hawkmoth growled. “We’re wasting time!”

“I’m not working with you until you explain yourself!” Chloe shrieked.

A very sharp pain, right to the heart, emanated from the brooch. Gabriel collapsed, ripping the brooch off and sending it clattering across the floor.

For a tense moment, he knelt on the floor, grasping at his chest and trying to catch his breath.

Sabine, who had been silently watching, stood up and stepped closer. “Gabriel?”

“The anger…” he moaned. “They must have done something else…I was just…suddenly overwhelmed with a lot of negative emotion. Not just from the room, but from the city.”

Queen Bee shuttered. “They killed two police officers and the Minster of Interior. Others must have found them.”

Rena gasped. “What?”

Queen Bee took a deep sigh and recounted everything that she had witnessed that evening at the police station. When she was done, everyone stood in stunned silence.

Gabriel, who had slightly recovered, slowly stood and picked up his Miraculous. “Using the Ladybug and Black Cat Miraculous together allows the user to make an ultimate wish. I wanted to bring my wife back. But…as I spoke with the Guardian, I found that trying to do so would have likely killed Adrien and I both in the process. Master Fu is taking care of the situation in exchange for the Butterfly and Peacock Miraculous.” He pinned the brooch back on. “I was desperate and wrong. Is that enough for you?”

Chloe sniffed and wiped her cheeks. “For now.”

Gabriel sighed as he paced the room. “Then…we have to confront them.”

“Can’t you just un-akumatize them?” Queen Bee asked.

“No. Making two akuma divides the control I have. They’ve taken my akuma from me. And I can’t make anymore until I get them back.”

“Then what do we do?” Asked Rena.

“The only thing we can do. We have to get the Ladybug Miraculous from them, purify them, and use the cure. That should bring back the officers and the Minister…but that will also bring back Salo.”

They all sighed at that. It was wrong and unfair.

“But couldn’t she twist the truth once she was back? There has to be another way!”

“No, this time, I think it will be impossible for her to get out of it. Her and Edward Savauge.”

“I bet that’s who they’re going for next, if they haven’t already.” Said Rena. “What’s our move?”

“We’ll try to talk them down first,” explained Gabriel. “And if that doesn’t work, we’ll just have to take the Miraculous by force.”

[revenantbat]

The Superman vs Batman Movie We Deserve:

Related to my If Batman Started as a Teen post:

Wonder Woman: We should reveal our identities so we can trust each other.

Batman: *knowing full well they’re not going to treat him as an equal member of the team when they find out he’s only nineteen* I work alone.

Superman: This was your idea.

-

In Gotham, Superman shows up after hearing reports of a Batwoman in the city and getting pissed because that means his ‘I work alone’ is clearly bull.

Cue Superman using x-ray vision to see who Batman is and getting a lecture on boundaries in return. The all seven League members are there eventually because Superman is bitching about it.

Clark Kent was raised on Earth, he’s also a journalist. That means that he’s heard a number of things over the years about Bruce Wayne and his probablematic dealing over his philanthropic. He knows that power corrupts, he heard it in that tale of Brainiac and the Death of his home planet, he’s been taught it by his parents in Kansas, he has a bad experience with billionaires - and Lex is just salty enough about not getting a foothold in Gotham to throw some subtle shade towards the playboy. This is ironic because he’s just used his powers to effectively take Batman’s secret identity away from him and tells the others. He will realise his mistake and start to learn from it. He won’t apologise in this movie, he might not apologise at all. But he will change his behaviour and be more mindful of his actions when it comes to respecting others - unfortunately it’s not Bruce’s argument that makes him see that.

Bruce is fundamentally feeling attacked. Someone he wasn’t sure he could trust has come into his city and invaded his privacy in a way that’s also going against his expressed wishes. He feels particularly defenseless and it’s something that shapes his character going forward. He’s backed into a corner here when it comes to arguing, he can’t argue how he want’s to argue because it can be used against him. He also can’t argue the same way anyone in Gotham argues because these people are outsiders and won’t understand. Bruce is forced to defend rather then attack and that isn’t how arguments are won. Bruce also isn’t liking the fear he’s feeling and likely projecting. Fundamentally, he’s in the right here. He knows that but he doesn’t know how to prove that.

Barry Allen is the first of the other JLA members to assess the argument and form an opinion. This isn’t surprising due to his powers. But he also works for a police department, it’s likely that he’s read a lot of socio-political papers on Gotham and the crime in Gotham to know about the situation in the city on a factual basis that isn’t the media image of the city. He has a blog about weird occurrences and has likely visited the city and spoken to members of GCPD. From a crime fighting perspective he knows that there are members of GCPD that are grateful for Batman’s detective skills regarding crimes and situations they aren’t prepared for or don’t have the time for. He knows the state of corruption in the city and understands that getting a warrent for some of the things Batman does would be impossible for GCPD. He knows that crime in the city is fought on a ‘what is most damaging or harmful to the highest number of people’ or violent crime focus with vice close behind rather then other things, like corruption or muggings, theft, vandalism, etc. All things that the poor people of Gotham suffers from the most and he knows that while GCPD cannot focus on those things the vigilantes in the city do. He uses these facts in support of Batman and against Superman and more often then not arguments about whether or not Bruce Wayne is trained is replied with ‘How do you know?’

It is this line of questioning that gives Hal Jordan pause in joining the argument. Because Barry and Bruce are right Hal doesn’t know if Bruce is trained or what his motivations are. He was suppotive of Superman’s argument ement before that, because he doesn’t believe that teenagers should be fighting crime. He believe’s that there are people with that responsibility, he’s trained in his responsibility with the Guardians but... Superman doesn’t have much mire of a responsibility to Metropolis and the world then Bruce Wayne has to Gotham and the world. In fact he probably has less of a responsibility to Metropolis then Bruce has to Gotham and Bruce has made it clear that he’s not taking responsibility for the world but will help when needed. He knows that as Bruce Wayne he does a lot of charity work to help the poor, he found that out when he looked for answers about those Zombie apocalypses that he’d been told about. Hal’s mostly just developing a headache and takes Aquaman’s offer to help him look for snacks because he knows Barry well enough to know Barry is grouchy when he’s hungry and it’s honestly better then being here. They end up investigating something stranger then a Zombie apocalypse and all question about if Batman could handle some of the space stuff he’s heard about leaves his mind because this is weirder and also not considered a big deal to anyone in the city?

Arthur Curry was listening to the argument and honestly felt a bit lost. He wouldn’t want someone to come into his Kingdom and tell him how to run it or that they thought he couldn’t for whatever reason. The argument was entertaining enough to justify leaving the water however he was also quoted facts and has a responsibility to investigate those. So he leaves and he takes Green Lantern with him because what a better time to bond with your teammate when sneaking through someone elses house and going through their stuff except not really? They run into Question almost immediately and get politely asked not to use their powers to stop any crime they come across because the infrastructure really couldn’t handle a superhero battle. Fair. Question also asks Arthur about help investigating Vampire Mermaids just off the coast. He gets worried about the description of a Vampire because it sounds a lot like cannibalistic water demons and those aren’t supposed to exist anymore. Imagine his surprise when he finds out they do and people in Gotham keep surfing in the waters after being bitten. They think it’s a result of bacteria and infection due to a high rate of bodies being dumped in the waters, it probably is. Question asks for a risk assessment but is otherwise tells him the Vampire Mermaids can stay because they aren’t killing anyone. A new found respect for the city has honestly been found and he cannot wait to tell his wife.

Diana Prince was split for her thoughts. She understood where Superman was coming from regarding Batman’s age, while she was trained as a child Man’s world didn’t practice that as far as she was aware. Superman had no right to come to Gotham and take something that didn’t belong to him, even if that was knowledge, he had no right to share that with the rest of them. It was unfair on Batman who had excluded himself from the team narrative early on. She also understood the need to persue a calling, if that was something that was happening she wanted to be supportive of him in it. Someone young should have support especially if the crime rates in the city are what they are. Diana wants to hold the group together and it’s obvious that Batman had seen this argument coming when he walked away those months ago. It’s when she looks up to the sky that she realises that Gotham plays on different rules though. Usually when she does that she can feel the support of Olympus and while it’s still there, it’s distant. It’s a clear warning to Diana really, there are other gods here and to them you’re an outsider. She knows what she has to do then because she hasn’t just been taught to fight her battles physically, but politically as well. It’s her and the Martian Manhunter who stop the argument from escalating.

J’onn J’onzz is trying to understand Earth culture and how Humans act. From the best he can tell is that Superman is in the wrong here. He can sense the age of the city around him and there are remarkably few children here it’s upsetting to him. He can feel the anger and self-righteousness that Superman is projecting. He can feel the fear that Batman is and he could hear his thought of his age being an issue of trust. So it isn’t just that Superman is on the wrong side, but that Batman’s judgement was correct about his age and identity meaning he couldn’t actually trust them. He points it out rather bluntly, and there’s a brush of something agaisnt his mind psychically in response. Something in this city wasn’t happy with the argument. Superman, he thinks, isn’t going to undertand their point of view until he learns to listen and do research on his own and he’ll have to build up trust with Batman on his own. But at least now, J’onn thinks, he knows he’s not going to win.

Hal and Arthur return with snacks and a friend without a face. It is apparently someone Batman knows well because there’s relief there too even if it’s when he hears that GCPD are asking if they have to evacuate the District or if ‘superpowers’ are going to leave. Something about infrastructure and fights that typically destroy 3.2 skyscrapers. Most of them leave apologetic of the fact that they weren’t able to wait for Batman to trust them with who he is himself.

There isn’t a physical fight, but if there was one Superman would lose. Not because Batman had preptime or allies. But because in my Gotham, this Gotham, the stories of a giant man sleeping beneath the city, a wizard leaving a powerful magical artefact buried there somewhere, and two curses from Native tribes before they were slaughtered mean Gotham had it’s own particular brand of magic and it’s own God are true. Batman would win because it’s magical land they were fighting on, and magic is one of Superman’s weaknesses.

It’s not an action movie, and I think it shows Superman’s abuse of power on a much more subtle level then other movies. But it would also show that there are human flaws in Superman’s character that the Snyder movie did not show really. Also it fits with my teenage batman headcanon. It’s also going to cause massive changes in Bruce and Batman going forward, not just Superman’s growth.

There’s a lot that Bruce was never effectively taught how to do and political arguments are one of those things, he can’t have travelled the world to train if he started so young he would have had to train at home and there’s an element of outside media politicking that he could learn. Honestly? I imagine him learning that from Diana. But there’s also a pause too. Because a massive amount of Batman’s character is his need to know everything about everyone and his privacy issues, and this is where that starts. It’s an ugly part of his character but he needs it to feel safe.

It certainly would be a good place to begin the psychiatric reasons behind him not killing going beyond ‘moral code’ and trauma. Namely that he doesn’t personally believe that he could stop killing after the one time. He thinks that it would be too easy for him and it’s a reason to keep him from doing it, while not being able to understand how others are able to, but having a willingness to work with those that do.

Anyway, this is the kind of storyline we need in a teenage!batman v superman movie/book/comic.

[sneakerdoodle]

in honour of the third @glimadora-week being an au one and today being a free day here comes my superhero au that i came up with like half a year ago. the gist of it is 

“a local not-well-known young superhero (Glimmer) gets a huge crush on other superhuman girl’s alias (She-Ra) and dreams of teaming up with her and kicking ass together, until she accidentally meets the girl in question (Adora). she is flustered and embarrassed and stops her fangirling, only to realize she’s actually falling for her now friend and teammate, this time for real”

a more detailed summary follows

Glimmer is a second-gen superhuman (teleportation powers obviously); her mom’s a first-gen with an impervious immune system who worked closely with a group of scientists to figure out the nature of her and other superhumans’ powers, which is how she met Micah (a scientist)

Glimmer juggles being a vigilante behind her mom’s back and attending college (tho skipping classes quite a lot). she exhausts and stresses herself out but refuses to quit because she wants to actually use her powers and make a difference. her and Bow are a hero duo (Bow is a regular human but is smart as fuck and one heck of an archer) and have matching costumes. they mostly watch over the protesters on rallies making sure cops or provocators don’t bother them. very occasionally there are actual criminals they get to stop, but usually nothing serious, just stolen bags and stuff. Glimmer is antsy and wants to do something big

one day a new superhero catches everyone’s attention. she’s strikingly different from everyone else: she doesn’t hide her face, she doesn’t talk to press, she vanishes from the scene as suddenly as she appears, and people only know her supposed name from the letters engraved into the massive blade she carries: SHE-RA

Glimmer gets a very obvious huge crush on her, which Bow won’t stop teasing her about. but it’s not only that ’girl pretty’ (altho, yes, that too): Glimmer is also absolutely enamoured by She-Ra’s seeming courage and confidence. while she has to hide her powers from everyone, wear contact lenses to mask her eye color and unnatural glitter, avoid other college students because she can’t trust herself to not accidentally blurt her secret out over lunch, while she feels like the whole world (and most often her own mother) is telling her to be ashamed of herself, She-Ra’s walking the streets without a mask on. Glimmer won’t stop dreaming about finding her and teaming up with her - until she bumps into a homeless blonde girl in some shady bystreet and the oh so familiar sword falls out of the girl’s backpack

Adora is a subject of an organization that experiments on kidnapped orphaned kids, trying to artificiality enhance their DNA and raising them to fight superhumans who are deemed dangerous. the organization considers itself kind of like a counter-force to the growing population of people with mutated genes and wants them under governmental control

being one of the most resilient and strong trainees, Adora is chosen for the project “SHE-RA”, gets injected with the DNA of a deceased superhero which gets triggered through the exposure to radioactive materials in She-Ra’s sword (specifically the stone). during the procedure things get out of hand, Adora is overwhelmed and loses control over her body, goes full berserk She-Ra mode, crashes the lab in a frenzy and escapes with the sword; she finds her way to the nearest city and, suffering a temporary memory loss, wanders its streets scared, confused and alone, only vaguely remembering that the sword is important and clinging onto it

she finds herself near sites of accidents more frequently than she would like to, and in these moments feels the sword responding to her emotion and desire to help. she doesn’t like the feeling of it almost forcing itself into her hands and is pretty scared of her powers - but can’t seem to let go of the blade. until it’s forcibly taken away from her by a total stranger (who apparently can teleport?), and the stranger is very angry and demands to know who Adora is and how she got her hands on a superhero’s property

Adora’s pretty angry too - both at the accusations of her stealing the damn thing and at the yelling girl herself. and wary of her, ready to take her down. she still can’t recall how she got where she is now but she does remember her childhood, her training and the things she was told: superhumans are unstable and dangerous

they both immediately dislike each other out of various prejudices and are this close to throwing hands while Bow is desperately trying to mediate the conversation. after somewhat diffusing it he asks Adora about her situation and offers her help. she, altho reluctantly, accepts it: she doesn’t have any better options, and these two seem... nice? Glimmer too starts feeling quite empathetic towards her very soon, finally noticing that Adora’s tired and clearly hungry, completely anihilating Glimmer and Bow’s lunch subs in under a minute. however she is still not entirely sure she trusts her, especially since Adora herself can’t really explain how she got She-Ra’s sword - that is until Glimmer get to see the transformation with her own two eyes, and is. quite overwhelmed. she’s only seen She-Ra on tv before, and now she is right here in her full radiant glory and that is a bit too much to handle

the squad of three starts their investigation trying to figure out what happened to Adora, at first unaware that the Horde is on their tail looking for their project

actually meeting Adora and getting to know her better makes Glimmer stop unconsciously idealizing She-Ra; she finally gets over her fangirly crush. eventually tho Glimmer catches herself developing actual deep feelings. the thought of Bow’s a) intensified teasing, b) happy excited meddling is terrifying

Adora is going through a lot. she doesn’t want to fail people who helped her, and Glimmer, not fully understanding the complicated feelings Adora has about her powers, comes off as a bit pressuring when she talks about the asses the three of them are going to kick together, now that She-Ra is on their side. they go through some communication issues, but eventually through her actions Glimmer manages to get it across that she genuinely cares about Adora’s well-being, making it easier for her to open up, so they can finally work it out. Adora in her turn learns about Glimmer’s complicated feelings about her powers and capabilities, how she desperately wants to be herself unapologetically and prove that she is worth something and use whatever power she has to make the world a better place. over time they both get to really know each other and learn how to help and support each other, growing closer and closer and developing warmer and warmer feelings. it’s a nice and cozy slowburn

Some other not glimadora-centric stuff:

Bow started his hero training before realizing he was trans, and ‘Bow’ was his first alias, kind of like a working title; being addressed by it instead of his deadname made him very happy, so he just adopted it as his actual name once he came out

‘Glimmer’ is also Glimmer’s actual name; Angela’s just Like That

the two have a freaking. Patreon page with 10 whole patrons. all of whom are gay college students who joined after Glimmer and Bow showed up at the local pride in their hero costumes carrying a huge banner with their team’s logo against the bi flag. ‘local teenage leftist heroes’ is kind of their whole thing

Bow lies to his dads about working towards his bachelor degree in history, while in reality he spends his days working on tech hoping to get a scholarship from Entrapta, a state-famous superhero and a brilliant inventor, quite wealthy and so influential she doesn’t need to hide her identity. she sponsors autistic kids and kids of colour who want to get into expensive STEM programs and holds regular engineering contests looking for candidates. Bow’s a huge fan

George was a part of the scientists’ group Angela worked with; after a horrible accident that costed them lives of superhumans and scientists alike (including Micah) he quit and cut off everyone he knew from it; the only exception is Spinerella and Netossa, because wlw/mlm solidarity. he and Lance needed another gay couple of their age to have brunch with

Spinerella and Netossa (that have. other names. normal ones) also helped Angela raise Glimmer and were her cool gay aunts. they had to move cities when Glimmer was 5 or 6 tho which Angela was quite happy about: it was painful and unnerving being around people from her old team, and she didn’t want her daughter following them on their path since the couple continued being superheroes. it was too late for that tho because her aunts were Glimmer’s biggest inspiration both through coming out and starting her vigilante business

Angela herself quit being a hero after losing Micah and currently works as a doctor, and is brilliant at her job. she often volunteers to work in quarantined areas, putting her immunity to a good use. it is possible that she doesn’t age and is immortal, they never got around to defining the exact limit of her powers

Angela, Micah, Casta, Spinerella, Netossa and George all knew Mara and worked with her. she died before the team fell apart, her sword and body were preserved by her friends. Weaver was a part of the research group as well and left when things started going south. she took (i.e. stole) some samples, including Mara’s sword and DNA, which she then used to bargain for a higher position in the Horde. project “SHE-RA” was her initiative

needless to say, everyone who knew Mara was deeply shocked by the new She-Ra suddenly appearing on the news. which makes Glimmer double as unwilling to let her mom in on what’s been going on in her life: Angela clearly doesn’t want to hear a single word about the new super in town

[completeoveranalysis]

TRC Translation Notes Volume 11 (Chapters 74 - 82)

Here we are with the first installment of the new Translation Notes from @giniroangou, picking up exactly where she last paused at Chapter 74. 

Highlights include: a return to Piffle, the restoration of Fai’s parenting skills, high school detectives becoming more competent, Nick appreciating Tomoyo in the distance, and general spousal vibes.

Chapter 74

p.2 - The chapter title that has been translated as “Your Power” I feel would be better rendered as “Your Strength.” The word “power” has some connotations in English that I don’t think are intended here.

p.7 - I don’t think this quite came through in the translation, but the banner here is worded like a general advertisement, so something in the vein of: “Leave it to us! Piffle Guard, for all your security needs.”

p.9 - The text by Kurogane that says “Angry guy” was originally just “Tsukkomi,” which I’ve covered before but can certainly be difficult to translate. It’s basically just indicating that his, “What the hell?!” is meant to be a comeback to hearing yet another ridiculous ship name.

Sakura’s “I can do better than this!” would be more accurately translated as, “I have to do my best too!” which I think gives a stronger sense of her drawing encouragement from the rest of her family and just has a more positive ring to it in general.

p.24 - The translation has Fai saying, “How could we ever doubt you, Sakura-chan,” which kind of gives the impression that they were doubting her at some point, but in the Japanese line he uses the word “sasuga,” meaning, “As expected of Sakura-chan.”

Chapter 75

p.33 - Kurogane’s line to Fai, “I told you not to slip alcohol to the kid and the princess,” was originally just, “I told you not to let the kid and the princess drink alcohol.” The Japanese version makes it sound less like Kurogane is accusing Fai of being a deliberately irresponsible parent.

p.35 - Kurogane’s “You little brat” is less harsh in the original text - he just says “kozou” (kid), as usual.

Fai’s “Daddy” nickname that has evoked so much hilarity and horror is “Otou-san” in Japanese. Not only is this more formal than the translation would indicate, it also doesn’t have the same kinky connotations as in English. That being said, there is a subtext here that I don’t necessarily think Fai intended but would definitely come across to Japanese readers. It’s quite common for married women with children to refer to their husbands regularly as “Otou-san,” so while Fai is probably just trying to needle Kurogane about his fatherly attitude towards the kids, he’s inadvertently giving off major spousal vibes at the same time.

p.36 - There are a couple little mistranslations in this conversation that make it sound more awkward in the English version. Kurogane doesn’t say that Sakura’s faster drunk than she is sober (as beautiful as that concept is) - he says that she got drunk faster than the last time (in Outo), which leads more naturally into Fai’s next lines where he theorizes that her happiness over her victory speeded up the process, and finishes by saying, “She really gave her best, after all.”

p.41 - In the translation Tomoyo says that the race was already being investigated for gambling issues. In the original, she says that the race was already the target of gambling, but she’d let it slide until now because it had caused very little damage.

p.43 - Kurogane doesn’t actually treat the “Daddy” nickname as a joke here - he just tells Fai to drop the subject. I wouldn’t have thought of it if it weren’t for the difference in translation, but I kind of love that he’s not actually denying that he’s the Team Dad. He just doesn’t want to hear about it.

Chapter 76

P.51 - The translation says that Shougo is a regular winner of the Dragonfly Race, but the original line just says that he’s a regular top-placer. We learn later that he won the previous year, but he didn’t necessarily place first on any other occasions. Who knows though.

Chapter 77

p.68 - Nokoru is not the Imonoyama Company owner’s eldest son, he’s the owner’s youngest brother.

p.69 - Shougo describes himself here as a “Guardian,” which quite rightfully raised a lot of questions. In the original text, the reading of the word he says is indeed given as “guardian” (ガーディアン), but the kanji below it reads “jikeidan” (自警団), meaning “vigilante corps.” Shougo declaring himself the member of the country’s vigilante corps makes a whole lot more sense given his earlier behavior.

When Shougo complains about Nokoru’s behavior, he’s not just referencing his treatment of Sakura - he says that every time they meet a female finalist Nokoru declares her innocent.

p.73 - A minor change that helps make sense of the flow of the scene here and everyone’s reactions: When Nokoru tells Sakura, “But of course you’re innocent,” his line would be better translated as, “I knew you were innocent,” or, “I see you were innocent after all,” so it indicates some kind of realization rather than just sounding like he’s repeating himself from earlier.

p.75 - This whole conversation is a little off in the translation, so to summarize from the original text: Sakura and Syaoran both registered as surprised but not panicked, indicating that they aren’t the culprits. Nokoru says that he has confidence in his device, though he can’t claim that it’s perfect - it’s still hard to discover lies told by people who have convinced themselves of their own fabrications OR by those who are truly wicked.

p.78 - You were critical of the choice to refer to the potential culprit as “he,” and I can assure you that this was purely a translation choice. It’s always good to keep in mind that Japanese is light on pronouns, so it’s very rare for anyone to specify gender in that fashion. I personally think it’s best to assume that all gendered pronouns in translations are merely inferred.

p.79 - Fai’s line about Syaoran’s face being tight is intended as an observation rather than a question, and of course is a direct reference back to their conversation in chapter 71. I don’t think I mentioned it last time and it may be clear enough from the drawings, but Fai appears to be referring not to Syaoran’s entire face but specifically his forehead scrunching up.

Chapter 78

p.89 - Sakura’s lines here are translated in a way that creates some unnecessary distance, IMO. In the translation she says, “If it was just one person alone, I’m sure it would have been awful, but… we’re all travelling together.” Her original lines are closer to, “If I were alone I’m sure it would have been difficult, but… we’re together.”

p.90 - When Sakura says, “I haven’t been much help to anyone yet,” your response was, “There better be a ‘but’ following this statement,” and I am happy to report that there is! Her Japanese line ends with “desukedo,” which is a common way to trail off at the end of a sentence and doesn’t necessarily serve as a rebuttal to her first thought, but it does allow room for disagreement.

p.92 - Inexplicably, the translation has Mokona saying that she thinks Yuuko is “really really” mad - there are no “really”s in the original.

p.93 - A clarifying point: Mokona tells Syaoran that certain countries have traditional White Day gifts rather than certain worlds. I don’t know anything about White Day traditions outside of Japan, but I do know that it’s celebrated in multiple Asian countries, so I assume this makes sense.

Chapter 79

p.111 - I don’t know if this is at all clear in the translated version, but the lines reading, “Isn’t that great,” are coming from Fai and Syaoran. They’re both saying, “That’s amazing,” Syaoran in a polite way and Fai in a casual way. I haven’t been pointing it out regularly, but it’s actually a fairly common occurrence for two or three of these characters to say the same line in slightly different ways, and it’s always a fun depiction of their different personalities and modes of expression.

p.112 - I can tell the translator tried to convey this through the word choice, but as a clarifying point, Tomoyo consistently speaks in a fashion that is both very feminine and very formal. In light of this, there’s a lot of humor in the scene where she asks Sakura to use casual language with her and claims that she’s already using her most comfortable speech style.

The translation has Fai comment on Sakura and Tomoyo’s “gentle eyes,” but his original line is that they’re “easy on the eyes.” In Japanese this saying is bit more literal - it doesn’t imply a level of attraction the way it does in English. He just means that they’re pleasant/soothing to watch.

Chapter 80

p.133-134 - The translation takes a more generous and group-oriented approach to Syaoran’s lines here, but I would interpret them on an individual level; “I have to get Sakura’s feather back, and to do that, I need to win.” The lack of pronouns in the original text means this is all up to personal interpretation, but that final panel of Syaoran zooming ahead of Sakura while she’s struggling feels like a depiction of his occasional single-minded focus on her feathers - to me it implies that he’s willing to do anything to reach that goal, even if it means abandoning her. Of course, I’m not saying he should have stayed behind to help her in this situation, but there is a bit of potential darkness to that scene that doesn’t quite come through in the translated version.

p.136 - Fun fact: the part of the course that includes buildings and billboards is referred to as the “public skyway” (一般空路.) I presume this means Piffle has regular air traffic outside of its racing events.

Chapter 81

P.157 - This becomes clear in the next chapter, but the line that’s been translated as, “There are only four badges left,” was actually, “There are still four contestants left,” indicating that the two flying behind Sakura are the last of the group and giving a clearer picture of her position in the overall race.

Chapter 82

No comments on this one - we’re ending on a high note!

[bnha-ra]

Alright so, Vigilante group AU because I can

Some themes won’t make sense unless you have read my XReader on Quotev. This group pair up is really odd and I love it.

Also, undercut to make everyone’s life better

Okay, so in this Au instead of (Name) living with the heroes, she ends up running away after her father is killed and mother is hospitalised

Everyone is both confused, frightened and heartbroken

Two years after is when (Name) starts her plan

It takes about a year for (Name) to acquire the things she needs, but once she does, she goes out searching for a team

First is someone who’s good at organising, someone who can profile both heroes and villains and would be good for keeping an eye on the situation. This turns out to be Midoriya and after about an hour of crying, shouting and just reuniting, she asks him to be the first on the team. It takes a lot of convincing because it’s Midoriya and being a hero is his main goal and he couldn’t become a vigilante as it would ruin his chances to become one and so (Name) leaves him alone to think over it

After a while he agrees, time for the next recruit 

Next is a person who can easily take control over a bad situation, who can at as negotiator, an interrogator and someone who she’s only seen a few times before; Shinso Hitoshi. She approaches him after his school day on the idea

He says yes before she can finish her sentence.

Kirishima Eijiro. People didn’t believe that his Quirk would get stronger than relative hardening and he started to believe that too but (Name) saw potential in him, she believed that a Quirk like his could be something great and offered him a place.

Then Kaminari Denki. Electrification a powerful but dangerous Quirk, however, his inability to keep control of his own power held him back, after all, how could you be a hero if you could potentially harm the innocent? Once again, (Name) offered another place

Sero Hanta. He could shoot tapes out of his elbows and well, people found it humorous that he would want to join the Hero Course at non-other than U.A, but (Name) could tell that he could use his Quirk effectively, for capture, for transport and there was another place offered

And last but not least, Monoma Neito. His copy Quirk was seen negatively to others, it was seen as inferior, he was a copycat and who wanted a copycat as a hero? Well, why be a hero when you could be a vigilante? And that was the last person to join the team

It’s an odd group, they could all say that with confidence and the first official meeting was awkward as fuck

Yet, the more they interacted, the better their bond seemed to become

They had to train first and that’s what really got them together, learning their strengths and weaknesses helped mould their team and it was great

They completely accepted Midoriya being Quirkless, I mean, being Quirkless didn’t define you and your skills

Midoriya stayed out of the field anyway, he was a profiler and dived into the technical work, he was the eyes in the sky (or the building from that hacked CCTV camera)

(Name) introduced them a base she had made and some of the items that they could use for future use

No one knew where they came from, all (Name) said was that they were from an anonymous donor (Don’t worry she didn’t steal it, it’s due to familial connections)

They started from the bottom and worked their way to deeper and more dangerous work

Their first mission was just working with purse snatchers, burglars, just small stuff until they could handle the more dangerous stuff, such as drug/weapon smugglers, human trafficking, dangerous gangs

They became popular to the media and an instant frustration to the heroes

They led their normal lives and their vigilante lives and no one expected a thing, I mean, come on, people like Midoriya, Shinso, Kirishima- any of them fighting evil and reducing crime at a faster rate than most heroes? Not really believable

They’re all so close as well, their hideout isn’t just a place to discuss plans and investigate, it’s their den, their hangout, they can visit each other there, they can play console there, they have dinner there and sometimes they’ll all just stay there for the night and talk about anything and everything

Midoriya helps Kirishima, Kaminari and Sero with their studying

Monoma can practice his Quirk training with all of them

Shinso has brought multiple kittens and cats to their humble abode

(Name) and Kaminari always have gaming competitions together

Everyone is now into crocs and socks because of Kirishima and it’s disgusting

Also, Sero does the shopping because all (Name) brings is sweets and junk food so he has to bring the nutrition into this home

It’s just so awesome, they’re one big happy family

They’re all so accepting of one another and can share everything with each other

I mean, they fight crime, have probably been nearly killed, why wouldn’t they be close?

Then the All Might incident happens and Midoriya’s offered the hero’s Quirk

He tells them of course, ‘cause come on, they’ll notice that their residential Quirkless boy has now got the power of a whole entire nation

Everyone’s so shook

“???? All Might can pass down his Quirk???????”

Wide eyes

Mouths dropped

Confused muttering

Kaminari short-circuited

It’s a humourful chaos

So they’re not quite sure what the next step is?

Midoriya’s gonna go U.A?

He’s gonna become a hero?

He’s gonna have a Quirk?

What???????

Then (Name) has a thought

“You could spy on the students of U.A and we’ll know what kind of future heroes we’ll be up against. The rest of you can go with him”

WHAT???

“What about you?”

“You guys know I can’t be seen by other pros, it’s been eight years, they probably think I’m dead and it’ll just cause drama and conflict”

“Then what? What do we do after this, get our hero licenses?”

“Drop out, maybe disappear, idk”

????? Not very helpful, (Name)????

But that’s what they do, all of them minus (Name) attend the entrance exam and all of them get into U.A

To make it more believable, they divided themselves up a bit

Shinso dropped into General Studies with a ‘goal’ to make it into the Hero Course

Monoma made it into Class 1-B and creates a character with an inferiority complex and a hatred from Class 1-A

Kirishima, Kaminari, Sero and Midoriya all made it into 1-A

Midoriya distances himself from the other three but the three’s dynamic works well and they get to act like friends around one another

Midoriya can drop in now and again but only for a little bit because of Bakugo

It goes really well for them

They frequently report back to base with info about students, they talk about their day and gossip about their groups

“This girl called Hatsume passed out while standing up and I think I now understand why you guys want me to sleep more” “NOW YOU UNDERSTAND!?”

“I bumped into Midoriya while we were walking to class and instead of apologising I had to act like I did it on purpose and Kendo slapped me on the back of the neck again” “I saw that man and it looked like a hard slap, are you okay?” “It hurts to turn”

After the USJ incident, they all collectively decide to investigate into it and find out who could be the traitor

There have been a couple of incidents where the teachers have begun to suspect their little group of something, they just don’t know what

There is one thing the teachers can collectively agree on, these guys seem kinda familiar

And yeah, that’s all I got for now, but I’ll add more to it if people want more cause honestly I really like this idea? I dunno, whatever the audience wants, they shall receive

[detroitbecomevenom]

Investigated (1)

Pair: Miles Morales & Reader (you)

Summary: Y/n’s newspaper has gotten her fame even outside of her little school. Her articles on Spider-Man are usually well received, well until someone not exactly fond of the masked hero gets a hold of one of them. Now Spider-Man, who is actually the reporter’s boyfriend, Miles Morales, must find a way to save her before it’s too late.

[This is a short series that I’ve written. The “prequel” to this is called Investigator and can be found on my masterlist, but it isn’t needed to read this although it does give a lot more insight on the main character’s personality]

Warning: It gets pretty dark. If you can watch crime shows you should be good with this.

Dust and debris covered the surrounding area of the prison. Somehow someone managed to carry in multiple bombs that led to a huge hole in the wall that was supposed to keep the biggest crime lord in New York inside of. Guards held back the weaker and less dangerous prisoners, but that meant that they had failed to keep the worst at bay. Wilson Fisk was free and hungry for revenge on the person that started it all: Spider-Man.

The news stations went wild on Monday when it happened, but by Thursday only a few kept a note on the escape. And on Thursday a small newspaper from a Brooklyn school fell into the hands of a hiding escapee. Spider-Man saves the day once again! This particular article included quotes from the masked vigilante and extremely detailed descriptions of the fight between him and Hydro-Man. Fisk looked at the author of the article, Y/n L/n. “This girl can’t be him, but she knows who he is,” he concluded to his group of henchpeople. If he really wanted to get Spider-Man, then he’d have to fight ugly and that’s exactly what he planned on doing.

~~~

Miles held Y/n’s soft hair in his hands as she leaned against him in his dorm. “Do you think I could write about the best boyfriend in the world for the front page next week? Maybe how our six month-iversary is tomorrow?” She laughed, kissing him on the cheek. It was Friday now and about half a year ever since Miles became Spider-Man, but he knew that telling Y/n about it wouldn’t be good for her safety. Peter had said to him that he needs to keep the ones he loves safe so that he would still have the will to get back up again.

“You should probably stick to the opening of Slate tomorrow. Maybe you should practice your speech again.” Miles knew how important tomorrow was for her, with the opening of the project she had been working on for almost six months. S.L.A.T.E was an acronym for Students learning academics with technology and entertainment. The building was basically a place where students from anywhere in New York City could go and study, get tutoring, and use all different types of computers and other devices all for free. Tomorrow was the ceremony where it would be opened to the public and she’d been told that along with the mayor, she had to present a speech about it in front of a large crowd of reporters.

Y/n knew that this could be the biggest moment in her life and the first time she’ll actually get noticed by the big name news outlets. “I’ve practiced it enough, I just wish you could be there with me,” she looked at him somberly, slipping her hand into his own. He squeezed her hand slightly, kissing her on the top of her head.

“I know, but my mom isn’t gonna let me back out of babysitting my cousin no matter what I say,” Miles adored his mother, but there were times that she wouldn’t reason with him whatsoever. His mother and aunt were going down to New Jersey for the weekend to visit someone while he and his dad were stuck watching his aunt’s six-year-old. “At least my dad will be there on duty, but you’re coming over for dinner afterward and I’ll be watching on tv.” He always found a way to be there for Y/n and she couldn’t have asked for anyone greater than him.

A small smile grew on her face. Y/n checked her phone and the smile left, “my ride’s here so I guess I’ll see you tomorrow.” They kissed, this time for real, and Y/n left the dorm room with her suitcase. Weekends were annoying for the both of them since they lived on the opposite sides of Brooklyn and didn’t have a lot of time to see each other.

Y/n woke up the morning excited, yet at the same time completely filled with anxiety. Now, she stood in her school uniform, just as she had been told, next to the mayor of New York City behind a makeshift stage. Her speech was in her hands as she trembled slightly. Someone put her hand on her shoulder, “Don’t worry, kid. Everything’s gonna go smoothly,” she realized that it was the mayor, whose name she completely forgot at the moment, but it did help her a little bit.

They walked on the stage together, the crowd getting quieter. Y/n looked at everyone, from the men and women in uniform surrounding the crowd and the crowd itself, she felt herself getting nervous. There were men in suits on the stage behind them and she assumes that they were just for the protection of the mayor. She stood next to the mayor as he introduced everyone and the concept of s.l.a.t.e, it would only be seconds now until she had to start talking.

“It is with great respect that I introduce the student that was involved in the project from start to finish, Y/n L/n,” he stepped back as everyone clapped for her. There was a small stool behind the podium that she used to appear taller and actually be able to see above it. Y/n make eye contact with Miles’ dad, who was smiling back at her. He was the most excited when they started dating and whenever she would come over since she made his son so incredibly happy.

“Hi everyone! I’m not that great at public speaking, so try and bear with me for this one,” she stifled a giggle and looked down at the paper containing the speech, “People have always said how important is it for children and teens to be educated, yet many of those students don’t have the access to materials that give them the best education that they could possibly receive. Every student has the potential to be the next Tony Stark or Bruce Banner, but when they can’t explore that part of themselves, then the student that finds the cure for cancer in the future will never have the chance to make a difference. Without everything that my own school provides me, I may not have even discovered how much I adore journalism.”

It was hot out and Y/n felt herself overheating slightly, but she knew that she only had to talk for a paragraph. “That is exactly why I fought so hard to get this project in the eyes of people that can get things done. The future of America depends on the students that are forced to use technology from the past and this can be a little difference. I hope that-” she was almost finished when her speech was interrupted by a gunshot. The officers starting pointing their guns around at whoever had fired, while Y/n looked to her right to see the mayor holding his abdomen and falling to his knees. She hopped down from the podium and knelt down next to the mayor. “Oh my god. Are you okay?” she asked in a panic, knowing that she couldn’t really help him at all.

Y/n felt an arm wrap around her waist and was roughly pulled off the ground away from him. The person holding her covered her mouth with some fabric, with what she assumed was chloroform on it. She kicked him and tried holding her breath as much as she could, but she felt herself losing it and eventually passed out.

The crowd was chaotic. The police had apprehended the man that fired the gun and the mayor was being rushed to the nearest hospital to hopefully remove the bullet. Reporters were all turned towards their specific cameras and describing everything live as it happened. Nobody could find Y/n, but at least everything was recorded by the news outlets.

Miles started to panic as he watched everything go down in his own living room. The six-year-old with him didn’t understand what was going on and tried to get him to continue playing ponies with her by pulling on his pant leg while he tried calling her cell. The call went to voicemail, which he almost expected considering what he saw on the tv. He sat down on the couch, contemplating whether or not to call Y/n’s parents and tell them about what had happened.

He looked over to his suitcase, which held his suit. He couldn’t just leave this kid alone without getting a talking to by his parents, but at the same time, he couldn’t just do nothing when his girlfriend and just been abducted. He was Spider-Man and keeping the citizens of Brooklyn safe was his duty. Miles grabbed his suit and changed in his room, throwing sweatpants and a jacket over it. He picked his cousin up and ran over to the neighbor’s apartment to drop her off.

He quickly swung out of the building and headed towards the scene of the attack. Most of the civilians had scurried away, leaving the police and forensics teams to search the area. Miles walked carefully by the podium and caught his breath once he saw the handwriting of Y/n on the paper that held her speech. She was supposed to finish this. He folded it and slid it in his pocket before swinging away, afraid of being caught by his father that should’ve been there.