#and that scene with hank and nick when hank gets like possessed

[itachi86]

i like this episode

[rebelliousstories]

Tidal Wave

Relationship: Nick Burkhardt x Reader (Platonic), Monroe x Reader (Platonic)

Fandom: Grimm

Request: No

Warnings: Brief Strong Language, Fluff, Angst

Word Count: 5,743

Main Masterlist: Here

Grimm Masterlist: Here

Part 2: Hearts of Sea Stone

Summary: When a series of suspicious drowning show up in Portland, Nick Burkhardt is called in to investigate a naiad. He quickly finds out there is more to his tale than he knows.

“But they hurt me so,” said the little mermaid.

“Pride must suffer pain,” replied the old lady.”

“Vic’s name was Jason Aquati. Water made it difficult to get his wallet out safely without damaging the contents but we made it happen.” Sergeant Wu passed the wallet over to the two detectives that had just arrived. Nick Burkhardt and Hank Griffin made their way from the car to where the CSU were busy processing the scene.

“Another drowning victim in the Willamette in the last week? Seems like this guy is just getting started.” Hank commented on the scene, dropping himself into a crouch in front of the body. He was utterly puzzled by this string of murders they had gotten.

“Well, lets see who next of kin is, business, the works. There’s gotta be something that connects him to the last one. This is just too specific.” Nick added on, pausing to observe the pale watery body that was left there. Something odd caught his eye. Something in his hand. Grabbing a glove, not bothering to put it on properly, Nick gently moved the hand around till he caught a clear look of what he was hold.

“Can I get a baggie please?” The detective called to no one in particular. His eyes followed the object that was now resting on his glove. Nick felt his partner come to look over his shoulder and hand him the evidence bag.

“What is that?” Griffin questioned, watching his partner drop the small object into the bag and seal it up. Burkhardt stood to match the other man, and their eyes were both trained on the bag.

“I have no clue.” A small stone rested amongst the plastic. To the untrained eye, it looked like a regular stone, but one of these men had the eyes to see the unimaginable. He saw the swirl of blue inside, a pale brilliant blue, that quickly died out. Nick’s eyes went back from the stone, to the man before them, trying desperately to find out how these two were connected.

~

The precinct was as busy and bustling as ever. There was so much excess noise and chatter that threatened to pulled Nick away from his screen; he was almost about to tell the entire building to be quiet just so that he could work. But that would not happen, and he knew that.

“Hey Nick, check this out.” The excess noise was cut out and Hank’s voice came to him sharply. Getting up from his chair, the detective walked over and peered at the screen before him. After being here for so long, the bright screen and small dark letters blurred together.

“Alright. What am I looking at?” His hands rested on the table and back of his partner’s chair, trying desperately to make sense of what was on the screen.

“That stone we found in the guys hand today? Well, I thought since the guy last week also had a similar looking stone in his possession that I would have them tested. Listen to this: it is aquamarine. A type of sea blue to greenish stone.” Hank rattled off happily.

“Okay. So we know what type of stone it is. How does this help us?” A headache was starting to worm its way into Burkhardt’s head, and he could do without the small talk.

“Well, here’s the thing. Inside the stone, there was a foreign substance. Initial results were inconclusive because they were quote, ‘fish scales with human DNA.’ That’s weird right?” Nick was trying to rack his brain for knowledge that would explain the foreign substance in the gemstone.

“Very weird. Listen,” he cleared his throat, “I’m gonna head home. I don’t think I can look at another screen tonight. Goodnight Hank. Go get some sleep.” Nick patted his friend on the shoulder, and collected his coat before leaving.

On the drive home, many thoughts plagued his mind. Was there a type of wesen that preferred to have those kinds of gems? Or a particular type of water wesen that he should be looking for? Dinner and Juliette would have to wait. First, Nick needed to make a detour.

His car pulled into the driveway of Monroe’s humble abode, shutting off the engine and sitting there for a moment. Nick searched his car for a drink and some painkillers but found none. This headache was getting worse. Maybe his friend had some inside? Hopefully he did, otherwise his drive home was going to be a lot worse. The detective did not realize that he was already at the door and knocked before he heard a muffled voice calling out for, “just a moment.”

“Nick, hey buddy. What brings you by at this time of night? Shouldn’t you be home?” The taller blutbad moved out of the way to allow the Grimm into his home, but was confused at Nick’s uncharacteristic quietness.

“You okay, Nick?” Monroe asked, starting to be concerned.

“Do you have any painkillers? I’m sorry. Just got this nasty headache and I don’t have anything.” Nick scrubbed his hand over his face, pinched his eyes shut, and let out the deepest breath he could to try and muster through the pain.

“Yeah. Yeah, I got some. Come here.” Going into the kitchen, the detective smelt and saw the remains of dinner. It reminded him of his girlfriend that was at home right now, waiting up for him so that she could make him a hot plate.

“Thanks Monroe. I’m sorry to impose like this on you.” The wesen waved off the concerns as he was shaking his head, still rummaging through the cabinets for something to ease his friend’s pain.

“Don’t worry about it man. I don’t have anything traditional. Well, no. It is traditional, but it’s not modern medicine. Ah! Here it is.” Monroe pulled a jar from his cupboards, with something in German written on the label. Taking a teaspoon, he put a single spoonful of the contents of the jar in a mug. It was then that Nick noticed the kettle heating up on the stove, and watched as his friend poured scalding water over the mystery powder. Was it even a powder? It looked more like tea.

“Give it just a few minutes to steep and cool down. After that, bottoms up.” Monroe looked pleased with himself, but Nick was just confused.

“What is it?” He questioned, looking between the other man and mug with uncertainty.

“Alles Heilen. It’s a type of ‘cure all.’ My grandmother used to make me that anytime I had any sort of internal ailment. Headaches, flu, stomach aches. She even made me drink it one time to help flush out some poisonous berries I had accidentally eaten. It’s really good stuff.” Nick sniffed the mug, and took a small test sip to test temperature and taste before he took a more proper drink.

“So I’m assuming you didn’t just pop over here for a German style medicine for your headache?” Monroe asked, watching the man before him he appeared to finally have some sort of relief as he rubbed his temples.

“No.” Nick stated plainly. “What kind of wesen are part fish, or really love water?”

“Whoa. Okay. Not what I was expecting. Um, I’m not sure. The only ones that are coming up are naiades but they’re only fish in the sense that I am a wolf. It’s not enough to classify or anything like that. Why do you ask?” Now, he was confused.

“There’s a series of homicides I’m investigating. Both bodies were holding an aquamarine stone that held fish and human DNA inside. It sounds like something weird enough to be wesen.” Nick stared off into a blank spot of the kitchen as he let the tea, if that is what you could call it, take effect.

“Aquamarine and weird DNA? Have you consulted your books?” Leaning against the counter, Monroe watched Burkhardt closely. However, the man just shook his head.

“No, I haven’t. I thought you might point me in the right direction.” They sat in silence for a moment, just letting the day take its toll.

“Hey,” Monroe gained Nick’s attention yet again, “maybe Rosalee knows what you should be looking for. Why don’t you give her a call in the morning?” A nod was given by the Grimm, who finished the contents of his cup, and made to leave the home of the blutbad.

“Yeah. I think I will. Thanks for your help, Monroe.” The gentlemen shook hands, and went to go for the door.

“Anytime, Nick.” Watching from his front door, Monroe could not help but feel like this was just going to get worse for Nick if he could not find out what it was that he was looking for. Nothing can cause insanity quite like searching for something that you do not know where to start.

~

Rosalee flitted around the shop, pulling volumes upon volumes of knowledge from her shelves. Her face looked upset, which did not bode well with Grimm in her shop.

“I’m sorry, Nick. I can’t find anything that would explain what you found in that stone. Do you know what kind of wesen was holding it?” Her face scrunched up in confusion and worry.

“No,” the detective shook his head and threw his hands up in the air, “I don’t even know if the guy was wesen.” He was getting more and more frustrated as time went on. His gut told him that this was a wesen case, but Nick could not find anything to prove it.

“Okay. What were the victims names? Maybe I can find out for you.” A pad of paper and pen appeared in the Fuchsbau’s hands as she prepared to jot down the names.

“First vic was Stacie Wesser. She was a spa owner downtown, and the second was Jason Aquati. He was studying to be a marine biologist at the Oregon Institute of Marine Biologist.” After she wrote down those names, Rosalee took a pause. She let out a shaky breath, and her expressive face revealed pain.

“Are you sure it was them?” Her whisper came.

“Positive ID on both. Did you know them?” Nick was concerned and approached the woman in front of him. A tear managed to escape her eye that she rubbed away fiercely.

“Yeah. I knew them. Stacie came to me for specialty items for her shop, and James for a specific cream to use.” Burkhardt got out his pen and paper to jot some of this down.

“What else could you tell me? Is there any way that these two knew each other?” While he was busy writing the information, Rosalee tried to rack her brain.

“It’s possible that they may have interacted in her spa, but now that I think about it, they both mentioned going to see a show recently. The same one even though they weren’t in here at the same time.” Nick’s head perked up immediately at this information.

“What show was this?” She looked nervous now. Rosalee wrote a name on the piece of paper and tore it off.

“Take Monroe with you. It’s not exactly a place you would be welcome in.” The man nodded and graciously accepted the piece of paper. However, just then, Nick’s phone rang. Pulling it out, he barely had time to check caller ID before answering.

“Yeah, Burkhardt. Okay. Alright. I’m there in ten.” He hung up the phone as quickly as he answered it. Turning back to the woman, he stashed the paper in his pocket and gave her a nod of thanks, before exiting underneath the chiming bell.

~

“Another body. This guys cooling off period is shrinking drastically.” Hank met up with Nick once he arrived on scene.

“What have we got?” He asked his friend, and was brought over to the body.

“Name was Stephen Matthews. Forty-four, never married, no children. Works at the Portland animal facility. This now makes the third body. This guys has gone serial.” Griffin walked near his parter towards the victim, and pulled a baggie from another officers hands.

“Found another stone in his hands. If I had to guess, it’s the same one as the

others.” Everyone was puzzled in this case.

“You know, drowning is not the easiest way to kill someone. Guns, knives, even bare knuckles work better than drowning. So why has he chosen this method?” Nick posed the question that no one answered. The sound of a car approaching, and subsequent opening and closing of the door caught the attention of everyone there. Their captain had just arrived on scene.

“This the same killer?” He asked, hands resting on his hips as he looked at the scene.

“We believe so, Captain.” Nick informed him, walking up and standing close by. A second set of eyes locked onto the bag in the young detective’s hands.

“What’s that?” He questioned, holding out his hands to accept the item.

“It’s a stone. Two similar ones were found on the other two bodies. It’s aquamarine but the forensic report shows human and fish DNA inside it. So we have no clue what we’re looking at.” Sean’s eyes stayed locked intensely on the stone in the bag that was no bigger than a quarter. He could hear Nick talking but his mine traveled back in time. Back to when he was young and had just arrived in Oregon. Back to when he had met her and-

“Captain?” The hand on his shoulder startled Renard out of his thoughts. He cleared his throat and handed the evidence bag back to his detective.

“Good job, Nick. Keep it up. I want this guy found before he can kill anyone else.” And with that, he left. No more words spoken, no more updates needed. Burkhardt turned back to the stone in hand. What was it about this stone?

~

That night, Nick called up Monroe and asked if he would accompany him to the place that Rosalee had written down on the piece of paper in his pocket. The blutbad was more than willing to tag along and made sure to tell Nick about it on the way there. They made sure to park nearby, and on the walk over to the front door, Monroe would not shut up about the place.

“Dude, this is like an amazing club. Well, not really a club as in you know techno and partying. More like a supper club or a lounge. There is just this energy in there. It’s wonderful. Really takes you back in time to a much simpler life.” The nondescript black door with the name on the front would be able to be overlooked by a normal person, unless you knew what you were looking for.

“So this is, what? A speakeasy?” Nick continued to walked forward as Monroe seemed to have a revelation in the middle of the street.

“Yeah. Yeah it is. I never thought of it like that.” The closer they got to the door, the more Nick’s nerves were lighting up. He hoped that whatever he needed to solve this case was in this place.

Getting inside was no issue. Just a check for ID, pay a cover fee, and they were there. The lights of the stage were dark, while the ambient lighting was brighter. A poster caught Nick’s eyes that was plaster on just about every surface in the building.

Hometown Performances by the Portland Princess, Sirena!

The picture of the woman caused him to pause. She was obviously gorgeous, but there was a certain, almost mythical, quality to her appearance. Burkhardt felt someone come up behind him, and a hand laid itself on his shoulder.

“Oh yes! Sirena is in town. She’s amazing. Kind of a legend in our world.” Monroe gushed. Just then, the lights in the room dimmed, and the lights on stage went completely black. Whoops and cheers came from all around, and Nick saw many different kinds of wesen woge throughout the room.

A singular spotlight lit up the stage, and the woman from the poster stood in front of the microphone. Monroe was right; this really felt like a portal to a different time. Old timey microphone, and the woman was decked out in old Hollywood fashion. Listening to her sing, it felt like a trance. She interacted with the crowd and seemed to make up songs on the spot, or at least it seemed improvised.

She worked her way through the front row and had everyone hanging off of her every word. It was unlike anything Nick had seen, even in human clubs. This was totally different. Probably like most thing in the wesen world, this seemed to be steeped in tradition. Unlike, however, the last time he was in a club like this, the woman in stage paid no attention to him, and never realized that there was a Grimm in the audience watching her.

Singing her final note, Nick did not realize that she was signing off and saying goodnight until the spotlight died and the lights returned to how they were before.

“Monroe, what is she?” He asked his friend who seemed to be in a daze from the performance.

“She’s perfect.” Nick shook the blutbad from his thoughts. “Oh, right sorry. She’s a naiad. She might know who to look for.” Monroe was hauled to his feet and dragged through the club towards the back.

“Sorry. Sirena is not doing a meet and greet at the moment.” A tall, brunette man stopped the duo before they got too far into the back. Nick hated to do it, but he whipped out his badge for the man to see.

“I need to speak with her. She might have insight on an investigation.” The man scrutinized the badge he held, but eventually let him pass through with Monroe. A door with “Sirena” plastered across the front was the third door on the left side of the hallway the traveled down. Nick knocked loudly, and waited for a response.

“Just a second.” A soft and sweet voice called out from behind the door. Just a moment later, the door opened a little bit, and the same woman from the stage appeared a little bit more relaxed. As soon as she saw Monroe’s face, though, her weariness faded away.

“Roe! I didn’t know you’d be coming. I hope you have brought Rosalee.” Her voice did not lose any of the dreaminess as it picked up in volume.

“Can we come in? Please?” He asked, looking behind him at the Grimm. she nodded and moved out of the way to allow the pair into the room. Only, she did not realize that it was not Rosalee behind Monroe. Once the men stepped in, it was exactly 3.5 seconds for her entire demeanor to change. She squeaked and pressed herself as close to the door as she could. Monroe pushed Nick to the other side of the room as he tried to calm the woman down.

“You… you brought a Grimm here. You sold me, Monroe! How could you? What did I do?” She wailed and wailed, trying to keep the blutbad just as far away from her as the Grimm was, but he ignored the shoves and hitting.

“No. No, Si. He’s not like that. This is Detective Nick Burkhardt with the Portland Police Department. He’s not like the other one. He just wants to ask some questions. Please. I wouldn’t sell you like that.” Her panicked eyes shifted from the man in front of her to the man behind him, and back again. She finally started getting her breathing under control to where she could talk again.

“Just ask some questions?” It almost sounded like a whimper as she stared Nick down. He kept his hands out of his pockets so as to try and make her realize that he meant her no harm.

“Just some questions. If that’s okay. Monroe can stay the whole time.” Unshed tears collected amongst her lash line while she nodded her agreement. Her hands went to her eyes in pain and she bent over a basin of water in the room. What came out as a tear drop, landed in the water as a fully formed stone. Taking a moment to collect herself, she fixed her eye makeup, dabbed her eyes and turned back to the men.

“My apologizes. I try not to cry on land for that reason.” Her voice was soft and sweet, just as before, but her eyes stayed trained on the Grimm.

“It’s okay. Are those aquamarine?” He was instantly curious at the glittering bowl.

“Yes, they are. How did you know that?” Now, the singer was curious. She had yet to lose the edge that she was trembling on.

“We found three identical stones at three separate homicide scenes. Now, I’m not asking as a cop. What are you?” That Grimm stare scared the young woman. The pitch blackness of his eyes made her tremble and lose her facade for a second. In an instant, a silky sheen encompassed her entire body. Blueish-green scales shone in the lights of the vanity, and gills appeared at the side of her neck. Vibrant, electric blue eyes pierced his, and the almost doe-eyed quality she had taken was interesting to him.

“I’m not a normal naiad. I’m what they refer to as a Tödlicheslied.” Her woge state stayed as she explain.

“Are you serious?” Monroe piped up for the first time in a while. His eyes looked like he was a kid in a candy store.

“You’re- you’re a, a Tödlicheslied? I’ve only heard stories about you. I didn’t think you guys existed anymore.” The blutbad continued to look at the young lady, not as if he was judging her, but in disbelief.

“Tödlicheslied? What does that mean?” Nick asked, allowing his eyes to stray from the woman for a moment to turn to his friend.

“Literally translate to, ‘Deadly Song.’ They were the original sirens. An ancient breed of naiads. You Grimms might be a boogeyman tale to us wesen, but these guys? These are pure legend. They’re believed to be extinct. How are you out of the water?” Monroe explained, finally letting the information process. Burkhardt turned back to the woman and looked confused.

“My people usually don’t leave the water. We’re a rare, ancient breed of wesen like Roe said. Leaving the water for us is painful and can sometimes cause death where we literally suffocate. In our aquatic state, we behave like any other marine life. Oxygen in the water passes over our gills,” she motioned to her own with a webbed hand, “and that’s how we breath. But coming out of the water, we have difficulty turning back to our human form because we completely change our organs and structure.” Well, this was surprising to Nick. Just when he thought that his life could not get any weirder.

“We drink a tonic that helps, but it’s super specific. Only a few people know how to make it.” This was going to make for an interesting new addition to his book.

“Do you have an alibi for the past two nights and for last Friday?” Her body returned to normal, the half woge leaving her and allowing her to appear perfectly normal.

“The past two nights I’ve been here and haven’t been anywhere other than my hotel. Last Friday, I believe I found a late night bookstore to go to after the show. I’m unsure if that place has cameras, but I know my hotel does.” The detective took in her words and allowed himself to look around. There was a picture on the vanity, with a necklace draped atop it. The pictures were in black and white, but he knew that face. There was no way he could forget that face. Standing, Nick went to the vanity and attempted to grab the photo to get a better look when a hand slapped his. Rubbing the now stinging hand, he looked and saw pain and fury in the woman’s eyes.

“Apologies. I just don’t like people touching my stuff.” She did not look the least bit sorry, but that was neither here nor there.

“Would you be willing to come down to the station while we confirm your alibi? Just as a precaution, plus it makes it easier for us to get information.” Nick turned his full body to the young lady before him. She was only dressed in a silk robe, long hair flowing down in waves. However, she nodded.

“Would you allow me to get changed into something presentable? I’d much rather not be out there in just my robe.” Shifting from foot to foot, her hands wrung themselves together in front.

“Of course. Take however long you need.” Nick turned his body away from the young woman and stared at the wall, while he encouraged Monroe to do the same. And by encourage, he means that he slapped the man on the arm and made him turn away from the dressing window in the corner of the room. She disappeared behind the makeshift wall that was set up, and tried to put herself in normal clothing as quickly as possible. There was some rustling, and a couple of knocks as she finagled her way around. However, she was soon on her way out with her shoes in hand.

“You can turn back now. I appreciate you doing that.” It was almost a whisper as she sat down on the stool in front of her vanity to take care of her shoes. The men followed her request and waited patiently for her to be done.

Once the shoes were on, her attention was turned to the jewelry on the table and in the dishes before her. Rings found their place on her delicate fingers. Much less flashy and large than what she wore on stage, but none the less high quality. Nick had a sneaking suspicion that everything she wore was pure silver and built to last. However the one piece of gold that was present on the table, was the necklace draped across the picture frame. There was a pause as her hands faltered to reach for the object, but eventually, she was able to grasp it. Her expression was sullen, as if relieving a specific memory that she wish she could have forgotten. But, that necklace, with a heart shaped locket and several rings found its way to her neck. The one piece of gold clashing against the silver, including a secondary silver necklace that looked identical to the gold one.

“Ready to go.” The wesen took a deep breath and spun around. Grabbing a long, wool coat, she headed for the door and allowed the men to leave first before she locked the door to her dressing room. Leading them out of the building, Ashe stopped only for a moment to chat with her security guards and owner of the venue to let them know where she was going and that she would be back late.

Nick held the backseat door open for her, and offered a hand to help her up into the vehicle. He tucked her coat in to make sure it would not be caught in the door, and made his way to the driver’s door. Checking that everyone was buckled in and secure, he began the journey away from the club.

“Just gonna drop Monroe off first and then we’ll head to the station. Is that okay?” Burkhardt kept an eye on the siren in his back seat. She nodded, yet said nothing. It was silent. Eerily silent the entire drive back to the spice shop. Thankfully, it was not that long of a car ride so Nick was just hoping that maybe he could get some answers at some point tonight. It seemed the spice shop was even closer than he realized, or maybe it was the zoning out and trying to pass the time faster with no noise. But he shook hands with Monroe, and unlocked the car to let him out.

“Stay safe, Si. Okay?” The blutbad tried to comfort the tödlicheslied in the backseat. She smiled genuinely at her friend and nodded.

“I will try. Come out to the show soon with Rosalee please? I’ll get you guys in for free. We can go have dinner.” Her offer made the man smile.

“You got a deal. See ya kids.” And then there were two. Wesen and Grimm just driving down to the police station. Nothing weird about this on a Friday evening. No one made a move to speak, leaving the care in the same eerie silence from before.

“Can I ask about the picture and locket?” Nick broke it. Her startled expression almost made the detective retract his statement, but she relaxed soon after.

“What do you want to know about it?” Her gaze turned out the window, like she could not look at the Grimm while discussing this.

“Who’s the man that is in them?” He was curious about the answer she was going to give him.

“He’s dead.” The red light ahead had excellent timing, allowing for Nick to turn his head around in shock to stare directly at her face. She tried to reign in her emotions, but Nick could see tears threatening to fall. He handed her a set of tissues that were still in the car, and turned back to the now green light.

“How?” His choked whisper came. There was a deep sigh that was released from the backseat.

“For me to tell you this, there’s a lot you need to know first.” A beat of silence.

“Tödlicheslieden don’t come on to the surface ever. Well, almost never. The last time someone lived to tell about us was Christopher Columbus. Although we were swimming with the manatees so who knows what those stories were inspired by.’

‘Our family never allowed the children near the surface alone. They would only take us near there when we needed to eat. Unfortunately, that part of siren lore is true. However, one day I was near the surface and was caught in a rip current. It pulled me so far away, I didn’t know where I was going or even what direction I came from. When I came to, I was washed up on shore along the Willamette trying desperately to breathe.” A small smile appeared on her face as the story continued.

“There was a young man along the shore who found me. He helped me through the change to a human like state. I was so scared,” she chuckled, “but, he just draped his coat over me, and spoke soft and slowly.” Her hands now fiddled with the necklaces.

“Come to find out he was a zauberbiest. Imagine my shock. But he proved to care about me and my well being so I trusted him. He used to take me out, every night, to the river to see if my family was close. After a full lunar cycle though, we stuck to once a month. On the full moon, when the tide is highest and light is brightest. He did everything he could to make sure that I was taken care of. Gave me clothing, showed me a human store to shop in, what tonics to take and when. He was the first person to find out about my tears.” Nick stayed silent throughout the entire story.

“After twelve lunar cycles, I begun to accept my surface life and the possibility that I would never see my family again. And we fell in love. That was a big no-no, even back then. But we didn’t care. It was us against the world it seemed. He made us these necklaces so we would never be apart.” The locket open underneath her delicate touch, and she was lost in a trance.

“But, nothing lasts forever. My family did eventually find me, and they tried to convince me to come back to our pod. But I couldn’t leave my lover behind. When I asked for time on my decision, they came after us as we sat near the water. They dragged me underneath, and made me,” her voice choked, “they made me listen.”

“Listen to what, Sirena?” Nick questioned with profound empathy for the woman who could not have been much older than him.

“Please, Sirena is a stage name. It’s easier to hide in plain sight when no one knows your true name.” She chuckled out, trying desperately to not cry.

“They made me listen as they beat him to death.” Her statement jarred Nick a bit in his seat. They were not too much further from the precinct, but he hoped the story would have something for him to work with.

“I had to listen to his grunts, groans, and cries. It was too silent after. They brought me this as proof,” her hand held up the gold chain with a matching locket on it, “I knew he would have never let them take it off of him had he been alive. It was another twenty-four lunar cycles before I managed to get away for good. I came back to the Willamette, back to Portland. I tried so hard to find an obituary or anything that would tell me where he was buried or something, but I have yet to find anything in almost twenty years.” Nick parked his truck, and jump out to help the lady out of the car. With her hand in his, he stayed at the vehicle for a moment more.

“What was his name?” She was confused, but her eyes appeared haunted. “What’s his name? If I have a name, I can look him up in our database and give you a definitive answer.”

There was a deep sigh, allowing for a lengthy pause. A Grimm and a wesen stood out in the cold Portland air. Her head moved side to side in a negative motion, and her eyes suddenly found the ground much more interesting to look at than the man in front of her. She was trying to reign in her emotions and keep from crying out in the freezing air. After whaat seemed to be an eternity, her misty eyes went to Nick’s as she had her internal struggle.

“His name was Sean. Sean Renard.”

[set-phasers-to-whump]

feel the heat

prompt: overheating

whumpee: nick burkhardt

fandom: grimm

hi! welcome to my first fic for @summer-of-whump! i’m super excited to be doing this event and finally getting back into writing lmao. shit has been crazy but now i get to relax and beat up my faves :) hope you enjoy this one!

“It’s gonna be a hot one out there today, Portland,” announces the DJ on the car radio. “Temperatures are expected to rise into the high nineties and possibly even break 100, so stay cool if you can.”

Hank casts a glance at Nick, who even today is wearing his usual long-shirt-long-pants outfit. “You’re gonna melt, man,” he warns, making the turn that’ll lead them to their latest crime scene - a body at the top of Mt. Tabor Park, stabbed to death and discovered by a jogger early that morning. 

Nick shrugs. “I’ll roll up my sleeves if it’s really that hot.” Privately, though, he has no intention of exposing his arms today. They’re covered in some fairly scary-looking and difficult-to-explain marks, courtesy of a run-in with, of all things, an unusually angry and confrontational Eisbiber. He’ll sacrifice a little discomfort in exchange for no one wondering what the hell kind of animal he’d gotten into a confrontation with.

They arrive at the park, climbing out of the car and into the sweltering midday heat. It’s a bit of a walk up the hill to their murder scene, and by the time they arrive Nick is already feeling the effects of his ill-chosen clothes. But there’s nothing that can be done about it now, so he pushes the discomfort aside and approaches the body. 

‘Stabbed to death’ seems somehow like an understatement in this particular case. The body is absolutely covered in stab wounds, each one at least two inches long and the majority of them fairly deep. Someone had certainly been angry, or had wanted to be really sure that this person was dead. 

“Damn,” Hank says, which sums up Nick’s feelings on the matter quite well. He takes a step closer to the body, then looks up suddenly as something catches his attention. It’s a person, he realizes, trying very hard to sneak away from the area unnoticed. But they must sense his attention, because all of a sudden they start running. Naturally, so does Nick.

Hank’s eye catches the movement at the same instant that Nick takes off running down the other side of the hill. Someone is racing off through the trees, dressed all in black and obviously fleeing something, presumably the police presence at the scene of the murder they committed. He starts running as well, and although Nick has a couple seconds and his Grimm-ness to his advantage, Hank catches up to him after no more than a minute, panting, with his hands braced on his knees. He’s definitely regretting his choice of clothes right now, Hank thinks, scanning the scenery around them for any signs of their possible killer. 

“Lost them,” Nick voices Hank’s thoughts as he straightens up. He gives Hank a rueful sort of half-smile and then takes a look at the hill they’ve just run down. He really wishes that they didn’t have to climb back up it. He feels sort of...odd. Weirdly dizzy, and way too tired for the fairly small amount of running he’s just done. That’s probably not good, he thinks, and then starts the unavoidable walk back up. 

Hank walks beside Nick, who is walking at a slower pace than normal. He wonders why in the hell Nick doesn’t roll up his sleeves, or at the very least undo the top button of his Henley. Hank himself is hot and more than a little uncomfortable in his t-shirt and lightweight pants, and he can only imagine how much more uncomfortable Nick must be. Maybe it’s a Grimm thing, he figures. Maybe Nick is less sensitive to extreme temperatures, or something.

Nick so desperately wishes that Grimms were resistant to the heat. But if anything, it feels like he’s more susceptible to it. The air is like a thick blanket wrapped way too tightly around his body, slowly suffocating him, cutting off the air to his lungs and making him feel like he might just collapse at any second. He imagines his choice of clothes today is also not helping, but his arms feel too weak to reach up and undo a button, and the sleeves are a non-starter regardless. At least they’re almost to the top of the hill…

Nick and Hank step back into the main part of their crime scene just as the techs are packing up. Wu waves them over from where he’s standing next to a bench, looking at something in his notebook. “We’re just about done here, unless you guys noticed anything else while you were running away?”

Hank waits for Nick to tell Wu about the person they’d seen fleeing, but after a second it becomes clear that Nick must be expecting Hank to speak, so he says, “we saw someone running off down the hill. We followed them, but they got away. I didn’t get a good look - just that they were dressed all in black. Did you get a better look?” He turns to Nick with the question. 

Nick shakes his head once, then immediately stops when the world starts spinning. He closes his eyes and takes a few deep breaths, pushing down a sudden, intense wave of dizziness and nausea. Something is wrong, he thinks, but he has no idea what it is. 

“Nick? You good?”

Nick opens his eyes at Wu’s question. “Yeah,” he manages to say. He thinks he should probably elaborate a little, but he really doesn’t have the energy. 

“O...kay,” Wu says, glancing between Nick and Hank like he’s maybe missed something. Hank, for his part, is looking at Nick, who is looking a little bit off. His face is pale, his eyes are unfocused, and he generally looks kind of miserable. But before he can ask Nick whether he’s really okay, Wu is continuing. 

“If that’s all you guys saw, I’ll let the Captain know. I don’t know how much we’ll be able to do with ‘running figure, dressed all in black,’ but it’s something.” He pauses for a second, wipes a hand across his forehead. “They must be crazy, wearing head-to-toe black in this heat. Now, I think I’m gonna retreat to the air conditioning in my patrol car, if you don’t mind.”

With that, Wu heads off, meandering down the path to where his car is parked. 

“Let’s follow him,” Hank says, starting off after Wu. “Some air conditioning sounds pretty damn good to me right now.”

Nick tries to follow him, but his legs feel like they’ve suddenly turned into lead. “Hank,” he says, reaching out a hand to try and tap Hank’s retreating shoulder. 

He misses wildly, obviously, but Hank turns around anyway. “You okay?”

Talking feels like the most difficult task in the world, but after a moment of intense concentration, Nick is able to string a few words together. “I feel…” 

How does he feel again? Oh. Right.

“Really bad.”

His knees choose that exact moment to buckle, and fortunately Hank has also chosen that moment to hurry back over to Nick. He catches him before he hits the ground, then wraps an arm around Nick to keep him standing. 

This close, he knows something isn’t right. Nick is shaking, and far sweatier than he should be, even considering his warm clothes and recent physical activity. Hank puts a hand to the side of his neck and feels Nick’s pulse, which is absolutely racing beneath his fingers. His skin is strangely cold to the touch. Heat exhaustion.

“We need to cool you down,” Hank says firmly, moving his arm to wrap around Nick’s waist as he begins walking towards the car. 

“Wha’s happening?” Nick mumbles, his feet dragging along the ground. He tries to make them move, but they refuse. He feels so bad. 

“You have heat exhaustion, and if we don’t cool you down, you’re going to have to go to the hospital. This turns into heatstroke and it can kill you,” Hank says, reaching into his pocket with the hand that’s not currently preventing Nick from faceplanting into the ground and grabbing his keys. 

Nick catches the words “exhaustion,” “cool,” and “hospital,” and immediately uses what little strength he currently possesses to try and pull away from Hank. “No hospital,” he says pleadingly. He hates the hospital.

“You won’t have to go to the hospital as long as you cool off,” Hank repeats. He pushes the unlock button on the keys. “We’re almost to the car, and then you can sit down and we’ll turn on the air conditioning and get you some water.”

“‘Kay,” Nick agrees, again having heard approximately half of Hank’s words but getting the general sense of what they mean, which essentially boils down to no hospital, which is more than good enough for him. 

They reach the car at long last, and Hank carefully leans Nick against the side of it as he opens the passenger door. He guides Nick inside and closes him in, then circles around the front of the car and gets into the driver’s seat, wincing at the stagnant heat trapped in the car. He quickly turns on the engine and cranks the air conditioning on full blast, slamming his door. That done, he leans into the backseat, searching for the water bottle that he knows he’d left in there the other day. He finds it underneath the seats and pulls it free triumphantly, then hands it to Nick. 

“It’s gonna be warm, but it’s better than nothing. Drink it all,” he instructs. 

Nick doesn’t say anything, but his shaking hands twist off the cap, and he drinks the whole bottle. It is unpleasantly warm, as Hank had warned, but it feels like the best thing in the entire world anyway. He actually starts to feel a little bit better, and cautiously opens his eyes. 

And promptly shuts them when the world starts spinning again. ‘A little bit better’ from ‘really bad’ is still pretty bad, evidently. 

“Try putting your head down,” Hank says, gently prying the empty bottle from Nick’s hands. “It might help with the dizziness.”

Nick complies, resting his head between his knees and trying to take a few deep breaths. He feels Hank reach across him and buckle his seatbelt, and then they’re moving, and he’s suddenly very glad that he’s already in the anti-dizziness position. 

“Where we going?” he asks quietly, when he feels somewhat like he can speak.

“My place,” Hank says. It had seemed like the easiest option. It’s closer to the park than Nick and Juliette’s, and certainly closer than the precinct or Monroe and Rosalee’s. He answers the question he’s sure Nick would be asking if he felt up to it. “I texted Wu and told him. He said he’d let Renard know that we’d both be taking off early today.”

Ordinarily, Nick would argue against this decision, try to insist that he is fine and fully capable of going back to work. But honestly, he feels so far from fine right now, and the thought of lying down on Hank’s couch with the fan going and a nice cold glass of water sounds like heaven. So just this once, he doesn’t fight it. He lets Hank take care of him.

thanks for reading this! i hope you enjoyed :) i did a lot of research on temperatures and heat exhaustion and whatnot for this and had a good time lol. also i feel the need to say idk if we ever know where hank lives so the part ab him living closer to the park is just made up on my part. 

[screenpeekers]

Marvelous Dads: 8 Marvel Movies That Are All About Dads

In honor of Father’s Day, I’d like to talk about something I’ve been noticing in the Marvel cinematic universe. Perhaps you’ve noticed it too. Recent Marvel movies have been obsessed with dads. Like, literally, every movie that Marvel Studios has published since 2015 contains a dad in some way in the plot.

Not only that, but many of these arcs are going to continue into Avengers 4 next year. Spoilers ahead for most of Marvel’s films.

Avengers: Age of Ultron

Wayback in 2015, audiences, and Avengers alike, were introduced to Hawkeye's secret farm and his secret family. Barton introduced the Avengers to his family. Barton explained how Nick Fury had set up this hideaway for him when he first joined S.H.I.E.L.D. and requested that the team keep his secret. It appears that Hawkeye is a husband and father, and so far the only Avenger with kids. The scene is used in the film to incite Hawkeye to help the Avengers, despite his plans to retire. Hawkeye's wife even tells him that the super-powered heroes need him more than he needs them.

We're pretty sure this will come into play even more in Avengers 4.

Ant-Man

Another film from 2015, Ant-Man focuses on fatherhood even more. Both Ant-Men, Scott Lang and Hank Pym, are fathers. Lang, a recently released convict, has to deal with co-parenting his daughter and finding a job. At least, he did have to deal with that. Eventually, Lang meets Hank Pym, a talented scientist and widower. Pym raised his daughter alone for many years after he lost his wife saving the planet. Pym is the creator of the Pym Particle, an insane scientific breakthrough that is capable of shrinking a person to a super small size.

We think one of these guys's daughters will be lost before the events of Avengers 4.

Captain America: Civil War

In 2016‘s Captain America: Civil War, there are several dads who influence the plot.

Howard Stark is Tony Stark's dad. He was responsible for the creation of Captain America, and Stark Industries. His death was originally alluded to in the 2008 film, Iron Man. However, it isn't until this scene that you see Tony's reaction to it. In a scene from Civil War, Tony has invented a new machine, called BARF, that will allow him to enter his own memories. He uses BARF to give his father the goodbye he had always wanted to.

A few scenes later, King T'Chaka of Wakanda is killed at a large government meeting. The meeting's aim was to regulate superheroes. Problematically, Bucky Barnes, a superhuman friend of Captain America, is blamed for the bombing. T'Chaka's son, Prince T'Challa is understandably upset about his father's death and descends upon Bucky as Black Panther, the warrior and protector of Wakanda.

It turns out, Bucky didn't kill T'Chaka, but he did kill another dad. Tony's dear old dad, Howard Stark, was one of Bucky's victims from the beginning of the film. He didn't exactly mean it because he was hypnotized by Nazi's. That's not enough for Stark, AKA Iron Man. The knowledge that his parents were executed at the hands of Bucky sends Iron Man into a rage, and he starts wailing on Cap and Barnes.

T'Chaka's death is partially responsible for starting the superhero Civil War, and Tony's realization of how Howard died basically broke up the Avengers. These events have impacted the MCU, but we expect this to be resolved in Avengers 4.

Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol 2.

Set in 2014, the Guardian's second story showed that almost all of them have some sort of daddy issues.

The main plot of the film centers around Peter Quill and his father Ego, the Living Planet. It also explores Peter's relationship with his father figure, Yondu. Unfortunately, it turns out that Ego was using Peter to expand his power, and had actually given Meredith Quill cancer so that he wouldn't have to return to her. In the end, the father and son pair of celestial beings have a super-powered smackdown.

Similarly, multi-colored sisters Gamora and Nebula are fighting and arguing about their daddy, the majestic purple jerk named Thanos. Their family fight ends up much better, but everyone knows that Thanos will be back.

Spider-Man: Homecoming

Spider-Man: Homecoming is easily the best Spider-Man movie to date. It avoids the whole Uncle Ben thing, but instead Peter has a new father figure. The person inspiring Peter to do great things, and also giving him a great new suit, is Tony Stark. At one point, Stark takes back Spidey's new suit and forces him to return to his homemade suit. This almost goes badly for Pete who meets another dad.

The second dad? Adrian Toombes is the father of Peter's prom date, and he’s Spider-Man's nemesis, The Vulture. The Vulture is a father, a working man, and one of the best villains in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. His plan involves converting alien technology leftover from the Battle of New York into powerful weapons. It's so cool.

Thor: Ragnarok/Black Panther

Thor: Ragnarok and Black Panther are two very different movies, with different styles and different tones. However, at the core they have basically the same plot.

After the death of their fathers, Thor and T'Challa become the kings of their societies, but their thrones are threatened by a long lost family member who challenges their right to rule. Without the main source of their powers, T'Challa and Thor must engage in a ritual combat that they will lose. Nearly dead, the two would-be kings must use the help of their family to depose the new ruler of their societies, but only after an otherworldly dream chat with their kingly fathers. Realizing that their fathers were wrong, both Thor and T'Challa change the way things are done.

We think these fathers are probably finished having an impact on the MCU, but their sons will make big changes moving forward.

Avengers: Infinity War

The most dad focused MCU movie so far, the third installment in the Avengers franchise spends most of the runtime focusing on Thanos, who all the heroes have teamed up to defeat. Previously established at the end of 2012’s Avengers and referenced throughout the Guardians of the Galaxy movies, Thanos is in possession of the powerful Infinity Gaunlet and aims to possess all six Infinity Stones and destroy half of the universe’s population. Thanos is also the father of Gamora and Nebula, as previously mentioned.

Thanos isn’t the best dad, as he spent much of his daughters' childhood teaching them to be vicious assassians. He also spent a lot of time torturing his cyborg daughter, Nebula. Tragically, Thanos was forced to sacrifice Gamora to gain the Soul Stone. He really does love her, but he’s got a funny way of showing it. The end of the film shows Thanos realizing that getting what he wanted cost him everything he already had, as the image of a young Gamora appeared to him.

Is Gamora still alive within the soul stone? We’re pretty sure she is. I guess we will find out in Avengers 4.

Final Thoughts

It seems like Marvel Studios really likes to focus on dads and we do, too. Going forward, we’re pretty sure that Ant-Man, Hank Pym, and Thanos will all do some more dadly things. We’ll also be really upset if the father and son team of Iron Man and Spider-Man don’t make a few more appearances.

If you want to read about some more movie dads, then stay tuned for Dad Week, where we will review our favorite movies about dads. Click on some of the posts below to read more now:

Marvel Megapost Avengers: Age of Ultron Review Ant-Man Review Captain America: Civil War Review Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol 2 Review Spider-Man: Homecoming Review Thor: Ragnarok Review Black Panther Review Avengers: Infinity War Review

[comic-movieheroesranked]

Cinematic Comic Characters Ranked! (Year 2011) Part III

This year I think has the most characters ranked so far, and all from movies introducing brand new characters. X-Men franchise gets a reboot with X-Men: First Class; The MCU welcomes the additions of Thor and Captain America: The First Avenger; DC Comics introduces Green Lantern, and we also get The Adventures of Tintin, Cowboys & Aliens, The Green Hornet, and Priest. Here’s #40-21!

*SPOILER ALERT FOR THE HIGHLIGHTED MOVIES ABOVE*

40. Erik Selvig (Thor)

"Anyone who's ever going to find his way in this world, has to start by admitting he doesn't know."

Erik is a wise man of science who helps Jane work on her projects. Despite not believing Thor's story one bit when the god arrives to Earth, he still helps Jane rescue him and even leaves some words of advice to Thor that helps him understand what it means to be a king. He's a good guy so it sucks to see that by the post-credits scene, when he's talking to Nick Fury, he's been possessed by Loki himself.

39. Ivan Ivanovitch Sakharine (The Adventures of Tintin)

"Nothing I do is an accident!"

A villain on a quest for revenge in his great ancestor's name. Sakharine had every move and action planned out to find the lost treasure of the unicorn but didn't quite predict Tintin's involvement. Despite all his efforts, he's unable to complete his mission and loses to Haddock just like his ancestor did.

38. Benjamin Chudnofsky (The Green Hornet)

"My gun has two barrels. That's not boring."

The big bad villain of the film, Chudnofsky is just a crime boss who is going through a mid-life crisis. Turns out that being scary means a lot more than just killing everyone who crosses you. He learned the younger generations want something a little more flashy. He tries but it's kinda like when a father tries to hang out with his teenage son at a party. It just doesn't work. However, he's still a violent being who takes out a lot of people but in all honesty, he can't be that impressive when he couldn't even kill Britt on his own. Sure, Britt had Kato, who managed to deliver the killing blow to the crime lord, but if he was as bad as wanted to be, he would've had no issues.

37. Lenore Case (The Green Hornet)

"If you even look at my ass again I'll sue you for sexual harassment."

Geez how did this girl even want to work as Britt's assistant after finding out what a complete douche he was? His attempts at flirty were so pervy you just couldn't help but feel bad for Case. Kato didn't really help either and if I were in her shoes I'd let the cops take them both down. But for some reason she helps them and decides to continue to help them keep the city safe by the end of the film.

36. Azazel (X-Men: First Class)

"Damn it."

In my opinion, Azazel is Shaw's most dangerous assassin in the Hellfire Club. Not only can he teleport but he's also a master at wielding a long blade. The combination of the two really shows when he kills most of the government agents protecting the X-Men by himself. His combat skills are so impressive that he's able to take on Beast and Havok at the same time. He apparently can't take a punch though, as it only takes one from Beast to knock him out. When everything's said and done, Azazel joins Magneto's Brotherhood.

35. Thaal Sinestro (Green Lantern)

"Are you afraid?"

With his mentor dead, Sinestro seems to be the strongest member of the Corps alive, but he's faced with a lot. Even with his skill he can't seem to defeat Parralax, who keeps destroying planets with his powers of fear. Worse, he strongly feels like Hal isn't fit to be a Lantern so in an act of desperation turns to the Guardians to find another source of power to defeat his foe. The source is fear, the opposite force of willpower, the very essence of what it means to be a Green Lantern. Despite Hal proving willpower can overcome fear, at the end of the film, Sinestro still puts on the yellow ring, becoming the first member of the Yellow Lanter Corps.

34. Black Hat (Priest)

"After all, if you're not committing sin then you're not having fun."

Black Hat used to be a priest who was taken down during an attack on a vampire hive that went wrong. Instead of killing him, the vampire queen feeds him her blood instead and turns him into the first vampire-human hybrid, containing the skills of a priest and power of a vampire. This makes him dangerous as he leads an overwhelming army of vampire to kidnap Lucy, Priest's daughter, and destroy towns full of humans. He also proved his power by killing three priests on his own as well as nearly taking out Priest towards the films climax. However, Priest had help in the form of Hicks and Priestess and was able to see Black Hat burn up in flames at the last second.

33. Laufey (Thor)

"Go now, while I still allow it."

Man was this guy a huge let down. I truly thought Laufey was going to be the big bad villain of the movie, but turns out he was just another pawn in Loki's ultimate plan to rule Asgard. King of the Frost Giants, he's definitely not to be messed with, but he puts his faith in his son and when he goes to kill Odin in his sleep, Loki betrays him and blasts him to dust.

32. Hector Hammond (Green Lantern)

"How wonderful that all it took for you to grow up was the end of the world."

I almost did want to feel bad for all the crap Hector seemed to be getting from his dad his entire life, but all of that went out the window when the first thing he does when he sees Carol is sniff her hair. The dude is weird, jealous, and entitled so of course he ends up getting possessed by Parralax and granted these psychic powers that comes with a disturbing physical appearance. He gets his revenge on his students, his dad, even Hal for a bit before the other male manages to trick him into wearing the ring. The ring doesn't recognize him and backfires on him and when Parralax shows up and sees him wearing the weapon of his sworn enemy? Yeah Hector died real quick after that.

31. Thomson and Thompson (The Adventures of Tintin)

"To be precise, you are under arrest!"

These two are pure comedy. Not only for how they exchanged words with each other, but because they were absolutely horrible at doing their jobs yet, oddly enough, seemed to be at the right place at the right time to help Tintin save the day. I mean the two were literally at the house of the kleptomaniac they were after and were arguing AGAIST him on how he wasn't their suspect. If that isn't what you call a pure comedic mess I don't know what is.

30. Britt Reid/The Green Hornet (The Green Hornet)

"Everyone knows, you corner a hornet, you get stung."

I hated Britt. He's almost exactly like Bruce Wayne when it comes to being rich, having dead parents, and then deciding to become a superhero, but his arrogance, rudeness, and in-capabilities with mental and physical prowess proved this dude could never be on Batman's level. There was just so many times that he would screw everything up that you just wanted him to fail because it was frustrating to see someone as annoying as him save the day.

29. Parralax (Green Lantern)

"Once I have devoured your world I will have all the strength I need to defeat the Corps and destroy the Guardians."

A former Guardian, Parralax wanted to use the power of fear instead of willpower, making him an easy enemy of the Green Lantern Corps. After his first defeat, he returns stronger than ever, devouring planets through their inhabitant's fear. He nearly destroys Earth as well until Hal manages to fight him off, tricking him into being pulled in into the sun and burns away. His legacy in fear lives on though, once Sinestro slips on the yellow ring that is fused with his powers.

28. Woodrow Dolarhyde (Cowboys & Aliens)

"Get off my plains!"

At first Dolarhyde seemed like a huge asshole that let his son terrorize a town just because he was rich and that he was actually going to be an obstacle Jake would have to face during his war with the aliens, but the latter never happened. Dolarhyde was quick to band together with the others, only really showing disobedience when it came to working with the Native Americans which, granted, was only because they had just taken him prisoner. He proves to be a good shot during the final fight and even saves Jake's life at the last moment inside the ship. I would have preferred Percy dying instead of Colorado and then Dolarhyde officially adopting Colorado to be his son but instead he gives Percy exactly what he wants again but at least Percy kinda stopped being a dick.

27. Alex Summers/Havok (X-Men: First Class)

"Whatever."

Havok seemed to be the member shrouded in the most mystery when he first joined the group. He was very hesitant about being around everyone and they quickly knew why, his energy blasts are out of control. After the death of his good friend Darwin, he decides to focus on his destructive blasts but still can't manage to do it. Even though he mocks Hank to no end, the brilliant scientist helps create a device that helps him control the blasts. He holds his own when the X-Men go up against the Hellfire Club and he officially stays with Xavier after Magneto kills Shaw.

26. Carol Ferris (Green Lantern)

"You don't think I would recognize you because I can't see your cheekbones?"

Carol Ferris is a strong fighter pilot, a smart businesswoman, and Hal Jordan's ex-girlfriend. While it's clear she still cares about him, she just can't take him seriously. She's even smart enough to realize the Green Lanter is Hal, but I mean she makes a good point on him not really having a big disguise. Her bravery matches her brain power too, when she saves Hal from death by blasting some missiles at Parralax and giving him the opportunity he needs to save the day.

25. Johann Schmidt/Red Skull (Captain America: The First Avenger)

"Hail, HYDRA."

This guy takes having a God complex to a whole other level. He wants the world at his feet and in order to do so he needs power. So he creates HYDRA and joins Hitler and the German Nazis to find it. He becomes the infamours Red Skull when he tries to take the super soldier serum and his body rejects it. Even though he's really intimidating at times, he never really accomplishes anything. When his plan fails and Captain America defeats him, he grabs the tesseract and it seems to kill him with it's sheer power alone.

24. Ella Swenson (Cowboys & Aliens)

"I won't be around for very long."

Yeah Ella's true identity as another alien being was definitely a plot twist I didn't see coming but after learning who she really is you really got to admire her selflessness. She literally lost her entire race of aliens like her yet still went out of her way to warn and later help the humans before they were wiped out as well. She manages to help rescue all the kidnapped humans from the alien's captivity but her real shining moment comes when she sacrifices herself to detonate a huge bomb that destroys the entire alien ship, killing every single one of them. We did see her come back to life earlier so who knows if she actually stays dead this time.

23. Moira MacTaggert (X-Men: First Class)

"You're your own team now. You're X-Men."

Moira is a great CSI agent. As soon as she discovers that the Hellfire Club is full of mutants, she goes and finds herself an expert on one. She holds no prejudice like most humans in her era which is probably why Charles starts developing feelings for her. Despite being the only human on the team, she does her best to fight Shaw and even Magneto when he proves to be a huge threat, firing several bullets at him, one of which ends up paralyzing Charles from the waist down. Afterwards, for the safety of him and his students, her memory is wiped clean for when she's interrogated by the CSI.

22. Sif, Vostagg, Hogun, Fandral (Thor)

"We must find Thor."

Sif and the Warriors Three are some of Asgard's greatest warriors and Thor's best friends. They're loyalty is shown all throughout the film when they travel with Thor to confront the Frost Giants and when they disobey Loki and travel to Earth to bring Thor back to Asgard after his banishment. They each have their own unique qualities and abilities that brings something good to the table, but it's only when they all work together that they really become a strong force of Asgardian warriors.

21. James 'Bucky' Barnes (Captain America: The First Avenger)

"This isn't a back alley, Steve. It's war!"

Steve's best friend who's looked out for him his entire life before he joins the army. He reunites with Steve after he becomes Captain America and rescues him from a HYDRA facility. Bucky really becomes that sense of home for Steve, but I couldn't help but feel a little hint of jealousy in him? I mean I think he was so used to being the better man and then all of a sudden Steve is the face of the US army. Don't get me wrong, I think he cared about Steve one hundred percent but I think it was a hurt ego that made him try to rush that giant machine with Steve's shield before he gets blasted away and falls to his apparent death.

[ramajmedia]

10 Prequels The MCU Should Make After Black Widow | ScreenRant

Next year, Black Widow’s first solo movie will introduce a new concept to the MCU: prequels. The movie is reportedly set between the events of Captain America: Civil War and Natasha’s controversial death in Avengers: Endgame. We’ve had movies set prior to the main MCU timeline before, like Captain America: The First Avenger and Captain Marvel (there’s a lot of heroes with the rank of Captain in the past).

RELATED: 10 Supporting MCU Characters That Could Return In A Big Way

But since they both introduced us to their lead characters for the first time, they weren’t true prequels like Black Widow will be. This opens up a whole host of new avenues for the MCU. Here are 10 prequels the MCU should make after Black Widow.

10 Captain America Returning The Infinity Stones To The Past

While Avengers: Endgame gave Captain America the perfect ending to his character arc, it came at the expense of an awesome storyline. Cap went back in time and returned all the Infinity Stones and Mjolnir to their original locations before crossing the multiverse to return to his original timeline, marrying Peggy Carter, growing old, and passing his shield onto Sam Wilson.

We missed all of this, however, and just saw old Steve sitting on a bench. Cap went to Asgard, Morag, and back to the Battle of New York. What’s most important is that when he returned the Soul Stone to Vormir, he would have to confront Red Skull again. It would make a fantastic prequel if Chris Evans was willing.

9 Thanos Raising Gamora And Nebula

The brief flashback to Nebula slaughtering aliens with the unwanted assistance of Gamora in Avengers: Endgame when Earth’s mightiest heroes headed back to 2014 gave us a taste of a potential prequel that would be really exciting. Gamora and Nebula shared some of the most interesting scenes in the Guardians of the Galaxy movies, so why not give us a whole movie of that?

We’ve heard a lot about how Thanos raised Gamora and Nebula, so let’s explore it visually. As it stands, Gamora is no longer a part of the MCU and the version that is comes from 2014, before all of her character development. This prequel wouldn’t feel too much like a step backwards.

8 Odin’s Past

As the MCU moves past its first chapter and heads into crazier, more experimental territory, a terrific story to explore would be Odin’s past. In raising Thor and Loki and all throughout Thor’s solo trilogy, Odin was very open about the fact that he made mistakes in his past. He also fought a lot of fantastical wars.

There are thousands of years of Odin’s history to explore in a prequel, and the character was always popular when Anthony Hopkins was playing him. It wouldn’t take any impact away from his death in Ragnarok – in fact, it would give it even more impact, because we’d know him better when he was alive.

7 Young Hank Pym and Janet Van Dyne as Ant-Man and the Wasp in the ‘80s

We’ve seen a couple of flashbacks to Hank Pym and Janet Van Dyne’s time as the original Ant-Man and the Wasp in the Ant-Man solo movies, but it would be great to see them get a whole movie. The 1980s is a decade that the MCU hasn’t explored in depth yet and Marvel has clearly perfected the digital de-aging technique.

RELATED: Ant-Man 3: 5 Reasons We Need It (And 5 We Don't)

It would be interesting to see Hank and Janet juggle their superhero careers with raising Hope. It could be a Reagan-era Cold War thriller following the duo as they take on a Soviet villain for the U.S. government, a little like how Captain America fought a comic book Nazi villain during World War II.

6 T’Chaka’s Reign as Black Panther

Wakanda is one of the MCU’s most popular fictional worlds and there’s clearly a lot of history to explore. T’Challa is the Black Panther that we’ve been following as he gradually comes to terms with the mistakes that his father made as king and tries to rectify them. So, why not dive back into Wakanda’s rich history and see how T’Chaka was running things in his heyday?

Unlike Iron Man or Captain America, there was a Black Panther before the one we’ve come to know and love. With young T’Challa in the mix, this prequel could still have ties to the primary Black Panther series.

5 The Ancient One’s Origin Story

There are tons of stories involving the Ancient One to explore, and since she can see the entire timeline up until her death (and she mentioned having seen her death many times when it happened in Doctor Strange), there’s probably an interesting way to tell her origin story without it feeling like a straight “prequel.”

Since she can take her astral form anywhere and she used to possess the Eye of Agamotto (aka The Time Stone), there’s a chance for an Ancient One origin story to toy with conventional narrative structure, and also justify her Celtic background, which was controversially changed from the original character’s Asian heritage.

4 Mar-Vell’s Involvement in The Kree-Skrull War

Since this would be a prequel to Captain Marvel, which is technically already a prequel, it would be a prequel to a prequel. Captain Marvel promised to bring the Kree-Skrull War to Earth, but what it really did was vilify the Skrulls, then redeem the Skrulls, then vilify the Kree, as it was revealed that the Kree-Skrull War came to Earth years earlier when Mar-Vell disguised herself as Dr. Wendy Lawson and infiltrated S.H.I.E.L.D. to gain access to the Tesseract.

A prequel starring Annette Bening as Mar-Vell learning the truth about the Skrulls and turning on the Kree to help them could delve back into the space opera elements that Captain Marvel only touched on.

3 How Rocket and Groot Met

The unfortunately delayed Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 looks set to explore Rocket’s origin story as James Gunn strives to conclude his MCU character arc. However, it would be interesting to also see the origin story of Rocket and Groot’s relationship at some point.

RELATED: Rocket And Groot's 10 Sweetest Moments In The MCU

While Solo: A Star Wars Story’s explanation of how Han met Chewbacca was very disappointing, Rocket and Groot have a rich history in the comics that a writer-director with a strong grasp on both comedic dialogue and comic book lore, such as Kevin Smith, could mine for a great prequel. It could even end with them arriving on Xandar at the beginning of the first Guardians movie.

2 Nick Fury’s Early Days At S.H.I.E.L.D.

We saw Nick Fury in his early days as a low-level bureaucrat in Captain Marvel, but that was really Carol Danvers’ movie. We didn’t get to see the Fury that Alexander Pierce described in The Winter Soldier: the spy racked with paranoia who didn’t play by the rules if he thought his superiors were wrong.

It would be great to see a de-aged Samuel L. Jackson play Nick Fury in a really tense, gritty, Bourne-style spy thriller. It could focus on real-world issues, like surveillance, privacy, and drone warfare. Lord knows what Nick Fury’s up to in the present day in space, but this would be a lot of fun.

1 The Secret Avengers

Between Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Infinity War, Cap left his political asylum in Wakanda behind to carry out missions with the Falcon and Black Widow as “The Secret Avengers,” which explains why he wasn’t in Black Panther. This is when Cap grew out his beard and technically became Nomad.

It would be great to see these Avengers back in action together again, with the added twist being that while they try to help people, law enforcement agencies are hunting them down. So, they’d be chasing a villain while also being chased by the feds. Forget a cat-and-mouse thriller - this would be a dog-and-cat-and-mouse thriller.

NEXT: 10 Characters Who Should Probably Retire From The MCU Soon

source https://screenrant.com/mcu-prequels-after-black-widow/

[theprocrastinatingalien]

10 MCU Characters That Could Lead Their Own Movie.

Since IRON MAN made it's debut in 2008, there have been 15 movies released for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, with more on the way... and a lot of characters and actors.

However, there's only been a handful of lead characters - Tony Stark (Iron Man), Edward Norton (Hulk), Chris Hemsworth (Thor), Chris Evans (Captain America), Chris Pratt (Star-Lord), Scott Lang (Ant-Man) and Benedict Cumberbatch (Doctor Strange)  - and we know that over the next three years, they'll be joined by Tom Holland (Spider-Man), Chadwick Boseman (Black Panther) and Brie Larson (Captain Marvel).

In each case, the actor and character have been introduced with the intention of them to lead.  Most of the lead from the get-go, whilst a few have been planted in other character's movies as a way of introduction (notably Spider-Man and Black Panther in CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR).

At no point has a character been introduced, purely as support, later to promoted to lead.  But with so many popular characters, and able actors, surely, as we head beyond Phase Three, we can consider some of them 'lead worthy'?

Here are, in my opinion, the 10 most likely characters/actors that could lead a future movie in the MCU.  So, in no particular order...

ROCKET RACCOON & GROOT

Okay, so, already I'm mixing it up by giving TWO names in one entry!  The reason for that is - I'm not sure which one would actually get the top billing?!  In the GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY films, Vin Diesel is credited before Bradley Cooper, so to that end, I guess Diesel and Groot would be seen as 'the lead'.  However, as we all know, Groot isn't the most chatty of characters with only 3 words in his vocabulary.  That suggests to me that if the two get their own story, it'll be Rocket and Bradley Cooper taking the lead.

Of course, this movie is one that might come to be made, I think even GOTG director James Gunn has said he'd like to do it, and with GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL 3 set to be the last outing for this group, if we want for of the characters, their own film may be the only way to go!

PEGGY CARTER

Hayley Atwell was, in my book, one of the highlights of CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER, and the MCU have found ways of bringing the character back a few times since - an aged appearance in THE WINTER SOLDIER, a dream sequence in AGE OF ULTRON, a flashback in ANT-MAN, and - most importantly - two seasons of her very own AGENT CARTER (not to mention a short, and a few appearances in AGENTS OF SHIELD).

Her series may have come to an early end, but there's still plenty of adventures for Steve Rogers' first true love.  I predict we'll be getting quite a few female-lead superhero films over the next few years, and whilst not 'super' Peggy Carter works in that world, over many decades! 

HOPE VAN DYNE / WASP

We've only actually met Evangeline Lilly once so far, in ANT-MAN, but we know we have more of her coming.  in ANT-MAN AND THE WASP, she'll become the first MCU female character to appear in the title, and then she'll get to hang with the Avengers in the untitled INFINITY WAR sequel.

Now, it's possible the character will only ever play second fiddle to Paul Rudd's Ant-Man, but considering the fact Wasp was a character that Joss Whedon was desperate to include in THE AVENGERS, and it's possible - of the character proves popular - Marvel may wish to give her a solo film.  As I say, I predict a few female-lead films on the way, and I wouldn't be surprise if Lilly finds herself one of the serious contenders.

JAMES RHODES / WAR MACHINE

Okay, I'll mark this as one of the most unlikely on my list, but that doesn't mean it won't happen.  Of course, the character was introduced in the first film in the franchise, with Don Cheadle taking over from Terrence Howard in IRON MAN 2.  He's since appeared in IRON MAN 3, AGE OF ULTRON and had a nasty, potentially life-changing, accident in CIVIL WAR. 

It's expected that Robert Downey Jr's tenure as Iron Man will come to an end soon, so it's possible bosses will keep Cheadle on to keep that 'shellhead' vibe going.  But will Rhodes offer anything new?  Well, War Machine does have his own comic line, and Cheadle is popular enough.

I'm including him, but honestly feel, if Rhodes makes it past Phase 3, it might only be  as a support.

DR. HANK PYM / ANT-MAN

Well, why not?  Pym was the original Ant-Man, and we've already been introduced to him, as played by Michael Douglas in ANT-MAN.  He obviously had a lot of adventures long before this new wave of heroes showed up (well, not before Cap, but still) and I think there's an audience for him, and Janet Van Dyne (the original Wasp).

Whether it'd be Douglas continuing on in the role - maybe with that fancy de-aging cg effect - or with a younger actor, it could work with a mix of the two - Douglas could book-end the film if not appearing throughout.

I actually think this is a strong option, depending on how much we get to see in ANT-MAN & THE WASP due out next year. 

JANE FOSTER / THOR

Okay, I'm just going to throw it out there... Hemsworth's time as the God of Thunder is due to expire soon.  He's a possible casualty of the INFINITY WAR, and if that is the way the movies go, the MCU might call forth a female THOR - just like in the comics!

Jane Foster was revealed as being the new Thor, and that's an interesting route to go down... especially as we know Natalie Portman won't be playing the character in RAGNAROK later this year.  That's possibly due to her tantrum at Patty Jenkins leaving THE DARK WORLD (before going on to direct WONDER WOMAN for DC), or maybe they're saving her for bigger things?  Portman is a popular actor, and capable of leading a superflick. 

This might be something to look out for!

NICK FURY (and SHIELD)

Samuel L Jackson's appearance in the post credits scene that the end of IRON MAN, is what excited the world for the promise of THE AVENGERS.  He's appeared in a lot of films since, although those appearances have grown fewer and far between as he closes in on the end of his contract.

It's thought that he has only two films left on his contract.  He's going to be in at least INFINITY WAR, possible the next AVENGERS film too, but he also hinted that he might be popping up in CAPTAIN MARVEL, so who knows when we'll be seeing him... but there's been rumblings of  Nick Fury for a few years now.

Fury was the Director of SHIELD until it imploded with Hydra-ness in THE WINTER SOLDIER.  Since then SHIELD went underground, lead by Phil Coulson - as chronicled in AGENTS OF SHIELD) but it would make sense for Fury to take back leadership for a big screen outing.  It would also be a good way of utilising Cobie Smulders in a supporting role as Maria Hill, and (fingers crossed) make use of our favourite characters from the series (such as Daisy Johnson, Fitz and Simmons). 

Or maybe we'll get to see a younger version of Fury at the start of his career?  I would definitely suggest they go with de-aging Jackson with CG for that, nobody can play Samuel L, like Samuel L!

Now, it might be too far down the line for this film to happen, but whilst Jackson's under contract there's still hope!

CLINT BARTON / HAWKEYE

Barton got a bit of a bum deal in THE AVENGERS, being all mind-possessed by Loki, but he was a highlight in AGE OF ULTRON, whilst getting some good blows in during CIVIL WAR.    There character's already retired once, but he's still at it.  There's nothing to say he'll survive INFINITY WAR, but if he does, maybe the guy deserves his own film?

Jeremy Renner would certainly like to do more, suggesting maybe Hawkeye could lead a Netflix series, but how about this - with the majority of the Avengers going their own way, or getting killed off over the next Avengers film (we assume) maybe Barton will end up being the boss of team, leading a new guard to save the world.

Just a suggestion, but realistically, I reckon Hawkeye will appear as a support for a different lead...

NATASHA ROMANOV / BLACK WIDOW

Scarlett Johansson is hot property.  Black Widow is really the leading lady of the MCU at the moment, and there's been chatter of her own solo film for a film.  Joss Whedon wanted to do one, and the Russo Brothers seem pretty keen too.    Of all the names on this list, I predicted this is one of the most likely - although not guaranteed.  As Johansson has said, she'll not want to fit into the tight costumes for ever, so Marvel are running out of time if they want to get the ball rolling. 

I think it will happen though, in either 2021 or 2022, and I wouldn't be surprised if we get some flashback action, with her going on some missions with best bud Hawkeye.

And finally... last but not least...

CAPTAIN AMERICA

And by that, I mean either James Barnes (Winter Soldier) or Sam Wilson (Falcon)!

Steve Rogers didn't die in CIVIL WAR like many thought.  That's just as well, we kinda already knew Evans was signed up to INFINITY WAR... but will he make it past 2019?  That's a big question with most of the original Avengers.  Chris Evans has made it known he intends on stepping away from acting (to behind the camera) once his Marvel contract expires - which it is due to very soon!  He has made comments that he'd ready to do more, but that could just be a smoke screen.

In the comics, Bucky Barnes takes over as Captain America, and we do know that Sebastian Stan signed a 9 picture deal (to which he's only used 3 currently, with one to three more coming up with INFINITY WAR, AVENGERS 4 and that persistent rumour he'll be in BLACK PANTHER too (which would make sense considering what happened in the mid credits scene in CW).  Rogers seems to have thrown away the shield, so it's possible this is where Barnes (and Stan) take over role).  Of course, there is a slight hiccup... having killed Stark's parents, he's unlikely to be a welcomed member of the team, I certainly doubt Tony Stark will allow it, so it might be a tough sell in terms of the MCU.

So what about skipping Barnes for Sam Wilson?  Anthony Mackie has proved to be a fun and energetic member of the MCU team, Falcon is certainly one of my favourites.  In the comics  Wilson has became a flying Captain America, under the watchful eye of an elderly Rogers.  This might be an interesting way to pass the torch from Evans to Mackie, and Wilson would be a more accepted member of the team - he's already been an Avenger!

Of course, I quite like the idea that - following the death of Rogers - Bucky and Falcon battle it out for the Shield, possibly both becoming Captain America, with only one victorious at the end.  They could even it up with Emily VanCamp appearing as Sharon Carter, in the race to become a female Cap.  I'd watch that!

So far, Stan as been credited about Mackie and VanCamp in each outing and unless the writers decide Wilson will be Cap from the start, I guess Stan will edge it.  Although, I'll admit it now - I want Mackie for Cap! I'm positive it'll be one of them though!

They're my choices for most likely leads from the supporting ranks.  Think I've missed someone obvious?  Let me know!

And remember to add my twitter - @procrastinalien - where I often run polls for fun!

[thebibliomancer]

Essential Avengers: Avengers #119: Night of the Collector

January, 1974

Oh gee, I wonder who the mystery villain this time is going to be?

Bonus points for the Collector using high tech pins to literally pin up the Avengers like they were insects. Although he was nice enough not to stick the pins through their flesh parts.

A villain did that to Hank Pym once. It was not pleasant.

We start off our issue with the Avengers having to bum a ride from SHIELD since they hitched a teleport from Dr. Strange to the Los Angeles battle. Along for the ride is Loki, ‘mind-drained’ as a result of having Dormammu blasted right through his brain in the penultimate issue of the Avengers/Defenders War.

There’s some casual conversation that serves to keep some plot points active. Cap reassures Vision that anyone can freeze up in a moment of danger like Vision did with the quicksand. Mantis worries about Swordsman’s wounds but he says he just feels a little weak. Iron Man privately hopes Scarlet Witch isn’t still on her anti-human kick after how she blew off Nick Fury’s thanks.

And there’s immediately an action scene as the Avengers accidentally set off their own defenses like idiots. I guess because the SHIELD jets were not recognized?

Everyone except Black Panther gets pinned down or blasted in some way. Black Panther manages to make his way to the door and activate the security panel and deactivate it.

Wanda is still in some mood so she criticizes Thor for how easily he was blasted, saying he’s no better than a human.

But since they’ve all just been through a stressful situation, Cap advises to just let it go.

Thor isn’t really that concerned since he has other things on his mind. Like what to do with Loki. Well, he’s gonna keep him.

Can’t return him to Asgard. Odin banished him. And I guess he won’t change his mind just because of a little Dormammu-brain-blasting. But in his childlike state, he can’t just be left to wander free. So Thor is going to confine Loki to a special top-security chamber. But he’s going to get Jarvis to make sure its a comfortable top-security chamber.

Gee! Thor as Loki’s keeper sure is going to change things around here.

Meanwhile, Black Panther pulls Mantis to the side to speak with her on a little one on one. But its nothing serious. Its just... well, nobody knows anything about Mantis’ background and that is a potentially interesting subject to the young absentee king.

During his studies, he was mostly interested in what Western technology could do for his people and never had time to study Eastern philosophies.

According to Black Panther or rather Steve Englehart speaking through Black Panther, Africa is neither Eastern nor Western but as an emerging continent able to profit from the knowledge of both.

So he just wants to know where Mantis studied and what she studied. Stuff like that.

She dismisses her story as an uninteresting recital and slips into some I’s. “As I have said, I am nothing to speak of.”

An answer that a caption highlights as evasive.

But no time to probe deeper. The plot is calling!

Mantis goes into a trance and gets a premonition of sorts that there’s.... danger! In Rutland! Tonight! Halloween!

Oh Rutland. You’re always with the danger on Halloween.

But also, Rutland is where Loki and Dormammu met. It could be connected!

Luckily, Iron Man and Vision had already finished taping a report on the ‘why everything went to hell for about an hour’ crisis for the news networks.

So off the Avengers go, to that most insidious hive of black magic and evil forces. RUTLAND, VERMONT!

And Jarvis watches them go in dismay. He had just finished cooking them a celebratory banquet with individualized dishes for everyone. And now they’re probably just going to stop at McDonald’s on the way.

Poor Jarvis. The forces of evil and sometimes the Avengers just don’t appreciate the work he puts in (Dude is really an unsung hero).

Anyways, Rutland! Its where the Rutland Halloween Parade takes place. Remember it? I talked about it before? It was a famous event organized by real life guy Tom Fagan? It appears in comics frequently and was home to one of the first unofficial crossovers between Marvel and DC?

Rutland!

The Avengers arrive and are greeted by Tom Fagan (dressed as Nighthawk in a little goof that he always dressed as Batman in the real life parade). He wonders if they’re here to join the fourteen annual Halloween Parade.

Scarlet Witch and Vision beg off. There’s danger here and they can find it more easily by themselves.

Swordsman and Mantis beg off too. Mantis doesn’t like the limelight and Swordsman gets itchy when there’s trouble afoot. But they might stop by the party at Fagan’s house afterward.

To that, Tom Fagan smiles deviously and thinks to himself that they have all walked into his most deadly trap! The caption box gets a bit panicked at its old buddy being so sinister.

You and me both, caption box. You and me both.

Thor, Cap, Iron Man, and Black Panther can’t think of an excuse to duck out. Or probably more likely, they love to help out and stand on a thing and wave at crowds. And that’s what they do for the next two hours.

Plus, they had also hoped that a public appearance in the parade would draw out the phantom menace. Which. I mean. Don’t use a parade as bait, you guys. So many bystanders. I shouldn’t have to tell you this.

With the parade over and the townspeople gone, Tom Fagan suddenly turns on the heroes! Just like foreshadowed in that panel on the previous page!

He throws down some pellets which grow into living animal hides that attack the Avengers!

Ostensibly the legendary coats of Hercules (‘from which no truly mortal being can break free!’). The animal hides wrap around the four Avengers and pin them down in what must be a snug, cozy embrace. They work a lot like constrictor snakes apparently. Tightening whenever they Avengers take a breath.

Hmm... who do we know that likes to use crap from mythology as a weapon?

Is Tom Fagan really Hercules in disguise?

No, that would be silly. Although, having the actual Hercules as a recurring character does kind of make it a bit weird to be busting out his wardrobe.

Tom Fagan is really and astoundingly the Collector in disguise!

He’s on the cover. And he’s the one that likes to use mythological crap as a weapon. It was not a hard conclusion to draw.

He was using the tendency for superheroes to show up in Rutland for Halloween to his advantage. Really, he just wanted to capture any superhero to use as a lure for the Avengers but having the Avengers themselves show up just simplifies the plan really.

But once again I’ll curse flawless latex masks. They should turn everyone in the Marvel universe into helpless trembling balls of paranoia.

Kinda impressed that the Collector could fit his dumb outfit under a skintight disguise.

We cut to the Collector already having the four Avengers pinned up in his trophy case. Yes, like on the cover.

And since he failed to get the Avengers twice before, he’s been preparing a long time for this. He acquired Tom Fagan’s old house in Spring and has been modifying it since.

Like most villains, the Collector loves talking to himself.

He explains to the unconscious Avengers that he has spent his lifetime secretly collecting the greatest prizes throughout space and his interstellar ship stores the best objects of all possible worlds.

But apparently what he really needs to highlight his collection is the Avengers. And he’s not picky. He’ll just take the current roster. Which does mean he’s missing four Avengers before he possesses the crowning trophies of his triumphant career.

But enough of that nerd and his shifting motivations (later it will turn out that he wanted the Avengers for a specific task and not just because they’d look neat on his mantle but y’know what they would look neat on his mantle).

We have to meanwhile over to see what Scarlet Witch and Vision are up to. And they are being accosted by fans who want them to sign shit. And Wanda is fed up to here with being harassed so she blasts them away. Probably non-lethally.

Swordsman decides that outburst of violence is as good a time as any to give Wanda and Vision some alone time and skedaddle.

Alone, Wanda rants to Vision. Yes the way she handled the crowd was probably an overreaction but every human always overreacts to them. All she wants is the same rights humans get. But she feels she’s just treated as a thing. Loved as a hero, hated as a mutant. With nobody seeing her as a real being with real feels. She’s just sick of their bigotry.

She wishes that she and Vision could just find an island somewhere and escape the rat race.

Vision replies that running away never truly solves anything. And Wanda says that he doesn’t understand her very well. Humans have been trying to get rid of her all her life and now she’s ready to take them at their word and go. And she thought that Vision would feel the same way and want to come with.

CUTTING AWAY FROM THAT AWKARD, lets see what Swordsman and Mantis are up to. They spend a little time talking about Mantis’ team-up with T’Challa against Dr. Strange but what Swordsman really wants to talk about is them.

“Let’s talk about how much your concern and faith have meant to me in my new life -- how much I’ve come to rely on you, when I never relied on anyone before! I love you, Mantis!”

Awww.

She says she loves him too. And starts to say that all her life she has wanted a strong, heroic man when the smooching couple is interrupted by muffled groans.

Yup. Definitely muffled groans. Swordsman has spent enough time in dark places to know what a gagged person sounds like.

(Swordsman brings so much expertise to the table!)

And they find... the real Tom Fagan?! Just tied up and left in the woods. The Collector, that is no way to treat Tom Fagan.

Mantis cuts Tom loose while Swordsman calls over Vision and Scarlet Witch for a huddle.

Tom confirms that he wasn’t the Tom Fagan that welcomed them to the parade. Tom apologizes. By starting the parade that superheroes would hang out at, he accidentally created the perfect opportunity for a trap. Unfamiliar country, surrounded by people in costumes, superheroes known to chillax here. It was only a matter of time before a supervillain capitalized on it.

But Vision says Tom has done nothing wrong. He provided pleasure for thousands of adults and kids alike. But someone tried to pervert that pleasure for evil and Vision will not let that stand.

He takes Halloween parades very seriously. He practically ‘in the name of the moon’d’ that.

But he also has a plan.

We jump forward twenty minutes later as the Collector prepares his trap. His foolproof plan goes thusly: disguised as Tom Fagan, he invited the Avengers to his party, the Avengers don’t know that Tom moved houses during the past year and that the real party is elsewhere. So they’ll come to this trap house and get trapped.

And he has just the trap for them. Four birthstones that will produce half-mythical Vultures of Nepenthe! (How can something be half-mythical?) But anyway, their electrically-charged talons means that even Vision will fall before them.

And when someone knocks on the door, the Collector prepares to greet his prey...

Tom Fagan?! And a bunch of children? Possibly some drunk adults? What’s going on here?

Well, the party-goers decided to bring the party back to its origins.

And the Collector is immediately besieged by his secret weakness. SOCIAL SITUATIONS (hahaha right there with you buddy)!

Party-goers surround him and insist on shaking his hand and complimenting his costume and trying to share anecdotes with him and

Nope. Nope nope nope. The Collector can’t take it anymore. He flees into the back room.

“Now more than ever, I know why I chose the life of a Collector! It is a solitary life!”

Right there in the black and white. The Collector is an introvert.

He doesn’t want to waste his mint-in-box arsenal on party-goers so he decides he’ll just lock himself in with the trophies and wait until the other heroes arrive

Oh. Hey. Hi guys. Um. Kind of awkward.

Okay. Yeah. Realizing now this was all a diversion.

“YOU THINK YOU CAN COLLECT THE COLLECTOR, DO YOU?”

And he pulls out some infinite bat rocks and bangs them together to summon thousands of vampire bats.

The bats will destroy Rutland unless the heroes let the Collector escape. And just to make sure they don’t get any funny ideas about taking the stones from him, the Collector drops them down a secret shaft. Its all bendy so nobody can climb down it but also wired to explode if the Vision tries to pass through the walls. There’s another secret way to stop the bats but its known only to the Collector. Checkmate, idiots.

Mantis has a counter offer.

And just kicks him right in the face.

She’s been kicking a lot of old people recently.

Mantis tells the other Avengers to protect people from the bats while she climbs down the shaft.

Because. Total bodily control means she’s really flexible.

Meanwhile, Iron Man rewires part of his armor to create an ultra-sonic signal to blanket the area and confuse the bats echolocation and possibly somewhere Matt Murdock has the worst minute of his life. But the power drain is bad so Iron Man can’t keep it up for long.

Thankfully, Mantis has finished wriggling through the mystery tunnel and brings out the two bat stones.

She slams them together and the day is saved, all thanks to Mantis being super flexible.

Afterward, Tom Fagan thanks the Avengers and wonders if there’s anything other than a parade the town can do for them. And Thor does think of something.

So after less than one day of being Loki’s ward, Thor dumps him off on Tom Fagan and Rutland to take care of. Perhaps the life of an Avenger is too hectic for the brain-wiped Loki, perhaps the peaceful cool forests of the Northlands will be a better environment for him, or perhaps Thor just didn’t want to be his brother’s keeper.

Seriously. Thor just passes responsibility for his brother off to Tom Fagan.

Geez, Thor.

Overall though, I really liked this issue. This is one of my favorite appearance for the Collector. Dude doesn’t want to rule the world. Dude just wants the best stuff and the best stuff includes the Avengers.

Also he’s an introverted nerd who uses random mythological crap as his weapons. He’s always doing new stuff because his abilities are only limited to his collection and his collection is only limited by the imagination of the writers which is probably why his stuff tends to be from Earth.

I like this Collector better than when he has an ulterior motive for trying to collect the Avengers or when its revealed he’s an Elder of the Universe, a secretive cabal of old people engaging in weird schemes. I like him as this super old guy, probably an alien, who collects random deadly knickknacks.

I fear that if he tried to collect all the Avengers these days, he’d have a coronary. Almost everyone has been an Avenger at some point now.