#let stompp have ears

[graaythekwami]

Why doesn't Stompp have ears??

Why did it take me so long to notice??

[mymiraclebox]

Stompp, kwami of Determination.

[mae-dwrites]

A Bundle of Heliotropes - Chapter 3 - Lull

| Masterlist | Previous | You’re Here <3 | Next |

| Ao3 | Wattpad |

When Marinette woke up her room was quiet. It was quiet?

Marinette sat up in alarm and scrabbled to get out of bed, “Tikki?”

No response. Her panic started to grow, “Tikki.”

“Guardian, do not panic,” Sass floated to her, making the girl slip and hit her head on the ladder. Sass winced while Marinette rubbed her head, hanging upside down on the ladder. Sass floated down to her face, “The ressst of the Kwami are down stairss with your parents.”

Marinette blinked as she took in the words she noticeably relaxed before pulling herself up to get on the ground. She rubbed the back of her head with a small frown, she felt almost as embarrassed as she was irritated with the injury.

Marinette looked to the snake kwami with mild confusion, “Why are they down there?”

“I don’t know everything, I do know Tikki sssaid that she would talk to them in the morning if they would like,” Sass explained, “eventually otherss joined her asss they got bored up here. None of usss wished to wake you, but there wasn’t much to do that would keep usss quiet. Ssso we joined Tikki, and I stayed ssso that you would be lessss likely to panic.”

Marinette nodded, “Thank you Sass, I appreciate it a lot.”

“Of courssse Guardian,” Sass bowed his head.

“You can join everyone else if you’d like,” Marinette said smiling at the snake. Sass nodded before phasing through her floor to downstairs. Now that Marinette was more awake when she strained her ears to listen she could barely hear the sound of voices from downstairs.

Marinette yawned despite herself and stretched. She pulled on a sweater before having another stretch and rubbed her face. Marinette came down to see the island covered in foods prepared, all things the Kwami enjoyed or favored. Usually the Kwami would be rambunctious when they didn’t have to be careful, but all the Kwami were relaxing, eating, or talking to her parents.

Marinette blinked as she took in the scene before her.

Tikki, Sass, and Longg sat on the coffee table munching on their respective snacks while Trixx and Pollen sat on Sabine’s head; they were listening just as intently to the conversation as some of the other Kwami. Mullo sat in the mother’s hand. Stompp, Daizzi, Barkk, Ziggy, and Orikko all rested contently at various levels of her father.

Lastly Xuppu, Kalkki, and Roarr sat on the island, Xuppu playing around the food but careful to not make a mess. Kalkki made an annoyed but amused neigh as she munched on a sugar cube.

Marinette looked around the room searching for Fluff, she found the time bunny on the shelf observing the scene. A small smile on their face as they munched on carrots, her piercing eyes flicked to Marinette.

Marinette was used to the Kwami after all the months of the group residing in her home, especially with spending most of her time with them. Fluff was chaotic in nature, but time also held order in her delicate chaos.

“Good Morning Fluff,” Marinette smiled and nodded.

“Is it morning? May it be noon? Or tea time? Why is it not dawn,” Fluff sprouted out what would seem incoherent. It was best not to overthink her maze of words.

Marinette’s smile softened, “Sun high, clear sky.”

Fluff beamed at the response and floated over to the Guardian, she nuzzled and rubbed the top of her head on Marinette’s forehead. Marinette giggled the bunny’s fur and whiskers tickled her with affection.

“Good morning sweetie.” Tom and Sabine said in unison.

Marinette looked over to see her parents now facing her. Her father radiated pride and his eyes were glassy, it made Marinette swallow. Her father always wore his heart on his sleeve but very rarely did she see him cry. Seeing her father look at her like this made her heart tight and want to fall on the floor and let it all wash over her, but of course, she didn’t do that.

She looked over to her mother, a woman who always kept cool but was a gamut of raging and unfiltered emotions. A woman who felt everything so wholly under the surface. A small understanding smile was set and Sabine’s eyes crinkled as she took in her daughter.

A strong and confident young woman, her heart ached looking at her now. Her heart had hurt before looking at her, but that was when she was worrying, scared of what would happen to her baby. Now she knew it was far worse than she’d allowed herself to even entertain.

“Good morning,” Marinette smiled back feeling nervous as she looked at Tikki. Her Kwami hadn’t said anything about speaking to her parents. While she believes there was a reason, Marinette feels like she should’ve been there.

Many Kwami sprouted shouts of Guardian and Marinette excitedly, some even coming to her and flying around her talking in rapid succession. The bakers laughed at the magic beings.

Sabine motioned for Marinette to join them. Marinette couldn’t help that her insides swirled as they usually did, although this time was certainly different in multiple aspects.

“Marinette,” Sabine started making said girl straighten up, “we have been speaking to Tikki to better understand what we can and where she can speak of.” Sabine nodded to the Kwami as she floated happily to Marinette.

“While we don’t like it we understand the need to keep secrets surrounding all of this, and that you even telling us is breaking the rules. We,” Sabine stopped for a moment to clear her throat; she took one of her daughter’s hands, “appreciate you for telling us. Even if it’s rather unconventional.”

Sabine chuckled while Tom brought his daughter into a comforting side hug.

“But we do think we need to figure out our own system or set of rules,” Tom spoke up.

Marinette looked at her father taking in their words carefully, she nodded.

“I understand and I agree,” she said thoughtfully, her brows down as her mind went miles a minute thinking over possible ways they could go about this. Marinette soon grabbed out a piece of paper to help sort her thoughts out.

The family and minigods spent the morning discussing her leaving classes, the bakery, her friends, and more. She had permission to say her parents needed for an emergency, or to just straight up leave the class no questions asked.

As they spoke the more they relaxed, joked and simply enjoyed their time together. Marinette was far more relaxed than she had in years.

“It’s not like they can just chase me,” Marinette joked to her parents as a knock sounded on their door. Marinette gasped and leaped across the room as Kwamis hid, “Nino’s birthday.”

Marinette looked back and didn’t see a single Kwami, her parents gave small reassuring smiles. A rapid knock sounded followed by an impatient voice. Marinette finally opened the door revealing Alya and Nino, their eyes were red and puff but they held the biggest smiles on their faces.

The dread that had been previously there faded away, Marinette looked between the two, “Did-”

She was cut off by Alya yanking hers and Nino’s intertwined hands in her face, “Yes.”

Green turtles with black lotus flowers resting on top of the shells sat between their thumb and pointer fingers. Marinette noticed Alya’s turtle was darker in shade but aside from that they were just mirrors of the others.

Marinette pulled them into a tight hug telling them how happy she was for them.

---

“Here dear, eat something,” Ma Kent said sliding a slice of pie to Damian.

“Thank you Ma Kent,” Damian nodded taking the fork from the older woman.

“Of course, dear,” Ma said with a sweet smile. She turned to cut a slice for herself, “I remember when I got my mark.”

Damian took a breath; of course, Jon had mentioned it to his family. Well, his father must have talked to Clark of course, and Tim to Kon. Damian hadn’t gone out of his way to find out if Tim had told Kon, but Damian did not doubt his reasoning for it was sound.

Ma continued to recount fondly how her sister had teased her and her friends had thrown a party, and when she had met her dear Jonathan.

Damian could not hold malice toward the woman, she only knew so much, but she knew enough. He was sure Ma was just trying to ease any “nerves” or “fears” he had about meeting his soulmate.

And he was not “nervous” or “scared.” That is simply prosperous. He had concerns about meeting them.

What if they were a civilian?

A beat.

What if they weren’t a civilian?

Damian paused for half a second, but that was enough.

“Damian?” Jon who had been doing chores around the farm was now next to him.

Damian blinked. What was worse, he hadn’t actually thought about it. He hadn’t wanted to think about any of it. He never let himself entertain anything related to soulmates, his soulmate. He should have, he should have been planning.

“Dear,” Ma Kent spoke softly in a question.

Damian stared at his half-eaten pie, his brows barely drawn together.

The young vigilante cleared his throat, “I am fine. Just had a thought.”

Ma Kent smiled and gently rested a hand on the boy’s, “It won’t be easy will it?”

Damian looked up to her, sometimes he forgot how similar the woman was to Alfred at times. All observing and knowing.

Ma gave a light squeeze, “I’m sure they’ll be just fine.” Her eyes flickered between Damian and Jon, “Clark was worried too when he got his, no matter what we said.” She fondly shook her head recounting the days of her son.

“Whoever it is, they’ll fit right in,” she stated as a matter of fact.

Damian ever so barely pursed his lips as he looked away for a moment, when he looked back at the woman and nodded with gratitude, “Thank you Ma Kent.”

-

Robin’s cape flittered behind him in the slight breeze, the smog-filled sky hiding the moon from the beautiful chaos of the city. His family was spread across the city, Robin was awaiting instructions from Oracle for the area he had already run through twice that night. A few muggings around, so simple for him to handle.

For as much as he would like to rest after being up for so long he wasn’t ready to go yet, but he would be called home for the night soon.

The sound of heels made him turn around, not even five meters away from him stood Talia al Ghul.

“Darling you need to be more aware of your surroundings,” Talia chastised with an unsatisfied smile. She looked to her son’s hand where it lay on his katana. Talia straightened in realization, she held a small frown and her eyes softened, “Oh Dami. I promise I’m not here to fight.”

The mask did not hide how Robin looked her over before slowly removing his hand from his weapon. He straightened and raised his chin as he looked at his mother.

“What is it you want,” Robin stayed put, not wanting to let his guard down.

“My blessing,” Talia took a small step forward. “Not that you need it of course, and Nyssa would not approve,” she waved her hand as though to dismiss her sister from the conversation, her disdain bleeding into the words.

Damian looked his mother over again, trying to find the deceit or hidden agenda. There was none to be found.

“Blessing for what exactly Mother,” Damian asked, adding the title hesitantly. He knew what she meant, but he wanted to hear her say it.

Talia smiled amused, “Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten.” She knew he hadn’t, but she knew what he wanted. What she had wanted so long ago. “Blessing to let them live.”

She could see him relax, her smile became fond as she looked at her son-

An “oof” came out of Talia, a sound she never made, as her son’s arms hugged her. She reached her arms up holding her precious son close. When he pulled away she held his face, a near pout on her face as she looked up at him,

“When did you get so tall dear?”

Not that his mother could see it, he looked away.

“Robin, there looks to be a kidnapping in process a block away from your current location,” Oracle stated through his comm.

“On it,” Damian stated. He turned to leave but looked back at his mother, “Thank you.”

Talia only nodded before leaving him, her heels not making a sound as he leaped from rooftop to rooftop.

---

Ladybug’s leg hung off the Eiffel Tower between the bars, laying on her back she watched what stars she could make out with the monument lit for the night. Her hand absentmindedly rubbed her collarbone, her breathing was long and slow.

She was used to her suit changing little bits as she grew up, almost every few months something new changed. She remembers when Chat and her would freak out about it, making jokes about growing into the suits.

Ladybug rolled her eyes fondly.

Alya would rant for hours about the suit changes and chase her during Akumas just to get photos to show every little change she noticed.

She now sported a short cape garment over her shoulders down to her elbows; black on the outside and red on the inside keeping the famous ladybug colors prominent. When it separated it mimicked the way a ladybug’s wings spread when they would take flight. Tikki had been ecstatic over that; loving how much more her lovely insects were represented than just colors; while Alya had deep-dived into ladybugs and other beetles.

Her suit had inverted from her abdomen to her thighs, it helped to work with her hiding from Akumas in dark places. Her suit had become thicker and adjusted to give her proper traction on her soles and heels.

A quiet thump sounded near her, she stayed where she was at ease knowing who was there. Alya usually went home after patrol so she could be there in case her sisters bargained into her room, they did so often; the littles when they had a nightmare or Nora to ambush Alya. All out of trust and love.

A mischievous smile came into her view blocking the sky. His wild hair whipped in every which direction it could. His mask had slowly grown to look more like a second skin on his cheekbones, temples, and lower forehead.

Ladybug believed it was him growing to keep his identity a secret more over time.

“Why hello m’lady, a fine evening is it not?” Chat grinned, his cat ears twitched making his dangling earrings swing.

Ladybug smiled contently, “It is.”

Chat Noir brought himself down with his legs crossed, Ladybug lifted her head and he scooted forward so her head was on his lap. Chat brushed her bangs back gently, careful not to nick her with his sharp nails. Ladybug let her eyes close, the slight breeze brushed over her face.

“Is something wrong,” Chat asked. Her eyes snapped open, Chat frowned, she blinked a few times before replying with a light nervous laugh, “No, no, of course not.”

He obviously didn’t believe her but decided to let her have this, “While I’d hope not, especially since I found this present on patrol.” Chat said back to his puckish attitude.

“A present,” she restated surprised, she shouldn’t be really.

While he didn’t know when her birthday was he did know it was close to the beginning of May, and that seemed to be enough. The first year he had scrambled to get her a present, it had been a very simple one a keychain with a paw pad. Small and cute, easy to hide, also was so basic he wouldn’t figure out her identity if he saw someone with one.

The previous year he had bought her a paw print plush (he had a theme so far) and a bouquet of yellow roses when he had been much more bent on the just friends train. But he had also bought her four bolts of velvet after she had talked about how much she wanted to use it and experiment with it. Marinette hadn’t touched it for months too scared to make the wrong thing or ruin the expensive material; she hadn’t made anything with it till this last Christmas, and that was only with two of them.

She was almost dreading what he’d gotten her thing year with the drastic change between the two years.

Chat Noir nodded eagerly, he took out a moderately sized bag. Ladybug relaxed a bit as she sat up, seeing that he hadn’t gotten so big this time around.

“You want to take a guess,” He asked as she sat up.

“Not really,” she said offhandly.

“You sure,” he pressed, leaning forward.

Ladybug giggled, “Yes I’m sure chaton.”

His ears flattened as he handed the bag over to her, “Fine.”

Ladybug smiled at the feline hero as she took the bag from him.

She took tissues out tossing them playfully at her partner; he glared at her which only made her smile wider. Ladybug looked in the bag to pull out a yellow bouquet of roses, she looked at him exasperated.

“Didn’t I tell you to stop giving me flowers?”

“And yellow roses mean friendship,” he said pleading, “I double-checked this time, you’re not making me second guess this time.”

Ladybug gave him a “seriously” look before lightly whacking him with the bouquet. He hissed at her making her whack him again.

“Rude,” he squinted at her.

“You’re rude,” she stuck her tongue out at him. She grabbed out a small baggy with two little paw charms on hair ties. She smiled at the simple gift, “I love them.”

She reached back in while Chat beamed. She pulled out two envelopes, one white and one purple. She raised an eyebrow at her partner.

“It doesn’t matter which one you open,” he waved, his voice revealing his nervousness.

Ladybug set the purple one down before opening the white one. She noticed Chat tap his fingers on his knee as he watched her.

She took out the pink page that was written in his neat handwriting.

You didn’t happen to get your mark?

There was a box for yes and no.

Ladybug frowned, she knew her kitty’s birthday was coming later in the year. She swallowed as she looked up at him.

“Chat,” She started. He looked at her, his cat eyes piercing her heart. Full of fear and hope, she knew she was about to break his heart. She swallowed again and opened her mouth but no words came out.

She nodded with tightly sealed lips. She blinked tears away rapidly in a poor attempt to not cry. She watched as he made an inaudible, “Oh.”

He covered his mouth as the tears ran down his face.

She quickly put everything back in the bag and setting it aside she pulled Chat into a hug.

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry,” She murmured into his hair and rubbing circles on his back.

“I just wanted one of my best friends,” he hiccuped out. “Just a friend was all.”

“I know,” Ladybug gave a squeeze. “I’m sure whoever it is will be your friend first.”

And if they stayed there longer than normal, it wasn’t like Paris would know.

•

Taglist:

@stainedglassm

@angie500

[celestiall0tus]

All That Remained - Reintroductions - Velze

Beginning || Previous || Next

            “Guys, you’ll never believe what happened!” Adrien yelled out as he ran onto Liberty.

            Nino jumped up to meet with Adrien. “Dude, same. The craziest stuff just happened!”

            Adrien ran into the enclosure as Marinette and Felix landed on the deck. Everyone turned and gawked at the pair.

            “Woah! Marinette you look amazing!” Zoe said.

            “Yeah, and I can tell it’s actually you,” Alya added.

            “Wait, you can?” Marinette asked.

            “Yeah. Strange since I couldn’t tell Ladybug was you despite how painfully obvious it was,” Alya remarked.

            Marinette frowned. Did that put her in danger? Did it put them all in danger? If they were heroes again, would they need to worry about their identities?

            “C’mon, don’t sulk, girl. We have introductions to make,” Alya announced.

            “Oh! Right. Uh, oh, I don’t know how to de-transform,” Marinette said.

            Everyone exchanged glances while an owl kwami approached Marinette.

            “Greetings, Marinette. I am Min, kwami of knowledge. Please, hold out your hand.”

            Marinette did as instructed. Min sat on Marinette’s hand. A soft light wrapped around Min, then faded away.

            “To de-transform, it’s, ‘Gimmi, silence.’”

            “Gimmi, silence?”

            Marinette de-transformed and Gimmi emerged from the earrings. The other kwamis gathered around Gimmi and gawked.

            “A new sibling? Incredible!” Mullo squeaked.

            “And your name is Gimmi?” Sass asked.

            “What’s your concept?” Longg asked.

            “Allow me to properly introduce myself. I am Gimmi, kwami of reality, and shell of all mighty Velze.”

            The kwamis shared looks of awe while others were concerned.

            “What about the rest of you? Who are you all now?” Marinette asked.

            The kwamis grinned and hovered in the center everyone.

            “Tikki, kick us off!” Xuppu cheered.

            Tikki sighed. “I’m Tikki, kwami of creation.”

            “I’m Pollen, kwami of devotion. Pleasure to meet you.”

            “I’m Mullo, kwami of perception.”

            “Orikko, kwami of animosity. Got it?”

            “Ziggy here, kwami of revelry!”

            “Xuppu! Kwami of delight!”

            A wolf kwami smiled. “Fang, kwami of intuition.”

            Min sighed. “Again, Min, kwami of knowledge.”

            “Stompp, kwami of determination. Let’s go!”

            Kaalki ran a hand through her mane. “Kaalki, freedom.”

            Fluff bounced in place. “Fluff, kwami of connection. An absolute joy to meet you all.”

            “Sass, kwami of life. Trust me, I’m a doctor.”

            “Longg, kwami of nature, wild and untamed.”

            Wayzz bowed his head. “Wayzz, kwami of protection.”

            A red chameleon kwami perked up. “Vana, kwami of imagination.”

            A swan kwami held her head high. “Psyche, kwami of soul.”

            A cow kwami took Psyche’s hand. “Terra, kwami of vessel. Or body, whichever.”

            Amelie, Nathalie, and Emilie joined, standing beside Adrien. Their kwamis reintroduced themselves, until Duusu barged in and struck a flamboyant pose.

            “I’m Duusu, kwami of illustrious, reverent beauty. Happy to grace you all with my own breathtaking beauty.”

            One of Felix’s ears pinned back. “Duusu? Is that really you?”

            “Huh? Of course! I’m back and thank Velze. Don’t get me wrong. It was quite the experience being all dark and moody, but it was so boring! This? This is much better. I missed me,” Duusu cooed as he hugged his tail.

            Felix gave an uneasy smile and moved away from Duusu.

            “So, what now? With all these kwamis about, what do we do?” Rose asked.

            “We live whatever lives will come. We are no longer mere tools. We are your friends and companions through life. Not saying that we weren’t before, but now there’s no danger. We all can be the best of friends!” Fluff explained.

            “And if danger does find us?” Alya asked.

            “Then you can fight if that is your desire,” Fang answered.

            “But is there anything else we should know about all of this?” Max asked.

            “Yes, there is,” Marinette declared.

            Everyone turned to Marinette as she told them of what transpired in the Agreste mansion. What happened to Gabriel, Velze, and what they knew now about the kwamis. Everyone grimaced at the part about mistreating kwamis, but accepted everything else.

            “So, we need to watch for any ‘bad’ kwamis? Do you think we’ll see any?” Alya asked.

            Marinette considered. “I do. I don’t know when, but I believe we’ll have to face them eventually.”

            “And we’ll be ready! Right, everyone?” Alya cheered.

            Everyone roared in agreement.

            “C’mon, let’s celebrate! We did it! We won!” Nino exclaimed.

            Everyone cheered and moved about, preparing a makeshift party. Marinette sighed and headed for the exit when Adrien called for her.

            “Won’t you stay? We were both a big part in this,” Adrien added.

            Marinette gave a weak smile. “I know, but I’m exhausted. Its… its been a very long day.”

            Adrien looked worried but smiled. “Ok. Take it easy, Mari. I’ll text you later. Promise.”

            Marinette nodded, pecked Adrien’s cheek, and left.

[ask-miraculous-hetalia]

Sleepy Time Junction

October 22 prompt: Fairy Tales / Sleepover / 'In space, no one can hear you scream.'

Character(s): 2P Norway (Eirik Bakke), 2P Sweden (Beck/Myskoxe)

@hetaween-event-2022

(first art is by @askfairyromano , second is by me. And before anyone asks, Eirik isn't nonbinary, they're a demiboy who prefers they/them)

"Stompp, ring's closed," Beck said. The ox kwami Stompp was then sucked into the ring in the Swede's nose and he transformed into an ox themed hero, his hair turning blue and everything. Oh, how he couldn't wait to have his ladybug earrings again. Not that he minded being Myskoxe, it's just that he liked fixing everything as Bugaboo.

Purple eyes of Eirik looked out the window. Mus and Rattlesnake were at it again and the situation required a few heroes, not to mention Lady Luck. She's the only one who can fix everything with her ladybugs. If Bente or Ingrid were here, they could entertain the Norwegian. But unfortunately, they were busy with things. That left Eirik to watch the battle by themself. It didn't help the fact that they're wheelchair bound, otherwise they'd be doing other things.

Myskoxe stood up from where he's been slammed into a wall, pulling Mus' jump rope off of him. This was starting to get annoying. He had somewhere to be and someone to meet up with. Taking his mallet off his back, Myskoxe charged at Rattlesnake when she wasn't looking and said, "Resistance!" Now for a period of time, he would be resistant to any other miraculous' power. By the time Rattlesnake realized, it was too late. She was knocked unconscious. One look from the ox holder and Mus headed off whilst carrying Rattlesnake.

"Ring's open," Myskoxe said when he'd found a hiding spot and transformed back into Beck. Now he's off to Eirik's place. Once there, he knocked on the door and waited for a moment. The door was opened to reveal a purple eyed person with brown hair and glasses in a wheelchair. A smile crossed their face. "Hei Beck," Eirik said. "Hej, Eirik," Beck said. "I'm ready for the sleepover if you are." "Of course I am," Eirik said. "When aren't I? Let's go get what we need." With that, the two went to the local grocery store. Whilst there, they ended up getting various snacks, drinks, games, and movies. Once they had everything and paid for them, they made their way back to Eirik's place.

An hour into the sleepover, Beck looked at Eirik and asked, "Ready for a song?" Eirik smiled and nodded. A smile crossed Beck's face and he sang Rockefeller Street from Eurovision. Eirik smiled and danced to the song. They liked hearing Beck sing. Can't be helped that Beck has a beautiful voice.

[ur-favorite-queer-queen]

Second Chance

For Maribat March day 12 theme second chance

Master List

Sometimes Marinette really wished Penny and Jagged hadn’t adopted her. It’s not that she didn’t want to be a Rolling-Stone, no that wasn’t it. In fact, she was grateful that they had saved her from the horrors that Paris now held for her. It’s just they dragged her to stuff like this, some rich man’s gala. 

She had slept for a full 12 hours after finishing Penny’s dress, only to wake up to the news she was coming with them. She probably should’ve seen it coming. Although she was hoping this would be one of the lucky cases where she didn’t have to go. Despite her protests they insisted she needed to interact with other humans who weren’t serving her coffee. In Jagged’s words, “Who knows, you might make a rock n roll friend!” 

Now here she was, in her black and purple dress that matched Penny’s and Jagged’s outfits. Letting a bit of her anxiety out as she fiddled with the strap of her matching purse. Watching her parents mingle with the rich folk while she stood off to the side. Every once in a while they would cast her a ‘go make a friend’ look but it never bothered her, she just needed to wait until they stopped turning to look back at her.  

After about 10 minutes they stopped, perfect. She casually asked a waiter where the bathroom was and made her way there. Once inside she slipped off the pearl anklet that was Daizzi’s miraculous, letting the kwami make her way into her purse, before pulling out a familiar nose ring. Now that Jagged and Penny were letting her do her own thing, she could go back to scaring people into not socializing with her. While she would’ve loved to keep Daizzi’s miraculous on so that it could combat Stompp’s miraculous side effects, she learned that it took too much energy to do so. And she didn’t want to explain why she was so tired after the gala if she wasn’t talking to anyone. 

She schooled her features before making her way back out sending a cold look to anyone who tried to come up to her. She pulled out her phone only to see that 2 hours had passed, she still had 4 more to go. Time was moving much too slowly for her liking. 

A clearing of the throat brought her out of her thoughts. She rolled her eyes, putting her phone back in her purse, getting ready to glare at the person who was going to try to talk to her, only to stare in shock at the green eyes that were watching her. The same ones that had bumped into her just days before. The same ones she had sworn she probably wouldn’t ever see again. 

Her mouth moved without her permission, again she blames Stompp, “You.” 

He smiled or maybe it was a smirk, responding with way too much amusement, “Me.” 

She once again schooled her features to look bored, but she’s pretty sure her eyes gave her away with the way he reacted, “What are you doing here?” 

Just like before it took him a moment to reply, his smirk growing just the tiniest bit, “I’m always invited to these things, I’ve never seen you before though.” 

“With any luck this will be the last time you see me.” She remarked. She didn’t mean to be so rude again she blames Stompp but she really hadn’t expected to see him. To his credit he didn’t seem deterred by her cold vibe, if anything he seemed more determined. 

“Why would you say that?” 

“These types of things,” She waved her hand around, motioning to the room, “Just aren’t my thing. My parents make it look so easy, but I’ve never been one for this kind of scene. Plus I leave Gotham in a few days.” 

“Desperate to get out here?” 

“You could say that.” 

“Who are your parents?” 

She raised an eyebrow, “Wouldn’t you like to know.” If this was the game he wanted to play she would play it. Trying to find out who she was by asking about her parents, real subtle. Well Mr. Hot shot, she’s letting Stompp take the wheel now.

“You know, you make trying to have a conversation pretty hard.” 

She rolled her eyes at him, not even trying to stop them from rolling, “Who says I wanted this conversation?” It was a rhetorical question. She turned to leave only for him to grab her wrist. 

Suddenly she was brought back to that night. The night that changed everything. Three pieces of jewelry in her hand, two brooches one ring, her earrings 2 beeps away from her transformation leaving her. 

A pale hand holding her wrist, keeping her from running away. Green eyes and blond hair belonged to the owner of the hand. 

It had happened too fast. One second she was getting ready to run and detransform. Then someone had stopped her, she turned around to meet hungry green eyes. She froze as she felt lips pressed onto her own. It was only the beeping of her earring that brought her back to reality. A knee to the groin, and she pushed him off of her. Letting the police deal with the trio as she fled. 

She turned to the owner of the tan hand that was holding her back and could only register green eyes. She wouldn’t stand still this time. She twisted her hand so that he was forced to let go. A knee to the stomach had him holding his gut and as she raised her arm ready to punch him was when she finally registered that this wasn’t Adrien. It was just some weird stranger who was persistent in getting past her walls. 

She could hear people talking around her and when she dared to glance around they were all staring. She forced the embarrassed blush that wanted to grace her cheeks down, she wasn’t 13 anymore, she was 16 god damnit! Locking eyes with the mysterious yet persistent guy again, she ran. Ran until she found herself on a balcony, the cold air brushing her face as she gripped the railing. 

Why did she react like that? Why did she always have to be so aggressive? Why couldn’t she just let go of the past and take this damn nose ring off so she didn’t have to go and do stupid shit like this?  Why couldn’t she just be normal and let people in? 

Oh yeah, because she had a bunch of shitty friends that all turned on her because of a liar. The same liar turned her already neglectful parents against her. So Jagged and Penny got custody of her in order to get her out. Her parents didn’t even put up a fight about it, too busy gushing about precious LILA! And now she has major trust issues despite wanting to open and trust people again. Man, she is a wreck. 

“Hey, are you out here?” The mystery guy spoke from the entrance of the balcony. 

“No, I’m not.” She didn’t see the point in not acknowledging him, he could probably see her from where he was standing. 

“I’m sorry about earlier, you were obviously uncomfortable and I pushed your limit. So I really am sorry.” He apologized. 

“Yeah, sorry about kneeing you in the stomach. I thought…” She cut herself off, she didn’t need to pour her whole life story out to a stranger. He probably didn’t even want to know either. 

“It’s okay, I deserved it.” He made his way to the railing, he was a good distance away that she still had her own space, but close enough they could still talk. She relaxed a little thanks to the distance, resting her elbows on the railing. He leaned his back against the railing. They stood there in silence and Marinette decided she wouldn’t mind seeing this mystery boy again. Wait she didn’t even know his name. 

It seemed like he had the same thought since he spoke up, “I don’t think we ever introduced ourselves.” 

“We didn’t.” Damn her being so cold, she should probably take this nose ring off. So that’s what she did, took the nose ring off and placed it in her purse. Maybe this would be good for her. 

“Well, I’m Damian Wayne.” He stated, holding his hand out to shake. 

“Wait, Wayne as in Bruce Wayne? As in the Ice Prince of Gotham?” She questioned, shocked. 

“Oh, so you’ve heard.” He seemed a bit disappointed. 

“Yeah, but I won’t judge if you don’t judge.”

He raised an eyebrow at that before she continued, “My name is Marinette Rolling-Stone.” Now he looked surprised. 

“You're the elusive Diamond Stone?” He asked, disbelief made its way into his voice. 

“That’s what they’re calling me now. At first it was Sapphire Stone. Guess that’s what happens when I stay out of the media too long.” She chuckled a small smile making its way onto her face. 

“Wait, where did your nose ring go?” He looked around as if expecting it to magically appear. 

“I took it off.” 

“Why?” 

“Well at first I wore it to scare people off. People are scared of people that have piercings. I was thinking of getting a tattoo but I’m too young and they’re too permanent.” 

“Why would you want to scare people off?” 

“I have a complicated past. Sometimes putting your trust in someone takes too much risk, I tried to avoid it altogether.” She pulled her sketchbook as she wrote something down.

“Tried?” 

“Why do you think I’m talking to you?” She tore the paper out.

“You're putting your trust in me?” 

“No.” She quickly answered, “But maybe one day.” She handed him the paper and left. 

As she walked away she released a breath she didn’t even realize she was holding. Maybe giving people a second chance wouldn’t be such a bad thing. But right now she just needed to find her parents so she could head home. 

-

Damian hated galas. He hated having to talk to the stuck-up rich folk who thought they were better than everyone just because of their wealth. The girls who would try and flirt with him in order to gain his last name. And their parents who tried to push them together. 

Yes, he definitely hated galas. What made this worse was that his family wouldn’t stop teasing him about the girl who he knocked over that one time. Threatening bodily harm did nothing but amp up the teasing. It was times like this where he truly wished there was a not a no kill rule. If only to give Jason Todd some revenge. 

2 hours into the gala and he was already done. 4 girls had already tried to drape themselves over him and it took all his self-control not to hurt them. He was ready to storm out of this gala when he caught sight of her. 

The mystery girl he had bumped into days before. She was here, at a Wayne gala. Her outfit certainly looked the part of a rich socialite, She wore a long halter dress that flared out at the waist. It started out black at her neck before turning purple at the waist. The bottom of the dress had black music notes dancing across and she had a matching black and purple purse hanging off her shoulder. 

Her hair was down and she seemed to be wearing a little bit of makeup. The only reason he was able to tell it was her was because of the black nose ring that stood out against her fancy look. It looked so out of place compared to everything else. 

He watched as a man tried to approach her only to receive the same glare he had gotten days before, quickly moving on to someone else. Seems like he wasn’t the only one who didn’t want to be here. 

He made his way over to her, perhaps to give himself a second chance at a new impression. She proceeded to pull out her phone and look at something before deflating the tiniest bit. 

He cleared his throat to grab her attention, she looked at him with the same glare once again before her eyes took on a look of shock. 

“You.” She seemed surprised that she had stated this as well. 

He couldn’t help the smirk that spread on his face, she remembered him and still had the same spunky attitude, “Me.” 

Her features took on a look of boredom, but her eyes looked only curious yet cautious, “What are you doing here?” 

The fact that she didn’t recognize him as a Wayne was surprising. He thought that she was only in a hurry before that’s why she didn’t register it was him, but now he knew she truly didn’t know it was him. Perhaps he could use this to his advantage. “I’m always invited to these things, I’ve never seen you before though.” 

“With any luck this will be the last time you see me.” She said it with such confidence he felt inclined to believe. It was strange. He seemed to be the last person she wanted to talk to and yet he still wanted to talk to her. He didn’t want her to leave. So the next best thing is to get answers.

“Why would you say that?” 

“These types of things,” She waved her hand around to motion to the room, “Just aren’t my thing. My parents make it look so easy, but I’ve never been one for this kind of scene. Plus I leave Gotham in a few days.” 

Well that sucked for him. “Desperate to get out here?” 

“You could say that.” 

“Who are your parents?” Maybe he could try to get his father to arrange a meeting with them.

She raised an eyebrow, “Wouldn’t you like to know.” Nevermind. 

“You know, you make trying to have a conversation pretty hard.” He didn’t mean to say that, that was rude. 

She rolled her eyes at him, it looked like he was meant to see that, “Who says I wanted this conversation?” She turned to leave, but he grabbed her wrist. He didn’t want her to go just yet. He felt her freeze then tense when he touched her, her breathing became a little more forced, and she seemed to shake a little. 

Suddenly she twisted out of his grip and kneed him in the stomach. She raised her arm and looked ready to punch him. Her eyes looked far and distant and afraid. They seemed to refocus on him as she dropped her arm and glanced around the room. Of course, people were talking about them.

She locked eyes with him once more before running. He ran after her before his path was blocked off by Dick Grayson. “Damian what-” He didn’t get to finish that question as he dashed passed him, determined not to lose the one girl who wasn’t a stuck up brat. 

He thought he had lost her but then he heard someone taking deep breaths from out on one of the balconies. He was about to go up to her, but from the way she reacted to his sudden hold on her arm earlier, it was probably best to give a warning. “Hey are you out here?” 

He walked out onto the balcony. “No, I’m not.” She likely didn’t want to talk to him. 

“I’m sorry about earlier, you were obviously uncomfortable and I pushed your limit. So I really am sorry.” He apologized. Which was so unlike him because here Damian Wayne was apologizing to a stranger. The weird things she made him do. 

“Yeah, sorry about kneeing you in the stomach. I thought…” She cut herself off, it looked like she wanted to say more but wasn’t going to. 

“It’s okay, I deserved it.” He walked over to the railing, making sure he was a good distance away that she had her own space, but close enough so they could still talk. She seemed to relax a little thanks to the distance, resting her elbows on the railing. He leaned his back against the railing. He quite liked the silence, her company was nice. Oh god he didn’t even know her name.

“I don’t think we ever introduced ourselves.” 

“We didn’t.” She stated in what he was pretty sure was a cold tone. Maybe she wanted to stay mysterious, so he would just introduce himself. 

“Well, I’m Damian Wayne.” He held his hand out to shake. 

“Wait, Wayne as in Bruce Wayne? As in the Ice Prince of Gotham?” So she recognizes the name, not the face. Great.

“Oh, so you’ve heard.” 

“Yeah, but I won’t judge if you don’t judge.” Why would he judge her?

He raised an eyebrow at her before she continued, “My name is Marinette Rolling-Stone.” 

“You're the elusive Diamond Stone?” He asked, disbelief accidentally made its way into his voice. He couldn’t help it. She was claiming to be the adoptive daughter of famous Jagged and Penny Rolling-Stone. The girl that made Jagged’s stage outfits from scratch and managed to get the ferocious Fang, Jagged’s pet crocodile, to love her. The media could only ever get a hold of the back of her head, but those that had talked with her said she shined as bright as a diamond. Hence the nickname, Diamond Stone.

“That’s what they’re calling me now. At first it was Sapphire Stone. Guess that’s what happens when I stay out of the media too long.” She chuckled, a small smile had made its way onto her face. Sapphire Stone, he hadn’t heard of that nickname but he could always do some stalking research. That’s when he noticed. 

“Wait, where did your nose ring go?” He looked around trying to see if it had fallen off her face and she hadn’t noticed.

“I took it off.” 

“Why?” He was truly baffled. 

“Well at first I wore it to scare people off. People are scared of people that have piercings. I was thinking of getting a tattoo but I’m too young and they’re too permanent.” 

“Why would you want to scare people off?” That seems like something he would do.

“I have a complicated past. Sometimes putting your trust in someone takes too much risk, I tried to avoid it altogether.” She pulled out what looked like a sketchbook as she wrote something down. Wait what did she mean by ‘complicated past.’

“Tried?” 

“Why do you think I’m talking to you?” She tore the paper out of the sketchbook.

“You're putting your trust in me?” He asked, she didn’t seem like the type to trust people quickly.

“No.” She quickly answered, he thought so, “But maybe one day.” She handed him the paper and left. As he looked down at it he saw it was her number. There was a message attached below ‘My number. Maybe we can meet up somewhere before I leave.’ He certainly wanted to take that opportunity. 

He tucked the paper into his pocket and made his way back to the gala only to be met with his annoying family. By the curious look in their eyes they wanted to know what just happened. This was not going to be fun to explain. 

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

Hi, I have not disappeared, just didn’t want to write for prompts 8-11. I was honestly going to do prompt 8 but then stuff came up and I didn’t have the time to write. I was also planning to write something for tomorrow’s prompt but then I found out I have something I need to do tomorrow so nothing for tomorrow either. Because I had a specific thing I wanted to write for tomorrow I’m changing it to fit day 14′s prompt. Which means it’s not going to be mega angsty like I originally thought was gonna be 14. You have escaped mega angst and now it will only be medium angst. 

On another note that was a bitch to write and edit. And the fact I had originally planned to write more for it baffles me. I feel like I left it kind of open ended so if you want a part 3 to what I have going on here go ahead and tell me. I’m still trying to decide if I should do a part 3 yet. For those who are confused today was a part 2 to day 6′s prompt, miraculous side effects. Go to my master list and you can find it. 

You can also see on my master list that there are days that are crossed off, which means I won’t be doing those days. I can’t do every single day if I want to still get decent grades. Why I skipped days 8-11. Sorry for that long explanation/rant. Also sorry for posting so late again. I do these things all the way to the last minute. Let’s see if I can break that habit throughout the month. Probably not but a girl can hope. Anyways hope you enjoyed. 

@maribatmarch-2k21 @birdiesthings @buginetye 

[azure-wolf-227]

ML Snow White AU: Adrien Agreste and the Seven Faes

@princess-of-the-corner and I have yet again come up with a Disney Princess/Fairytale-inspired AU, this time on Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs with Adrien in the role Snow White since he’s pretty much s Disney Princess.

(The characters are 18 or nearly 18 because there’s an arranged marriage plot).

In this AU, Prince Adrien Agreste lost both of his parents and is now in the care of his Aunt Amelie, the kingdom’s regent. Amelie wants her son Felix to be the next king so she isolates Adrien and practically demotes him to a servant.

Nathalie and the Gorilla exist here but the reason why they don’t help Adrien is because Amelie fired them when she became regent.

One day, Adrien overhears Amelie and Felix plotting to kill him, so he runs away into the enchanted forest. Lost and scared, he comes across an empty cottage deep within the woods. After cleaning it up and preparing some food, Adrien falls asleep in one of the seven beds upstairs.

The cottage is the home of seven powerful Faes known as Tikki, Plagg, Trixx, Wayzz, Pollen, Nooroo, and Duusu; they return to find that someone is in their house.

The Faes look like humans but with animals features like antennae, wings, ears, tails, etc. They can also transform into the animal they have traits off: Tikki into a ladybug, Plagg into a cat, Trixx into a fox, Wayzz into a turtle, Pollen into a bee, Nooroo into a butterfly, and Duusu into a peacock.

While they’re all skilled at magic, they each have their own unique abilities: Tikki has control over plants, healing powers, and can give good luck to others; Plagg can destroy things, cause sicknesses, and give bad luck; Trixx can create powerful illusions, see through lies and disguises; Wayzz can cast powerful protective spells and sense auras; Pollen can create a hivemind between herself and any allies, as well as control weak-willed minds; Nooroo can sense emotions and temporarily boost others’ powers; Duusu can also sense emotions as well as summon all manner of creatures. The Faes also have the ability to speak to and command the animal that they are associated with.

After finding Adrien and waking him up, he begs them to not return him to his aunt since she’d have him killed. The Faes agree to let him stay in exchange for him keeping the cottage clean and helping them with whatever they need.

The Faes do various tasks around the enchanted forest like collecting food and materials or making things; while they keep some of the stuff they collect/make they also make deals with the humans from nearby towns, trading their magic skills and what they collect/make in exchange with whatever they need.

Just like with ‘Dragon Curse’ and “MermAdrien’, this AU has Lukadrigaminette as the endgame. Kagami, Luka, and Marinette are all various people Adrien meets.

Mari is a girl from the nearest town, and is the only one who goes this deep into the forest to hunt for food or trade with the Faes that live there. She meets Adrien while visiting the Faes to do their usual trading (ingredients for her parents’ bakery and silk for her tailor shop made by Nooroo’s silkworms) and, after taking one look at the rags that Adrien is wearing, offers to make him some new clothes.

Kagami was an arranged fiancé from a neighboring Kingdom. She hears of her Prince going missing and isn’t interested in his replacement (Felix) so she searches for the first in the time remaining before she’s forced to marry the new Prince. However she is drawn to the boy living in the woods with a bunch of Magic Creatures. She doesn’t recognize the boy as her fiancé because, the last time they meet was at a Gala/royalty meeting where he was wearing royal clothes and on his best behavior. This boy is goofy and kind of wild, and while the clothes Marinette made him are nice, they’re not really what a prince would wear. Also, Adrien wouldn’t be admitting who he is to anyone, not even his fiancé since he doesn’t know if she’s in on Amelie’s a Felix’s plan.

Kagami must find Adrien before her 18th birthday or she’ll have to marry Felix.

Luka is a traveling Bard, who’s part of a travelling band of musicians consisting of himself, Juleka, Rose, Ivan (canon Kitty Section), and four Faes known as Sass, Roarr, Daizzi, and Stompp. He originally met Adrien when his band traveled through the palace, though it had been after Amelie had demoted Adrien to servant so Luka didn’t recognize him as the prince. They run into each other again when the the musicians travel through the forest.

Due to their connection to Adrien; Marinette, Kagami, and Luka also run into and develop feelings for each other.

They later learn that Adrien is the missing prince as well as Amelie and Felix’s plot to murder him.

Some time later, Amelie and Felix acquire a magic mirror that they use to find where Adrien is hiding (cause they would have used it from the start if they had it already).

To kill Adrien they hire Lila Rossi, a cunning assassin with an affinity for deception and illusion/disguise magic. While she’s a colossal narcissist and as well as a bitch, Lila still has somewhat of a moral code and will only kill people who deserve it. So, Amelie and Felix lie to her about Adrien’s identity, telling her that he’s a treat to the kingdom.

Lila disguises herself as Marinette, both because it wouldn’t be odd for her to suddenly drop for a visit and because Lila wants some petty revenge on Marinette after the latter exposed a scam the former pulled in the past.

Lila-as-Marinette comes to the cottage at a time when she knows Adrien would be alone. She offers him some sweets laced with a poison that Amelie provided for her, and Adrien obliviously accepts one.

Once he bites into the treat, the poison takes effect and, as Adrien is about to lose consciousness, Lila drops her disguise and with a smirk says “Amelie sends her regards.” This is the last thing he sees before everything goes dark and he collapses, seemingly dead.

The others discover what’s happening when Kagami, who had seen Lila-as-Marinette heading towards the cottage, is confused when she sees that Marinette is with Luka. When Marinette confirms that she has been with Luka the whole time, Kagami tells them about the other Marinette she saw. Realizing that Adrien could be in danger, Kagami, Luka, Marinette, the Faes, and their allies rush back towards the cottage.

They arrive just as Lila is exiting the cottage and Kagami chases after her along with some of the Faes, while the others rush inside to check on Adrien. They find Adrien collapsed on the floor, not breathing and seemingly dead. Tikki, who had remained behind while the other Faes went with Kagami, checks him over and informs them that he’s still alive but under a powerful sleeping curse that even her healing powers can break.

Meanwhile, Kagami and the rest of the Faes catch up with Lila, who tries to evade them using her illusion magic. Fortunately, Trixx is immune to those tricks so Lila is quickly captured. They take her back to the cottage and interrogate her about her actions.

At first, Lila refuses to say anything but when she learns just who Adrien is, she reveals that Amelie and Felix were the ones who hired her, lying to her about who Adrien actually was and also providing the poison.

Tikki, who had remained behind while the other Faes went with Kagami, checks him over and informs them that he’s still alive but under a powerful sleeping curse that even her healing powers can’t break. It can only be broken by True Love’s kiss.

Since she’s Adrien’s intended betrothed, Kagami is deemed the best candidate to try breaking the spell. She kisses him and he immediately begins breathing but doesn’t wake up.

Turns out that Adrien has more than one True Love (Kagami, Luka, and Marinette); Kagami’s kiss only broke 1/3 of the curse and he needs a kiss from all of them to completely break it. Luka is the next one to try, his kiss causes Adrien to regain partial consciousness though he’s still out of it and unable to move. Finally, Marinette’s kisses Adrien, breaking the remaining bit of the curse and fully awakening Adrien.

Once Adrien is awake, he’s told what happened and they all begin planning on how to deal wit Amelie and Felix. They decided to ask Kagami’s mother, Tomoe for support and protection.

[mochegato]

Capturing a Dream

Chapter 10 – Who Do You Trust

Chapter 1     Chapter 9

*Note – Savage is working with Klarion for his plan. Klarion is the one controlling everyone, but the Team doesn’t know that.

After a prolonged encounter with Firestorm, Chimera ran out onto the platform freshly recharged and ready to fight.  She had already used Mullo, Roaar, and Stompp and was now on Pollen.  She was beyond curious to see what cataclysm would do to one of Green Lantern’s creations but she was afraid of what it would do to his ring and, well, the power of cataclysm on a floating rock in space seemed like a poor decision, so Plagg had stayed with Adrien.  

She hadn’t had time to feed any of the kwami after using them except Trixx, who she needed to keep up the illusion of her suit, so for now, each kwami was only used once then put back in the flute. She’d make sure to give them all extra treats and thanks after the fight.  Taking the time to recharge Trixx had been risky and time consuming, but necessary. Didn’t mean she liked it.  She had to hide and do nothing while the rest of the team were getting attacked.  She hated it.

Taking time to hide and recharge meant her team had to fight on their own and cover their own backs.  It lead to situations like the one she ran in on, a possessed Batman throwing Robin across the platform and kicking Rocket into a buttress. The force bubble that had been around Wonder Woman disappeared as Rocket’s focus was forcibly removed.  Robin’s focus remained squarely on the threat in front of him.  He stood, facing Batman, the apprehension in his stance was clear to Chimera.  It likely would have been clear to Batman as well, but hopefully whoever was controlling him only saw confident defiance. Despite the façade, Chimera knew this particular fight was the worst for Robin; fighting the man who had become like a father to him.  Even knowing he was being controlled, she could see the strain in Robin’s eyes.

She rushed forward to assist Robin.  He threw a handful of smoke pellets before jumping at Batman, kicking at where he knew he had been, the kick designed to deliver maximum impact to sensitive areas.  He landed roughly in an empty space instead.  Robin turned around just in time for Batman to punch him with enough force to knock him back a considerable distance.  

Chimera took advantage of the distraction to attack from behind.  She almost made contact with the still distracted mentor when she was roughly yanked to the side.  She landed on the concrete with a grunt.  She looked down to see Wonder Woman’s lasso around her chest, pinning her arms to her side. Her eyes trailed the lasso back to Wonder Woman’s hands.  An unnatural predatory glint was in Wonder Woman’s eyes.  “Now, tell me,” she implored in an eerily cheery voice.  “Who. Are. You?”  She pulled the lasso tighter, drawing Chimera closer.  “The Lasso of Hestia compels you.”

Chimera’s breath hitched as she took in the lasso. Wonder Woman’s eyes narrowed in glee. She would not be able to resist the Lasso of Truth.  Any second now Klarion would know who Chimera really was, and more importantly, what she was. And once he knew that, he would know how to defeat her.  Their next encounter would go very differently with that information.

Chimera looked over her shoulder to gauge the fight between Batman and Robin.  When she looked back toward Wonder Woman, it was more a look of amusement than fear. Whoever was controlling them was clumsy. A novice at UMS could do better than this amateur.  Their strikes were wild and indelicate.  Not taking full advantage of the fighter they chose.  She raised an eyebrow at Wonder Woman.  “A weapon of subjection and dispelling illusions?  Really?  You think this has power over me?”  She pulled on the lasso, easily pulling the normally well prepared Wonder Woman off balance, causing her to stumble toward Chimera as the lasso fell uselessly at her feet.  Wonder Woman kicked off Chimera, using the momentum she gained to flip away from her, putting necessary distance between them.  

But, the movement caused her to lose sight of Chimera for a few seconds.  A few precious seconds that were all an expert UMS player, like Chimera needed.  She spun her top out, just barely grazing Wonder Woman’s exposed upper arm.  But, a touch was all she needed.  Wonder Woman froze in the last moments of the flip.  Unable to adjust to land, she crashed inelegantly onto the concrete in a way that Chimera was sure was going to bruise in the morning.  Chimera slowly walked up to her, confident the person controlling her was still listening.  She knelt down next to Wonder Woman’s ear and whispered, “You want to know who I am?”  She pulled Wonder Woman’s face toward her so whoever was controlling her could see Chimera.  “I’m a goddamned goddess.”

She dropped Wonder Woman’s face so she could no longer see Chimera and winced.  It was kind of true in the cock your head to the side and squint kind of way.  Like a 3-D picture, you had to look really hard and focus on what was behind what was presented.  Okay, it wasn’t true, but there was a goddess involved somewhere and whoever was controlling the Justice League was listening.  It would be nothing but beneficial for their enemies to have the wrong idea about her.  It meant they not only didn’t know about the miraculous, but they would focus on the entirely wrong weaknesses, making them less able to figure out how to fight her.

Chimera gently laid the inoculation patch on Wonder Woman, watching it as it merged into her body.  Chimera let out a small breath, laying her hand on Wonder Woman and wishing a silent apology for the pain she would feel in the morning.  She looked over her shoulder, Robin was still holding his own against Batman.  He still had some tricks he could pull out.  She however was on a timer.  Trixx would time out any second now.  She looked toward where Rocket had been thrown earlier to see if she was moving yet. She could see some movement, but not much.

Chimera rushed over to her to see if anything was seriously wrong.  “I think my head’s going to be ringing for a few hours, but I’ll be okay.  I can still create bubbles.  Just point me where to go,” Rocket stated confidently, but the urge to hold her head in her hands was evident.

Chimera gave her an understanding smile.  “No.  You’ve already taken out quite a few members.  Go hide somewhere until you feel better.  We have almost everyone by now, just a few more.  It wouldn’t help anyone if they caught you in this state. Once you feel up to it, check with Aqualad to see where he wants you,” Chimera ordered her.  Rocket nodded and shuffled to another room to recover.  

Chimera let out a breath and found an alcove and hid herself… again.  She huffed at the thought and vowed to make the transition as quick as possible. “Trixx, Pollen, separate,” she whispered, causing Trixx to come spiraling out of her necklace.  She tossed a cookie to Trixx.  “Eat quickly.  Robin needs us.  And I have no idea where Superboy is.”  She tried to glance back nervously.

“Done, Guardian,” Trixx chirped after only a few seconds.

Chimera gave her a relieved smile.  “I think you’re getting faster.  Thank you so much, Trixx.  Trixx, Pollen, unite.”  Before the wave of light had completely engulfed her, she was already pulling Longg’s choker out of the flute.  “Pollen, Trixx, separate.  Great job, Pollen.  I will feed you as soon as this is all over,” she promised, moving to tuck the comb into the flute.  Pollen nodded in understanding and disappeared into the comb.  Longg spun out of the choker to face her the moment it was secure around her neck.  “Good evening, Guardian.”  Longg bowed to her.  

“Good evening, Longg.  I hope you’re ready to fight.  Longg, Trixx, unite.”  She was blowing her melody in the flute before the light was done. “Mirage.”  She was running the instant the word left her lips, her costume changing as soon as she finished the word.

She narrowed her eyes at the still ongoing fight between Robin and Batman.  She corrected her course toward their fight but skidded to a stop just in time to see Superboy burst through the ceiling and the floor right in front of her. “Superboy!”  She tensed to jump down to check on him, but got hit by Superman and knocked through the wall into the main meeting room before she could.  She shook her head to clear away the fog and moved quickly back to the fight, still a bit hazy from the hit.  

She got to the hole she had created in the wall just in time to see Batman kick Robin through the hole in the floor Superboy had created.  She quirked her lips to the side as the unbidden thought that they were going to be doing a lot of reconstruction when this is all done occurred to her.  Seriously, she and Superboy alone had been thrown through at least four objects, leaving gaping holes.

She jumped when Wolf hit the wall next to her with a loud thump.  She whipped her head around to see Martian Manhunter stalking toward them.  She will deny to her death that she yelped when Sphere came out of nowhere to knock him out of the way.  She shook her head again to focus on Batman and Superman.  She crawled through the hole in the wall and ran to the floor hole.  

She peeked over the edge in time to catch Superboy swing Robin in a circle before launching him into Batman.  Robin deftly placed the patch on Batman as they fell, rendering him unconscious before he hit the ground.  Chimera took the distraction as an opportunity to drop down through the hole, landing behind Superman, who was charging at Superboy.  

He heard her land and twisted mid-charge to swing at her instead.  She jumped back at the unexpected move, just barely missing the hit.  She dropped to miss his next kick and kicked her leg out instead to sweep his legs out from under him, but he floated up just enough to miss her leg, without having to resettle himself as he would if he had jumped. Instead, he could leverage his new height into a dangerous body slam.  “Cheater,” she grumbled, flipping out of the way before he landed with enough force to create a crater right where she had been a second before.  

Whoever was controlling them was clearly more familiar with Superman’s strengths than he had been with the others’ she’d come across already.  She flipped out of the way his punch, but it passed by closely enough that the low pressure created interfered with her trajectory just slightly, throwing her a bit off balance, just enough for him to grab her arm and throw her into Robin. They landed in a heap of tangled arms and legs and bruises.

Superboy punched Superman from the side, knocking him over a few feet.  Superman returned the punch, but Superboy blocked it.  He kicked Superman in the stomach, causing him to double over, but not as much as Superboy had been hoping.  Superman used the change to add power to his uppercut that connected with Superboy’s jaw with a sickening smack.  Superman kicked him, launching him into a wall.  The wall folded under the pressure, a spider web of cracks emanating from his point of contact.  Superboy fell, landing on his hands and knees, muscles shaking with the strain to get up again.  

Chimera kicked Superman’s knee from behind, forcing him to fall back slightly.  She was at his side in an instant with a well-placed punch, knocking him to the side. She rose up her leg to kick him back, but he grabbed her leg.  She tried to kick him with her other leg but he floated up into the air with her.  He spun around a few times and let go of her, launching her through a buttress and out of Superboy’s sight.

“Chimera!” Superboy screamed, searching for any indication of her status.  Not seeing any, he switched his focus back to Superman, who was still watching her to see what she would do.  Superboy’s face was contorted in a dangerous grimace, eyes narrowed and glaring at Superman. He kicked Superman in the back, sending him sprawling forward just enough to almost put him off balance.  He whirled on Superboy, using the momentum to increase the impact of his punch.  Superboy deflected the punch only allowing it to graze him.  Superboy delivered an uppercut of his own, knocking Superman back a few feet.  Superman stopped his backward momentum and flew forward with both fists in front of him, sending Superboy flying into the wall.

Robin tried to sneak up on Superman but he sent his fist out behind him, swinging his body after it, to backhand him.  Robin flipped back in a series of perfectly executed back handsprings.  Missing the entire volley of punches Superman sent his way.  The distraction gave Superboy the opportunity to grab Superman from behind and latch onto him, pinning down his arms.

“Sure about this?” Robin double checked, pulling a box out of his belt.  Conner had agreed to it when he’d gotten it out of the Batcave, but now it was actually happening.  Now he would have to actually feel the pain of it.  Now it was real.

“Do it!” Superboy yelled in confirmation, bracing himself for the pain.  His face was set in a determined frown.  He needed to check on Chimera and this was taking too long.

Robin nodded and opened the box, slowly advancing on the two supers as the tell-tale green glow of kryptonite emitted from the box. Superman and Superboy both groaned in pain and slowly started curling in on themselves.  Robin had almost reached them when he was knocked into the wall by Martian Manhunter.  He reached down and placed the shard of kryptonite back in the box, easing the drain on the two supers before turning back to Robin.  He moved quickly to attack, but Robin had jumped away before he could reach him.

Superman recovered quicker than Superboy.  He grabbed onto Superboy’s arms, which were still wrapped around his chest, securing them and Superboy, into place. He launched himself, or more precisely Superboy, into the wall behind them over and over again until Superboy was barely standing.  Superman turned and kicked Superboy in his sternum with enough force to knock out the already weakened super.

“Superboy!”  Chimera screamed.  She watched him, waiting for him to show any indication of movement.  Seeing none, she turned her focus to Superman, glaring at him with an intensity that would have put Batman to shame.  Superboy just couldn’t get a break from Superman.  It didn’t matter if he was being controlled or fully in control of himself.  No matter the situation, Superman kept making Superboy suffer, and for what?

She stood slowly, her entire body tensed like she was bracing for an impact, her arms hanging by her sides, but ready to spring at a moment’s notice.  She started walking slowly toward him.  She looked down so Superman couldn’t read her lips and silently mouthed “lightning dragon”. She slowly twisted her wrists as lightning crawled over her hands.  Her fingers crackled with the electricity surging over them.  Yellow sparks flared dangerously from her fingers, in short, controlled bursts.  “How bad can I make him hurt?” she asked sharply.

Robin’s eyes widened in surprise, almost not jumping out of the way to miss Martian Manhunter’s grab for him.  He’d never heard Chimera speak with such coldness.  Even when facing enemies, she was rational and never used excessive force.  The look in her eyes showed she was holding back now, the desire to hurt him warring with her natural inclination to protect.  “He’s still our friend,” he cautioned her between jumps and kicks. “He’s being controlled.”

“Right.  Just don’t kill him,” she nodded curtly.  She brought her hands in front of her, wrapping them around each other, forming a large ball of yellow lightning coursing through it.  Veins of electricity traced the invisible barrier she’d created and reinforced with her movements.  She controlled the power’s path.  She set the route and the destination.

Superman’s eyes narrowed and his body tensed to rush her. She gave him a second to demonstrate his super speed, allowing him to get closer to her before she struck, flicking her hands forward to direct the lightning at him.  He froze in pain.  He tried to move through the force of the lightning, but couldn’t get his body to function properly.  Electricity trailed over his body, around his legs and arms, over his chest, holding him in place, interfering with the internal electrical impulses controlling the muscles, pushing them to contract.  He screamed out in frustration and pain, trying to push through the restraints, but barely able to keep all his muscles from contracting and forcing him to curl into a ball.

Chimera’s face contorted in concentration and strain. She had not used Lightning Dragon before and utilizing it at full strength while maintaining an illusion of her regular costume, was quickly draining her energy.  She focused her full attention to Superman, trying to increase the strength until he passed out.  Her focus was distracted when Robin grunted loudly.  Chimera spared a quick glance to Robin.  

Her lightning almost faltered when she saw Martian Manhunter holding Robin strong enough to break bones.  She looked back to Superman, trying to run through her options. She couldn’t drop lightning.  Once she dropped it, Superman would start moving. She faltered for a second before deciding on her only option.  She moved her right hand toward Martian Manhunter, splitting the impact of her lightning.  

Martian Manhunter immediately dropped Robin in surprise and pain.  Robin fell into a crouch, quickly moving away from Martian Manhunter while he regained his breath.  He watched the scene before him.  Chimera was holding the two heroes at bay, but just barely.  Sweat had started dripping down her forehead from the exertion. With the force of her lightening split, Superman had started making progress toward her, though it slowed as he got closer and the strength of the lightning increased.  But, even slowed, it was still there.  He needed to act quickly to get to Superman before he got to Chimera.  Martian Manhunter was closer, so he would have to be first.

“Hurry up, bird boy,” she grunted.  “I’m starting to feel like the Emperor.”

“Drop Manhunter’s!” Robin called out as soon as he had positioned himself behind him.

Chimera moved her hand so they were both directed toward Superman, halting his progress only a few feet away.  Robin quickly placed himself behind Superman as well. “Cut it!”  He yelled out.  

Chimera turned her hands up with a sharp flick, cutting the lightning’s path.  She gasped for air, her chest finally feeling like it could fully inflate, as Superman collapsed on his hands and knees.  Before she could take a full breath, she was already on the move to check on Conner, trusting that Robin had placed the patch on Superman’s neck the moment the lightning cut.

“Conner!” she called to him, gently repositioning him to lay down on his back and lifting his head into her lap.  She gave him a quick check over to see if she could see any grievous injuries.  There was nothing that stuck out, but he would likely have bruises and maybe a concussion.  He may be invulnerable, but she wasn’t at all sure if that still that still held true against another Kryptonian.  They could kill one another after all, that had to mean it didn’t, right?

Robin crouched next to her.  “How’s he doing?”

“I’m not sure yet.  X-ray vision is his thing, not mine,” she motioned toward Superman. “But he’s breathing, so there’s that. Go, help the others get Savage. I’ll stay here with Superboy.  I’m going to need to recharge anyway.  Let me know if you guys need help.”

Robin nodded in agreement.  He laid his hand on her shoulder, gently squeezing it to give her silent comfort before running toward the Observation deck, where he was sure the rest of the team was heading as well.  

Chimera brushed Superboy’s hair away from his forehead. She quietly cooed at him, trying to urge him to wake up.  “It’s okay, Conner.  You’ll be okay.  We’re not done yet,” she reassured more for herself than for him.  She anxiously ran her hands through his hair, in what she hoped was a comforting ministration.  “I just need you to come back now.  Come back… to me… please.”

She took a deep breath and looked around her to make sure nobody was looking before pulling out a few treats from her flute. “Trixx, Longg separate.”  Trixx twirled out of her necklace with a tired smile.

“Guardian,” he nodded at her.

Chimera smiled back at him and tossed him a cookie. “Thank you, Trixx.  Eat up.  We might have more fighting before we rest.”  Trixx nodded and started eating the cookie.  “You did really well again, Trixx.”

Trixx smiled at her and twirled in the air. “It’s al…”

“Was that a light?” Conner muttered, scrunching his face and clamping his eyes shut to block out the light.

“Conner!” Chimera immediately brightened.  “How are you feeling?  Are you okay?”

“I feel like a human hit by a truck,” he groaned. “Repeatedly.”

Chimera chuckled.  “That’s probably about accurate.  Hopefully fewer broken bones though.”

“How are you?”  He tried to open his eyes but the brightness hurt.  Instead he slowly sat up and hunched over, trying to put as little strain on his aching muscles as possible.

“I’m fine,” she assured him.  “That spin move definitely looked a lot more fun when you did it to Robin than when Superman did it to me, but he didn’t hit me nearly as hard as he hit you, or as much.”

He hummed noncommittally.  He didn’t believe her, but he was in no position to argue currently.  He needed to focus on opening his eyes.  “Is it over?” he asked, rubbing his eyes with the heels of his hands.  He slowly opened his eyes just a bit, blinking repeatedly to try to make them accustomed them to the light.

“I think so.  I haven’t heard anything over the coms yet.  The League have all been immunized.  The Team is just making sure Vandal is gone.”  Trixx floated in front of her with an urgent look, glancing back and forth between Superboy and Chimera.  Chimera’s eyes widened in realization.  She looked down at her suit, her distinctly not normal suit. Once Superboy turned her way, he would see her in a very different suit from normal.  He would know that her powers made her appear differently.  

She looked down at Superboy again and let out a long breath.  Would that be so bad?  Would it be so bad for Conner to know that her suit looked different depending on what power she was using?  She wasn’t going to tell him everything, just… more.  And this was Conner.  She trusted him with her life, and more importantly, she trusted him with her loved ones’ lives.  She trusted him and he deserved to know that, in a way that he would understand.  And there were just so many lies, she really needed there to be fewer.  She needed someone to know more, someone who could understand her.  

She motioned to the kwami to hide and looked back at Superboy.  “Hey, Conner?”

“Yes?” He kept his eyes closed, but inclined his face toward her to show her he was listening.

“Want to see something nobody else has ever seen?” There was a distinctive edge of vulnerability in her voice.

He scrunched up his face in confusion.  What could there possibly be on the Watchtower that nobody had seen.  “Okay?”

“Open your eyes,” she softly instructed.

He slowly opened his eyes and looked at her.  His brows furrowed for a few seconds in confusion, letting his vision adjust before realization set in.  His eyes widened and he snapped up into a sitting position, swaying slightly from the change in blood pressure.  She reached out to steady him, watching him carefully to read his reaction.  He was staring at her in awe, mouth slightly agape.  

When he didn’t react for more than a few seconds, she looked to the side, nervous under his scrutiny.  “It isn’t… I can’t drop…”  She took a deep breath and looked back at him with a nervous smile.  “You know I said I draw on different powers?” He nodded mutely, too shocked by the change to be able to formulate words.  “I draw on two main ones, but occasionally add a new one if I need it. Each new power changes my appearance to enable the power.  I use mirage to hide it so nobody knows.  But I’m not doing that now.”

His eyes raked over the new costume and hair. He reached out to touch her face dumbfounded.  His fingers traced her mask.  The new shape felt odd, but didn’t seem out of place.  Her hair was still pulled back, but in an elaborate French braid, that trailed down her back and flared out like a tail.  The red and black of her current suit seemed to fit her much better than the brown and orange or her regular suit.  

But the thing that absolutely captivated him was her eyes.  They were blindingly, brilliantly, beautiful and visible.  For the first time since he’d met her, he could see her eyes. “Your eyes are blue,” he breathed out. She smiled gently at him and nodded. He stared at her entranced trying to memorize every aspect of her like it might be the last time he would ever see it, which if what she said was true, it very well could be.  “Why?”

“Why what?” she cocked her head to the side. “Why are they blue?”

“Why are you showing me?  I thought… I thought you couldn’t,” he answered breathily, still staring in her eyes, trying to memorize the exact color, a deeper shade of blue than his own yet still bright.  

“I’m not supposed to.  It’s still not me, not me me.  It’s another suit,” she babbled.  Superboy nodded distractedly, only partially taking in everything she was saying.  His eyes kept jumping from one detail to another, subconsciously comparing what she looked like now to what she looked like normally, searching for commonalities and differences to come up with a more complete picture of what she looked like.  

“Nobody has ever seen me in just this suit,” she continued.  “You’re the only one.  I wanted you to see… well, I want you to see more, but…” she furrowed her brow in consideration, trying to force out the words she wanted to say while at the same time trying to keep the tears in.  “There’s too many secrets.  I hate it. I can’t… How close can I get to anyone when it’s all lies?” she stuttered out, trying to organize her thoughts, but there were too many coming too quickly for her to divulge them in an orderly manner.  “How can you build trust when everything is built on lies?  How can I expect you guys to trust me when you don’t know me?”

Superboy shook his head adamantly.  His eyes became hard.  “You’re being stupid again,” he growled.

She looked up at him shocked and furrowed her brow. “You know calling someone stupid, isn’t as comforting as you seem to think it is.”

“Then stop being stupid.” He flicked her forehead. She pouted at him and rubbed her forehead.  “You don’t get to blame yourself because I screwed up.”  She opened her mouth to object but he cut her off before she could say some ridiculous, insane reason it was her fault.  “And what lies?  What you look like?  You’ve never lied about it.  We know that isn’t what you look like.  I know this isn’t what you look like.”

She opened her mouth again, but he cut her off again, more aggressively this time.  “No!  That was Savage’s mistake,” he argued, brows furrowed in frustration.  “He underestimated us.  We may not know the details, but we know what we need to know. I know you.  And you do know me.  You knew what drove me to use the shields.  I didn’t have to tell you.  You never suspected me of making a deal to get them.  You never doubted me.  Because you do know me.  

“And I know you.”  At some point during his speech he had started yelling, but he couldn’t stop now.  It was too important that she understood this.  “I don’t know who your parents are, but I know they love you and you love them.  I don’t know your friends’ names, but I know you think of them like family and would give everything you have for them, for us, without hesitation.  I don’t know what you want to do for a career, but I know you’re creative and have a drive and determination that whatever it is you want to do, you’ll succeed. And I know that you’ll drive yourself into the ground doing it unless you have someone there forcing you to sleep and take care of yourself.”  He gave her an annoyed look.

“I don’t know how powerful you are or will be, but I know you’re scared because you want to protect people from getting hurt, not cause it.  And I don’t know the names of all the people who broke your heart, but I know you use it to guide you in everything you do.”  He took a deep, calming breath and looked at her tenderly.  “I don’t know everything, but I trust you.”

She stared at him, frozen as she tried to process his words.  He started to question if he had broken her somehow when she launched herself at him, wrapping her arms around him in a tight hug.  The hug both calmed her and set her skin on fire.  She buried her face in his shoulder to hide her blush and so she didn’t have to look in his eyes, because if she looked in his eyes, all of her resolve would fade and she would do something dangerous, for her and Conner and everyone else.

They broke apart before at the sound of Robin’s voice over the coms.  “Savage is gone.  How is Superboy?”

Chimera took a deep breath and pulled away, keeping her eyes on the ground.  “He’s awake. I’ll send him over while I recharge.” Superboy frowned at her, but nodded in understanding.  He didn’t want to leave.  It felt like they were close to something, but he wouldn’t force her into anything.

“Come on, our other teammates are waiting on you.”  She gave him a strained smile, swallowing down the bile that pushed up her throat.  The word was bitter on her tongue and she hated it.  She reached out her hand to help him stand up, keeping a close eye on him to make sure he was stable enough to stand on his own.  While he kept his eyes on her to make sure she was okay as well.

She nearly jumped when the New Year was announced over the internal system.  “Happy New Year, Justice League.”  

She let out a breath and chuckle.  She looked up at Superboy, feeling vulnerable under his soft gaze.  She smiled ruefully and leaned up to kiss his cheek.  “Happy New Year, Conner.”  She patted his chest and walked away to a more private area to recharge and catch her breath.

Recharged, refocused, and back in her normal suit, she joined Superboy on the observation deck, standing on the other side of Wolf from him, letting Wolf act as an emotional barrier for her.  She crouched down to pet Wolf and quickly check him over for injuries.  She cooed at him a few times and fell over laughing when Wolf accidentally knocked her over in his excitement.

Superboy smiled at her as he watched her play with Wolf. Laughing, he helped her up after Wolf knocked her down.  His arm twitched to be slung over her shoulders, but she seemed like she needed space and as much as it killed him not to touch her right now, he would never not give her the space she needed.  She suddenly straightened up.  “Oh my God! How much did I miss?”

Superboy looked down at her, a confused furrow in his brow.  “What do you mean?”

“Look at Robin and Zatanna.  The way they’re standing.  Their body language is completely different now.  There’s no way they didn’t kiss at midnight.  Look at those goofy smiles and blushes.  And look at Kid Flash with his arms around Artemis. They must have gotten together too!”

Chimera was jumping with excitement and tugging on his arm.  Superboy grinned at her enthusiasm and closeness.  He looked back to the group.  “Aqualad is looking a bit flustered too.”

Chimera cocked her head to the side to examine him, her eyes widening.  “Oh my god, you’re right.  Do you think Rocket kissed him, too?”  She grinned at the couples, but suddenly wrinkled her nose in disgust.  “They’re all going to be making out all over the Cave now, aren’t they?”  She looked back at Superboy.  “I’m happy for them and all, but I have no interest in seeing them making out.” Especially when she wasn’t able to herself.

Superboy laughed for a moment before he stilled, the idea hitting him too.  He scrunched up his face.  “Me either,” he agreed.  He wouldn’t want to see that in the first place, but seeing them do it and knowing he couldn’t do the same with Chimera was going to suck.  “We could always start carrying water guns around for whenever we see them making out,” he offered with a smirk.

Chimera’s eyes went wide, a mischievous smile spreading on her lips.  “Next time I go to the store I’ll get a few super soakers and a ton of water balloons.” They started giggling at the idea until they felt a presence behind them.

They turned around slowly, eyes widening at the sight of Superman, standing stiffly behind them.  “Hello Mr… Man,” Chimera scrunched up her nose.  “You know, you supers really have a problem with your names. You make it hard to mock you based on your name.  It’s rather annoying.”

Superman chuckled awkwardly.  “Sorry about that… I guess.  I’ll try to work on it.”

“Wouldn’t be my priority of things to work on, but you do you, I guess,” she muttered wryly, knowing full well both of them could hear her.  Superboy smirked, but hid it with a downturned face.  Chimera looked back and forth between Superman and Superboy, almost laughing at the awkwardness.  They both looked extremely apprehensive and nervous, looking anywhere but each other’s eyes.  She was starting to wonder if the inability to process emotions was genetic.  

She studied Superman closely as she waited for him to say why he had approached them.  He kept tensing his jaw like he was getting ready to say something before sending her a furtive glance and looking away.  “Riiiiight,” she drawled, rocking back and forth from her toes to her heels. “Oh look!  It’s Red Arrow… all alone… I should go check on him.  Let me know if you want me.”  She gave Superboy a supportive pat on the back and walked over toward Red Arrow.

She felt slightly guilty about abandoning Superboy to speak with Superman, but it looked like Superman really wanted to talk with him and wouldn’t with her around.  He looked contrite, which was a really good sign for them starting to move toward a relationship, and that was something that Conner desperately needed. She grimaced slightly at the thought that it might be all in her head, just wishful thinking that Superman had finally realized how much he was hurting Conner and that he was blaming Conner for being created.  If that was the case and he wasn’t going to try to make amends, she would personally recreate their earlier interaction… for scientific purposes, of course.

She glanced over her shoulder to check on their progress.  Her steps faltered as she saw Superboy reel back in mortification.  Superman reached out and laid a hand on his shoulder with an awkward smile, calming Superboy immediately.  They spoke a bit more then both looked her direction.  Superman’s expression was indecipherable. Bemusement, maybe?  But Superboy was giving her a proud smile.  She squeaked and turned back to Red Arrow, focusing on the task at hand.

She smiled slightly as she sat next to him on the steps.  “Hey. Good job earlier.  You were really brave going in like that, serving yourselves up like that for Savage.”

He shrugged and looked up with a wry smile. “It’s what I was programmed to do.”

“No, you were programmed to betray us,” she corrected him.  “You chose to help us.  You chose to protect the innocents from Savage and whoever he was working with.  You chose to risk your life.  That was all you,” she insisted firmly.  She watched him for a few moments.  Her determined set lips turned sympathetic.  “How are you feeling now that all the adrenaline is wearing off?”

He huffed out a bitter laugh.  “I have no idea.  I don’t know what is me and what is programming.”

Chimera nodded looking away, staring at the great abyss of space beyond the barriers of the Watchtower.  Her brow slowly furrowed in deep thought until the lines seemed etched deep enough they would never leave.  “I mean… we’re all programmed in a way.  Most of us not so literally, or so malevolently” she granted.  “But memories we wish we didn’t have.  Events we wish we could forget.  Involuntary reactions we wish we could control.”  She looked down at her hands, glancing over to him furtively every so often.  “I break out into sweats and start hyperventilating when I see either a butt… certain insects.  I can no longer function correctly.  It’s in my head now and I can’t get it out no matter how hard I try or how logical I am about it.  I can’t control the reaction.  It’s just there and I can’t make it go away.  I can never see them the same anymore.  Which is terrible because I used to love them.  They used to make me feel calm one kind of insect used to make me feel powerful.”

He stared at her for a few moments.  “What happened?”

She shifted her gaze to the floor for a few moments considering her answer before waving her hands like she was waving away his concern. She looked back at him with a supportive smile.  “It doesn’t matter.  My point is we all have things in our heads we can’t control and can’t get out no matter how hard we try.  Things that were put there against our will.  But… that’s what makes us who we are.  It’s all a part of us.  We wouldn’t be ourselves if we didn’t have it there.”  She looked at him for a second before her face fell.  “But, I mean… that’s a stupidly simplified comparison. Sorry, I didn’t mean to be dismissive of what you’re going through.  I do realize it is much worse than that.  And if you wanted it out, I’m sure Martian Manhunter could work with you to get it out.”

Red Arrow shook his head and laid his hand on her shoulder.  “No, no. That helped.  Thanks.”

She gave him a supportive smile.  “You know, if you need a place to stay while you’re dealing with everything, you can stay with us.  Even if you’re staying somewhere else but need a break, we’re always there. Aqualad, Robin, and Kid Flash are there all the time so they’d be there to hang out with.  Or, if you need space, Superboy and I can run interference,” she rushed to assure him.  The Cave was a sanctuary for her.  She wanted him to know it could be one for him as well.

“And you?” he asked quietly.  

She quirked her head at him.  “Me?”

“Will you be there to hang out with?”

“Oh!  Yeah, well, mostly.  I mean, I have school and other obligations, but yeah.  I live there so I’ll be there.  We’ve tried to make the Cave home for all the Team members.  Even if you aren’t technically a member of the Team, you’re still our teammate and we watch out for each other.”  She offered him a bright, reassuring smile.

From across the room, Superboy let out a satisfied laugh, his concerned frown from a few moments before turning into a smirk. Roy had just been teammate zoned, and he didn’t even realize it.  He could continue to flirt with Chimera as much as he wanted, he wasn’t going to get anywhere.  He made his way over to Chimera and Red Arrow.  He took a seat next to Chimera, close enough that their hips were touching.

“Couldn’t help but overhear…” he started.

“Was that because you were eavesdropping?” Chimera asked with a pointed look.

He avoided her eyes, leaning forward to look past her toward Red Arrow.  “Super hearing, can’t control it.”  He pointed to his ear and shrugged innocently.

“Uh huh,” Chimera mumbled, rolling her eyes.

“Anyway, we have lots of rooms in the Cave.  If you want one permanently or for a short term, feel free to take one,” he offered.

Red Arrow noted how close they were sitting and nodded, looking away.  “Thanks. I don’t think I can rest yet though.”

Batman walked over to the trio, focusing on Chimera. He opened his mouth but quickly closed it, seeming to think better of whatever he was going to say before trying again.  “You did good today.”  He glanced over to Superboy.  “You both did.  You two… work well together.”  Chimera blushed and looked down, not noticing Superboy do the same and Red Arrow roll his eyes and look away.

“Red Arrow?”  Batman stepped forward to catch his attention.  “We would like to discuss today’s revelations with you.”

Chimera could see Roy tense at the invitation. He nodded to Batman.  “I understand.” He stood and started following him, but Chimera stopped him, grabbing his wrist as she stood and pulling him into a tight hug.  “Good Luck,” she whispered.  “Don’t forget if you need us, we’re here.  That goes beyond just a room.”  The corner of Roy’s lips quirked up in a reluctant smile as he hugged her back.  He nodded to Superboy and followed Batman out of the room.

Chimera sighed deeply, watching him leave with Batman. She wrapped her arms around herself feeling impotent.  “I can’t imagine how hard this has to be for him.  I really hope he asks for help if he needs it.”

Conner stood and joined her, watching her with concern rather than Red Arrow.  “He knows we’re here.  You made sure.  Now it’s up to him to decide what he wants to do.”

“I hate it,” she grumbled.  She watched the spot where he disappeared for a few more seconds. If the Team hadn’t rescued Conner when they did, that could have been him, or worse.  They could have made him into anything they wanted.  He would have had nobody there for him, no support, just people criticizing him.  Speaking of which, “Oh, hey!  How’d it go with Superman?”

He startled for a moment with the new topic.  “It went okay.  He said we did good,” he hesitated before continuing.  “His last name is Kent, too.”

Chimera reeled on him in surprise. “That must be why Martian Manhunter suggested it… He didn’t seem mad that you had the same name,” she hedged.

“He wasn’t.  He said it fit,” he assured her with an uncertain smile.

Chimera squealed in excitement.  “That’s great Conner!”  

His smile turned bright at her excitement. “Yeah, I guess it is.  He said he likes you.”

Chimera stared at him wide eyed.  “Seriously?”

Superboy nodded with a chuckle.  “He said he’s glad I have someone like you watching out for me.”

She looked away at nothing.  “Who knew Mr.… Wait… Kent?  Like Clark Kent?  He’s Clark Kent?” she whisper shouted.

“Yeah?  You know him?” He cocked his head to the side in confusion.

“I know of him.  Oh my God, if my best friend ever found out I electrocuted Clark Kent, she’d flay me.”  She looked toward where Superman had been standing and grimaced at the thought of Alya finding out.

Superboy furrowed his brow.  “Is he famous?”

“Eh,” she made a so so gesture with her hand. “He’s famous in journalism. Especially among those who report on superheroes.”  She quirked her lips to the side in thought.  “Huh, I guess that’s how he gets all those exclusives with Superman. Cheater,” she grumbled but with no real heat behind it.  She knew exactly why Alya had gotten all the exclusives she had gotten with the miraculous team so she really had no right criticizing someone else.

Superboy chuckled and looked over their teammates. He let out a long breath.  It had been an extremely long few weeks and he was ready to do something relaxing for as long as they were allowed to.  “Ready to go home?  Maybe watch a movie or just… sleep for a few days?”

Chimera slumped against his shoulder.  “That sounds amazing.  I just want to sleep until school starts in a few days.  What do you think are the odds they’ll let us?”

Superboy chuckled and shook his head, not wanting to admit the very low likelihood of it happening.  He slung his arm over Chimera’s shoulder and pulled her into his side as they walked.  “So… fall asleep watching a movie?”

She smiled up at him and hugged him around the waist as they walked.  “Definitely.”

Chapter 11

Tags:

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[ct-multifandom]

MLB ideas/hopes/predictions/prompts

Bunnix using her umbrella to fly like Mary Poppins

Ladybug coming up with an overly convoluted Rube Goldberg machine type plan with her lucky charm, but not having some of the components, so she just sends Pegasus to the store in the middle of a battle

Characters who are close slowly finding out about each other’s superhero identities in funny ways

Pigella picking up something massive and like 10x heavier than her and chucking it

I really want one of these heroes’ tools to be a comically large anime-style weapon, but alas I don’t think they’d do it

Season finale boss fight featuring all the new heroes, which is totally gonna happen at some point, but it would look really busy on screen to have them all running around at once, so I’d split them into smaller teams based on their skills to carry out specific parts of Ladybug’s Epic 36-Step Plan™️. It would make for a satisfying “oh yeah, it’s all coming together” montage and also give us some unique character interactions.

Ladybug picking unique combo teams of new heroes based on their skills to fight specific strong villains

Alya starting a school paper and getting the whole team in on it. I love the episodes where the class does one big project together, they’re so cute.

Someone/a group getting akumatized on purpose to disobey Hawkmoth and take advantage of their akuma’s power for a noble goal

Episode from the POV of a boring background character detailing how the life of the average Parisian is affected by LB and CN. Unreliable scheduling, monster traffic jams, the sheer embarrassment of getting got by an akuma...

I want an animal to get akumatized. Someone’s dog who feels lonely when their favorite human gets a new, demanding job and turns into a terrifying Cerberus beast or something.

Mayor Bourgeois allocates some taxpayer dollars into a LB bank account to support her, and she has to make the very important decision on whether to save it for a real emergency or buy 17 hamburgers.

Okay part of me doesn’t want to make kwami/future hero predictions in case I accidentally come up with something way cooler than what will really happen and then be disappointed, but the other part of me is like hee hoo predikshun. So don’t expect these to actually happen lol.

I won’t talk about Multimouse because we kinda know everything about her, but she looks cute and it’s nice to see two heroes who aren’t super skinny.

The silhouette of Minotaurox in the intro doesn’t offer a lot of insight other than his epic horns. I have no idea what his tool might be. His costume looks to be pretty simple/practical, though, which is in line with Ivan’s character. I heard a theory that his power will be increasing in size, and it makes sense looking at Stoneheart and the pattern of flipping the characters’ flaws on their head, but that sounds kind of boring to me, especially compared to all the other creative abilities.

Tigresse’s silhouette makes me think her design will be awesome. Her tail looks like it might be her tool. It kind of resembles Amethyst’s whip from SU so maybe she can use it to grab things like Ladybug does with her yo-yo. I heard a theory that her power will be invisibility which I support because it takes the flaw that turned Juleka into Reflekta (wanting to be invisible out of insecurity) and makes it powerful like the stealth of a tiger.

From the silhouette, Caprikid looks a bit like a beginner’s Trollhunters cosplay, but I’m sure he’ll be cool. I’ve seen people argue whether he’s Nate or Marc and I’m positive he’s Marc (making Nate CC) so if anyone asks for an explanation I’ll make the comprehensive post on why. He’s holding his tool, and I’ve seen debate over which direction it’s in. If he’s holding it pointed up it looks like a giant calligraphy brush, but I think he’s holding it pointed down and the “brush” is just a decoration on the end. I’ve heard a theory that it’s a shepherd’s cane which is my favorite one. Personal idea here: I’d make his power telekinesis. Pretty basic, but I can imagine it being very useful for the type of scenarios we see in the show without it being OP. I like the idea of using a cane to “shepherd” something through the air. This could reflect Reverser’s desire for control, but flip it to be more collected and useful.

I fully support Coq Courage’s ninja pants, they are simply Correct. It’d be cool if his tool was a bow and arrow, and that seems like a pretty popular theory. The shape to the left of his torso looks like it might be a quiver but it’s probably just his other arm. Thumb rings are used in archery, but what little we’ve seen of the miraculous (disguised on Marinette and Chloe) shows a different type of ring. Still tho. Also get ready for my crazy never-gonna-happen idea: the bow can turn into a hang glider. Roosters can fly, but not super well/freely, which could translate to gliding. It’d add some versatility to the way the heroes move around since a lot of the temporary ones can only run, and it would let him reach places LB might not be able to. I’ve heard a theory that his power will be supersonic voice which could contrast how Nathaniel is bad at communicating and quiet until he gets mad and blows up.

Orikko might be the kwami of illumination. Roosters are associated with the sun and Evillustrator’s power was sourced from light. At first I thought his transformation words might be “sunrise” and “sunset” but someone said the activation code could be “rise and shine” which sounds awesome.

Traquemoiselle, believe it or not, is actually in the intro, she’s just hidden at the very top and only a snippet of the head is showing. All we know is that she has round dog ears. Barrk is surprisingly one of the more fleshed-out kwamis as of now, having a few solid lines of characterization in Furious Fu. Kwamis are usually yin-yang to their holder, so Barrk fits Sabrina perfectly, being loyal yet independent while Sabrina is loyal and an absolute doormat. No clue about her tool. Her power is kinda in the name: tracking. Maybe she can track down some one specific thing of her choice, but maybe she can sniff out akumas. As seen in Dark Owl and Gang of Secrets, Hawkmoth can be creative with akuma placement, so she can probably save the team from some close calls.

I have no theories for the transformation words of the other kwamis. Ziggy or Stompp could include “horns” or “charge” and Roaar “stripes” but I can’t think of any phrase including those words that isn’t too similar to an existing one. There are some phrases based on powers, though, not the animal. Or maybe they’ll just give up and give us another iteration of “Sass, scales slither”.

I think the theme for one of these remaining new heroes might be “assertion”. A lot of them struggle with that as their civilian selves, and the animals that are left can all be associated with independence/dominance, not that the animal traits always play into what the heroes are.

Ok last one, long one: in season 3, Luka’s main traits were “cool and nice” which doesn’t make for an interesting, complex major character, and at first he seemed like the perfect love interest, but from an outside perspective the extent of his kindness is kind of disturbing. I’m hoping they can flip this around and turn it into a character flaw where he has practically no boundaries, and it turns into a problem. Maybe he could agree to run random errands for the background characters for nothing in return, and at first it’s just him being nice, but later people start seeing his help as an obligation. They get peeved when he’s unavailable one day and get akumatized into a “boss rush” of classic akumas, effectively trapping and forcing him to help them. Then Tigresse Pourpe comes and helps save the day, expanding on Juleka and Luka’s relationship. The resolution can teach kids that putting yourself first isn’t necessarily selfish, and that sitting back and letting people take advantage of your kindness isn’t heroic.

There’s probably some stuff I forgot which I can put in a different post later, but lmk if you want a separate post about any of these things in more detail! This was just me rambling out all my new hyperfixation thoughts. Also if anyone uses any of the hypotheticals/scenarios as a prompt I’d love to see it.

[peterxwade24]

Safety Found in Red Sleeves

Chapter 2

This has been a long time coming, literally I wrote this in like four sittings so I hope everyone likes it!

Jason startled awake, his eyes opened wide as he listened for the noise which had startled him awake. The repeated knocking of the door to his apartment had him slowly springing out of bed, trying his hardest to not disturb his Little Nugget. He silently padded through his apartment, glancing into the room Dickiebird and Replacement had crashed in that night to check on them, before opening the door and freezing when he had a mess of blonde hair pressed against his chest.

The girl attached to the blonde hair was sobbing, that much he knew, but without seeing her face he didn’t know who she was.

“Hey. Hey. I’m not sure why you’re crying but I can’t help you if I don’t know what’s wrong.” Jason rubbed her back and let her calm down at her own pace.

The girl pulled away enough to let Jason pull her into the apartment and close the door.

“I’m sorry to have just dropped in unexpectedly. I just,” her blue eyes filled with tears and at the moment Jason could see that she’d been one of the people who’d been backstage when Bruce had blown up at him, “he doesn’t really mean that, does he?”

“I don’t know.” Jason pulled her back against his chest and held her to let her finish crying. “Can you tell me your name? I don’t think we’ve been introduced since I returned.”

She sniffled and nodded. “Stephanie Brown, my dad’s the Cluemaster.” She looked up at Jason with tear-filled eyes and Jason knew he’d do anything to protect her.

“You’ll always be welcomed here. My little sister in all but blood is Mad Hatter’s daughter.”

Stephanie’s eyes widened and she nodded. “I never realized, I never thought he’d have kids.”

—

Jason had just gotten Stephanie settled in the last bedroom after her fit of crying and returned to the living room when a shadow darkened his living room windows. He watched the shadow open his window from outside and slide into his apartment before he strode across the living room and pulled the shadow to his chest. “You were there when Bruce made his proclamation, right?”

The shadow nodded and pulled away from his chest, just enough to allow a stray ray of light from a nearby streetlamp to stream across her face. The shadow turned out to be one of Bruce’s other kids, a girl named Cassandra Cain. Jason recognized her features from his time with the League, her mother was Lady Shiva.

“Oh Cassandra. You’ll always be welcomed here. My sister in all but blood is the daughter of one of Gotham’s rogues.” Jason smiled and brushed Cass’s hair away from her face. “Do you want to stay here tonight?”

Cass nodded and slumped against Jason’s chest.

Jason smiled and swung Cass up into his arms. “I hope you don’t mind sharing a room with Stephanie. She’s crashing here tonight too.” Jason carried Cass to the room Steph was sleeping in and smiled. 

He was happy that his siblings trusted him enough to have their backs. But could he trust them to have his in his search for Pixie?

-*-*-*

Thana stared at Kim’s red sleeves, knowing her friends would give her the time she needed.

“Thana. Fragolina?” Chloé asked her friend. “Are you okay?”

Thana looked at her friends and felt her eyes fill with tears. “My big brother’s alive and I’m not there.”

Nino, always good at keeping Thana grounded, started humming a song he’d realized helped her focused over the years. “Isn’t there a contest held by Wayne Enterprises?”

Alix nodded before looking at Thana. “Isn’t it an essay contest? Where everyone mentioned in the essay gets to go?”

Thana looked at the two and tried to figure out what they were talking about.

Adrien smiled and nodded. “I’ll write the essay. Just get me a list of everyone’s achievements. We’ll have to ask someone here in Paris to hold the horse miraculous if we go on the trip.”

Kim laughed, a deep rumbling laugh that vibrated his chest, and rested his head atop Thana’s. “Who would have thought all those years ago when Mèo con arrived in Paris we would all have become friends and found ourselves with the opportunity to go back to the city she was born in to meet her big brother?”

Thana grabbed Chloé’s hand and whispered. “What if he doesn’t want to see me?” Thana’s blue grey eyes locked with Chloé’s blue eyes and Chloé saw the fear reflected back at her. “He’s got all these new siblings, better siblings, why would he want to see me?”

Chloé’s response was cut off by the Akuma siren outside. She sighed before standing and stretching her arms above her head. The white gold metal of her Miraculous glinted in the light before Trixx landed on her shoulder. “Duty calls.”

The team rose to their feet, their Miraculi glinting in the light.

Adrien let an easy smile spread on his face before he shook out his shoulders. His Miraculous, a pair of silver clip on earrings, shined in the light. “Tikki, spots on.” Adrien was engulfed in a dark red light and when the light vanished, he was no longer Adrein. He was dressed in a black long-sleeved shirt, dark red pants, a dark red jacket covered in black spots surrounded by light yellow rings with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, a pair of black combat boots with light yellow accents, black gloves, and a dark red almost black mask with light yellow spots. He had a dark red yoyo settled on his left hip with black spots surrounded by light yellow rings.

Chloé tossed her hair over her shoulder before smiling. “Trixx, let’s pounce.” Chloé was engulfed in a yellow-orange light and when the light vanished, she was no longer Chloé. She was dressed in a pale yellow bodysuit, a dark orange-brown skort, knee high light brown platform boots, a light brown jacket left unzipped and dark brown gloves that ended in claws. She had a fluffy light brown tail that was tipped in black. She had a pair of fluffy fox ears atop her head, the ears and her hair a light brown that darkened as it moved towards the tip. She had a pale yellow mask with dark orange paw prints outlined in brown. A dark brown flute rested on the small of her back.

Nino stretched his arms over his head and smiled. His Miraculous, a bronze snake wrapped around his wrist, twinkled in the light. “Sass, scales slither.” Nino was engulfed in a dark green-blue light and when the light vanished, he was no longer Nino. He was dressed in dark green pants with a black long-sleeved shirt, black combat boots with a dark blue bandana wrapped around his right ankle, a dark teal hooded jacket without sleeves zipped closed over his chest with the hood pulled up over his head, dark blue gloves covered his hands and wrists, and a dark green mask with a blue scale pattern concealed his identity. A bronze lyre was secured on his back.

Alix bounced on her toes before cupping Wayzz in her hands. Her Miraculous, a malachite turtle bracelet, gleamed in the light. “Wayzz, shell on.” Alix was engulfed in a dark pastel green light and when the light vanished, she was no longer Alix. She was dressed in a light brown bodysuit with black spots of various sizes on the ends of the sleeves, matching light brown leggings with black spots of various sizes on the ends of the legs, a slightly darker brown skater skirt, black gloves, matching black sneakers, a light brown mask with black splotches, and an oversized stiff leather jacket with a myriad of splotches in an array of shades of brown and yellow. Her normally puffy pink hair was slicked back under a dark brown swimmer’s cap, with an expandable circle throwing disk hidden under her jacket and a pair smaller throwing disks hidden under the heels of her sneakers.

Kim twitched his nose, a habit he picked up from Stompp, before letting a grin spread across his face. His Miraculous, a red nephrite septum ring, glimmered in the light. “Stompp, olé.” He was engulfed in a dark sienna light and when the light vanished, he was no longer Kim. He was dressed in dark jungle green cargo pants, a dark blue-green sleeveless shirt with light seaweed blue details, a dark sienna long-sleeved high neck shirt under the sleeveless shirt, a light seaweed blue sleeveless jacket, black combat boots with dark blue-green accents, black biker gloves, and a dark jungle green mask with dark sienna accents. He had a thin dark blue-green ox tail which whipped violently behind him, dark blue-green ox ears and light seaweed blue ox horns which curled up over his head. He had a black extendable bo staff strapped to his back.

Thana let out a sigh before letting a tiny smile grace her face. Her Miraculous, a gun-metal gray ring, shined with a hazy gray shine in the overhead light. “Plagg, claws out.” She was engulfed in a dark hazy gray light and when the light vanished, she was no longer Thana or Marinette. She was dressed in a smoky black spandex suit which was so high necked that it covered the lower half of her face and covered her hands with tiny, but sharp, claws. Over her suit was a deep black jacket with dark purple lining and baggy dark gray pants with dark purple detailing. She wore what appeared to be oversized olivine sneakers (but were actually Heelys) with dark purple cat paw detailing on the soles of her sneakers (and matching cat paw detailing on the palms of her hands). Her mask was a black domino mask just like her brother’s had been, except instead of white eye lenses her’s were the same blue her brother’s eyes had been. She had a deep black hood (not unlike the hood her brother’s mentor wears) topped with deep black cat ears, a fluffy deep black cat tail which waved lazily behind her. She had a black and olivine staff secured at the small of her back.

The six teen heroes exchanged grins before they dove out the closest window.

—

Madame Bustier stood in the front of the room with a smile on her face. “Okay kiddos. Listen up.” She waited for everyone to turn their attention to her before her smile grew even bigger. “Thanks to one of your classmates, who wishes to remain nameless, we’ve won a trip. The trip is being funded by Wayne Enterprises, although that doesn’t include souvenirs, and everyone will need to have a permission slip signed by their parents because the trip is taking us to Gotham.”

Thana shot Madame Bustier a look before raising her hand. “Technically my father is in Gotham, do I need his permission?”

Madame Bustier glanced at Thana before sighing. “Ms. Dupain-Cheng. I do not approve of this newfound snark.” She shook her head before turning back to the class at large. “Everyone take one and pass them back until everyone has one.”

—

Kim sat on the settee in Thana’s Parisian room, the smaller girl held against his chest. Nino was playing music in the background while Adrien and Alix were playing Ultra Mecha Strike 3 and Chloé was going through Thana’s closet trying to find clothes for them to wear while in Gotham.

“What is the fashion like in Gotham?” Chloé glanced over her shoulder at Thana. “Colour-wise and actual fashion wise.”

“Darker than here. Unless you’re one of the rogues.” Thana sat up and scrambled for her laptop before returning to Kim’s lap on the settee. She quickly unlocked her laptop and went to Skype. She waited all of a few minutes before the familiar noise of a Skype call filled the room. The four other teens crowded around the settee and waited to see who was on the other end of the line. Thana’s face brightened and she couldn’t seem to contain her excitement.

A tall man with short red hair and green eyes sat beside a tall man with long brown hair and hazel eyes. The tall man with short red hair and green eyes smiled, the smile bringing light to his green eyes. “Hello little Hood.”

“Mini Todd.” The tall man with long brown hair and hazel eyes smiled, allowing his hazel eyes to twinkle behind his thin wire frame glasses.

“Uncle Ed. Uncle John.” Thana’s face brightened further when she smiled at the two men. “These are my friends. Kim, Nino, Alix, Adrien and Chloé. Friends, these are my Uncles Ed and John.” The seven other people waved at one another.

“Fragolina. Why did they call you little Hood and Mini Todd?” Chloé asked with a single finger on her chin.

“Jay-Jay’s last name is Todd and I used to sign all of my assignments Thana Hood.” Thana shrugged before leaning back against Kim’s chest.

“Did you hear, Mini Todd?” John asked, a smile on his face.

“Big Todd is back on the streets.” Ed continued.

“I’ll be back on the streets soon enough.”

Taglist

@southamericangothamite @maribat-is-lifeblood @mystery-5-5 @our-preciousss @mochegato @chocolatecatstheron @throneoffirebreathingbitchqueen @2confused-2doanything @wannajointhecrabcult @dreamykitty25 @tomanyfandomsonmymind @moonlightstar64 @justafanwarrior @mialuvscats @pheony1882 @pepelachanel @moongoddesskiana @abrx2002 @ladybug-182  

Do you want to see shorts for this fic? If so, would you want to see Big Todd and Mini Todd’s adventures on the streets? Would you want to see how Ed Nygma and Johnathan Crane became Uncles Ed and John? Are there any characters from the DC Universe that you want to see interact with Thana and Co.?

[afoxysunny]

Robbie as Bullock

This post will probably differ from the others in structure and be a lot longer for one big reason

When choosing Miraculous for the Lazytown characters i really wanted to only use ones that we've already seen in use in Miraculous Ladybug and know how they work from there.

For Robbie i broke that rule. I don't really remember what first made me consider it but it probably had to do with the fact that i think the Ox Miraculous, just aesthetically, would fit Robbie perfectly!

So for this one i had to start from scratch completely, no reference for a canon hero design, no idea what power or weapon he'd get, no clue what the phrase to transform could be.

Of cause i used the most references for him but here are the ten i found most important

Obviously i don't expect any of my speculations to become even remotely canon once we find out what Stompp, the Ox Miraculous, actually does but i hope it at least makes sense for now.

I like how I've drawn all the others standing head on to face the camera and Robbie just leans there. That's because you have to think he doesn't care, the little Tsundere

Concept Overview:

In the Miraculous Ladybug episode we meet all the Kwamis, including Stompp, he is the most actively concerned about Nooroo so now that the Butterfly Kwami is back I'm sure Stompp would want to stay around him. With Sportacus partnering with Nooroo, teaming up Robbie and Stompp made the most sense to them.

Design Notes Incoherent Thoughts I had to justify what I'm Drawing:

Purple and Blue - it amused me no end that with the choices i made blue Sportacus got a purple Kwami and purple Robbie got a blue kwami. I did kinda dislike at first how little blue the costume has in comparison to purple but i decided i don't have to make a decision because apparently the canon show can't make up its mind about Stompp's colour either. The blue and purple can always be swapped if i decide i don't like it

Harness - Ox' are hard working animals, mostly used to pull heavy objects. For that purpose they get strapped into a harness. Obviously i had to include that in this design, the chain hanging from the collar around his neck has a similar purpose (it only occured to me way too late how kinky it looks please ignore that)

Cape? No cape? - because of the imbalance in colours i briefly considered giving him a cape like a Matador would have but only for a second or so. I wanted to keep Robbie's iconic body shape untouched by a bunky cape, also the few times he wore a cape in the show he really struggled with it and also i think it would've clashed with the tail

Tail - speaking of which, an ox' tail has that frizzy end to it but i really liked the chain as his tail so to emulate the thicker part at the end i hung a padlock there. And that really worked. Not only bc that's just how bulls and ox are kept in check with their strength but also because the oblong shape of a combination lock makes for a fitting shape and can be used in universe. You see, Robbie is not that good with just saying what he wants or expressing how he feels. This four letter combination lock is magic and kinda betrays and helps him at the same time. It spells out any given four letter word that fits his mood best at any given moment

Miraculous Nosering - if a Lazytown character would unironically get a nosering, it'd be Robbie. I'm sorry, i don't take criticism on that

Horns - he needed horns. He just did. Look how good he looks with horns! But for real, in Miraculous Ladybug Chat Noir gets actual cat ears so he can get actual horns, also like Chat he the white parts of his eyes turn yellow like Stompp's while keeping his signature grey iris

Hair - ox' are mostly shown with like bangs covering their eyes so i couldn't resist ruffling his usually so perfectly done hair up to make it fall a little like that

Weapon - my first thought of "Miraculous takes cliché traits for animals to base their powers on so i guess bullfighting is the way to go here" made me really sad. This "Sport" is so disgusting i wanted to cry and puke while reading about it. I'll spare you the details but in addition to the Matador in the arena there's other guys too to weaken the bull before the Matador kills it, one of them throws knives. Miraculous Ladybug likes combining weapons with toys so I'm giving him darts. They are fastened to the front of his harness and i think how they can be used is along the lines of, once he zhrows them with his super strength and they pin into something they can only be removed when he allows that, also like the ladybug's jojo they can fly how long and whatever direction he wants, and probably also is able to just manifest them back to himself if ever one gets lost

Miraculous Power - again, just pure speculation here, but the powers we so far know of are all loosely based on an exaggerated cartoon trope of each animal so for the ox that is hard working and persistent and for the bull that'd be aggression and tunnel vision. While typing this i get the urge to add blinders to his mask but i digress. So i made up an exaggerated power that'd fit both but when i told my test group (two people) one said "oh, kinda like Bloodhound from Apex Legends" and the ozher said "so like hunter's mark from DnD" i play neither so i don't know but maybe you do do that's the short version of the explanation xD his power is based on the cartoonish depiction of a bull seeing something that bothers him and then charging at it for as long as he can until he gets it. Once Robbie focuses on an enemy or someone running away or someone he is following for whatever reason he can use his power to keep track of them. No matter how far away they go or where they try to hide. It sounds OP as shit but think of the Snake and Bunny who can both time travel and then say that again. The catch is he needs to use it while that person is still in clear sight for him so i think it balances a little better

Name:

Do you know the difference between a Bull and an Ox? Well, let me mansplain it to you anyway

The reason i kept switching between drawing inspiration from bulls and ox' is because it's the same animal. Those are both names for an adult male cow. The only difference being that an ox is castrated and a bull is not. Stompp is the Ox Miraculous so tough nuts Robbie, literally. But making babies isn't really on his to do list anyway with Sportacus as his partner so who cares.

Anyway, I had the design done and like always i struggled a lot with naming it

But then i learned a Bullock is not only a cool word that seems to be a mix of bull and lock like his design is but it also is the official name of a male cow too young to be castrated yet! Isn't that just perfect? I think it is

Also I'll include in this section the phrases one needs to speak to have Stompp transform them into this Ox themed Superhero and for the power to activate. If you think of something more fitting for either please let me know!

Transformation:

simple version - horns up / horns down

More detailed - time to charge / time to loaf

(charging is when a bull starts running blindly at something; loafing is the professional farmer term for a resting cow)

Power: Target Charge, Locked On, or my personal favorite option Head-On. Again going with the more in depth terminology, that's what the running style of a bull is called when he's chatging at a target

Story:

Robbie lived in Lazytown but when the kids grew louder and older and he got more annoyed wih not having his peace and quiet he just up and left. He spent a lot of time traveling around, living wherever it was comfortable and leaving when it wasn't anymore. Thanks to being an inventor and overall talanted crafty person he got by pretty easily as there was always a company running on "hire a lazy person for an important job, they'll find the easiest solution for the most complicated problems" so he never really had to worry.

Whether by coincidence or fate Robbie and Sportacus run into each other and despite Robbie being a little difficult they both immediately feel strangely drawn to one another. With time going by they meet more often, at first more or less by chance but eventually they plan to meet up regularly. They might have very different ways of doing it but they share a common lifestyle: helping out others to live a comfortable and fulfilling life.

Only after Sportacus was chosen to be the new Guardian of the Miracle Box he finally asks Robbie to join him, full time by his side traveling in his airship around the world wherever they may be needed. Of cause only for moral support and such, obviously. You see, they always enjoyed each others company and sort of over time eased into a relationship like coexistence but neither of them ever really acknowledged that. Only when Sportacus got Nooroo's power to sense other people's feelings that barrier of miscommunication fully fell. Robbie is incredibly bad with conveying his emotions but now Sportacus can sense that he has potentially the most powerful and purest emotions he ever encountered. Not only is each feeling of his powerful but when there is more than one at play they don't mix together and muddy each other but instead boost even more. He knew before that he wanted Robbie to join him but that discovery made it a necessity.

Despite not being able to actually say so Robbie is thrilled to come along. Only over time and with a lot of painfully slow conversations they manage to agree to make their relationship official.

Stompp, the sassy Ox Kwami, regularly bursts out of the Miracle Box to want to check on Nooroo and slowly he and Robbie bond over telling Sportacus and Nooroo to go easier on themselves and let a little responsibility get taken off their shoulders so eventually they team up and Bullock is created.

Thanks to Robbie's hard work to better himself with Sportacus' help, Stompp's magic transformation provides him with a tail that conveys his feelings for him.

When they hear that Lazytown has been wiped clean of grown-ups Sportacus immediately flies them over there so Robbie can check on his hometown. Finding only a few children, now teens, left there Robbie recognizes them and the two form the plan to give them Miraculous' too so they can help to find their lost family, friends and neighbors and fight together to bring them back.

Wow that was so much to read and you did it! I'm so impressed and thankful! You deserve a pat on the back (if you want one) and a cookie and/or sportscandy on your way out

[thewritewolf]

Multiple Second Chances Chapter 22: Outfit Change

Marinette puts into place her plan to heal the kwami. Adrien finds a novel way to hide his identity during an akuma attack.

@adrinetteapril

Enjoy!

First Chapter | Previous Chapter | Next Chapter

Read on Ao3

“Are you sure about this, pigtails?”

Plagg looked at her warily, floating above his miraculous that sat in the middle of a star pattern she’d made on the ground in her room. At each point of the star, she’d placed one miraculous.

“Pretty sure, yeah!” Marinette looked over the book one last time before setting it down. “You embody destruction and you got yourself sick because you got a bunch of Tikki’s energy inside you.” She poked his gut and he groaned. “It’s sitting like a rock in there and you’re only slowly getting rid of it naturally since you and Tikki are equal in power.”

From her spot curled up in a tiny bed, Tikki let out a self satisfied noise. It was better than she’d managed for a while, so Marinette knew some slow progress was being made. But if that was all the progress the last month of rest had done… this had to work.

“Why’d sugarcube get hit harder anyway?” Plagg’s tail flicked uncertainly behind him, his ears flat against his face. Whether this was a sign of fear at the ritual or concern for his other half, Marinette wasn’t completely sure.

“Well… it’s not that she got a bigger dose, its that you handle it better since destruction and chaos are what you’re made of. So you’re sick, but you’re not bedridden.”

“...Alright, I guess that makes sense.” Plagg gestured at the other miraculous. “What about them?”

Starting at the point closest to her, Marinette moved clockwise, activating each of the miraculous in turn and calling their kwami out into the world.

“That’s the Ox miraculous, which represents earth. Rooster, metal. Pig, water. Wood, rabbit. And…” her finger lingered on the Bee miraculous. “Technically, this should be the Snake, which represents fire. That one’s being used and I can’t exactly ask Adrien for his miraculous without being Ladybug. According to the Guardian book, though, Pollen embodies energy, which should be close enough to fire to work.”

“‘Should be’?!”

“Well…” Marinette frowned. “This is the best chance we have of getting you back to Chat Noir. Unless you want to do this the long way around-”

Plagg’s eyes narrowed in determination and he crossed his arms in front of him. “Alright, alright, let’s do this. That hopeless cat is going to need me as soon as possible.”

“Okay, big guy,” Marinette smiled and scratched Plagg’s cheek affectionately. “Let’s see if this works…”

Marinette had made sure her parents were away and her door locked for good measure before she started. Once that was done, she focused her energy just like the text said and called on each of the yin kwamis names in the destruction order.

“Fluff. Stompp. Daizzi. Pollen. Orikko.”

After repeating this for a few minutes, an orb of shadow moved along the lines of the star. Once it had gained more definition, she willed it toward Plagg where it was sucked in like a black hole.

“Yummy!” Plagg rubbed his belly and licked his lips. “That was almost as good as a wedge of camembert!”

Marinette kneeled down on her knees to get closer to the hovering kwami. “How are you feeling?”

“Mmm…” Plagg stretched his appendages and took a few deep breaths. “Much better, but still kinda funky.”

“I figured,” Marinette said, nodding with her hand on her chin. “It’ll take a few times to break down Tikki’s energy inside you and get you back to full strength.” She looked over at Tikki. “Okay, before we do that, let’s get you some energy.” She gently scooped up her kwami, frowning. “Poor Tikki… I hate seeing you like this.”

“Don’t worry,” Tikki said weakly. “I know you’ll take care of that stinky cheese energy and I’ll be good as new soon enough.”

Marinette giggled and rearranged the ritual site. A star was replaced with a circle, and the miraculous were swapped out with different ones but the positions of the miraculous were the same. Once everything was in place she began speaking the names of the yang miraculous.

“Roaar. Longg. Mullo. Kaalki. Xuppu.”

Just like last time, an orb appeared. Although this one was a bright white that radiated light, one that Marinette felt a connection to. Was it because of her ties to the Ladybug miraculous? Regardless, it moved along the circle, picking up speed and intensity as it went before Marinette willed it into Tikki.

Stretching out, Tikki slowly floated up and off her bed, the first time she’d done so since getting sick. She nuzzled Marinette, who held her close to her face.

“It worked! Now we just need to-”

A notification from the Ladyblog popped up on her phone. Curiosity changed to frustration when she read the big red text - “Akuma Alert!”

She shrugged helplessly at Tikki and Plagg. “Sorry guys. We’ll have to do this again soon.” After she put away the miraculous and hid the box, she transformed and went out to fight the akuma of the day.

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

The akuma was, for some reason or another, rampaging at an Agreste set. Multimouse was keeping an eye out for Adrien to make sure he could get away and transform when she found someone else entirely.

“What are you doing here?!” She said as she carried someone in a banana suit away from some of the akuma’s mind controlled minions.

“What are you-”

The voice sealed it for her, she could recognize it anywhere. No question this was Chat Noir, in civilian form. How he got caught up in this fight, she had no idea. But clearly he thought he could help so he put on the same suit he’d worn in his fight against Feast. Heck, she could even tell it was the same suit - it was worn and faded in the same places as her chaton’s.

“I don’t have time to argue with you. Just… get out of here, okay? You can be a hero some other time.” Multimouse set the banana man down. “Get somewhere safe, and I better not catch you around here again!”

As Multimouse returned to the fight, a very confused Adrien ran into a closet. There wasn’t any time to take off the suit, but thankfully the transformation didn’t care what he was wearing and turned him into Aspik without problem.

At least, without any immediate problems.

[aufanficfanatic]

BNHA x ML Crossover Part 1

A blond man sagged against an alley wall, clutching a heavily-bleeding wound in his side as he fought to catch his breath. Several objects on his person were beeping insistently. “S-spots … off, huff.  Hah.  Claws in.”  The man sagged even further to the ground as the detransformation washed through him, expelling two little figures into the air.

“Toshinori-san!”  The red-and-black spotted creature flew to the man’s face, putting her little paws on his cheeks.  “Are you all right?”

The black one hovered by the jagged wound along his side, tail trembling slightly.  “Aw, man … that doesn’t look good.”

An explosion cracked through the air, coming from the makeshift battlefield behind them. The blond man grit his teeth, both in pain and frustration.  More ruined buildings … more lives potentially lost.

“Tikki … Plagg—t-take these,” he commanded, reaching into a pocket and pulling out two blue feathers.  “Purified Amoks.  I kept them, huff, just in case.  They should allow you t … to retain your physical forms for a time.” The feathers shone with a clear light, and disappeared into the bodies of the two Kwamis.  They gasped at the sensation, feeling their bodies solidify more firmly in the physical realm.

Then, the man grasped a ring around his finger, slipping it off easily in the blood, and put it in a little jewellery box.  To both creatures’ surprise, the black Kwami did not immediately vanish, and the man deposited the box in his grasp. “Plagg, take the ring.  I want you to know that our time in America as the Black Cat was the best in my life.  I cherish the memories we’ve made together.  I hope your next holder has access to the finest camembert cheese money can buy.”  

Plagg looked at the ring box in shock, having trouble processing what was happening.  The man reached for his ears next, unfastening spotted earrings from the lobes.  “Tikki, you were so good to Nana. I forgot to thank you for that. I hope your next holder has even half of her charm and strength.  Thank you for everything.”

“Toshinori-san, no!  All-For-One is not yet defeated!  The Miraculouses have been scattered!  You need us!” Tikki cried, clutching her earrings.

Plagg got angry. “Yeah, what the hell Toshi? You’re just … giving me up? You’re quitting, just like that?!”

Toshinori looked between the emotional Kwamis. “There’s no time.  I have no food to recharge you. Ah, ouch.  Even if I did, my body is too d-damaged to activate the All-Might form again—no, this is where we say goodbye.  You two, more than any other Miraculouses, cannot be c-captured.  Take your Miraculouses and seek new holders.”

Plagg got in Toshinori’s face, pushing Tikki gently aside.  “I’m all for sending my bugaboo to safety.  But, Toshi, I still got fight left in me!  I know you do too.  We’re partners.  Let’s finish this job together!”

Toshinori opened his mouth to reply, but only doubled over in a coughing fit, dark blood slipping over the fingers of the hand pressed to his side.  

“Toshinori-san!”

“Toshi!”

A bloody hand reached into his pocket again, and took out a silver ring very different in size and shape to the Cat Miraculous ring.  “Plagg, you’re exhausted, and I won’t bring harm to you by forcing another transformation. B-besides, I have a back-up plan. One more trick up my sleeve. Or should I say, my nose?”

“You’re trading mefor the Ox Miraculous?”

“Toshinori-san, this is no time for jokes!”

Toshinori clamped the ring on his nostrils, and in a flash of light Stompp was before them.

“Stompp, Hooves To The Ground!”

The bull Kwami disappeared as quickly as he arrived, sucked into the Ox Miraculous as Toshinori activated its powers. Within seconds, Toshinori stood before them again, given second wind by the power coursing through his veins. It was jarring for the Kwami to see him in hues of blue and with a hammer slung over his shoulders, instead of his usual Black-Cat getup.

“I can defeat All-For-One with Stompp, as long as I can avoid engaging any of his remaining allies or Sentimonsters.  You’ll have to hurry and get as far away as you can—they’ll notice immediately that I no longer have the cat or ladybug Miraculouses.”

The two Kwami still hesitated, unwilling to part with their master and friend.

“Go,” he insisted, and his signature cat grin lit up his face, decorated in ox-blue.  “It will be fine. Why?  Because I am here!”  He swung his hammer in wide arcs around him, posing with gusto as befitting a superhero.  “I’m sure we’ll meet again soon!”  With that, he kicked off the ground in a power-enhanced jump, leaping over the building he was hiding behind and back into the fray.  Tikki and Plagg could hear him reengage All-For-One and his army.

Balancing her jewellery box in one hand, Tikki grabbed Plagg’s hand with the other.  Tears dripped down her cheeks.  “Let’s go, quickly!”

“But Tikki, we can’t—“

“I don’t like it either Plagg!  But we’re on our own now, and we will get caught if we don’t hide right now!  So be quiet for once and let’s go!”

Plagg winced; Tikki was mad.  But so was he, and hurt, and so he just gripped his Lady’s hand tighter and flew away from the battle, leaving another Black Cat in the past.  

[peterxwade24]

Safety Found in Red Sleeves

Chapter 3

So, I know it’s been a long time waiting for this chapter but it’s finally done! It is 3500+ words of Thana’s overprotective friends and Jason being an overprotective dad/brother.

Before I get into the chapter, I’m going to go over a few words that might trip you up. All of the translations are courtesy of Google Translate so if I’m using a word wrong feel free to correct it.

Baba is Papa. Aleuma is Auntie. Kutlat Saghira is Little Nugget.

Thana stood in front of the class, carefully going over her note cards for her presentation.

Mlle. Bustier smiled at the class before clapping. “Okay, everyone. Let’s settle down and give Ms. Dupain-Cheng our full attention.”

Lila, ever the attention seeker, allowed crocodile tears to well up in her eyes. “Mlle. Bustier. She’s going to copy my presentation. It’s not fair.”

Thana glanced up at the other girl, her blue-grey eyes cold. “Well, Lila. If you’d paid attention, you would know that M. Dupain and Mme. Cheng are my adoptive parents. I’m not doing my presentation on Italy. I’m doing my presentation on Gotham City, New Jersey, USA.” She nodded towards Mlle. Bustier and waited for her to put the slides up on the board before turning to look at the class. “Gotham City, New Jersey, USA is called the ‘most crime-ridden city’ by the locals. The GCPD, or Gotham City Police Department, is exactly what it sounds like. The police department of Gotham City. Most locals, however, do not respect the officers of the GCPD because of the vigilantes that roam the streets. The main vigilante is Batman, he’s also the oldest, he dresses in all black with a cowl on his head that has bat ear like protrusions on the top. After him is Nightwing. Nightwing is very flexible and most Gothamites, people from Gotham, speculate that he is in fact the first Robin. He dresses in a suit of black with a blue bird across his chest. Red Robin, who is widely speculated to be the third Robin, works alongside the first two but also alongside Spoiler. He dresses in a red and black suit with a yellow robin head in the center of his chest atop a pair of crossed bandoliers. Spoiler, who most believe was both the fourth Robin and the second Batgirl, dresses in a suit that is primarily purple with black on her chest. Signal, a member of the team, dresses in a yellow and black suit with a white bat on his chest. It is believed he may be a meta, which is shorthand for metahuman which is what they call people with powers. There is also Black Bat, who most believe was the third Batgirl, who wears a mostly black suit with a yellow bat on her chest and yellow detailing on her arms and around her ribs. Black Bat’s suit covers most of her face from her nose to her chin. Most Gothamites believe that the first Batgirl is working hand in hand with the rest of the team behind the scenes after an attack by the Joker left her paralyzed from the waist down.”

The class looked on in amazement at the high quality photos that went along with each hero, but also in fear as Thana gave a thorough rundown of all the heroes and villains, called Rogues, before Thana’s face split into a smile.

“-The Sirens, a group of three antihero turned Rogues who don’t behave the same way that most of the other Rogues do. They have been seen helping Batman, when it fits them. The Sirens refers to Catwoman, Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn. Catwoman wears a black leather catsuit, which is self explanatory in her name. Poison Ivy wears varying shades of green and plant life while Harley Quinn, who was once affiliated with the Joker, most commonly wears a light pink crop top under a pair of gold overalls. The Riddler and Scarecrow, two Rogues who are relatively harmless since they partnered up, are rather distinctive. The Riddler, who wears a green three piece suit with matching hat and a purple tie and domino mask, leaves riddles and clues. Scarecrow, who wears a grey three piece suit with a canvas sack over his head, injects or sprays people with what he calls Fear Toxin but recently he has cut back on the injections and only soaks the paper The Riddler’s riddles are written on in his fear toxin. The Penguin wears a black three piece suit with a white dress shirt and is most commonly accompanied by twin girls who are most commonly seen wearing black wigs, green dresses and Kabuki masks. The Great Rodolfo, whom most speculate is related to the Joker, wears a cream or tan suit jacket, plaid pants, a matching plaid vest and a different patterned plaid necktie. Lastly, there’s Red Hood,” Thana’s hands fisted at her sides and pressed her lips into a thin line, who has recently been spotted fighting alongside various members of Batman’s team. Most Gothamites believe him to be the second Robin returned from the dead. Red Hood wears a red helmet, a dark brown leather jacket, black pants with black boots and a black utility belt, a black shirt with a red bat on his chest, and a red long sleeved shirt under his black shirt.”

---

Thana wrapped her arms around Kim’s waist and let out a shuddery breath. “My brother is Red Hood and he wants me to know it’s him.”

Chloé frowned but nodded. “We’ll help you see him again. However, we need to set up people here to fight the Akumas and someone to get, at least, Adrien to purify the butterfly.”

Alix smiled and turned towards Chloé. “I have some friends in Mme. Mendelieve’s class who can assist us while we’re gone.”

Adrien nodded and smiled. “You mean Bellamy, Brielle, Marc, and Alicia?”

Alix nodded. “Alicia is very sneaky and would be pretty good at using the Mouse Miraculous. Marc is very trustworthy and may or may not already be planning a storyline involving a hero who’s based on them. They would be a good temporary Horse Miraculous user. Bellamy is the Mom friend of their friend group and kind of reminds me of the dragons from mythology who hoard things, so I was thinking about him for the Dragon Miraculous. And Brielle is awkwardly good at keeping people organized, the only person better is Vivienne, so she could probably wield the Bee Miraculous.”

Adrien grinned goofily and slung an arm around Alix’s shoulders. “Those are great suggestions and unless anyone else has anyone better I think we’ll go with them.” Adrien, as the de facto leader of the team, looked to Thana for his longtime partner’s opinion.

Thana nodded from where she was hiding amidst Kim’s red sleeves. “Bellamy was nice to me when I arrived and Alicia always shadows her friends.”

Nino glanced at Chloé before tapping his headphones. He knew she would know what he meant. Nino glanced at their friend, could see how out of it she was becoming, and locked eyes with Chloé.

Chloé, always okay with coming off as argumentative and brash, looked at her oldest friend with a smile before falling back into her usual bratty persona. “Not to say this hasn’t been fun but, this hasn’t been fun. Kim, Nino and I are going to take Fragolina back to mine. Thanks for having us and thank your dad and Jalil for not interrupting us for me Alix. Kim. Nino.”

Kim stood up slowly, making sure to not disturb Thana as he did so. He shed his red hoodie and draped it around Thana’s shoulders before pulling Nino to his feet. Nino, who took his headphones off and placed them atop Thana’s head before selecting one of his playlists and stuffing his phone into one of Kim’s pockets.

The boys guided Thana out of the room, while Chloé smiled at the two other members of their group. “Fragolina’s going through some things at the moment, because she just realized her brother isn’t as dead as she thought he was and wants her to know that he’s looking for her.”

Adrien pursed his lips before glancing at Alix. “I didn’t know she had a brother, did you?”

Alix shrugged. “She didn’t really talk to many of us when she got here.”

---

Thana settled against the pillows on Chloé’s bed with Kim’s hoodie looking as though it was swallowing her whole and the hood pulled up over her head and covering Nino’s headphones with the lyrics to The Neighbourhood’s “R.I.P.2 My Youth” transitioning to Fall Out Boy’s “Stay Frosty Royal Milk Tea” sounding in her ears. Nino’s phone was no longer in Kim’s pocket but plugged in while Chloé was packing clothes for their trip to the States.

Nino and Kim were trading practice blows in an area far away from Chloé’s closet. Or they were before Nino began flipping away from all of Kim’s attacks.

Chloé glanced at the boys before shaking her head and turning to their resident Gothamite. Chloé let a smile cross her face before turning to the four Kwamis, who were all relaxing in a large dollhouse, and raising a brow. “What are you four doing?”

Plagg and Trixx wore matching grins while Stompp simply crossed their arms over their chest and Sass began humming a tune. “Relaxing, what does it look like we’re doing?” Plagg’s face broke out in a larger grin before he relaxed into Trixx’s side.

Chloé simply shook her head at the four Kwamis. “Why don’t you four go relax with Fragolina?”

-*-*-*

Jason smiled as he picked up his Little Nugget and settled him on his hip. “Hey Little Nugget. Did you sleep well?”

Damian nodded before burying his face in Jason’s shoulder. “Who are they?”

Jason adjusted his hold on Damian to allow for Damian to see the two girls. “You remember Lady Shiva, don’t you?” He waited for Damian to nod before he continued. “The girl with the dark hair is Lady Shiva’s daughter, Cassandra. The blonde haired girl is Stephanie Brown. Do you remember when Bruce proclaimed that he wouldn’t have his children hanging out with the children of bad people?” Damian pursed his lips in thought, something he picked up from Jason, before nodding again. “Lady Shiva is a bad guy, as is Stephanie’s father. But, by Bruce’s standards so are Talia and Ra’s.”

Cassandra bowed, low to the floor, in Damian’s presence. Cassandra would never forget her training, and all must bow before the Heir of the Demon’s Head.

Stephanie gave a two finger salute with a smile. “Sup?”

Dick and Tim emerged from the bedroom they crashed in the night before. “Jason? Does this place have coffee?”

Jason rolled his eyes. “Am I going to have a Tamaranean princess and a half-Tamaranean tyke breaking into the apartment you’re helping pay for?”

Dick’s eyes widened before he dove for the couch, where he left his phone the night before. He let out a victorious shout when he found his phone still had battery life left. He tapped out a text to Kory before turning back to his brothers. “No.”

---

Jason kept watching for danger out of the corners of his eyes, even though it was noon and he was in a supermarket, he couldn’t take any chance now that he had his Little Nugget and two sisters to watch out for. He saw a familiar man with short red hair leading a man with long brown hair, a familiar red haired woman and her companion, a familiar blonde haired woman, turn down aisles further down. “Stephanie Jeanelle Brown. Put down the toaster waffles. Take Cassandra and go find the boxed waffle mix, and while you’re there grab some pancake mix and syrup. Dick, Tim, go find some fruits that will keep for more than a week.”

The four teens nodded before going off to do what was asked of them. Damian, however, pouted from beside Jason. “Why do they get to go get things while I’m stuck with you?”

“Because, Little Nugget, I’m not afraid someone will steal them and make me reconsider how I feel about murder now that it’s not just me.” Jason smiled and ruffled Damian’s hair, which had grown out since Jason had first taken him. “I just want to keep you within eyesight because there are unsavoury characters who live in Gotham and darken the streets. I know technically I’m your brother but I feel like you are my child and I will do everything in my power to protect you, like I couldn’t protect your aunt my sister.”

Damian glanced up at Jason, a look of confusion on his face. “But I thought there were only three girls in the family in the right age range.”

Jason’s face melted into a faraway look and tightly pursed lips. “She was four when I met her, this tiny little slip of a child covered in bruises with dark red hair and blue grey eyes. I was following her, like most street kids would have, when she got the drop on me and then pinned me into the shadows beside a dumpster because her father was walking towards the alley we were in. I became Robin when I was twelve and she was nine, and then CPS and GCPD dragged her from one of our nests and took her away from here. I just found out about that at the press conference.” Jason’s blue green eyes kept sweeping the aisles looking for anyone who could pose a threat to his family. He saw, instead, Selina Kyle deciding between two different laundry detergents in one aisle and Oswald Cobblepot, accompanied by Pere and Gale, deciding between two different kinds of cereal.

Damian took in the information Jason gave him, knowing that Jason would tell him anything he asked even if it was painful to think about. “Who’s her father?”

“Jervis Tetch, aka Mad Hatter.” Jason’s voice was filled with so much venom he had to take a few deep breaths to calm himself down. “He’s a very bad man and if you ever hear anything about him, you run away. The Iceberg Lounge will provide you sanctuary if you can’t make it back to the apartment.”

Damian nodded as he allowed himself to be caged in by Jason’s arms so he was between Jason and the shopping cart.

Stephanie and Cass returned triumphantly with waffle mix, pancake mix and syrup. Followed by Dick and Tim a few minutes later.

Dick turned to Jason with a wry grin. “Is there a real reason we’re shopping at this store at this time of day? Or did you just want to surround yourself with other people who love your Pixie?”

Jason glanced up and made eye contact with Ed Nygma. Jason waved with a small smile on his face before Ed grabbed John’s arm and dragged him to the six siblings.

“Big Todd.” Ed called in lieu of greeting.

John nodded with a smile.

“Are you ever going to give that up?” Jason shook his head fondly. “Ed, John. This is Damian, my Little Nugget. Little Nugget, these are your aunt’s Uncles Ed and John.”

Ed nodded. “Have you tried to get in contact with her?”

John pressed a kiss to Ed’s cheek before looking at their present company. “Now might not be the best place to converse about this topic Love.”

Ed nodded before he let John drag him away. “We must converse again.”

---

Jason smiled as he tucked Damian into bed, before closing the bedroom door. He slumped back into the kitchen and with an exhausted sigh he set about finishing the dishes from the day’s meals. He paused to think about what Ed had said in the store. Would she even want to hear from him? Would she be receptive to talking to him or getting in contact with him?

Tim walked into the kitchen, intending to get a glass of water then go back to bed, when he stumbled upon Jason lost in thought. “Jason?” Tim stood next to Jason and gently pried a plate out of Jason’s hand. “Jason? Can you hear me?”

Jason shook himself out of his stupor and turned to the smaller boy. “Replacement? What are you doing up at this hour?”

Tim shrugged nonchalantly. “I was going to get a glass of water.”

Jason rolled his eyes and grabbed a glass out for Tim. “Sure.” Jason leaned against the counter and watched as Tim filled the glass with water.

Tim smiled at his older brother. “Were you thinking about what Nygma said?”

Jason ruffled Tim’s hair with a half smile on his face. “She was my only family for many years.” Jason turned back to the sink still full of dishes with a chuckle. “Go back to bed Replacement.”

Tim nodded. “Yeah, okay. I’ll, uh, see you tomorrow.”

Jason finished the dishes before dragging his still damp hands through his hair. He let out a tired sigh before turning around, to find discarded clothing covering his couch. He picked up a laundry basket and tossed all of the clothing into the basket. He glanced around the living room and nodded, satisfied with how clean it was. “We’ll have to clean up the apartment tomorrow, as long as Wayne doesn’t call us in.” Jason muttered as he put the laundry basket down on the counter and walked into his bedroom and curled around Damian.

---

Jason, with Damian settled on his left hip, stared at Bruce Wayne who was standing at the door to the apartment building. He raised a single eyebrow as he turned to have his right side facing Bruce. “Can I help you Mr. Wayne?”

“We need to talk.”

Jason snorted. “Then you can do it while walking. We’re meeting someone soon and we’re walking.”

Tim, Steph and Cass brushed past the trio. “Bye Jace! We’re gonna go hang with Kon, Cassie and Bart for a few hours!”

“Text when you get there and when you’re leaving! If we’re not home before you call to let me know you made it home safe!”

“Bye Jason!” Steph called while Cass waved.

Jason turned back to Bruce and raised his eyebrows. “Walk and talk Wayne.” Jason hitched Damian further up on his hip and started to push past Bruce, when Dick beat him to it.

“Call me if you need something or if one of the others needs something. I’ve gotta go home to Kor’i and Mar’i.”

“See you later Dickiebird.”

“See you Jaybird, see you Chick.”

Damian simply waved at Dick and rested his head on Jason’s shoulder. “Bye-bye.”

Jason watched Dick walk away with a smile on his face. He turned to Bruce and frowned.

“Jason-”

“Baba. Go.”

“In a minute Kutlat Saghira.” Jason pressed a kiss to Damian’s cheek. “Do you want to walk and talk or-”

“What did he just call you?” Bruce cut Jason off. “What did you just call him?”

“I called him Little Nugget, and last time I checked I didn’t have to tell you anything.” Jason shook his head and pushed past Bruce. “Are you ready to meet some friends Little Nugget?”

Damian nodded and smiled.

---

Jason pushed open the door to the Iceberg Lounge and smiled as the chilled air cooled the sweat on the back of his neck. “This is where we’re meeting some friends of your Aleuma.”

Damian smiled and patted Jason’s chest, his nonverbal way of saying he wants down.

“Don’t run off, stick close. Not everyone in here is friends with your Aleuma.”

Damian nodded before the two men from the supermarket approached them.

“Jason.” the man with brown hair smiled as he extended his hand to Jason.

“Mr. Crane. Have you been keeping your nose out of trouble?”

John laughed and nodded. “Of course, Ed keeps me in line.”

Ed laughed and shook his head. “Someone has to.”

The red haired woman and her blonde haired companion strolled into the area with matching smiles on their faces.

“Sundew.” The red haired woman called.

“Little bird.” Her blonde companion chirped.

Jason waved. “Damian, the red haired lady is Doctor Pamela Isley and her lovely companion is Doctor Harleen Quinzel. Pam, Harley, this is Damian al Ghul-Wayne. However, he’s more my son than Wayne’s at this point.”

Pam and Harley waved at Damian before offering him smiles.

“Oswald!” Jason called to a portly man across the lounge.

The man, followed by two women dressed in green long sleeved dresses and Kabuki masks, walked over to Jason with a smile on his face. “Todd. It’s good to see you.”

“You too old man.” Jason bowed to the two women. “Pere. Gale.”

The women bowed back.

“Damian, this is Oswald Cobblepot, your Aleuma liked him for some reason and he gave us shelter on more than a few nights.”

Oswald Cobblepot held out a hand to Damian with a smile on his face. “Hello there Damian.”

“Hello.” Damian smiled and stood taller. “Baba. I’m taller.”

Jason snorted. “I see that Little Nugget.” Jason glanced over his shoulder when he heard the door move.

“Hey, Ozzy? You heard from-” Jerome stopped talking before his face split in a smile. “Hoodie! You’re back!”

“Hey Rome.” Jason waved. “Come meet Damian.”

Damian tilted his head in a confused puppy manner before the red haired man appeared from behind Jason. “Is he?”

Jerome extended a hand to Damian with a more mild grin on his face. “Hi. I’m Jerome Valeska, although most of these people know me better as The Great Rodolfo. You must be Damian Todd.”

Damian preened for a moment before coming back to the moment. “Technically, Baba says my name’s still Damian al Ghul-Wayne but I like Damian Todd.”

Taglist

@southamericangothamite @maribat-is-lifeblood @mystery-5-5 @our-preciousss @mochegato @chocolatecatstheron @throneoffirebreathingbitchqueen @2confused-2doanything @wannajointhecrabcult @dreamykitty25 @tomanyfandomsonmymind @moonlightstar64 @justafanwarrior @mialuvscats @pheony1882 @pepelachanel @moongoddesskiana @abrx2002 @ladybug-182 @greatcatblaze @thatonecroc @vixen-uchiha @superbwhispersconnoisseur @lilkymilky

After this, there will be a short titled “Pixie?!” featuring Jason fresh from the grave and the appearance of Talia al Ghul using his panicked state against him.

[peterxwade24]

BWYD Chapter 19

Nubia

It was an unusually cold Wednesday in late April, and as such, Marinette and her brothers were dressed in cable knit sweaters they borrowed from Alfred. Marinette wore a pair of loose-fitting high-waisted black leggings (that she borrowed from Cass) under a pair of acid-washed ripped skinny jeans paired with a pair of black combat books. She walked into the school between her two brothers, their cable knit sweaters reflected the colours of the Robin suit (Damian’s a warm yellow, Colin’s a dark green, and Marinette’s a soft pale red) but in a creative, grandfatherly way.

The three Wayne children settled into their seats, pulling out their laptops and booting up their Google Docs files. Marinette leaned against Damian while Colin leaned against Marinette, the three siblings offering each other silent support. They waited a mere five more minutes before the rest of their class walked in, talking about several different things.

Marinette opened their shared Google Doc and started typing.

  M: What do you think of Alix?

  D: She’s the shortie with the pink hair, right?

  C: She’s cool, right Dames?

  M: I mean, in terms of heroing

  D: She’d be good here in Paris. It’s a good idea.

  C: You can always try her out on a temporary basis. But, you should talk to Grayson first.

Marinette smiled as she switched back over to her History paper and started typing it. She rested her head on Colin’s shoulder before she grabbed Damian’s left hand in her right hand and gave it a squeeze. “I think I will. At lunch. Cover for me?”

Colin and Damian nodded in agreement before they started their own papers.

---

Marinette ducked into an alley and smiled down at Tikki, who stood in her outstretched hands. “What do you think of Alix?”

Tikki tapped her nubs against her chin, before she looked up at Marinette and nodded. “I think she’d be a great addition to the team. Let’s go ask your brothers first.”

“Tikki. Spots on.” Marinette was engulfed in a light and Ladybug flew away.

---

Ladybug flew in through Marinette’s window, shaking out her hands in a show of nerves. “Tikki. Spots off.” And just as suddenly as Ladybug appeared she disappeared. Marinette straightened out her sweater before she walked into the living room. “Hey. Oiseaux bleu? Oiseaux jaune? Are you home?”

Duke and Dick turned to look at their sister, forgetting their video game, and frowned. “Aren’t you supposed to be at school?”

Marinette rolled her eyes and nodded. “We’re at lunch. The other two are covering for me. I just need some advice.” She walked into the living room and sat on Duke’s lap. “So. I have this classmate, Alix, and I thought she’d be a good hero. What do you think?”

Dick smiled and pressed a hand on her shoulder. “Tiny Bat. We trust your judgement. This is your city and obviously someone else trusts your judgement.” He smiled.

“Shouldn’t you ask your partner before you make any decisions?” Duke asked, his voice cutting through the otherwise quiet room. “This may be your city but you protect it with him.”

Marinette nodded, looking between her two older brothers. “I’ll ask him tonight, during patrol.” She smiled and pressed a kiss to her brothers’ cheeks. “Thank you for your advice. I gotta go back to school.”

Marinette smiled and left the room, a whispered “Tikki, spots on” as she walked into her room and Ladybug flew back to the alley she initially transformed in.

---

Ladybug sat on the top of the Trocadero, enjoying the sun while she waited for her partner to arrive. Her wings fluttered in the breeze and she turned when she heard the sound of his boots on the Trocadero. “Hey there Chaton.”

“M’lady.” He gave a bow, his blond hair becoming even more unruly. He smiled and moved to sit beside her. “Nice evening isn’t it?”

Ladybug nodded, a faint smile on her face. “It is.” She looked at her partner and her smile gave way to her usual business-like expression. “Chaton? What would you think about utilizing temporary heroes? Or even just having more help?”

Chat Noir tapped his claws against his chin, a smile on his face, before he rested his hand overtop of her splayed hand on top of the Trocadero. “I trust you M’lady. You seem to know what you’re doing.”

Ladybug let out a laugh before she reached over and ruffled his hair. “Silly kitty.”

Together, the two heroes stood up and took off to patrol.

---

Ladybug stood in front of Alix, her hand extended and a red, hexagonal box sat upon her palm. “Alix Kubdel. This is the Miraculous of the Ox. Will you accept this Miraculous and fight against Hawkmoth alongside Chat Noir and I?” She faltered for a moment before smiling sheepishly. “This can be as temporary as you want, and we can even try out new Miraculouses if this one doesn’t suit you.”

Alix reached out and gently lifted the box out of Ladybug’s hand. She opened the box, her eyes widening, as a dark blue light emerged from the box. The light shifted into a tiny dark blue ox who rolled out their neck.

“It’s been so long since I was let out of the box.” The ox spoke in an Egyptian accent, drawing a smile from Alix. “Guardian. So lovely to see you.”

“You were let out of the box yesterday, Stompp. You’re being wielded, if only for a short while.” Ladybug smiled at the tiny dark blue ox deity before she scratched the top of their head.

Stompp turned to look up at Alix, their black eyes boring into her blue eyes. A smile spread across their face as they flew up to pat Alix’s face. “She’ll do.”

Ladybug smiled and nodded. “To transform, say Stompp, olé; and to detransform, say Stompp, torro.”

Alix nodded while she put on the nose ring, which transformed into a thin red ring over her right nostril. She shook out her hands and let out a breath. “Stomp, olé.” Alix was engulfed in a dark blue light and when the light disappeared, a new hero stood before Ladybug.

The suit was like nothing Ladybug had seen before. It was a gray ankle length tunic over a pair of dark blue pants, a belt of dark blue stones wrapped around her waist, black combat boots covered her feet with a distinct hoof pattern on the toe. Her arms were covered in a dark blue material which matched her legs (leading Ladybug to believe it was actually a bodysuit instead of separate pieces), and her hands were covered in a pair of black gloves with a hoof pattern covering her fingers. She had a thin dark blue ox’s tail, which behaved like a real ox’s tail, and matching dark blue ears poking out of her hair, which had turned a dark indigo. Her dark blue ears were not the only thing sticking out of her hair, she also had a pair of gray horns which curved away from her face. Her face was covered in a kohl coloured mask, stretching from the middle of her forehead to just below her cheekbones, and a dark gray colour covered her lips. Her blue eyes, now a light indigo surrounded by black rings, looked down at her form before she smiled up at Ladybug.

“This is so cool.” She reached up and grabbed her horns, which easily fell into her hands. She experimented with the horns, now appearing like a pair of nunchucks, before looking back up to Ladybug.

“What’s your name?” Ladybug placed a hand on her hip and looked her comrade up and down.

The other hero thought for a moment before she decided on a name. “Nubia. Call me Nubia.”

@dast218 @toodaloo-kangaroo @amayakans @crazylittlemunchkin @marinettepotterandplagg