#last i checked we normally reserved that song for villain like moments

[thetimelordbatgirl]

Just so we clear: playing You Should See Me In A Crown just because Billy is now wearing a magic crown like his mom (btw rip his crown from comics we losing on a general magic users and Thor nerd here) is definitely among the cringy moments the MCU has done.

[obsidianfr3sk]

Falcon in the Dive

Summary:  Piercing into the sky and higher, Ace thrived. The weak cowered, but the fittest, like him, survived. He didn't wait until the darkest hour, he didn't wait until they spring alive. He, with claws of fire, devoured like a falcon in the dive.

AO3

As my contribuiton to the Multifandom Gift Exchange 2020 (hosted by the wonderful @darkalinas and @scxundress), here’s a gift for my little sister and favorite villain apologist (?) @alecjamesartino. As soon as they told me I was your gifter... well, I was really happy!!! And then x’d I knew I had to write something about Ace and this song just... LIKE I JUST KNEW I HAD TO WRITE SOMETHING ABOUT ACE INSPIRED IN FALCON IN THE DIVE, ALL RIGHT???? I JUST ✨K N E W✨

Before y’all start reading xd I need to... kinda clarify something. So, I don’t know if you know, but I actually based all of my fics on this timeline made by @honey-hippie-harper and @healing-winston-pratt, and I kinda just started to create my headcanons from it. But, today I decided to throw all of them through the freaking window and base this fic on this timeline, made by my giftee:’))) She uses it for her fic Love and Anarchy (which you should totally read!). That said, this work has nothing to do with my other fics (for example, Rise of the Renegades or The Origins), I’m just experimenting with new headcanons:’)

Another important thing x’d On this fic I mention Leroy’s eyes turn green when he uses his powers and that Hugh’s eyes are gray instead of blue. This are not my headcanons, they’re actually from this drawing made by @healing-winston-pratt​. Go check it out and reblog it!!) 

Now... well, my dear little sister Alec, I hope you like this gift. I know how much you like Ace and the Anarchists, and I have never written anything about them (Begginings and Endings doesn’t count, it was from David’s POV x’d) so this was a complete challenge for me. But what kept me going was... thinking that I was doing this for you. And honestly, your timeline just gave me so much space to play with new headcanons and scenarios, so thank you for that:’)) Personally I consider myself someone with a extraordinary imagination, but you, Alec, left me dumbfounded (quedé dirían en mi tierra). You are so young, and brilliant, and adorably deathly that I just want to hold you and protect you from the the bad things that happen on this world:’) 

I’d say I love you but I’m akward so I’ll just say I’m really fond of you. I think you have a lot of potentential and I hope I get to see you become a wonderful woman. Felices fiestas✨✨✨ 

Knock in the doors, lock up the city,

track him down through this town,

and be quick about it... now!

How the devil can I ever prevail when I'm only a man?

I can never be duped by that scurrilous phantom again.

Year 0, month 0

“I thought you were going to be taller.”

Ace stopped looking at the chandelier hanging over his head to look at the woman to his right. “Sorry?”

“I thought you were going to be taller,” she repeated almost yelling.

“Fuck, Honey ...”

Ace turned to his left. “What?” Honey asked. “I’m just saying, geez.”

The young man's eyes went from dark to toxic green.

“Leroy,” Ace interrupted, “your chair is ... burning.”

Leroy removed his hands from the armrest of the chair he was sitting in, cursing underneath. There were drops of a greenish liquid coming from his fingers and the wood smelled like a burnt tree. As he did his best to clean up the mess he had made with his powers, Ace turned his attention back to Honey. “Did you think it was going to be taller?”

Honey tucked one of her blonde curls behind her ear. She was wearing a white coat with rhinestone as buttons; a group of prodigies had given it to her in exchange for allowing them to join their ranks. Ace had replied that it was not necessary to pay any kind of tribute and that anyone who agreed with the values of the Anarchists, could consider themselves as such. Despite this, one of the boys insisted on giving Honey the coat, because from the moment he saw it, he thought it was “fit for a queen”. That was the moment when Ace's theory was confirmed: Honey had a weakness for compliments and gifts. She accepted the coat with a smile and even defended the boy when Leroy muttered, “Ahem, simp.”

That was also the moment when he realized that Leroy's weakness was driving Honey out of her mind.

Regardless, Ace could tell that they had some kind of… appreciation for each other. The first time he saw them use their powers was when Honey sent a cloud of wasps to a group of cops who tried to get Leroy into one of their trucks and when Leroy burned the face of a guy who had grabbed Honey from wrist strong enough to make her scream.

Those two were powerful and loyal without falling into blind fanaticism. Ace needed people like that in his ranks.

The whole world needed such people in its ranks.

“I mean, yeah,��� Honey continued. “I had heard so much about Ace Anarchy that… well, I have to admit I did build up some expectations.”

Ace fixed his gaze on Honey's feet. She was wearing heels. Obviously. “Why don't you get off those stilts and say it to my face?”

Honey burst out laughing right away and Ace too. He could even see Leroy trying not to smile before crossing his arms on his chest.

The three were on the seat of the cathedral, Ace sitting on the main chair where the priest who officiated the mass sat, and Honey and Leroy on the chairs to the sides, generally reserved for the seminarians who helped during the celebration. He had taken the table out of the way with his powers and stored it in a cellar, in case it was needed again. During those last three weeks that they had been using the cathedral as a base, Ace had given some speeches there. The light coming from the windows illuminated his face and the crucifix behind him made him feel a kind of power that he could not describe. Also, the main chair was wide, tall, and shiny. It would have looked like a throne if it were covered in some golden metal...

Stop it.

“I think no one else is coming,” said Leroy. “we better get out of here. These chairs are uncomfortable.”

“Use a cushion, like me,” Honey commented, proudly displaying the small cushion she had placed on the chair to make it easier to sit.

Leroy couldn’t look more disgusted. “Why would you put your ass on the same cushion you use to sleep?”

As his allies began to argue again, Ace put his arms on the sides of the chair, focusing on the immense doors of the cathedral.

As far as they knew, Ace was waiting for recruits. It was a fairly common thing to happen. Many prodigies (like the simp and his henchmen) had been flocking to the cathedral, seeking help, acceptance, or a chance to prove themselves worthy of being within Ace's close circle. It was a bit tiring at times, but at the moment he couldn't afford to turn them away without even bothering to see what their powers were. If he knew something, it was that no power could not be taken advantage of in some way, and if that way could benefit him, the better.

But at dusk, the chances of people coming to the cathedral began to disappear, because at night the city became dangerous. Thus, Ace knew that he would not receive any new potential recruits until the next morning, and he knew that his allies need to rest and eat something.

However, he also knew that David could be the one to walk through that door at any moment.

Ace was still furious with him. He probably would be furious with him for the rest of his life. David was a condescending, deluded guy who didn't bother to think outside the box for the good of those who were like them.

But at the end of the day, that guy was his blood (whoever he liked it or not) and he wanted to make sure he was still alive.

David Artino would never miss an opportunity to exercise his authority as an older brother and scold him for the first reason that crossed his mind. He could see him hiding like a mole in some hole in the city, losing his mind to the chaos that his younger brother was slowly planting in every corner of planet Earth.

However, he could also see him being killed in the street by an angry horde who knew he was a prodigy, or by a group of policemen who mistook him for one of the hundreds of protesters that had filled the city, and although the thought made him uncomfortable, it might be best if things stayed that way.

After all, if David went out to the real world, the world that was out there right now would probably kick him to the ground, take out his eyes, and eat them before stabbing him and letting him there to die.

Yes, things should stay that way. With Ace Anarchy alive and building the world as it must have been from the start, and with the Artino brothers dead, buried in a sealed tomb from which not even their souls could escape.

He was about to stand up when someone knocked on the door. Honey’s bees, which had been quietly resting on the church pews, began to buzz like watchdogs barking at the presence of a stranger.

Alec knew those four knocks.

Honey and Leroy suddenly fell silent and settled into their chairs almost unconsciously. Ace put on his helmet and then, with a wave of his hand, he slightly opened the cathedral door.

His hair was longer than normal. He recognized the same coat he was wearing the last time he saw him, but he had changed his pajama bottoms for faded jeans. He had a mysterious blow to the head and the deepest circles under his eyes he had ever seen. That, plus that unkempt beard, made Ace even more certain that, had he seen him on the street, he probably wouldn't have recognized him.

At least until he saw his blue eyes. David had unmistakable blue eyes.

“Good evening, fellow anarchist,” Ace greeted from his seat. “How can we help you?”

David gripped the door and frowned. “Alec?”

The bees buzzed louder and Honey turned to see him. “Do you know him?”

Leroy and his toxic green eyes seemed to ask the same question.

“You don't want to mention that name here,” Ace warned, ignoring his allies. “Seriously.”

David did not reply. Not that he expected him to. “Come in,” he assured him, nodding slightly. “Us Anarchists are willing to help any prodigy. We fight for all of them. Even for those who prefer to give in to the system that oppresses us in the first place. "

His allies fell silent. Ace knew he wasn't going to be wrong about them; they were fully aware that their opinion was not necessary at that time.

David's old sneakers squeaked on the marble floor of the church. The white shoelaces were stained with dark blood. “I… I looked for you everywhere,” he muttered.

“I didn't go anywhere,” he replied. “I was always here.”

He resisted the childish urge to ask where he had been, precisely because that was it. Childish. Something that only a kid would do.

And Alec James Artino, the kid, was dead.

David reached the first step of the altar and Ace stood up. “Don’t.”

His brother stopped before taking another step. He even stepped back and put his hands to his chest, as if his heart had ached at that simple word.

You see? Weak.

“I'm not here to take you anywhere,” he assured.

Ace gave a mocking laugh. “So?”

“I'm here to join you.”

The smile faded from Ace’s face. However, he did not interpret it as a sign of weakness, because immediately, he was able to recover from the blow and remain expressionless as his brother's gaze pierced his like stakes.

Even with him there, right in front of Ace, standing in the middle of the cathedral, he knew that David didn't belong there. He was not an Anarchist like them. Something was missing. Maybe courage. Maybe it was determination.

Perhaps what he lacked was that spark of life that rage gave when it started a fire in the depths of your gut.

So why bother?

Before the question slipped from his lips, the answer came to his head and it all made sense to him.

Ace was right. The day anarchy was born, the Artino brothers had died, but there was no one alive to bury them. The ghost of David Artino had spent days searching for his only remaining family, wandering around town like a beggar.

Because deep down, he needed him more than Alec had ever needed David.

How did he explain that the little brother he was looking for was dead, and now only the man he had become remained?

He knew how to explain it, but David was stubborn. Even if Ace chose the most appropriate words for the situation, he could never make him see things the way he wanted him to. At least not if he knew Alec was dead.

He did not know that in an ideal world, the only one still alive was Ace Anarchy.

It wasn't the perfect scenario, but the perfect thing about that scenario was that David didn't need to know that just yet. Alec's ghost could come out of his grave as many times as necessary and Ace could use that to his advantage for as long as he wanted.

That would make the ghost David very happy. And if David was happy and he could take advantage of that happiness, then Ace would be happy too.

Ace removed his helmet and laid it gently on his chair. When he returned his gaze to David, his eyes were full of tears.

He also tried to cry, but couldn't. Therefore, he decided to extend his arms and allow David to stumble his way to him, giving him the strongest hug he had ever received while stroking his hair and sobbing: “I missed you so much, my little nightmare.”

Alec took Ace by the arms and placed them on David's shaking back. “I missed you too.”

But he was lying. He wondered if ghost David was lying too.

He better not.

***

I wasn't born to walk on water,

I wasn't born to sack and slaughter,

but on my soul, I wasn't born

to stoop, to scorn, and knuckle under.

A man can learn to steal some thunder.

A man can learn to work some wonder.

Year 4, month 7

When it all started, Ace did not like to think of himself as a leader. At least not a leader like the previous ones. God, just thinking about becoming one of those who used to rule the world before he turned things around made him feel sick.

However, over time he grew tired of explaining to each of those who arrived, full of desire to prove something (to the world, to Ace, and themselves), that he was not a leader as such. Little by little, he started to ignore those types of comments and just let himself go with the flow.

At least until David noticed his unconformity with the matter and approach him to talk about it.

It was a couple of months after he arrived. Ace was saying his prayers before going to bed when someone knocked on his door.

Four times. As always.

He quickly crossed himself and muttered, “Come in.”

David came in, holding a candle and wrapped in a robe that "the simps" had given to Leroy (it hadn't fit him, but David was so malnourished that it was like the robe had been made for him.)

Ace put on his robe too. “How can I help you?”

David fixed his gaze on the figure of the Virgin Mary that Ace had on a ledge. “Were you praying?”

“Of course,” he answered, feeling a little defensive.

David scoffed. “Wow.”

“What?”

“I thought ... I thought you didn't do it anymore.”

Ace rolled his eyes and pretended to arrange the covers on his bed (they didn't need to be arranged, he was very meticulous about that matter). “How can I help you?” he repeated.

David finally took his eyes off the Virgin Mary and turned to see him.

It surprised him he still had bags under his eyes. He thought that now that he slept in a decent bed, ate decent food, and no longer had to go through the same stressful situations that he went through before, his face would start to look more youthful again.

Maybe the bags under one’s eyes were like expression or acne marks. They would always be there.

Just like experiences.

Then David started talking to him. A lot. About how he had noticed his discomfort when people called him a leader. About him believing that he shouldn't feel that way because being placed in such a position was completely expected and even natural for it to happen. (“Don't interrupt me.” “I wasn't going to.” Oh, but he was going to.) About if he really wanted things to work out, the world was going to need someone to guide it down the path of good, and David did not doubt that someone was Ace.

They spent several hours just ranting about it. There was a point where the two of them were lying on his bed, Ace covered by his red blanket and David tightly holding a pillow against his chest. The candle was getting smaller and smaller, and David had chosen to place it next to the figure of The Virgin Mary as if it had been lit for her from the beginning.

Only that there was a God who saw everything, and that God knew that the candle had not been lit for her.

Ace was staring at the wooden ceiling when David told him, “I could never be a leader.”

“Why?”

Obviously Ace knew that David could never be a leader, but he wanted to know why his brother thought that way.

David clung to the pillow tighter. He wasn't looking at the ceiling; he looked at Ace. Sideways, but he was looking at him. “I don’t know. I think it's just not my… personality. Even when the guys and I were out there doing the… protests and stuff, I never led any of them,” he explained. “I've always been more of a follower.”

Ace did not answer. Yet he hoped David would interpret his silence as a sign that he had agreed with him.

“But on the other hand, you... Alec, you are a leader.”

His jaw clenched when he heard his name. He had to work on it. “What makes you think that?”

“Because… seriously, why wouldn’t you be a leader?” He turned around so he could look at him and Ace felt obligated to turn to see him as well. Only that he decided not to. “People look after you. They know you are a leader and they follow you. See how much you've changed in a matter of weeks. Inadvertently, you have led people up to this point in history. No one had ever come this far. No one except you.”

Then, Ace couldn't take it anymore and turned to meet his brother's eyes. “But won't that make me like everyone else?”

“Everyone else?” asked a very confused David.

Because David never understood anything.

“Like all the other leaders,” he replied, trying not to lose patience. “Leaders who are corrupt and selfish and—“ His brother interrupted his monologue with laughter. Much to someone who had complained when he tried to cut him off in the middle of a ridiculously long explanation. “—What’s so funny?”

“I’m sorry,” David replied smiling. “It’s just… forget it.” He put a hand on his cheek and kept laughing underneath. “Alec, you’re not going to be like the other leaders.”

“And how are you so sure of that?” he asked a little louder than he wanted to.

David hardly seemed to notice. “Because you are not like that. You are not evil.” He sighed. “Now… there is the potential for evil everywhere, but the only way to combat it’s if more people choose goodness. If more people choose heroism. And you… you are one of those people. I am sure.”

And with those words, the candle extinguished, and Ace decided that it was time for both of them to go to sleep. He allowed David to stay the night. It was not like he had given any sign of wanting to go back to his room anyway. Ace spent most of the night awake, but not necessarily because his older brother's snoring kept him from sleeping.

What kept him from sleeping was thinking that maybe... maybe he was right. Maybe Ace did have to start taking the role of leader. After all, human beings were like that. They were always looking for someone to follow, someone they could cling to that would protect them in some way or another. That someone could be the parents. Older brothers. God himself.

But sometimes that someone was not looking for what was best for them. For example, Ace and David's parents never made the slightest effort to hide how much they hated their children. He was still a kid when his brother took him by the hand, put a coat on him, and told his parents that they were going out to the park. Ace didn't want to go to the park; he wanted to stay home to play with his wooden cubes, but David told him that if he went to the park with him, he would give him a surprise on the way home.

However, they passed the park and David went to a clothing and suitcase store that was near the dock where various boats full of tourists departed. On his way out, he bought his younger brother a lollipop and two one-way tickets to Gatlon City.

They never looked for them. Although if they had, he doubted they would have found them.

For a long time, Ace didn't fully understand what had happened. He just knew that he was never going to see his parents again. Regardless, it was not a thought that haunted him. After all, he hated his parents. And he didn't feel bad about it. Ace had David. David would never hurt him in any way.

At least that's how it was until he grew up. He grew up and realized that David had lied and stolen to get them out of Italy. That wasn't necessarily a bad thing; they would never have survived in Italy anyway. The bad thing was when David lied to him and robbed him for his own benefit. He lied to him about Gatlon's hate towards prodigies and he stole money from his savings when what he earned wasn't enough to pay the monthly rent on his apartment.

And then… there was God.

God existed. Clearly. It was one of the few things Ace didn't feel like he needed proof for. However… God hadn't always been there for him. God had been used as a weapon for hundreds of years to attack prodigies like Ace...

Yes, God was not going to save him. He wasn't going to save any of the millions and millions of prodigies that were counting on Ace Anarchy. God was not a hero.

But Ace could be.

So from that day on, Ace began to be the head in practically all the operations that the Anarchists carried out. Nothing happened without him finding out and approving it first. He recorded numerous videos and wrote dozens of speeches that they would use to spread his word around the world. Prodigies from all countries began to rise against their respective governments, and although some of them gave them what they wanted, the vast majority made the mistake of underestimating them and denying their more than reasonable requests.

Because, well, Ace didn't find anything outrageous about a bunch of people asking their governments to recognize their basic human rights.

Sometimes the prodigies of those places could take down their governments by themselves. However, on a couple of occasions, Ace had to travel to those places to give them a hand. They weren't too far away, so Ace could use his powers to transport himself there, and he still had enough strength left to turn the helicopters and tanks that they sent to try to finish him into unusable pieces of metal. There wasn’t a single place where he had not succeeded, and there was not a single place where people did not make him a symbol and call him a hero.

Not even a single one.

That was why he did not understand people who wanted to leave the trenches.

The first time people from the cathedral had explicitly told him that they wanted to resign were the Benitez twins, Fénix and Tritón. He was a water elemental and she was a fire elemental, who had fought alongside Ace and hundreds of other prodigies like him when they took over the government palace of their country and liberated the population. They were young but strong, like most of those who joined the cause. They spent a year and six months helping on missions that Ace, Honey, or even Leroy assigned them, and never received anything other than good comments from their superiors...

“Then why do you want to leave?” Honey asked them.

She, Leroy, the twins, and he were in what had been the bishop's office after he summoned them all to a meeting where they would assess the situation. Not because he felt a special affection for them; they weren't too different from the other people Ace had in charge of. He just wanted to know why and approve the situation.

Like he always did.

Tritón smiled charmingly at Honey. He and his twin sister had the same curly black hair, but she never smiled. “As we said before… it's nothing personal,” he replied. “Fénix and I were never mistreated here, but... we want to find our own way in life.”

Honey and Leroy turned to see each other. Leroy looked quite indifferent to the situation as if he wished to be in his lab, looking for new ways to finish burning his eyebrows, while Honey seemed quite suspicious regarding the true intentions behind Tritón's words and Fénix's deadly silence.

Ace stood up and looked out the window.

“Are you going back to Mexico?”

“Yes. But not to the same place we came from.”

“And how are you going to—“

“Stop overwhelming them with so many questions, my Queen,” Ace interrupted while turning around. “They are old enough to make their own decisions.”

Tritón sighed in relief, and Fénix didn't even look up to see him. “They had already packed their things, apparently,” and he pointed to the backpacks they were carrying. The same ones with which they had arrived at the cathedral.

“Yes, it's just… we didn't want to make a big fuss about our departure,” Tritón replied. “We want it to be respectful and press-free, please.”

That comment managed to make him smile slightly. “I see no reason to keep you as prisoners,” he said, addressing Honey and Leroy. “If they want to leave, they can.”

Leroy raised his only remaining eyebrow. “Can they?”

“They can,” he repeated. He turned slightly to continue staring out the window. It was a lovely day out there. “Wanting to look for something more than what we are capable of offering is a valid reason to leave.”

“Not that we’re filling like something’s missing here,” Tritón said. “On the contrary, we have never been more… blessed. We promise that we will always keep in mind all the things the Anarchist taught us. We will be on your side even if it is from a distance.”

Now it was Honey's turn to raise an eyebrow. “I don't know, this is too—“

“Excuse me, Queen Bee,” Tritón interrupted, “but ... we're in a bit of a rush.”

“An ally has promised to take us to the border in his truck,” Fénix said, speaking for the first time during the entire conversation. “He's going to pick us up in an hour and it's a long way to the meeting point.

Ace looked through the window to find David welcoming some of the prodigies who had come out to find more supplies for the cathedral. He pointed out where they were being kept and offered to help them carry some boxes up the stairs.

Ace had to go to check on that.

“Acey...”

“Take care of yourselves, Tritón and Fénix,” Ace said, heading for the exit. “Thank you very much for your loyalty. Let me show you the door.”

The twins looked at each other, immediately nodding slowly and leaving the room, walking in front of Ace, shoulder to shoulder, and muttering something. As they walked down the stairs, Ace was too busy thinking about the new shipment that had arrived to care about their conversation, until he tried to overhear them and realized they were speaking in Spanish.

They never spoke Spanish. Not in the cathedral. No one could have understood them if they did. What was the point of hiding something?

Unless they are hiding something.

He turned his attention back to the backpacks they carried. Yes, they were the same ones that they had brought the first day they arrived, but now they seemed fuller than before. And when Ace said fuller, he meant it. Those backpacks were about to explode.

He stopped at the bottom of the stairs. The twins kept walking as if they hadn't realized that Ace was no longer with them. Honey and Leroy caught up with him, while Honey was saying something about this situation making her babies (the bees) very nervous, and she knew that was a bad sign. Leroy replied that those "babies" should take a Xanax, but he didn't sound too convinced of his words either.

Fénix took his brother's hand and Tritón looked back, making contact with Ace's dark eyes.

The backpacks. The backpacks were too full.

Ace used his powers to rip them off their shoulders, at the same time he grabbed them from the collars of their clothes and lifted them like a mother lioness would have carried her cubs. The two cried out in shock but fell silent when they came face to face with Ace.

Neither of them said anything. Not even Tritón. They only held on tighter by the hand as Ace opened their backpacks, dropped their contents on the floor, and revealed that they were carrying, along with their personal belongings, tons of food and hygiene items taken directly from the cathedral warehouse.

The warehouse that David was supposed to watch.

“My bracelet!” Honey exclaimed. “That... bitch was taking my bracelet!”

A group of bees returned the bracelet to her queen. Honey thanked them in a low voice and immediately, her face was completely changed by her anger. “How dare you?” she asked Fénix putting a finger on her chest. “How dare you disrespect me like that ?! Is that how you were going to pay the man who was going to take you to the border!?” But Fénix didn’t say anything. Again. “Answer me!”

“More like how dare you!” Fénix suddenly yelled. Honey took a step back from shock. “How dare you take everything from people who have nothing!”

“Fénix... por favor...” Tritón whispered.

“Shut the fuck up, Diego!” she yelled at his brother. “Tell me, Harper! How do you sleep at night?” she kept asking. “How do you sleep at night knowing that you have helped destroy the world as we know it? How can you reason that what you’re doing is right?!”

“Eleonor! Eleonor, por favor!”

Fénix started to try to free herself from Ace's grip, but that only made Ace cling tighter to the collar of her blouse. “How dare you even think you’re the good guys?”

Then, she looked him dead in the eye and spat, “How dare you call yourself a hero, Alec Artino?”

Ace thought hearing his name was going to make him lose his mind. Yet some way or another, his face remained expressionless. Even when Honey slapped the shit out of Fénix and the bees began to fly around her, stinging every bit of skin that wasn’t covered by her clothes. He also remained expressionless when he heard Tritón yell at Honey to leave her sister alone, calling her a "pinche vieja bruja" in the process, or when Leroy (who didn't understand anything, but knew it wasn't a compliment) held both of his wrists to prevent it from forming a wave of water that would drown all the bees instantly. It did not cause him anything at all to hear the poison melting Tritón's skin, making him cry in pain, or Fénix yelling and cursing.

And he didn’t even flinch when he broke Tritón's neck. Or when he left Fénix alive just the exact amount of time for her to process what her actions had caused to the only family she had left before breaking her neck too.

Ace dropped what was left of the Benitez twins. The bees moved away from the body and returned to Honey as if they were children hiding in their mother's skirts after having been lost for hours in the market, and Leroy let go of Tritón’s wrists without saying a word. Ace looked around and realized that a big amount of people had watched the entire scene from a distance.

One of those people had been David.

At that moment, Honey's bracelet fell off her hands. Ace picked it up with his powers and Honey whispered, "Thanks, Acey". She tried to put it on, but her hands were shaking so much that Leroy reached out (reluctantly) to help her adjust the clasp.

She didn't take her eyes off the corpses. “Someone come pick them up,” Leroy ordered.

Ace pointed to the first group of people he encountered. “You,” he barked. The trio of anarchists trembled slightly. “You’ve heard Cyanide. Clean up this mess.”

He turned to tell Leroy and Honey to go with him to the office, but they had already made their way to Honey's quarters, while she was babbling about something insignificant and a cloud of agitated bees followed them. David was also not where he had last seen him, but found him turning his back on him and putting the supply crates in the warehouse.

The warehouse that was his responsibility. The warehouse that the Benitez twins had managed to steal from it without anyone noticing.

David couldn’t stay there. He would have to get him a new position, the sooner the better.

Being a hero was not doing things that everyone considered right. Being a hero was to be a revolutionary, one who was willing to make sacrifices to protect the people who were on his side. Especially when those sacrifices meant the death of traitors who only sought their own benefit, completely forgetting the rest of them.

To protect the people who were on his side. Not the enemy. Never the common good.

The common good was not something Ace believed in, because that would mean looking after his oppressors, and they had never looked after prodigies at any point in human history.

Why start doing it now that the tables have turned?

Perhaps those thoughts made him more than just a revolutionary. Ace was probably a visionary.

But did those thoughts make him a villain too?

***

And soon the moon will smolder,

and the winds will drive.

Yes, a man grows older, but his soul remains alive.

All those tremulous stars will glitter,

and I will survive!

Year 10, month 11

For a lot of people, the answer was yes.

Being a visionary was the same as being a villain.

No one had ever said that to his face, but Ace knew it was what they were thinking. He saw it on the journalist’s faces, who came from time to time to the cathedral to report the latest advances in some important mission or some notable event. He felt it in the air of the cathedral, where some of his allies bent down every time they saw him as if they were not worthy to look him in the eye. He felt it every time he looked at his brother's expressionless eyes, working in the basement that served as a workshop where he created weapons for the Anarchists.

However, none of those silent reproaches mattered to him. Ace knew what he was doing was the right thing. Even if that made him not fit into the perfect image society had in its head of what a hero should be.

Ace had learned that there were no heroes or villains. Not like everyone thought.

The world would one day understand it as well as he did. But in the meanwhile, he had to sit down and observe that embarrassing spectacle.

They had managed to fix the TV that was at the former’s bishop's office. The only channels that were still actually broadcasting anything, besides the same old shows over and over again, were the news channels. But then he decided to do it just when it was absolutely necessary, for example, when they lied or got too close to a truth the public didn't need to know.

After all, freedom of speech was a human right.

Leroy was sat on the comfy chair Honey always sat on when they were in Ace's office. David offered Honey his chair and she said that she expected no less from someone as chivalrous as him (“Definitely some men should start taking your example”), but then added he shouldn’t worry about it, Ace was surely going to allow her to sit on his desk. Ace didn't see why not. She even brought her pillow with her. She put it over the desk, at the exact place she was going to sit on, and had her eyes fixated on the TV like she were a little girl watching colorful cartoons.

They were broadcasting from the West Zone of the city. An Anarchist truck was on fire in the background of the image. The trio of prodigies that Ace himself had sent to exchange some weapons for medicines with the usual gangs they always trade with, were tied with a chrome chain as if they were animals. The sky was still blue, but the evening light made the clouds turn orange and illuminated the faces of the two figures standing at the base that held the statue of a man with a copper-colored helmet.

Ace had never seen that monument as an ode to himself. He didn’t even know it was there until David told him about it, after going out to the city to visit that girlfriend of his. It seemed that some prodigies had come together and built it on their own. They hadn't left a signature or a way to prove who were they, but they did leave a golden plaque that read: "Long live to anarchy".

To anarchy. Not him. He was just the face they had given it.

He thought that everyone would think the same, but apparently, that pair didn't see it that way.

Because again, apparently, that pair shared a single brain cell.

One of them had brown skin and his cape flapped in the wind. His entire body looked slightly translucent, probably due to the nervousness that caused him to have that many people looking at him. Ace had met enough prodigies to identify when their powers gave away their mood. However, most of the general public would not be able to know exactly what he was feeling, because a black mask covered most of his facial features and he was not saying a single word.

He was terrified.

Poor little thing… sure.

The other was blond and his eyes were full of courage. The more words that came out of his mouth, the more his cheeks turn red and the tighter he clenched his fists. He was also wearing a mask, but even someone less observant than Ace could tell exactly what he was feeling.

“…and now this!” he yelled at the crowd. “Now this statue! A statue in the middle of the city, as if having experienced firsthand all the misfortunes that his anarchist reign has brought to our lives has not been enough, now he wants to constantly remind us that he won. He won—” His voice cracked, and he tried to hide it by coughing. Honey burst out laughing. “—and he will keep winning until someone stops him!”

The boy in the cape put his hand on the monument. “You know what this reminds me of? It reminds me of loss.” He became invisible and within seconds, he was sitting on the statue's outstretched arm. “Because Ace Anarchy has taken away from us so many things—” He jumped off and fell gracefully onto the base again “—that he took our fear with him.”

“That’s why we are here,” the other continued. “We are fed up with Ace Anarchy and his government, and I'm sure you are too.” He took a deep breath and smiled at the nearest camera. “But we don't blame you if you still don't understand. There is nothing wrong with being paralyzed with fear. That is what Ace Anarchy has wanted us to do during these ten years that he has been in power. The good news is that there is a cure for fear, and that cure is hope.”

A young, dark-skinned reporter pushed her way through the crowd. Her microphone had a number five printed on it, and Ace recognized the channel immediately.

He had killed one of its journalists after she refused to stop digging graves. He had to do it; if she dug too much, she would surely have found Alec Artino's body.

After all, freedom of speech was a human right. Messing up with the dead was just a quicker way for you to end up like them.

“Georgia Rawles, for Channel Five,” the reporter said with a heavy breath. “I think we're all asking ourselves the same question about—” She tried to search for the correct words, but the time was running out and she couldn’t find it, so she sighed and just blurted out, “Who are you?”

Leroy rolled his eyes. “More reporters like her, please...” he mumbled sarcastically.

She handed the microphone to the one with the cape. For a few seconds, he was almost completely invisible, but the insistence of the reporter Rawles brought him back to reality and his voice did not tremble as his legs did when he said: “We are that hope.”

The other boy tapped Georgia Rawles’ shoulder and she swiftly passed him the microphone.

He never stopped smiling. “We are the Renegades.”

Georgia Rawles drew back slightly. He couldn’t tell whether her expression was one of horror or joy because right after replying, the boy smashed the monument to anarchy with a single blow and turned it into pieces.

They both jumped from the base before the monument could crash them. Dread Warden and Captain Chromium ran towards the city, without any reporter bothering to follow them.

Ace turned off the television with his powers, and for about five seconds, neither of them spoke.

“They're not good at picking aliases,” Honey spat out of nowhere.

“So that’s the problem you have with this?” Leroy blurted out.

“Dread Warden… that has nothing to do with his powers,” Honey explained as if she were explaining to a five-year-old why the sky is blue. “And Captain Chromium is too… cheesy to be a real alias. Are we sure they were serious when they gave their names to the reporters from the first channel that arrived on the scene?” She cleared her throat and said (trying so hard to imitate the voice of a teenage boy whose voice hadn’t change yet), “He won,” before burst out laughing again.

“How mature of you…” David muttered.

“Do you have something to say, brother?” Ace asked.

For a second, he thought that David would not answer him, as he had been doing lately whenever he asked him that question. However, this time he did not remain silent and turned to see him. Not in the eyes, of course. “Actually, I do.”

Ace leaned back in his chair. “Go ahead then.”

“I don't think we should take this lightly.”

Honey scoffed. “Who says we are taking this lightly? The invisible twink and his lesbian boyfriend hate us, so what? They’re not the first ones, like… get in line, girl.”

“Well, you don’t seem too worried about the whole situation, to be honest.”

“It's because Honey doesn't shut up about the names thing, right?” Leroy asked in a slightly teasing tone.

“It's just my marketing major talking,” Honey said, slightly kicking him, barefoot. “I know about branding and stuff.”

“You dropped out.”

She put on her left heel and kicked Leroy. “You too!”

David massaged his temple. Ace turned around in his rotating chair and looked out the window. The sky had turned the same color as the clouds.

“Alec,” David called him. “It seems like… they—the Renegades think of themselves as heroes, and… they see you as the villain. I don't know, they could be a real threat, you shouldn't ignore them.”

Ace really wanted to tell David to just go back to his workshop. What did he know? They were just a couple of children who had destroyed a monument, who hadn't even been able to reveal their true identities and hid the entire time behind their masks, like criminals.

They were not a real threat.

But then, the seventeen-year-old Ace Anarchy appeared on the other side of the window, challenging him to finish that sentence inside his head. The seventeen-year-old Ace Anarchy who had dismantled entire governments and liberated millions of prodigies simply by wearing that helmet and its powers.

And when Ace blinked again, it was no longer the dark eyes of his old self that were staring at him from the glass, but the gray eyes of Captain Chromium, with that smug and arrogant smile, that he used to charm the cameras moments ago, passing his fingers through his hair as if his life depended on it.

Ace couldn’t look away from him.

He resembled Ace, but it was not enough. The old Ace didn't smile at his oppressors and he didn't have an unhealthy obsession with his hair either. He did not seek to protect people to win their affection, because he didn’t care if people like him or not, he knew he was doing the right thing.

The old Ace was not a kid playing to be a superhero, because superheroes didn't exist in the first place.

When he blinked, none of them were there anymore. Just his present self.

He smiled at himself to regain confidence.

Ace had learned that there were no heroes or villains. Captain Chromium was going to have to learn it too, and soon. Ace was willing to be the one to teach him that lesson.

And he would, whether he liked it or not.

***

There was a dream, a dying ember.

There was a dream, I don't remember,

but I will resurrect that dream,

though rivers stream and hills grow steeper.

For here in hell where life gets cheaper.

Oh, here in hell the blood runs deeper!

And when the final duel is near, I'll lift my spear and fly!

Year 20, month 5

The main difference between Ace and his brother was that David always fled at the first sign of danger. Always.

When the boys at his school began to suspect that he was a prodigy, David skipped school for weeks, getting his clothes dirty enough to make it look like he had spent breaks running after a ball along with his bullies. When his mother slapped him with the hot metal spoon, yelling he would not eat dinner that night, they both hid in the closet of his room, while David hugged him tightly and sobbed, telling him he rather be dead. When his father came home from work a few hours later and almost killed him, David took them both out of that house and out of Italy.

He said it was because he knew that the next beating would be the last and that when he was gone, Mr. Artino was going to focus all his anger on Alec, who would end up having the same fate as David. He didn't want that for his little nightmare.

What he didn't count on was that if Ace had been in his place, he would have turned around and slammed the bullies into the concrete wall of the school. He would have endured hunger and weariness with dignity and would have killed his father before he could touch a single one of his hairs. Ace wouldn't have turned his back on his problems. Ace would have fought for himself, just as for twenty years he had been fighting for all prodigies.

And now this.

He always knew that David didn't have what it took to be an anarchist. He was too deep in his own thoughts to even make an effort to listen to him. Ace had decided not to bother to explain to him the whole situation because there was no force on Earth able to change his mind anyway, and he had much more important things to worry about.

They were both sitting in the tiny white dining room in the apartment where he, Tala, and the girls lived. Ace had arrived unexpectedly so she had put more water to boil because the one they had put in for breakfast had cooled down. She apologized for the inconvenience, but he assured her that there was no problem, she could take all the time she needed. David had a cup of cold tea in his hands. He had never lost that disgusting habit of biting his nails.

No, David was not an anarchist. But Ace never thought he was a traitor.

Not until now.

The kettle began to boil at the same time the baby cried from the other room.

Tala turned off the stove and Ace could tell she was debating between pouring his tea or going to see what was going on.

“Don't worry,” Ace said walking towards her, “I'll serve it, you go take care of your daughter. Would you like me to make one for you too? "

He knew he intimidated people, but Tala took it to another level. She looked at her feet the whole time, her hands were shaking and she didn’t even answer the question before running into the next room, where Nova was complaining about her little sister's cries.

Ace took another splintered mug from the cupboard. With his powers, of course. The place looked clean (they probably spent a lot of time cleaning for lack of other hobbies), but he didn't trust them. “I've always said it: Tala is a lovely woman,” he said.

David didn't even flinch.

He had never been good at hiding his feelings.

“How does she like her tea?”

“Uh?”

He put his hands behind his back and opened the jar where they kept the chamomile tea. “How does Tala like tea?” he asked again.

David finally came back to reality. “Oh… three of sugar. She likes to add three spoons of sugar.”

Ace tried his best not to roll his eyes. I see this wife of yours wants to give herself cavities.

By the time the tea was served, the baby had stopped crying and Tala left the room again, with Nova following her. “Uncle Alec!”

David and Tala turned to see her with a single exclamation on their lips.

No.

But they didn't say anything. It was too late. Nova was already hugging his legs and Ace was stroking her strands of poorly cut hair. “Good morning, Nova, how are you?”

“Terrible,” Nova replied in all honesty. “Evie has been si—“

“Tala, Alec made you some tea,” David interrupted suddenly.

“Oh, that’s true.” He levitated the cup towards her and couldn't help but smile when he saw her recoil as the cup approached her, wondering if this was how she would see the barrel of a pistol approaching her forehead. “With three tablespoons of sugar. Just the way you like it.”

For the first time, Tala looked at him. “I don't like my tea with sugar,” she said in a calm voice. She shot David a stern look. “I thought we have talked about it.”

David looked so... small and weak. “I forgot about it. I'm sorry.”

But that "I'm sorry" didn't sound at all like the "I'm sorry" someone says when the only wrong they've done is forgetting how their wife prepares her tea.

It was the "sorry" of a traitor.

It was the "sorry" that Ace was waiting to receive.

Then he held out the other cup. “I apologize, that was my mistake. Take this cup then. I don't like to add sugar to my tea either.”

Tala accepted the cup. She took a sip and Ace recognized that micro-expression of disgust as she felt the hot chamomile water touch her palate.

It didn't surprise him that she had lied to him. That whole family was full of liars.

Nova turned to see her dad, laughing as only a child could laugh. “Oh, silly papà…” she said, hiding her head in his uncle's neck.

David smiled almost imperceptibly and raised his arms slightly so that Nova could run into them.

It reminded him a lot of when he wanted Alec to run into his arms.

But, like Alec, Nova didn't go to him. She liked being in her uncle's arms. “Oh, silly papà” Ace repeated. “Silly, silly papà...”

And the imperceptible smile disappeared completely.

“What were you saying, Nova?” he asked. "Moments ago. Are you having a terrible day? "

Nova knew immediately what he was talking about. She wasn't too busy drowning in the bitter taste of her lies. “It's just that Evie hasn't stopped crying for days,” she exclaimed with a face of pure exasperation. “We have given her everything, but nothing calms her down, and I always have to—”

“Alec, I have to tell you something.”

David had stood up and his fists were clenched on the splintered table. His knuckles had turned white and his bushy eyebrows betrayed the real nervousness behind all that facade of sternness.

He was so pleased by the image that he didn't even comment on how inappropriate it was to interrupt a woman when she was giving her point of view on something, or when Tala took advantage of this seemingly distracting moment to snatch Nova from his arms.

That was the moment. David was going to ask for forgiveness. He was going to break as he had broken that night when they were hidden inside the closet and just as he had begged his abusive father before he smashed his head against the nightstand. He would tell him that he regretted betraying him and that from now on, he would agree with him on everything. He would accept that he had never been anything but a coward who escaped trouble at the first opportunity and would run into Ace’s arms one more time.

That was the time for David to choose Ace as the god to whom he would pray for mercy.

That was the moment.

But of course, it would have been too dangerous. Therefore, he was not at all surprised, when he looked down at his teacup again and blurted out, “Evelyn has been very ill, and… we have run out of options. You know I wouldn't bother you with this if it wasn't important, but I wanted to know if… you know.”

“If I could get some medicine for Evelyn?”

David nodded energetically. “That's right.”

Ace pretended to stop to think about it. He wanted to see the desperation in his eyes and wanted him to suffer at the thought that he might never get the much-needed medicine for his little daughter.

He wanted David to suffer in every possible way he could, and when he thought it was going to break, Ace replied, “I think I have a contact that could help us with it.”

“When will you—”

“And with that medicine, Evie is finally going to stop crying?”

Now it was Nova's turn to interrupt him. If he weren't so blinded by the pain he wanted to inflict on his brother, he probably would have had found the act of Nova being the one interrupting her father delightful.

Tala tried to hide Nova with her arms when Ace approached them, but it was useless because he used his powers to gently pull Nova towards him, making her laugh out loud at the feeling that the levitation caused in her entire body. “I assure you, Nova, that with that medicine Evie will stop crying,” he replied, brushing a lock of hair from her face. “But in the meantime, you have to help your mom and papà, and keep doing what you say you do to calm her down. Now… how do you calm down your little sister?”

“I put her to sleep.”

David threw down a chair and ran over to Nova. Ace felt like she had been snatched from his arms again.

Having the two of them there, side by side, made him more aware of how similar they looked. Although Nova had always been a perfect mix of her two parents, Ace was much of the idea that one could know a lot about a person by looking into their eyes.

Nova had the same eyes as her father, but without the golden details that gave away the stardust that David was able to manipulate since birth.

The fact that their eyes were very similar but not identical could mean a lot of things. Perhaps it was that Nova had the worst quality of her mother and the only prodigious thing inside her was the half of the blood that ran through her veins. It would be a shame. The world did not need the oppressors to continue to reproduce with the oppressed and to gradually extinguish the spark with their inferior genes each prodigy had. It was only one of the thousand ways in which they were slowly annihilating them.

However, it could also mean that Nova was not like David, but not in the sense of being or not being a prodigy. Maybe those golden sparks were actually that her brother's soul had been born rusty and that was what would never allow him to see the world as Ace did. Instead, Nova did her name justice and could symbolize a new beginning for them, much like the supernova that granted them their powers had been.

For a second, she saw Nova not as a child, but as raw and pure potential.

Did he know? Was David aware of how precious was what his rough hands were holding?

“She sings her to sleep,” he explained hastily. “Nova loves spending time with her little sister, and she loves carrying her. Whenever she cries she insists that we let her hold her and that always calms her down. It is like—”

“Magic?”

David hesitated. “Yes… magic.”

Nova played with the collar of her dad's shirt, thinking about God knows what, until something made click inside her brain. “Uncle Ace!”

“Yes, Nova?”

She opened her mouth to speak, but David silenced her with a severe look.

Ace offered Tala his help with washing the dishes before leaving. He assured them that he would be back as soon as possible and asked Nova to kiss little Evie goodnight for him. He gave Tala a quick (and unrequited) kiss on the cheek and a handshake to David.

The same hands that could have defended themselves from the abusers, that could have stopped the burning spoon before it slapped him, and those that could have wrapped around their father's neck before blood stained the old carpet in the room.

He decided that there would be no survivors. Not even the ghost of David.

David always ran from danger, but now he was the danger that could destroy what it took Ace years to build. Ace wasn't running from him. Ace noticed it, faced it, and defeated it.

Because, in the end, Ace Anarchy was the real danger.

***

Piercing into the sky and higher, 

and the strong will thrive.

Yes, the weak will cower while the fittest will survive

If we wait for the darkest hour,

'till we spring alive...

He had already been to the dome of the cathedral on other occasions. The first time he had done it, it was dark. The entire city was in lockdown and there was not a single light because Ace had managed to uproot the building that provided basic service to all the city. Then, he thought that maybe, just maybe, that night the sky would be so clear that he would be able to see the stars. And what better place for stargazing than the dome of the cathedral.

He was right. He could see every last star. Their light was not like the light posts in the parks or the lamps in his old room. Their light was energy, it was strength, and it was sheer power.

They were so present in the sky and seemed so close to his fingertips that he felt one of them himself. But he did not believe that his energy, his strength, and his power was similar to that of any of those stars; it would be like reducing himself to being something that he was not, so he could fit into a mold that he did not to fit in and please people who did not appreciate him.

And like that, under the stars and on the dome of that cathedral, the birth of anarchy was announced with the explosion of a supernova.

Ace Anarchy was a supernova. Ace Anarchy was born on that dome.

Now he wondered if he was going to die there too.

Hugh Everhart was in front of him. He didn't move a single muscle and he didn't make a single face, not even when Ace spat his name like it was a blasphemy. With one hand he held his spear and with the other, he clung to the piece of cloth that passed through his chest and that held a baby dozing on his back. He took a step forward, and Ace imitated him, too blinded by adrenaline to even think that this image was too good to be true and that Hugh Everhart would never give himself up like this, on a silver platter, and without his allies by his side, unless he didn't plan on giving himself up in the first place.

It was the worst mistake he could have made. And he didn't even notice it until he began to feel… that.

It was as if he was being absorbed. Someone ran their hands from his head to the tips of his toes, causing the feeling of lightness with which he had lived for so long to gradually fade away. The cars he launched, the walls, and the corpses he used as weapons against the friends and relatives of the dead were growing heavier and Ace had never carried the weight of the world on his shoulders. At least not that way.

Never like this.

The fire inside him was getting smaller, and smaller, and the only thing that seemed to remain was a single spark.

Ace stepped back, but Hugh Everhart kept on walking towards him.

There came a time when there was no more dome Ace could stand on and he fell to his knees.

For that thousandth of a second, he felt the presence of Tala and the baby behind him, looking at him with a deadpan expression. David's ghost, made of the same stardust that his fingers could manipulate, laid his hand on his shoulder and a tear, bright and white, fell on the fabric of his trench coat.

It was a pure tear, waiting to be paid for with another tear that was just as pure as the first one. But Ace had long since lost the ability to cry.

Hugh Everhart pulled the helmet off his head with such force that he backed away a couple of meters. The air swiped away the ghosts of his brother, his wife, and daughter, leaving only Alec Artino, with his knobby knees and messy hair, looking at him as the lost child in the middle of the battlefield that he was.

He ran towards him and wrapped his thin and fragile arms around him telling him that perhaps it was time to accept his own humanity.

Because… what is Ace Anarchy without his helmet?

His enemy readied his spear and Ace turned to see the boy asking the question, who was looking at him as if his mere presence was the answer.

What was Ace Anarchy without his helmet? Was he that weak child, with a stuffy nose and restless hands? Was he the man he saw in the reflection of his eyes, with a sloppy beard and deep dark circles?

Was he the ghost he would soon become?

Alec held Ace by the cheeks, with those bony little hands that were always cold, no matter how many gloves he wore or how many times David wrapped his around them and rubbed them to keep them warm.

And then he asked him, “How do you kill a god?”

The answer was what brought him back to reality and the one that made him realize, that it had only been a couple of seconds from the moment he fell to his knees and now that he was standing up, Alec’s ghost fading for the last time.

Because David and Alec Artino should have died completely since day one. In a perfect world, the only one alive was Ace Anarchy.

Someday, that vision of a perfect world would become real, and neither Alec nor David would be there to intervene.

Someday...

The only thing that remained inside of him was a spark, but even a single spark could start the biggest of fires.

How do you kill a god?

How do you kill Ace Anarchy?

Oh, my little nightmare.

You don’t.

And with that, he spread his arms and leaped straight into the flames.

...then with claws of fire, we devour like a falcon in the dive!

[snusbandxknifewife]

Have a field trip fic I finished at 6am I’m sorry y’all lol

~~~~~~~

Field trip fic 1–York’s Wild Kingdom

“ Vivi, no!” I hiss, setting down the itinerary my sister kept insisting on handing me. “I can’t just leave Faerie to go on some zoo trip, just because you feel like laying in bed!”

“Oh come on,” she turns and points to Heather in exasperation. “I won’t just be laying in bed. She’s got the flu, and I can’t chaperone this trip without her!”

“But you expect me to go alone?” I’m incredulous, the list of my duties back in Faerie flitting through my head at lightning speed.

Heather opens her mouth to say something, but closes it again and sinks back into the couch with exhaustion written in every line of her body. Vivi’s eyes shoot to her girlfriend, obviously concerned, but I don’t let it sidetrack me.

“You expect me to watch a gaggle of children—“

“Oak’s friends.” Vivi interrupts.

“—alone? Vivi I have a thousand different things I need to do, none of which involve wrangling a hundred little demons. Why not tell Madoc to go?”

She fixes me with a tired look and I have to admit that maybe suggesting Madoc, of all people, wasn’t my smartest move. Honestly, I don’t think I can picture any scenario involving Madoc and a field trip that doesn’t end with at least one person in the emergency room.

I sigh and bury my face in my hands, my elbows resting on the breakfast bar in Vivi’s kitchen. Out in the living room, some reality show blares and Chinese food containers are stacked miles high. With Heather sick, all she’s wanted was takeout food and sleep. Vivi looks at her wits end, clearly far more worried about her girlfriend than the field trip that she’s assured me Oak has been looking forward to for weeks.

“I glamoured Oak’s teacher already. She thinks you and Cardan were the chaperones all along.” 

My eyes go wide and I shoot to my feet, ready to wring my sister’s neck. “You want me to bring Cardan? Vivi you expect both the King and Queen of Faerie to just leave for some stupid—“

“It’ll only be for the day, which is night for Faerie.” She sounds exasperated. “Nobody will even have to know you’re gone and you’ll be back by eight, long enough to get some shut eye for the next day.”

And because she’s right, we would be gone in the middle of the night, I don’t really have anymore reason to argue with her; especially given how Heather chooses that exact moment to make a run for the toilet in the hall bathroom.

I sigh and admit defeat, grabbing the itinerary for Mrs. Walker’s third grade class field trip to York’s Wild Kingdom Zoo and Amusement Park. Scowling down at the times and picking up Heather and Vivi’s chaperone t-shirts, I walk out of the apartment and make my way back to where I parked my ragwort steed.

Two days later, I’m standing between my little brother and my husband, both bouncing with excitement in Mrs. Walker’s classroom as we wait for the call to line up to go to the busses.

Cardan and I match, mostly because we’re both wearing pairs of his dark canvas breeches and identical chaperone shirts, dyed the world’s most neon shade of orange to attract attention. His ears and tail are glamoured away, only visible to myself and Oak. He passed well for a mortal man, though his pale skin and ethereal beauty have already earned at least one open-mouthed stare from Mrs. Devins, a housewife who also happens to be chaperoning.

“Mrs. Greenbriar, can I go to the bathroom?” Emily, a little girl in our group, asks for the second time this morning.

I leave Cardan and Oak looking over a map of the park and walk Emily down the hall to the third grade bathroom, waiting for her to finish and walking her back without a word. By the time we return, both boys are sitting in little desks with their heads all but pressed together, Cardan’s legs stretched out in front of him because they’re far too long for him to sit properly.

I reach into my pocket and pull out the itinerary, on which I have written a list of all the kids we’re responsible for today.

Oak

Emily

Derrick

Thomas

Annabelle

Kelly

The entirety of the third grade is going on this trip, so we’ve gotten off easy only having to watch six kids, especially since we were allowed to chaperone together. I don’t know what I would’ve done if I’d had to turn Cardan loose in the mortal world with a gaggle of children.

We’re here at six o’clock in the morning, two hours before school starts, because it’ll be a long drive to the zoo. We’re set to arrive at about nine o’clock and we will depart at five to be back by eight. Cardan and I don’t typically wake up until ten at night, so we’ll do well if we sleep on the bus ride back.

“Jude! What’s a wallaby?” Cardan asks, wonder glimmering in his tar black eyes.

“I think it’s Australian.” I announce, sitting down beside him as Mrs. Walker starts to call groups to head to the busses.

“What’s an Australian?”

I’m saved from answering that glorious question when Mrs. Walker tells us to head to bus 560. I stand again, counting the kids in our group and grabbing our bag before waving them out the door and down the hall.

When we get on the bus, I set about grabbing a seat for Cardan and myself at the front of the bus, because I remember every field trip in the mortal world involving kids sitting behind the chaperones. Oak and his friends confirm my memories by running as far back in the bus as they can, already getting loud and rowdy despite how early it is.

I sit Cardan by the window, knowing he’ll want to look out as we drive. His eyes are already wide, his nose wrinkling at the overpowering scent of gasoline. He still holds the map in his hands, focusing intently as I go through the bag to double check that were given an epi-pen because Emily is allergic to bees.

“Did you inform The Bomb about our whereabouts?” I ask him, whispering so we aren’t heard over the sound of the bus. “Is everything all taken care of?”

“Faerie won’t burn down because we leave for one night, wife.” He rolls his eyes at me, pressing a kiss to my temple. “And, yes, I told Bomb we were going on a field trip.”

His mouth curls around the words, almost like he isn’t sure he’s saying them right. Still, I don’t miss the teasing, so I glare in his direction before turning once more to the itinerary, which I already memorized two days ago.

Our bus driver, an elderly man named Ian, climbs on and greets us. The whole bus is full of third graders, more than just Mrs. Walker’s class, and it’s already nearly deafening. Within thirty seconds, some teacher I’m not familiar with is yelling at the kids to quiet down.

Cardan folds up the map and puts it in our bag as the bus drives away, absentmindedly grabbing my hand and watching out the window.

The bus ride passes quickly, likely because I, against all odds, fell asleep sometime before sunrise. When I’m awoken by Cardan’s fingers running through my hair and his delicate whispers of my name, I reach for my knife in a panic.

“You weren’t allowed weaponry today, my darling villain.” He laughs in my ear and I finally process my surroundings, remembering that we’re chaperoning for Oak’s field trip and I have no reason to pull a knife on a bunch of third graders.

At least, not yet.

“Are we there yet?” I groan, sleep thickening my voice as I rub my eyes hard enough to see stars.

Cardan smiles at me, telling me that Mrs. Walker said we were about ten minutes out. “I figured you’d like to go over your schedule once more, for good measure.”

I can’t tell if he’s being genuine or if he’s making fun of me, but I do look at our papers one more time to be safe. The last thing I want to do is lose a kid or go somewhere at the wrong time.

“I’m not sure who this Wendy lady is, but she seems to have an affinity for eateries.” Cardan announces as we pass a Wendy’s, likely for the bazillionth time this trip. I smile and ignore him, triple checking out epi-pen and reorganizing our bottles of water before closing the bag once more.

Behind us, another chaperone asks how long we’ve been married. When Cardan tells her it’s been more than a year and she visibly blanches, I remember that mortals don’t tend to marry as young as we did. It’s strange, being surrounded by humans who all show their ages so obviously.

To them, we’re barely adults. They likely think we’re going to college or working small jobs. I suppose I can’t blame them for being surprised, out of our normal clothing, you’d never suspect Cardan and I rule over a kingdom. We don’t really look the part of a King and Queen when we’re forced to wear traffic cone orange shirts and sit in a smelly old school bus.

Ian pulls up to the front of the zoo and I have to hold Cardan down to keep him in his chair as other groups file off. Our kids are in the very back, singing along to some repetitive song about baby sharks, clearly just as impatient as my husband.

When I finally get everyone off the bus and their wrist bands around their arms, I do another headcount and roll call. Cardan slings our bag onto his back, bouncing on the balls of his feet and looking around as fast as he can, trying to take in all the bright colors and loud noises.

I go over our schedule with the kids, telling them how we’ll be spending the morning at the zoo and the afternoon at the amusement park. The hour in between is reserved for eating and any shopping that they might want to get done, as well as our scheduled trip to the butterfly pavilion.

“No, Derrick, you can’t pet the tigers.” I sigh as the little blond boy raised his hand, mischief in his eyes. He’s asked me this question at least six times since I met him. If his tiger printed shirt and matching tiger baseball cap are anything to go by, I’d assume he has a favorite animal.

I wrangle the kids and allow them to walk in front of us, one eye glued to Oak and the other watching everyone else as they run ahead.

“Ok, but can I pet the tigers?” Cardan whispers in my ear as we snake through the rides, heading back towards the zoo.

“Cardan, if you so much as look at a tiger I will kick your ass.” I hiss back, my heart rate spiking as my mind plays images of Cardan getting mauled by tigers.

Quickly, the visions morph into him standing naked, surrounded by the gore of a slaughtered snake. My throat threatens to close and tears almost prick at my eyes. “And we aren’t looking at any reptiles, either.”

“There aren’t any, I checked the map.” He’s so caught up in the park around us that he thankfully doesn’t notice my change in tone, allowing me a few seconds to compose myself again. “But there are lions, I want to see whose tail looks nicer.”

I can’t help the snort I let out. “More like whose mouth is bigger.”

“Oh my nemesis, how you wound me.”

We make it to the zoo entrance and all the kids are instantly fighting over where they want to go first.

“I want to see the camels!”

“Ducks are cooler!”

“You can see ducks anywhere!”

“Give me tigers or give me death!”

“Derrick get off the picnic table!” I yell, upon seeing that the little boy has climbed up on an extremely rickety table. “Cardan, please go get the tiger enthusiast.”

“Mrs. Greenbriar, I need to go to the bathroom.” Emily pulls at the hem of my shirt.

Cardan, now with Derrick on his back and a tiger baseball cap covering his eyes, returns to my side. “I believe a trip to the bathroom is wisest, then we’ll circle around the park.”

Oak grabs my hand and Emily stays attached to my shirt hem as we walk to the bathrooms. Ten minutes later, we’re all looking at the tigers and I think Derrick may be having an aneurism.

“Jude, is that what I sound like when I wax poetic about my wine?” Cardan stage whispers in my ear as Derrick begins his third long-winded speech about the majesty of the tiger.

“Your speeches are far more pleasing to the ear, my king.” I smirk as Derrick slips up, mispronouncing a word and deciding that the mistake warrants starting all over.

Below us, a few tigers jump around their enclosure, one playing with a pumpkin full of ground beef. Thomas is goading Derrick into a fourth speech and Oak is pointing excitedly, Annabelle and Emily hanging off every word he says.

I smile, wrapping my arm around my husbands waist and leaning into his side as another tiger attacks the one with the pumpkin, rolling into the side of the enclosure with teeth snapping.

I wish I’d taken a moment longer to revel in the calm, because three hours later, I am at my wit’s end.

Cardan is pouting because he severely misunderstood what a sea lion was, Kelly is crying because she dropped her iPhone—what kind of a third grader even has a smart phone—Oak is on my shoulders, Derrick is pissed that we won’t go back to the tigers, Emily has been to the bathroom four times, Thomas won’t stop trying to do handstands, and Annabelle is whining that she’s starving.

On top of all of that, my husband’s face is turning the color of roses because he is entirely too pale to be walking around without sunblock on.

“Just watch them!” I yell at Cardan as I pull the wallet out of our bag and go stomping in the direction of the closest souvenir shop. I hear Kelly’s crying switch from complaining about her phone to complaining about not being able to shop, but I’m a woman on a mission right now.

A little bell rings as I duck into the shop, taking Oak off my shoulders and giving him the order to only look for what we’re here for. It takes a few minutes and I know my husband won’t be happy with the final outcome, but Oak grabs the perfect hat, glamouring a handful of leaves into dollar bills so I can buy it and leave.

I find the group back by the camels, the kids sticking their fingers through the fencing in the hopes of getting licked by one of the large animals.

“Jude, what are you holding?” Cardan’s voice rouses me from my thoughts, thankfully distracting me as Kelly screeches about getting spit on by a camel.

“A hat. For you.” I hold it out. He takes a step back, his face contorting in horror.

“Jude, my wife, that article of clothing may be the worst I’ve ever laid eyes on,” he announces with a quiet, nearly tear-filled voice. “The very pits of fashion, certainly not suitable for my current outfit!”

“Nothing is suitable for a shirt that orange, certainly not cheeks as red as yours have gone,” I snort in response, throwing the monstrosity atop his head and stepping back to examine my work.

It’s a large floppy hat, similar to the fabric ones you’d see on the beach, but it’s printed with terrible drawings of all types of zoo animals as well as having the park’s name and logo emblazoned across the front. It covers Cardan’s whole face, the shadows showing just how badly he’s already been burned.

He reaches up to take it off, obviously seconds from flinging it away in disgust.

“Cardan you have a terrible sunburn and I won’t have you bitching about peeling skin tomorrow. You’ll wear the hat or you’ll regret it,” I warn, enough fire in my eyes to make him put the hat back on with a pout.

“I think it’s,” Oak starts confidently, aiming for a compliment but faltering in the middle, “a hat.”

Cardan laughs, his rosy cheeks squishing up with his grin as he picks up his nephew. “Oak, my friend, you’re far too old to twist your words so poorly,” he smiles. “I’ll have to teach you better ways to flatter insincerely before your first court appearance.”

I roll my eyes and turn back to the other kids, having to drag Thomas down from where he’s begun to climb the camel enclosure. He whines, as do the rest of the kids when I tell them it’s time to leave the zoo, but they all perk up again when I say it’s also time for lunch.

Cardan fishes out the envelope full of meal vouchers as I take orders. A chicken strip meal for that one, two burgers for them, a grilled cheese for her, a hot dog for him, and nachos for Oak. Cardan wisely takes my advice and settles for a burger, openly fascinated by the very concept of mortal cuisine.

I personally take chicken strips and french fries with ketchup, a delicacy from my youth that I so sorely miss in a land where salt is toxic to its inhabitants. Cardan pouts when I don’t let him steal a fry—the last thing I need is to have him puking on fair rides this afternoon—but greatly enjoys the bite of chicken I offer.

He is yet again far too tall for the table and his fingers are laughably large for the burger he holds, but the kids all seem to be enjoying the “act” that Mr. Greenbriar puts on where he pretends not to understand basic things around him. They absolutely have a riot when he asks me what ketchup is.

Then it’s cleanup time and off to the butterfly enclosure. Something I, for one, am actually looking forward to. Cardan wraps his arm around my waist once more, his stupid hat shielding me from the sun too, and watches with me as the kids clamber inside the first door.

An attendant warns us to be delicate with the butterflies because their wings can get hurt easily and then she lets us inside. All my stress from earlier melts away for a moment as the room opens up to a rainforest utopia, butterflies of all shapes and sizes and colors fluttering about our group.

Thankfully the kids are quiet and well-behaved in here, too busy being awestruck by the butterflies to start doing stupid things like climbing walls. All but Oak, who walks back towards us with a small frown on his face.

“What’s wrong?” I ask, my fingers brushing through his hair and over his horns.

His shoulders slump but he doesn’t say anything.

“Your queen commanded you to speak, it is your duty to obey her,” Cardan lightly reprimands, his fingers going under Oak’s chin to force him to lift his head.

A monarch floats by on a lazy breeze, crossing right between us and drawing all of our attention for a moment.

“Sometimes I miss home,” he finally admits, his eyes hollow in a way I haven’t seen in him before, a way I know I used to sport often in my youth. “The mortal world has things that Elfhame doesn’t, but when I watch everyone else get excited over pretty gardens or animals, I remember that home is far prettier.”

Cardan lets go of my waist, grabbing Oak and putting him on his hip before walking deeper into the garden.

I can’t hear what they say, I can only watch as my husband calls butterflies, first to his open palm, then to my brothers. I feel my heart clench as he whispers something in Oak’s ear that makes my little brother smile again. My eyes follow him as Cardan sets him down once more, allowing him to run back to his friends.

“What did you say?” I ask, reaching a hand out to my husband as he returns.

“Merely that beauty isn’t inherent in a place or thing,” he smiles, reaching out his hand in turn and allowing a little blue butterfly to hop into my palm. “That it is what we cultivate, and he has more than enough magic to make some here.”

I blink back sudden tears at the way he looks at me, the open and pure adoration in his eyes. He pulls me into a kiss as a few more butterflies settle on his hat and in my hair.

Then Emily asks about the god forsaken bathroom and the moment is ruined.

“I swear that child has a urinary tract problem,” I hiss, turning back to the kids as Cardan laughs at me.

We leave the butterfly room behind and head to the bathrooms. Again.

The kids are running circles around Cardan when I return, leaving him openly concerned and visibly longing for a wine goblet. Oak is studiously sat at his Uncle’s side, looking every bit the little prince that he is but wasn’t raised to be.

“My mommy gave me forty dollars!” Kelly yells at Derrick, the two seemingly in the midst of a fight about buying stuff at the gift shop.

“Kelly, some of that is for dinner,” I warn her. “We have to eat on the way back so you need to save your money.”

“My mom said I can buy two tigers!” My warnings go out the window as Derrick distracts Kelly once more, the two descending into a fight about which is better, tigers or cheetahs.

My eye twitches as I grab a water bottle from our bag, leaning into Cardan’s ear and whispering, “oh my husband my darling, do save me before I challenge a child to a duel.”

He laughs at me, standing up and grabbing Oak’s hand. He then assures me that it can’t be too bad, we already survived Annabelle trying to jump into the sea lion pool, surely we can handle shopping with a few children.

At least Oak had my back in that shop, because gods know my husband lost his mind the second he got inside.

I don’t honestly remember what happened, I think I blacked out about the time Thomas took a running leap at a stuffed animal display and I had to catch him mid air.

“I don’t think it was too bad,” Oak says as he holds his brand new assortment of little stuffed butterflies. “You didn’t draw any blood when Kelly tried to buy a four hundred dollar necklace.”

“You checked the map, does this place have bumper cars?” I grind my teeth, watching Cardan stuff an insanely large plastic bag into our little black bag. He keeps refusing to show me what’s inside, insisting it’s a surprise.

“It does,” my brother confirms.

“Good,” I nod, herding him out of the store last. “Because I’m going to put some of these kids into a wall.”

And put them into a wall I do. By the time we make it off the bumper cars and to the Ferris wheel, Mrs. Jude Greenbriar is well on her way to being a legend in Mrs. Walker’s class, purely for her ruthless approach to bumper cars. Cardan, who insisted on standing aside since Emily didn’t want to ride—something about it making her need to pee—looked increasingly more horrified every time I spun around and sent another kid’s cart flying away from mine.

At least it calmed the nerves a little bit.

“My villain, my gorgeous, bloodthirsty little god,” he whispers in the shell of my ear, sending a shiver down my spine as our Ferris wheel cart rises up into the sky. “I expected a modicum of mercy for the mortal children.”

“Cardan if I ever have to take another child to a bathroom it will be too soon,” I snap, the sudden motion of me turning to face him causing our cart to rock dangerously.

He grins at me.

I raise an eyebrow.

“Good thing our children won’t need bathroom breaks,” he finally supplies. “I wouldn’t want you putting them into a wall.”

My eyes widen in shock. It’s not like we haven’t discussed children before—we’ll need to produce an heir to the throne at some point—and it’s not like I haven’t thought about having kids with him—we do share a bed every night—but to hear him so casually mention it is a rare thing indeed.

He looks concerned, opening his mouth, likely to apologize for upsetting me, when his words really register in my head and I collapse back against the seat with a joyous little sigh

~~~~~

Tag list: @cardan-greenbriar-tcp @hizqueen4life @slightlyrebelliouswriter23 @thewickedkings @aelin-queen-of-terrasen

[bolbianddolanhouse]

BNHA self insert AU

Nani the heck is this? Read here!

Chapter 30: Ya Wey! Pinche Pendejo Wey!

To make things short of security for the hero class, the school is getting real tired of these twinks and their stubborn asses, so they’re being closely monitored but everyone has to fend for themselves. The intel students couldn’t care less about the notion, fuck these hero students.

-Homeroom, intel 2A class-

“Good morning students” Diya started class looking more run down than usual “as you all know, we don’t have to fend for those hero students as per Nezu’s say. So we’re back on track to our studying for finals” he motions toward Mimi, Jin and Me “and for you 3, labyrinth practice test is the day after the last day of the school year. I expect you to train independently for it.”

“Yes sir!” We barked back unison. Jin raises his hand.

“Yes Matsui?”

“Do we get priority for reserving training gyms on weekends?”

“Not sure but I’ll let you know by the end of the day” Diya clicked his pen to make a note for himself “But in other news, a few more redesigns came in for fitting plus there will be no field section for this final” he puts his pen in his breast pocket “since all of you have proven well enough that you can hold formations, lead others and follow weapon safety after all these villain attacks. That counted for field work credit and physical points, so no need to show me again things I know you’re great at.”

The class collectively sighed in relief, our concern was mostly on the physical part of the final because of vehicles and mechs portion. Now we can focus on what’s important. I go about my normal day and feel the most amount of dread entering my last class of the day. 

“Class, today we will be doing some spar work” Aizawa announced after taking roll, which I guess is just marking me down as present “I have the pairings on this sheet, match ups are based on weaknesses and flaws in combat” he taped the sheet on the wall next to the door “as you walk out of the door to dress out, take a look at your pairing.”

I check mine and I got....Midoriya?! The one twink I didn’t want to be paired with. No matter, I had to do the thing and I just wanted to get it over with. We were all over the gym in our pairs, the goal was to use no quirks and improve weaknesses.

“Please go easy on me Palma-san” Midoriya whimpered as he bowed to me before we got things started in the gym “I know I’m no match against you.”

“Oh geez already with the weakness?” I scoffed “come at me like you would with a villain, right now is the time to show me up and take me down.”

“Okay, here I go” he cleared his throat “give back Kacchan! You villain!”

“I guess that works” I shrugged before striking at half force, Midoriya was taken back with my speed and directness “Izu at least try to hit me back” I connect my lunge punch to his chest after some quick punches “it’s embarrassing to see you so dependent of your quirk, what’s the point of all that alone training time in the grass if you can’t land a hand on me?!” I pushed him hard enough to knock him on his butt.

“You’re just so unpredictable and have zero weak spots!” he yells back as I tower over him “how am I supposed to take on the one person nobody has defeated yet? Or come close enough?!”

“I can think of 5 off the top of my head” spoke a voice that silenced the class “they’re all over her body and super obvious.”

The class muttered but I was getting defensive “WHO ARE YOU?! Show yourself coward!”

“Now now” spoke a different voice, an oddly familiar voice “I know mommy isn’t around but this that how you talk to your guests?”

“HEY if you’re just going to hide in the shadows and talk your big talk” I pound my chest to provoke “then you can go and eat my ass!” the class gasped at my hostility at these 2 voices.

“INAPPROPRIATE LANGUAGE YOUNG LADY! Someone oughta straighten you out!” as they finished their sentence, everyone saw a dark mass rise from the ground and morphed into my size and shape. Without warning, this mass lashes out at me and I dodge and avoid the best I could.

“Dirty tricks!” I grunted after realizing I can’t land any sort of attacks on this mass because I can phase right through it, like it was my shadow “can’t face me yourself!”

“Oh you want to lose today?” taunted the second voice “then so be it!” the sound of flute trill froze me in place, leaving me no chance to react.

“Nygh! I’m- stuck” I was full on panicking now and so was everyone else “who are you?!”

“It’s been nearly 2 years since our last meeting” footsteps followed with that statement “did you already forget about me?”

“Surely you remember me once I play your song” the second voice said with the flute introduction to Wave by Antonio Carlos Jobim playing, at that moment everything clicked.

“NO FREAKIN WAY!” a big dumb smile broke onto my face and the paralyzation lifted. I turned quickly to see my two mentors that helped me on my journey away from home “it’s you! it’s you, it’s you! AHHH!” I ran toward them chanting with my arms out for an embrace.

“Can someone please tell me what’s going on?” Kaminari bluntly asked “who are these two Palma-san?”

“Guys, these are my mentors, Mr. R. Lee Hemingway of US Homeland Intel and Sgrt Sergei of Austria Intel” I introduced them to the class “Hemingway here was actually my band teacher before I was sent away and he helped me with codes and technical stuff. Sergei was my weapons and quirk combat mentor when I was in Austria for those 2 weeks of transitional.” 

“What kind of quirks are those?” Midoriya asked very forwardly.

“I have shadow manifest, if it casts a shadow, I can use it to fight or help retrieve” answered Sergei “good for long range but usually I let my Natasha do the dirty work” he whips out this polished black glock with the name ‘Natasha’ engraved in the handle in a fancy font.

“I have 2 quirks, sound wave and paralyze” Hemingway explained “I can produce sounds that can break anything with my whistling or, my personal favorite, with musical instruments!” he plays a plays a low note on the flute and it made Aoyama’s pants fall “that was a note low enough to break a belt buckle fastener. And I can paralyze any creature with just one look.”

“I didn’t know that was his hidden quirk!” I giggled “I just thought he was so intimidating that I just naturally froze in place when I pushed it too far.”

“Oh how you just LOVE to disobey me” he ruffled my hair “you haven’t changed a bit, have you? You little scamp!” he turned to the others “she makes it so hard to not like her! she’s super talented and smart that I’ve just grown accustomed to her defiance.” 

“Yes, very much so” Sergei sighed “I pity the man that’ll end up marrying her and reproduce more curly-haired ‘fuck all the rules’ youngins.” 

“Gah shut it you!” I playfully shoved Sergei “but why are you here? I’m pretty sure yall couldn’t just come to visit.”

“You’re right, we’re actually here to train you for your Labyrinth practice exam” Sergei cleared his throat “you and your squadron for the next few weeks.”

“We know all about all the added stress of these villains with flawed logic” Hemingway put his hand on my shoulder “so we’re here to give you 3 the best chance at completing the practice one so you can do the real one later in senior year.”

“Really? That’s so- wait a minute” I got sentimental until I remembered something “who sent you over?”

“Damn you’re good at this, it was your caseworker” Hemingway chuckled “I’m impressed by your intuition and quick thinking” he turned to Sergei “she really has come a long way from being my pupil and musical prodigy.”

“How was Palma-san in America?” asked Mina “is it true that she was a quiet and timid girl?”

“She was but that’s because you aren’t allowed to use quirks in public” Hemingway answered “since there’s no need for fighting as she was the most likeable and smart young lady in school, everyone painted her in this good light. But I guess you all see her as this strange, bold and powerful little lady that can do anything.”

“America doesn’t sound very progressive for what they claim to do on the news” Shoji thought aloud “No hero culture and no power to the people, just oppression.”

“Well if you put it like that then yea America fucking sucks” I laughed nervously then turned to the two men “shall we go to my squadron? I’d love to introduce them to you!”

“Yes lets!” Sergei responded “excuse us, it was very nice to meet all of you.”

We walked to the main building and I broke the silence “How’s everything back home? Any sign of break through?”

“I wish I could tell you that things are going to be okay” Hemingway deeply sighed like he didn’t want to say what he was going to say “they’ve claimed the whole district and killed everyone that tried to rise up against them” he stopped and turned to me to make full eye contact “they killed Gio, Rigo and Trigo. They formed into a vigilante trio to avenge you and they were slain one at a time by the gang.”

“My section?! They’re gone?” tears well up in my eyes, it seemed not that long ago we were messing around in the band room after practice “but they were such sweet boys, why would they-”

“Your death brought the bravery out of everybody to fight back” he wiped his tear “they followed your example of bravery to protect your friends and myself to bring attention that we are in desperate need of hero culture. I don’t know how many more deaths are needed to bring the change we need” he wiped my tears “but you’re leading the fight you started for a safer community.”

After some consoling and more updates from home, I introduce them to my squadron to get a full training run down. For the next 3 weeks, we’re on a strict regime of training, no drinking and no social time. Just hardcore training but we also had to miss out on all the fun things like the dance and kick-backs.

-Night of the dance, Hero dorms-

“Iida-kun, can you help me tie this?” Sero asked as he knocked on Iida’s door “If you aren’t too busy.”

“Oh no, please come in” answered Iida “what needs tying?”

“Iida-kun you aren’t even dressed?!” Sero exclaimed “weren’t you going with Palma-san to the dance?”

“Not this time” he got up from his desk chair to tie Sero’s bow tie “she’s under strict training for her practice test, she looked so sad when I asked her to be my date again and told me why she can’t go.” He sighs “That was a week ago and I’m a bit concerned for her, she hasn’t spend any social time with anybody since her mentors showed up.”

“Oh oof I’m sorry she had to decline” Sero sympathized with Iida “well, thanks for tying this for me! See you when we get back.”

-Meanwhile, in the Intel dorms-

“I don’t want to move!” Mimi groaned face down on the floor “my body feels broken.”

“It was nice of them to give us tomorrow as a healing day” Jin tried to make light of things after a very rigorous day of training “sucks that we can’t go dancing with the others.”

“Welp, I’m gonna have a soak” I floated myself to the bathroom “nothing like a hot bath to pass out in after a training day.” I take my bath and get envious of all the fun everyone is having at the dance and how I had to decline Iida’s offer to be my date. I imagine things going right if I went and maybe, just maybe, I’ll get that slow dance kiss. After getting pruny as heck, I dry off and get ready for bed when I get a text from Shinso.

 [Hey, I heard you couldn’t go to the dance. Are you upset?]

[A little, I really wanted to dress up and one slow dance at least]

[Hmmm, that can be arranged... Meet me on the hero roof in 20 mins in any dress you have on hand.]

I start freaking out and show Mimi and Jin. They also get excited and help me choose a dress. I didn’t wait for Shinso to show up first, I teleported to the roof the moment I was ready. He arrived 3 minutes later.

“Oh, hey” Shinso was taken by surprise “I didn’t expect you to come early, were you waiting long?”

“Nah I teleported in like a minute ago” I kept my excitement contained “so I’m here, in the nicest dress I had in my closet” I smoothed out the front of my floral print chiffon dress “kinda wish I could’ve dressed up a bit more fancy.”

“Are you kidding me? You look stunningly gorgeous” he put down his bag to hold my hands in his “and in purple, my favorite color” he kissed my hands “I know you really wanted to go to the dance, so I wanted to bring a little bit of the dance to you” he took out a portable speaker and connected it to his phone to play a pre-compiled playlist, he bows and presents his hand “may I have this dance?”

I take his hand and giggle. We danced and I forgot that I was in pain earlier, my heart was fluttering in happiness, this is what I’ve always wanted a partner to do for me. “Ya know Hitoshi” we lock eyes “if I didn’t know better, I’d say you want something from me.”

“Like what?” he pulled me in closer “I know you’ve been working hard and I just want to do something nice, nothing to repay.”

“Are you sure I can’t repay you for your kindness?” I tilt my head “nothing at all?”

“Seeing you happy and being around you is enough for me” he changed his hand positions “I missed your company.”

“Yea, training has been rough on me” I put my head on his shoulder “just another week and a half of it then I take my practice exam.”

“I hope I can go see it” he puts a hand on the back of my head “I’m going home for the holidays but I’m not sure how soon I’m leaving.”

“Oh that’s exciting” I perked up “last year the whole hero class couldn’t leave for the holidays so just spent it together.”

“How did that turn out?” he chuckled.

“Annoying! Half way through festivities I teleported to the intel dorms and celebrated with my friends.” We spent more time talking and slow dancing. Forgetting about the time and longing for the right moment for a kiss. The moment finally presented itself when Love by Keisha Cole played, at the climax of the song we locked eyes and closed in for a kiss. This kiss was different, it gave me those sweet and warm feelings in my chest...Shinso is the one, game over y’all, this is love.

“Wow, so that’s how it feels like” he says after pulling away from the kiss “to kiss you after pinning you for so long.”

“You, pinning me?” I was being sarcastic “no way!”

“I guess a confession is in order huh?” he laughed off my comment and motioned me to sit on the blanket he laid out “Let me start from the beginning, it’s embarrassing but, I’ve had a crush on you since you came back from you 1st practice test.”

“The first?- OH! the pro-hero take down one?”

“Yeah that one” he held my hand “since then, I’ve been just observing you from afar and practicing my proper introduction to you because I wanted to stand out from the rest that was trying to get your attention. Since then, every time you waved hello to me in the hall or talk to me in passing, I lose my cool once you’re out of sight. I developed my feelings over time as you helped me with my placement exam, I’ve never met someone so kind and charismatic as you” he diverted his gaze “not going to lie, when I saw you holding hands with Iida, I got jealous until you said he’s just a friend. I just really wanted to be the one to hold your hand and have all of your attention like the way you looked with him” he squeezed my hand a little “but who knew that you already had eyes for me, all the playful moments and serious ones spent together. It has made me confident to say that I like you and I want to be all yours...but,”

“But what?” I asked softly as I felt his tone change and his hand letting go of mine.

“I understand that this isn’t the right time to start something” he looks to the starry sky “life is putting you through the ultimate test and you can’t be spending your energy on romantic relationships, at least not now” he turns to me “I won’t be the added stress to your life like everyone else, when the time is right, we’ll start our chapter.”

“You’d really wait for me?” I asked, in near tears “am I really worth the trouble?”

“Of course you are” he caresses my face “I’d never let you slip out of my hands and wait as long as it takes.” We kissed again and again, the ease of mind made me that much more excited for the day we’d be in a serious relationship.

-Fast forward, day of the Labyrinth practice test-

“AGENTS!” Hansai barked at the first years in the auditorium with multi-paneled screens “as you know, our beloved trio of upper-classmen are going to take the labyrinth practice test, take note on their techniques and quick thinking as you might need it when you go on your internships in a few days.”

“LABYRINTH PRACTICE EXAM IS IN FULL SESSION” blared the announcer on the speakers “AGENT 21, J.MATSUI WILL BE DEPLOYED IN 30 SECONDS.”

“Our King is going up first” blurted out one of the underclassmen “I hope he makes it out!”

-Meanwhile, at the exam-

“Breathe baby boy” Mimi hypes up Jin “you have studied the blade and now is the time to cut ‘em!”

“Thanks guys” he walks up to the double doors to the starting area “I’ll see you on the other side.”

“You’ll do amazing sweetie!” I yell as he walked through the open door. Mimi and I await in the holding area for more announcements. 10 minutes later we get an update.

“J.MATSUI IS UNABLE TO CONTINUE THE EXAM, CAPTURED IN THE 3RD STAGE.”

“Oh no, poor baby” Mimi gasped “I wonder what happened? He never gets caught lacking.”

“AGENT 20, M.M.OLESHIN WILL BE DEPLOYED IN 30 SECONDS.”

“See you on the other side” I give Mimi a quick hug “you’ll do great.”

“See you on the other side” Mimi said as the double doors started to open “I love you.” I sat alone in the holding area, tapping my fingers on my knees to calm myself. What seemed forever, I finally get an update.

“M.M. OLESHIN IS UNABLE TO CONTINUE THE EXAM, KNOCKED UNCONSCIOUS IN THE 6TH STAGE”

“Oh fuck” I yelped “she was also caught lacking, she’s always so careful not to. What the hell am I up against?!”

“AGENT 19, I.PALMA WILL BE DEPLOYED IN 30 SECONDS.”

I walk up to the double doors to await my time “Lord, if you’re listening” I look up to the celling “please grant me the courage and strength to complete this exam.” The double doors open and I dash in to the first stage, a simple task, find the key to the hostage’s shackles for a later stage and gather intel on the ‘villain’ on the final level. “hmmm, so they’re a fire quirk villain. Doesn’t seem too difficult.” Second level was defusing, simple cut the blue wire situation and check for other explosives. Third level was taking down a group of lackeys, though difficult, I powered through to move on. Fourth level was retrieve the object without triggering the alarm or traps, easy peasy with my quirk. The fifth level was were I ran into trouble, it was an empty room and I couldn’t figure out what to do at first. After 5 minutes of looking around, the room filled with smoke, making visibility difficult. I get to the next stage door and see it was different than the others, it had a 4 digit pin code to unlock! I remembered something from the 1st stage and used it as the pin-code, lucky me, the door opened. With no time to catch my breath, I close in on the sixth stage. I see why Mimi was defeated, Eraserhead was in this room.

“Well! I was hoping to see you Miss Agent” Aizawa flashed his smile at me “what tricks are you going to play for me?”

I lower my visor and reach for my pocket “I’m gonna juggle!” I pull out 3 black balls from my pocket and wave them in my hands “lookie lookie! no quirks!” I start juggling.

“Well I’ll be damned, the circus is in town” Aizawa laughed “do a backflip!”

“Okie dokie!” I toss the balls up and do the back flip, the moment the balls hit the ground a blinding flash of white ignited.

“Flash grenades, dirty tricks!” Aizawa grunts as he rubs his eyes. But it was too late, I dashed behind him to copy the erasure and activated it before he could turn around. He realized what I’ve done and chuckled “you never cease to amaze me, but try this on for size!” he used his capture device but with some quick thinking, I used the net gun before the device reached me.

“That was fun” I propped him up on a pillar “see you later!”

“Best of luck Miss Palma!” he yelled as I ran through the double doors.    

Stage seven, just this one and one more to complete. I was met with a barricaded door to the next level with a timer with 4 minutes on the clock. I worked quickly to move what I could with my quirk and kick down plus brass knuckle my way to the rest of the blockage. Thank Sergei for all that extra muscle conditioning so I could make this possible, and just in the nick of time too! I had 30 seconds to spare and I bolted to my final stage. I arrive to a room with a group of hostages but no ‘villain’ in sight.

“Help us, help us!” yelled one of the hostages.

Upon getting closer, I see that among the hostages is Iida and Todoroki “Oh my, don’t worry! I’m here to release you” I unlock their shackles and remember what I was supposed to say in the situation “is anybody hurt or in need of medical attention?” I await a response, none of them spoke up “please come this way for the rescue team to retrieve you” I lead them to the marked area and do a simulated ping “19 to rescue, all 5 hostages are gathered and ready for transport” I turn to the hostages as the double doors open “please follow the rescuer’s instructions and stay together.”

“WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU’RE GOING!” bellowed a voice behind me and I just knew it was the ‘villain’ I was supposed to fight. I turn around and see none other than Endeavor.

“Eww is that your dad Shoto?” I was in genuine disgust.

“Yes that’s him” he turns to me “beat his ass Palma-san, like he deserves it.”

“With pleasure Shoto!” I crack my knuckles and face my opponent “so you’re the so called mastermind of this here circus ey?!”

“I’m- not running a circus?” he scratches his head and mutters “did I read my script wrong.”

“It’s going to take more than clowns and tricks to take me down!” I strike a defense pose “because I got the power of God AND Anime on my side!”

“What do those have to-” I interrupt him with dashing forward to throw my pocket sand in his face “puh! what the hell was that! it’s in my eyes!” he covers his face and I slap him a couple times to pester and copy his quirk.

“Heh! not so tough are ya clown master?!” I taunt as I circle him to check if he has any sort of stun device or remote controls on him “LOOK AT ME!” he struggles to see me but once I activated his quirk, he went pale.

“That’s my- GIVE MY QUIRK BACK YOU BRAT!” he lunges forward but I predict his next moves “that’s enough playing!” he gets aggressive and launches me against the wall like a rag doll.

“I won’t let you get the best of me!” I yelled as I staggered to pick myself up “I have inner demons way scarier than you!” my visor cracked and fell off my head, exposing my face and the bloody, shallow cuts on my forehead.

“You’re just a little girl!” he laughed “defeating you will be like-”

“I’m not your children, you can’t beat me around like them!” I snapped back, giving a mischievous smile.

“ENOUGH!” his flames ignited “I’m going to wipe that smile off your face!”

“Try me bitch!”

-In the control room-

“Oh wow she’s really tearing him down verbally” Hemingway observed the surveillance feed “she might actually win this one.”

“That’s our girl” Mimi puffed her chest out like a proud friend “I’m very excited to see her finishing fire move, The Rising Phoenix!”

“I love that move!” Todoroki gasped “I can’t get it quite right but it’s a beautiful fire power move.”

“Never mind that!” Iida exclaimed “how are you all okay with her getting pummeled like that?!” he points at the screen with a chop as she gets hit hard enough to get airborne.

“Give it time! It’s all part of her plan” Jin assured Iida “you worry way too much over her.” They all watch as she lures the ‘villain’ into her trap but she’s very beaten, battered and bloody like she’s about to collapse.

“That’s it! I’m doing something about this!” Iida charges toward the control panel where the proctor was sitting to press the ‘emergency stop’ button.

“You foolish boy!” cried out the proctor “you sabotaged both of them!”

-In the final stage-

As I lifted my arms to do my finishing move, I get hit by something just outside my range of vision. Next thing I know I was on the floor, paralyzed looking up at the high vaulted celling. I hear the sirens wail and the sound of 4 people yelling my name and running.

“Please baby girl! speak to me!” Mimi begged as she scooped me up from the ground.

“What happened?” I asked confused “did I lose control? Did I hurt myself?”

“No no! you didn’t” Sergei kneeled down to my level “someone interfered with your exam, this wasn’t supposed to happen! You were about to win too!”

“What? Who did it?” I looked at Mimi, Jin, Hemingway and Sergei, all of them had the same expression of anger “I promise I won’t get mad! Please tell me.”

“It was glasses” Jin clenched his jaw “he did his heroics and hard stopped everything.”

“Never mind, I’m enraged now” I was too numb to show how mad I was “also can I get the antidote to this paralyzer? It’s getting harder to breathe.”

“Right!” they all said collectively and I was whisked away to the infirmary.

I was on bed rest for a week due to my many injuries. As I laid around, my anger grew and I wished Shinso was around to vent and forget about everything. He left the morning of my exam and won’t be back until after New Years. Mimi and Jin banned Iida from visiting me or even getting near me, which is a good thing, otherwise I’d be in a full blown fist fight with him. That’s how close I am to exploding in anger. The more I stayed cooped up, the more I want to just roam the city and do something that isn’t laying around. I finally had it and got dressed up to go somewhere for a bit in the evening. Mimi and Jin gave me my space to do this but Iida was persistent in talking to me. As I made my way to the parking lot on the dorms to get to my car, Iida zoomed out of the hero dorms.

“Hey! Ita I was just noticing that you’re heading out” he stood in front of my drivers side, preventing me from unlocking my car “may I accomp-”

“No” I said firmly, trying to hold back my anger “I’m fine thank you very much, I wish to go alone.”

“But I want to talk to you” he put his hands on my shoulders, I push them off me “I know you’re upset and I want to-”

“Oh ho! Upset? You think I’M upset” I scoffed with my anger levels rising “Tenya, I’m fucking ENRAGED! Because once again, your unnecessary heroics ruined everything!” hot angry tears poured out of my eyes “I trained so long and hard for that exam and because of your little act, I’m at risk of not only failing that exam but also getting my tuition money taken way because of my failure to complete the exam!” I look into his eyes to drive my point “I don’t want your apologies nor comfort, I want to be left alone.”

“Please Ita, listen to me” He grabs my arm to stop me from walking away “don’t push me away again, lets go and-”

“Let. Go. Of. Me.” I growled in warning “I want to be alone.”

“No, I won’t allow you to just disappear again!” his grip tightened “lets work things out like friends.”

The word ‘friends’ hit me the wrong way and I lashed out “I said I don’t WANT TO TALK!” I thrash about until I was out of his grip “I don’t need a friend right now, I need to clear my head in solitude” I turn around and fast walk toward the main road. Before Iida could react, she teleported away.

“Ita?! ITA?! COME BACK” wailed Iida as he ran toward where she stood before disappearing “I’m sorry, so sorry, come back” he horsely spoke as tears fell from his face, his legs buckling and giving out, making him fall “I’m a bad friend, what do I do to make up for my mistakes.” Moments later, Midoriya and Kirishima walk up to Iida’s sobbing mess on the ground.

“Iida-kun? We saw what happened” Midoriya gently spoke “is she going to be alright going out on her own like that?”

“I don’t know” he didn’t move from his spot “just leave me here to rot like the bad friend I am.”

“None of that Iida-kun!” Kirishima flipped Iida over to show his face “you’re not a bad friend, just too heroic” he extended his hand out to help Iida up “Palma-san has every right to be angry and we need to give her the respect to clear her mind” Iida refuses his hand “she always comes back, this time is no different.”

“He’s right Iida-kun” Midoriya puts his hands on Iida’s arm “lets go inside and wait for her to come back, it’s starting to get really cold lately so she can’t be out too late.”

-In downtown-

“Stupid Tenya” I mutter as I make my way through the town square “he thinks everything can be solved with a meal and slow dancing, well not this time!” I walk through the much more un-urbanized part of town, the traditional look of the shops and street was pleasing to me. I wander around to get familiarized myself with the area since I’ve never been in the area. My wandering got me lost after what seems like hours, winding up in an alleyway that leads to what seems like a warehouse district. “Maybe if I go back I can find a familiar spot and teleport to town square, I can go get something to eat” I tell myself as it was getting dark and the area wasn’t as well lit. I felt the chill creep up my arms as it got darker but I was still lost, coming back to the same alleyway, now even darker and spookier. “How the hell do I keep coming back here?” I get annoyed with myself “guess I’ll just try to navigate on my phone” I check the GPS and I don’t have a strong enough signal to get located. I was too busy trying to get signal that I didn’t see that I was getting barricaded from the alley entrance.

“There you are~” spoke a familiar voice “so this was your little hiding place?”

I stopped dead in my tracks “It can’t be” I uttered in fear. Looking up and at the voice I see two people, one in a wheelchair and one pushing the wheelchair but I knew who they were “No...it’s not possible!”

“Oh but it is!” spoke the man in the wheelchair “and you were right! That quirkless boyfriend of yours did have a use to me after all. Too bad it lead to your demise, he loved you so.”

“Humberto would NEVER help you!” I screamed, trying to show hostility “what did you do to him?!”

“OH! Being stand off-ish?” his tone petty as hell “fine by me! I came here to eradicate you, like I said I would but with more vengeance.”

“That won’t happen” I got in my stance “I’ve done more than just hiding for 2 years, you’ll never win Johnny!”

-To be continued-

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[xavierfiles-blog]

Entry 062 - Caliban

Portrayed in Logan by Stephan Merchant

Name: Unknown

Code Names: Caliban

First Appearance: Uncanny X-Men #148 (Aug ’81)

Powers: Can sense other mutants, forces others to feel fear

Teams Affiliation: Morlocks, X-Factor, X-Force

About

If there was one thing Chris Claremont loved, it was dropping references as often as he could. Legion was inspired by a passage in the New Testament’s book of Mark. The Brood were pretty clearly inspired by the Xenomorphs from Alien. Pretty much everything about the Morlocks was lifted from H.G. Wells The Time Machine. This isn’t a bad thing as long as a writer avoids being cute about it (looking at you, Romeo from All-New X-Men) and can do a lot of the leg work to establish the basics of a character. When Claremont wanted a sympathetic antagonist who was shunned by the outside world due to his deformity he looked to Shakespeare for some help and found himself Caliban.

Portrayed in X-Men: Apocalypse by Tómas Lemarquis

Caliban’s life before the Morlocks didn’t matter. He bulging eyes and pale, gaunt skin alienated him from the normal humans. He met with Callisto, a mutant with a plan for the outsiders like Caliban and together they formed an underground society of mutants. Even here, surrounded by the wretched and forgotten members of an already marginalized society, Caliban felt alone. His mutant powers allowed him to find others of his race but he struggled to find anyone who would accept him. That changed when he sensed a young mutant girl calling herself Sprite. He tried to bring her to the Morlocks but she already had a community, and frankly did not want to live in the sewer. Her friends Dazzler, Storm, and Spider-Woman came to her rescue and knocked some sense into him. Caliban admitted that he didn’t want to hurt anyone, he just wanted some friendship. The congregated mutants took pity on poor Caliban and let him return to the tunnels.

Art by Dave Cockrun, Josef Rubinstein, and Glynis Wein

Weeks later, Callisto wanted to prove her power by controlling the most beautiful mutant in the world and sent Morlocks to capture Angel. The X-Men fought their way into the sewers and Caliban’s beloved Kitty Pryde was infected by the Morlock known as Plague. He whisked Sprite away and tried nursing her back to health, however, Caliban wasn’t great at healing. He feared to defy Callisto by openly helping the X-Men but made a pact with Kitty, he would help her if she stayed with him. When she didn’t hold up her end of the barging, the Morlocks captured Kitty and forced her to marry Caliban. As they tend to do, the X-Men intervened and rescued her from Caliban, but in a twist, she went back to him. Caliban was touched the Kitty would abandon her friend to keep her word. He understood that it was wrong to force her into a marriage. He told her he would be there for her if she ever felt any romantic love for him and left her with a rose.

Art by John Romita Jr, Dan Green, and Glynis Wein

Soon, Caliban’s world was turned upside down when the Marauders, led by Sabertooth, attacked the Morlocks. Caliban was an early target but was saved thanks to quick thinking from the best friends in the X-Men universe, Artie and Leech. The trio was found by X-Factor who took them and the few remaining Morlocks to their base and Caliban began to trust these surface dwellers. When Angel appeared to have died, Caliban began joining the team on their mutant saving missions. Caliban felt worthless on these adventures. His powers were passive and useless in a fight. He wanted the power to protect his friends and avenge the mutants that they had lost. Apocalypse offered this power to him and the feeble Caliban was transformed into his new Horseman of Death.

Art by Walter Simonson, Bob Wiacek, and Petra Scotese

Caliban loyally served lord Apocalypse and all the while planned his revenge on Sabertooth for his role in the Morlock massacre. Eventually, his moment came and Caliban broke Sabertooth’s spine thanks to the strength granted him by Apocalypse. He captured Cyclops and Jean Grey for Apocalypse during the X-Cutioner’s Song but was aimless when Apocalypse was defeated at the end of the event.

Art by Ian Churchill, Hillary Barta, and Dana Moreshead

He was found by X-Force leader Cable who offered Caliban a spot on the team. There he found a group of rebels and misfits he finally belonged with, becoming very close with Warpath. He struggled to balance his new heroic persona with the powers he received from Apocalypse and was unable to fully overcome it. His scion Ozymandias captured Caliban and returned him to Apocalypse who dosed him with another round of brain-washing. He became the Hoseman Pestilence and tracked the mutants Apocalypse needed to gather his Twelve. After that whole debacle, the unholy fusion of Cyclops and Apocalypse took pity on Caliban and released him from the mental manipulation he had so long lived under.

Art by Bernard Chang, John Holdrege, and Gloria Vasquez

Caliban was one of the few mutants to retain their abilities after the Decimation and joined the gathered refugees on the grounds of the Xavier Institue. He became disgruntled with his life in the camps and enlisted former X-Force teammates Shatterstar and Domino in escaping from the government guarded grounds. The caravan of mutants found an abandoned bunker in Nevada to call home filled with WMD’s. O*N*E director General Lazer desired to detonate the WMD’s and eliminate the mutant pest. Caliban, alongside the X-Men, was able to save the mutants but Caliban was unwilling to return to the camps. He returned at long last to the Morlock sewers but found it very different. A cult of religious extremists had taken over and their leader, Masque, used his body shaping powers to remove Caliban’s enhancements leaving him weak and feeble.

Art by Yanick Paquette, Serge LaPointe, and Stephane Peru

Caliban was found by his old friend Warpath and assisted the X-Men in taking down the Morlock extremists. It felt good to be a hero again, and better to be doing it while surrounded by friends. James and Caliban’s bond grew closer with their shared experience on reservations. When Cyclops created the new incarnation of X-Force to find the first mutant child born since M-Day, Caliban got to serve next to his friend. They tracked the child to and battled the Reavers to retain control of it. One of the soldiers took aim at Warpath, but Caliban wasn’t going to watch any more friends die. He jumped in front of the bullets and bleed out in the snow. Warpath was so moved by Caliban’s sacrifice that he buried him in an Apache cemetery. A fitting end for a true warrior.

Art by Humberto Ramon, Carlos Cuevas, and Edgar Delgado

Must Read

Caliban has often been relegated to a supporting role and frequently a villainous one. He is a character with a lot of personality, but one who gets little love overall. Still, Uncanny X-Men #179 is a great issue in the middle of Claremont’s golden age that builds a ton of sympathy for Caliban. You understand that his is more misguided and manipulated than maleficent. Claremont makes you really believe that he cares about Kitty and Cockrum sells it in the art. It is the type of story I think about when I think Claremont’s X-Men.

Art by Dave Cockrum

Ranking

I like Caliban but I am gonna level with you here, I haven’t really missed him since his death. He is a perfectly fine character in a world of fantastic ones who better fill the supporting role he otherwise would. He isn’t as interesting a Morlock as Callisto and he doesn’t have as much potential as Armor.  Omega Red has a better design for a heavy but I think he garners more sympathy than someone like Skids. For that, Caliban ranks as the new number 38 in the Xavier Files.

Caliban was requested by /u/asianwaste. Thank you for the request! If you have a request just submit it at the bottom of this article and I will add it to the list that currently stretches well into 2018! If you want to cut to the front of the line, we have a Patreon if you want to support it and get a line cutting reward for just a $1 pledge. We just hit our 2nd goal and now I guess I am reviewing X-Books so that will be coming soon. Oh and we also have exclusive physical items so check those out!

Make sure you check out Legion Quest a new podcast where me and Newsarama reviewer Matt Sibley talk about the FX show Legion. You can follow the show at any of these sources (iTunes | Google Play | Sticher | RSS).

Click here if you want to see the full ranked list, with links to every entry in the Xavier Files so far.

If you liked what you read be sure to follow Xavier Files on twitter, Tumblr, Facebook!

Next week we continue the February onslaught of media tie-ins with the one and only X-23! See you then!

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Entry Key

Entry 062 – Caliban was originally published on Xavier Files

[dinatcn12575-blog]

Free Occasion Events Found In The Chicago, Il Suburbs

Wedding ceremonies and the following receptions can be very formal, somewhat stuffy events. Remember, however, that this is your wedding day. Is there any reason why every moment should not be filled with your personality? Although games are an uncommon addition to a wedding reception, they can be the determining factor of fun and personality. Scheduled games increase guest participation and make for some long-lasting laughs. Make sure your photographer is ready with the camera, for these games will be moments you won't want to forget. A normal "game" played at a wedding reception is the glass-tapping, bride-and-groom-kissing game. Everyone knows this drill. Someone taps on their glass which starts a chain reaction around the room. The sound of the clinking glass demands a kiss from the married couple. There are plenty of creative ways to change this game, however. Instead of clinking glass, require the guests to sing a song to get the bride and groom to kiss. This provides reception entertainment as well! Or, leave a pair of dice at each table. On various breaks, one couple rolls the dice. If the dice lands on an even number, the bride and groom kiss. If the dice lands on an odd number, the rolling couple kisses! Trivia question games are a lot of fun and do not have to be reserved only for the wedding shower. Guests will enjoy answering questions about the married couple. A prize is not necessary but an added bonus to the game. If you have a DJ at the wedding, musical chairs is an active game which can be played. People of all ages can get up and play this well-known game. You can even switch it up by requiring guests to do certain things such as standing on the chair instead of sitting when the music stops. For a bride and groom who like adventure, set up a scavenger hunt around the reception location. Give each guest a list of the things they must find, questions they must answer, or tasks they must accomplish. If you want to give a real challenge, make sure the hunt will last throughout the reception. The first to complete the list wins a prize. Wedding receptions do not have to be formal dinners with little activity. Instead, enjoy the time with your family and friends. Playing games is a great way to add life to the party without letting things get out of control.You can learn more about wedding reception music, and get many more ideas and resources about wedding receptions by visiting wedding reception ideas. Try out this: place a subject to Spirit, either quietly or on the market loud. Two giant toy troops welcomed my family to any Stockton Children museum, some educational, hands-on museum exactly who is geared towards children of all ages. At this juncture we detected an finally out building, where we were able as a way to purchase airfare. $4 to obtain adults, on the other hand if we tend to had just lately 'with party' i personally would already have got in for $3. May be a stellar fun a workout to function your brain muscles as well as the pineal human gland. Progressive York Community centre of Technique is every other great see to explore in N . y .! Kind of an "active allowing", because "passive awareness", if your corporation will.

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