#man rage looks so weird with roy’s eyes

[starlightwoofwoof]

thought it would be cool if I drew some moments from my SM x MLB AU fic 💙✨

The first one is when Roy snapped out of his villain state for a minute from chapter 3, and when Sweetener first met Radford in the first chapter-

[sunny6677]

SO A SHORT EXPLANATION OF HOW SKID BRINGS KARMA TO ROYS UNCLE IN THE KARMA AU!

@mayisgoingnuts

TWS FOR SA, BAD PARENTING, MURDER, BRUTAL MURDER, BLOOD, ROYS UNCLE, ETC

————

So Skid comes into the timeline with the intent of bringing karma to Roy. But Skid usually finds a way to shove himself into whoever his victim is's life before he actually does anything. So he shoves himself into Roy's life by appearing one day as a young man the age of seventeen looking to become a butler for the family to save up some money. The family isn't very kind to him obviously, but he never seems to care. In fact, on the first day he arrives, the Hagzgang is walking outside his house only to see a 'weird guy with long hair' (Skid) talking to his dad. And when Skid turns around to face him, he doesn't do much, but flashes Roy an eery smile that gives him small chills and causes him to just scramble off with his friends. Roy's parents show him around the area, and Skid seems to analyze/observe just about everything. The building, the way the parents treat him and themselves, etc. Skid would bring karma to his parents, but he's here for Roy, so he decides to leave that for another time.

Regardless, when Roy comes back, he's introduced to Skid who usually always refers to him as Reynold no matter how much he insists on not being called that. Skid is very polite to him, but still somewhat intimidating at times and passive aggressive. At least that's how Roy sees him as things begin to gradually go wrong around him. It's slow at first, with Roy losing his video games or stuff he uses to entertain himself by getting caught in a rage by his parents since Skid decided to come check on him out of concern and saw that, but it begins to worsen into absurdity with how much he keeps getting caught by Skid or his parents. He tried to sneak out but is always aggressively pulled back by his parents or by Skid who always drags him off to do something else as a way to keep him from leaving, all the kids he's beaten up suddenly come crying to his house with their angry parents, and his parents become gradually angrier at him for being such an 'embarrassment'. But it always only seems to worsen when he does something bad. Like pick on someone, steal, etc etc. He even gets banned from the Candy Club at some point.

..that ends up all changing when his uncle comes over though. And Skid ends up kinda overhearing Roy say something about it to himself. Roy walks out after saying that, only to see Skid eerily standing in the doorframe. This creeps out Roy a lot, but mainly freaks him out since he must have heard that. Skid then bends down though to Roy's level, and wipes a tear threatening to seep from his eyes, saying rather eerily not to worry and that he'll help—and just tells Roy to do exactly as he says.

It doesn't show exactly what Roy says to this, but he seemingly goes along with Skids mysterious offer of help, for he begins to act a bit strangely. Roy's uncle begins to experience Skid always walking in as he's doing terrible shit, or Skid always basically mentally fuck with him. Not only that, Roy's uncle begins to hear voices telling him that it's his fault and even hallucinations of Roy himself angrily screaming at him. This begins to send his uncle into a gradual descent into further insanity, but it only finally comes all crashing down at a party the family is hosting with their friends or colleagues etc etc. The voices grow even louder, and are so damn loud Roy's uncle goes to hide himself in a room.

But as he enters, he hears Skid speak from behind him, standing in front of the doorframe. He begins to mess with Roy's uncle again, softly asking if he has something to hide or if there's something bothering him. This makes Roy's uncle finally snap, and Skid basically makes him confess out of anger what he's done. Skid ends up recording this though, and plays it aloud for him to hear as a way of fucking with him. The uncle tries to stop him, but even as he's pinned, Skid goes smugly: "..huhhhhh? But you seem to like what you do.. I'm sure maybe other people would wanna know all about it."

The uncle begins to get physically aggressive with him, and it cuts to Carmen and Richard hearing a loud banging coming from the room he ran inside of. They both go to the room, and it's locked, until the noise stops and they're able to force it open. And.. inside, they see the uncles bloodied mutilated corpse sitting on the ground, with Skid standing in front of him with a calm smile on his face. They obviously don't know about what was with the uncle, so they become distressed really quick, with Richard being the angriest since that was his brother. Skid is calm the whole time still, saying he 'only did a favor', and even taunting Richard when he gets angrier. Richard goes up to him, and grabs him by the collar while Carmen goes into be aggressive with him too. But they get the blood that's on Skid on them in the process. People from the party end up finally walking in, and Skid begins to act like he's being hurt by them. He does a pretty convincing job at crying his heart out and acting panicked. So nobody at the party really believes Carmen or Richard, and has the police called on them. Roy walks in on the whole thing and is confused as to what the fuck is going on.

He goes outside, trying to intervene as his parents are taken away. But he isn't able to since people prevent him from doing so. Skid is standing somewhere nearby though as he's being healed by medical professionals, and flashes Roy a calm smile once more. This makes Roy freak out and begins yelling at him for what happened to his parents since he KNOWS he had to have done something about it, but Skid isn't phased. While Roy is yelling, Skid just keeps smiling, and then basically vanishes from Roy's sight. When he's confused and asks about him, people are confused—some of them either not knowing who the fuck he's talking about or just not knowing where the 'butler' went. He's told that the butler (who no one can seem to remember the name of) went back home though and will be quitting the job. And without much say, Roy is sent into an orphanage.

That concludes the end of this timeline.

[starfirexuchiha]

Fire Emblem 0 (Cipher) Album Book Volume 4 - English Translation

Did you know that there were 4 story books made for Fire Emblem Ciphers?

Volume 1 is about Ike and FE9 / FE10

Volume 2 is about Male Corrin and Fates

Volume 3 is about Female Corrin and Fates

and Volume 4 is about Roy and FE6 / FE7

Thank you so much ZoraTwilight for scanning the Volume 4 book for me! I was able to translate the story within it! (I was supposed to translate this years ago but I was buried in college homework/exams at the time and forgot I'm sorry💦)

My translation isn't perfect but I tried my best to make the English sentences not sound weird. Some phrases in Japanese cannot be easily translated to English. So here goes!

Fire Emblem 0 (Cipher)

Album Book Vol. 04

Shadows taking over, Light of Hope

-----A sinister shadow is about to overtake this continent…

The sandstorm is whirling like crazy. As if it’s something that refuses to be approached. As if it’s never going away.

“Hey… do you know about this rumor?”  The guy in front of a caravan said. While wrapping his turban with the scarf is covering his mouth, the man walking next to him spoke out: 

“I’m tired… talk about that gossip to someone else will ya?”

“Hey don’t say that, there are many legends about this Nabata desert.” 

The listener gave him a dull look, but the speaker continued to run his mouth. The speaker’s face is also tired, but he at least wanted to distract himself from the unbearable desert heat as well as the drifting dust in the sandstorm. 

“First of all… there are valuable treasures buried everywhere in this great desert.” 

“Yeah…”

“And I heard about a story where there’s a secret village hidden somewhere around here. It’s a village where the descendants of dragons live.”

“I see, I see…”

“And there’s a large temple brimming with cold water underground or something…”

“…..”

The story is hard to believe. There shouldn’t be hard ground in the sand as far as the eye can see. These two are traveling merchants. They do business while carrying loads of items. Walking in the desert is a normal thing for them. In this great desert, they usually shouldn’t be traveling through the dangerous sandstorm. But this time, they chose this route because there are buried packages from Bern soldiers that contain large amounts of money here. However… if the contents inside the packages hold just food and soldier equipment, then what the heck do they do now? No, they do not need to know about such things. In fact, it’s more risky to raise such a question. 

“There’s one more thing…”

The rumor-loving man still continued to tell the story. Even though the story sounds fake, what other pleasant things are there to talk about? 

“I also heard that a ghost of a beautiful woman tends to show up around here too.” 

Just as he said that, the ghost suddenly began to appear. Right before the merchant’s eyes, the sand whirling in the storm grew stronger. It’s so harsh that the sand begins to stick onto the merchants’ carts.

And then the men saw her. Amidst the raging sandstorm stood a shadow of a woman standing in the dunes. She is as beautiful as the rumors say, the figure of the divine woman appears to be more fascinating than frightening…

“Is that…. THE GHOST YOU WERE TALKING ABOUT JUST NOW?!”

“GRAAHHHHHHH!”

The frightening sound echoed. At first it seemed that the sound of the wind became stronger but that’s not it. A bigger shadow was looming just behind that woman. The strange looking monster figure closely resembled the ones seen in fairy tale picture books for young children.

“It’s… It’s a DRAGON!!!”

As they cried out, the caravan group ran away at once, leaving their horses and goods behind. 

There’s an area in the desert where one can hear the sound of gentle water flowing and leaves rustling from the trees. The sunlight filtering through the trees created small patches of light in a small area. One could hardly believe that it is the same area as the desert a while ago…

“Hey! Big sister Sophia!”

In the desert resides a village around one oasis. It is commonly known as Nabata Village, a Utopia where humans and dragons live together. Among the powerful territories in Elibe, such an isolated land like this one exists. 

“Huh? Say it in a little more detail please~”

Fae inflates her cheeks with a face of tantrum. Sophia laughs again, sounding a little worried. Since birth, Fae is not allowed to leave the village. It’s because her power is too strong and that there is a risk that she will be used under the wrong hands of unknown people. Therefore, she should not be allowed to talk about her interest regarding the outside world. Sophia knew that. 

“I really…. don’t have anything to say”

She was watching a caravan passing by. One cannot reach this village unless they know the restricted route to get there. Apparently it doesn’t seem that someone had found the way, but Sophia had a bad feeling about this. Sophia, who inherits the blood of the dragon, doesn’t have tremendous power like Fae does, but instead has magical powers that no ordinary person can possess.  Foreseeing the future is one of them. She felt it. She foresaw that an unknown shadow is going to cover all of Elibe. Something bad is going to happen… so she hugged Fae close and frowned. 

 “Big Sister…. what’s wrong? Are you hurt?”

Fae looked worried. Her innocent face expresses unhappiness knowing that she continues to be confined in this oasis. But Sophia has been wishing for Fae to be released from this eternal prison. Someday, to her heart’s content, she wants to play with her while she is free and happy. However, that desire is far away as if she can sense that it is hidden behind the dark clouds in the sky… 

The sounds of a horse’s hooves echo in the courtyard under the clear sky. As the horse is walking, a young man with gold shining hair and blue eyes is seen with a bit of dirt on his body, showing a bitter smile on his face.

“Checkmate” 

Said a female knight riding a horse. The young blonde man who had fallen on the ground, raised his defeated face and returned an invigorating smile. 

“You win…. Mage General”

The name of the female knight is Cecilia. She is the Mage General from Etruria’s 3 generals. The young man she defeated is Klein. Against this skilled bow user, Cecilia thought that it had been the first time in a long time that she had such a tough sparring match. The young man skillfully dodged her wind magic, and has great precision when he shoots his arrows many times. If Cecilia didn’t change the trajectory of her Aircaliber magic, she might have lost that match. Klein is a noble of the Reglay family and is currently engaged in military service in the Western Isles. He was with Cecilia when returning to Etruria for a report and decided to have a sparring match with her on the premises of a villa. And now…

“You and your younger sister have a considerable amount of skill. Perhaps the next Mage General of Etruria will be Clarine I wonder?”

“Haha… please don’t tell my sister that.” 

It all began in a dinner party when Klein’s younger sister Clarine started asking Cecilia to become their mage instructor.  The people of the dinner party were surprised at such an unfamiliar offer but Cecilia accepted it. The place was small but Cecilia was able to teach her a few magic tricks. 

-----It was wonderful! But… given that Clarine’s brother uses a bow, General Cecilia cannot teach him. Clarine insisted she do it, but Cecilia will not. However, Klein did mention when greeting Cecilia, that a sparring match would be a great opportunity. 

“Now then… if you’ll excuse me…”

Klein is about to leave while brushing off the dust on him.

“Klein, can you spare me a moment?”

“Huh? Um… of course…”

Cecilia was worried about the state of Klein’s mind during their match. She understands that Klein is an innocent young man during that match, so she also wanted to hear his story a little more. 

“Is General Arcard doing well?” 

“Yes. The General is trying day and night to suppress the rebellious group in the West Isles. I am trying hard to suppress the rebels too but…”

Klein stopped talking after saying that, and took his gaze away from Cecilia with an expression that looks as if he is thinking about the distant lands in the west. He hesitated to say anything because he was hesitant to reveal anything like a complaint about his military service or his superiors. He was afraid to say that there was something disturbing about this expedition. For Cecilia, just knowing about it is enough.

“I see, I understand” 

-----Let’s meet again. Future Archer General. As Cecilia said this, she smiled as she watched Klein leave.

The Western Isles is an expedition that is far away from the capital. General Arcard is currently ruling that place. I heard he was suppressing the rebel soldiers but… there are rumors that he is in some way in contact with the higher-ups, and I heard some not-so-good stories out of that.

I hope that they are not planning something by taking advantage of how difficult it is to see in the fog… and speaking of rumors, I heard that recently there has been an influx of smuggling illegal goods and mysterious cargo within Etruria. There are various nefarious schemes being planned without my knowledge. Should I briefly consult with the other war commanders in advance to confront those who pose a threat to the country?

Cecilia was pondering about this while looking at the sky, which was beginning to cloud over, when suddenly a messenger soldier came rushing in. 

“What happened?”

“A report! T-The Bern army has crossed the border and is marching into Lycia!” 

“What?!”

The Kingdom of Bern is a large nation located on the eastern side of the continent of Elibe, and although it clashed with Etruria in the past, in recent years, their relationship maintained stability. Bern’s relationship with Lycia shouldn’t be bad either. I also heard that Zephiel, who became the king at a young age, is a man of great character and is a spitting image of a king. Why on earth is he…

However for Cecilia, a general of Etruria, that is not the first thing she should think about. Although it’s not her country’s problem, they have a better relationship with Lycia than with Bern. First, she must immediately consider what countermeasures that her army should take. In some cases, she could send reinforcements over to Lycia. And so…

She ran. Roy… Lilina… She remembered the faces of her beloved disciples whom she taught how to fight, back when she was stationed in Lycia. Also Klein and Clarine of Etruria… She is feeling uneasy that promising young people in this continent are getting dragged into a war by a great unseeable force…

When I awoke, I found myself in a small room surrounded by humidity, darkness, and rocks----- It was a prison.

In his hazy consciousness, Hector, the Marquis of Ostia remembered why he was in this place.

It was a complete surprise for Lycia that the neighboring country of Bern, which they had maintained friendship up until now, is suddenly attacking them.

However, the initial confusion was short-lived, for an alliance of lords immediately gathered with their troops at Araphen, with Hector as their leader. They formed an allied army with all of their soldiers, and prepared to confront the Bern Kingdom’s army. Although they are outnumbered, the army alliance is known for their strong unity, and their spirit of not losing against a big army kept their morale high. 

Well, that’s how it should be, until Bern showed up leading an army of resurrected dragons…

Looking at it, Hector’s beloved heavy armor that had been with him for many years was cracked and brutally destroyed in many places. Also, the wounds he sustained when he faced a dragon on the front lines, covered his whole body.

Since my youth, I have been through many battles and fought alongside with many friends… But my body that I once considered to be very strong, is reaching its limit.

-----This life too, is also… 

Amidst the painful defeat, and the humiliation of being imprisoned in the dungeon of an ally’s castle, Hector sensed that his death was drawing near.

“Lilina…”

Hector couldn’t help but say his daughter’s name. His daughter got her good looks from her mother, and she also gained a lot of trust from her retainers. Plus, she has recently shown her talent as a mage. Since she’s his daughter, she’ll be strong enough to survive. He’s not worried about the future. However, not being able to witness her growth would be painful and unbearable. The heart of a fierce warrior who is at the brink of death, is filled with regret. Also there was another thing that he regretted.

----- If one of us is ever in danger, we will protect each other with our lives.

Those are the words that he swore to his best friend Eliwood during his younger days. Eliwood is also a Lycian lord, and the head of his family in Pherae. He is his closest friend like no other. As promised, they had saved each other in difficult situations many times. Eliwood is not just someone that he has a cooperative relationship with. He is a precious friend with a solid bond…

But recently, Eliwood has been suffering from illness, and is often laying in bed. Hector wanted to go to his sickbed and see his face. He wanted to cheer him up and throw away his illness.  However, it seems like his promise can no longer be fulfilled. 

No, but putting it that way would mean that Eliwood is also breaking his promise by not being able to save me from this current situation. We are in the same boat huh…

F… Farewell… my best friend…

Hector smiled weakly and quietly tried to close his eyes.

At that moment, he heard a noise from above. Several people were rushing down to this dungeon. Then, Hector saw a young man running towards him right before his eyes.

“Lord Hector! Are you okay?” 

That voice sounded a lot like the voice of a man whom Hector knew. The voice of the only man he could stand shoulder to shoulder with, the only man he can rely on in this life dedicated to battle…

(TN: Roy's voice sounds like Eliwood's)

“Roy…?”

Hector noticed it right away. Fiery red hair, eyes full of justice. The boy who looks a lot like Eliwood turns out to be Roy, the son of his best friend.

“Yes. I came to help!“

Behind Roy, there is chivalry that follows him. Reliable young warriors are gathered together. This reminded me of my past self with Eliwood and the others. The promise couldn’t be fulfilled, but instead will be inherited. I can… I can entrust everything to him, regarding Lilina’s safety, countering the threat of Bern, and Lycia’s future. 

Hector remembered a prophecy he heard from Archsage Athos during his younger days.

(TN: FE7 reference)

-----“An evil star will rise in Bern and all of Elibe will be consumed in war. But do not be afraid. Lycia will once again bring hope.”

At the end of his life, he found hope. It was like a passionate, bright, blazing hope-----

In the desert in the far west, in a hidden village where humans and dragons live together, the priestess Sophia looked up at the night sky. Fae, who was lying on her lap, perhaps tired from playing, looked up at her curiously. 

“Big sister Sophia, what are you looking at?”

Sophia saw it. She saw that within the dark shadows that began to cover Elibe, there is a small light that twinkles brightly like a star. She sensed that under this distant sky, the light is growing larger and larger, and is clothed in fire.

Sophia only stroked Fae’s hair in silence. She feels the breath of brightness that is budding in the distance, and it will not be defeated by the harsh fate that lies ahead.

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

That's the end of the translation! 😊

I really want to translate Volume 1 (Ike's story) too but I do not have the book nor do I have scans of the pages. 😭

[arellian]

New chapter of Insomnia is now live!

Chapter 16: It

The blaring music grated against Gar’s ears, making him wince. He blinked his eyes open, trying to focus as the balcony floor gradually came into view.

“You okay, man?”

Gar scrunched his face a bit. He had heard that voice before but couldn’t place it.

Realizing he was leaning forward with his head in his hands, Gar slowly straightened and glanced toward the voice.

He blinked, confusion and disorientation washing over him.

Jaime Reyes was sitting next to him.

“You good?” Jaime asked, eyebrows knit with concern. “You drank a lot of absinthe.”

Gar scrunched his face again. He hadn’t had absinthe since…

His breath caught in his throat. Leaving Jaime’s question hanging unanswered, he looked around, taking in his surroundings.

It was night time and Gar was out on the balcony. In a semi-circle in front of him stood Wally, Roy, Vic, Jason, Garth, and Isaiah Crockett. Brow furrowed, he watched as they talked and laughed, a party raging around them.

Gar leaned forward again, moving to put his head back in his hands when he froze. He stared down at his outfit. Neon yellow pineapples with neon green leaves laid against a neon pink background, the pineapples themselves glowing in the dark.

His head swam as he swallowed the bile rising in his throat, his disorientation nauseating.

“I think he’s gonna barf,” he heard Wally say.

Gar’s mind raced, trying to make sense of the situation. This was all strangely familiar, like it had happened before. He looked up, making eye contact with Roy.

“Rae?” Gar croaked.

“Bathroom,” Roy said.

It suddenly came back to him. Raven had gone to the bathroom with Sarah, Kori, Donna, and Jinx. And he was hanging out on the balcony, waiting for her to come back.

“I… I need some water,” Gar rasped, slowly standing.

“Want me to get it?” Jaime asked.

Gar waved him off as he began shuffling toward the door to the common area. The music inside was louder, the pounding bass threatening to give him a headache. He waded through the mass of dancing bodies toward where he vaguely remembered the drink table had been set up.

The crowd parted, allowing him to stagger forward and lean against the table as he searched for a bottle of water. Instead, he spotted Raven, making his heart leap.

She was alone, standing near the kitchen with a drink in hand, her eyes scanning the room.

She was looking for him.

“Rae!” Gar called, but his voice was drowned out by the music. He sighed, pushing off the table and walking toward her.

Knitting her brows, she glanced at her phone, clearly wondering where he was.

“Sorry, Rae, Wally gave me some weird shit outside,” Gar said once he had reached her.

Raven didn’t react. She continued to scan the room, seemingly oblivious to Gar’s presence.

Gar waved a hand in front of her face. “Rae?”

Nothing.

He stepped directly in her line of sight, bending down so he could look at her. “Are you messing with me?”

A chill ran down his spine as she stared right through him. Reaching out a hand, he gently touched her face. She didn’t seem to register the physical contact, her amethyst eyes not focusing on him even though they stood almost toe-to-toe.

“What the fuck,” Gar breathed.

Read here.

[britishassistant]

I wonder what the supervillains (the dorm leaders) would do if they get switched with their other self in Twisted Wonderland.

They'll meet a younger Yuu calls them senpai and probably get shivers when they hear someone shout Prefect but then realize its Yuu's role in that world.

Bonus would be if Yuuken's there too, sharing the dorm with Yuu.

Thank you for the ask, dear anon!

I decided to take a little inspo from my Villainous Paranoiac series for this one! Not a whole lot, but the idea of Twisted Wonderland Yuu being put in the infirmary after the events of Chapter Five!

(Also consider it non-canon, since it kinda involves everyone’s identities being exposed!)

Basically imagine that the supervillains find themselves in what looks like a private school infirmary, late at night. The air is buzzing with a strange energy, almost like the powers back in their home world, but...different, somehow.

The room nearly empty, save for one occupant in a cot close to the door.

Poison Queen and King immediately begin bickering over whose fault this mess is, while Royal Flush tries to get them to keep their voices down or else they’ll be detected. Charon is half a minute from going to curl up in a corner, clutching his freeze ray like a lifeline, while Octo Dealer and Snake Charmer are busy inspecting their surroundings for anything of value or that can be requisitioned into a weapon on short notice.

Tsunotaro has wandered over to inspect the sole other living being in the room with them.

He is pleasantly surprised to see what looks like a younger version of the reporter he’s so fond of, fast asleep in the infirmary cot. Their cheeks still retain the last bit of baby fat from childhood, and there’s some acne left that will fade with age. He may give one cheek a gentle poke, just to satisfy his curiosity. The sleepy mumble they let out is a little more high pitched than normal, but that’s the reporter’s voice alright.

He is less pleased to see dark circles under their eyes, or the bandages around their throat that stink of medicinal salves. If this truly is a younger version of his child of man, then why do they look so worried, even in sleep? Why are they injured and sleeping in this place of healing in the first place? They’re a mere child, barely old enough to operate a vehicle or live alone. Their only worries should be trivial things, not whatever is causing this furrow in their brow and hunch in their shoulders.

The other supervillains have begun to migrate over to where Tsunotaro is crouching in silent contemplation. King flips his eyepatch up to get a better look, whistling lowly. Octo Dealer busies himself with refilling their water glass, sneaking glances at them as he places it within easy reach. Snake Charmer pulls their pillow more under their head from where it’s almost slipped off. Poison Queen straightens the arrangement of the very tasteful bouquet on the bedside table, so the flowers’ best angle is shown to the bed’s occupant. Royal Flush carefully tucks their covers in over them.

Charon takes a picture with his tablet.

He forgot to turn off his flash.

Yuu cracks their eyes open...

To see seven adults looming over their bed in masks that resemble the ink from the overblots that haunt the Prefect’s nightmares.

Cue terrified screaming.

Snake Charmer lunges forward instinctively to cover Yuu’s mouth—

It’s only thanks to Poison Queen yanking him back that he doesn’t end up with an arrow in the shoulder.

Several more follow the first one through the window above the prefect’s cot, cold iron sharp and perfectly aimed to seriously maim if the supervillains don’t immediately get away from the screaming teenager. Rook was lax in protecting the Trickster after VDC ended, assuming there was no more danger after Roi du Poison’s overblot was saved. He will not make that mistake again.

The infirmary doors burst open, a younger Yuuken in a sleep-rumpled uniform barging in from where he decided to sleep outside because Ramshackle felt too empty and quiet to bear, but was forbidden from staying in the infirmary himself. He only has a pillow, but he brandishes it at the strange adults, fully willing to defend his dorm mate in whatever way he can.

The vanguard appears in a flurry of bats though, too many to fight off, small and vicious and furious. Their commander materializes in the center if the swarm, hovering over the head of Yuu’s cot, pink eyes brimming with a cold rage that makes his small and cute form look like it’s bursting at the seams holding something much older and angrier back. He opens his mouth, fangs long and glistening—

Only to stop short at the sight of one of the supervillains. “Malleus? Malleus Draconia?”

Tsunotaro nods warily.

“Wh-What in Twisted Wonderland are you wearing??”

Tsunotaro ducks his head like a chastened child. “I could say the same thing.” He mutters sullenly.

From there the lights get turned on, and the seven supervillains are made to explain themselves to the sleep-deprived students and staff who trickle in to see what’s going on. All six dorm leaders and one vice dorm leader vanished from their beds, setting everyone on high alert until news of these...alternate versions spread.

It is very weird for the supervillains to see all their minions as teenagers (again in some cases). It is only surpassed by how weird it is for everyone else to see their dorm heads and vice head all grown up and adult, even if they are dressed weird.

Ortho still wants to shoot them with a beam until they bring back his nii-san. Luckily Charon is able to convince him that Idia should be fine if he’s in Charon’s lair—he’s got plenty of the latest games, manga and tech for him to play with, so that should keep him occupied for a while.

Sebek is in a state of Malleus awe. He has shut down and will not restart. Silver has taken to pinching himself just to make sure this isn’t a Lilia’s cooking induced fever dream, while Lilia himself scolds Tsunotaro that he raised him better than to go around watching people sleep like that! Tsunotaro tries to use the “but I’m a supervillain” excuse, only for Lilia to shoot back “and I’m a war criminal in some nations, what’s your point?”

King is enjoying watching the overgrown lizard get scolded. Now if only the tiny Ruggie would stop asking him what injury the eyepatch is for, and making remarks about how embarrassing it would be if it were totally pointless—King does not pay his adult self so much to put up with this shit. The baby Jack also needs to stop demanding to know if his adult minion self can pull a sled faster than a moose or something...

Jade and Floyd are attempting to wind up the adult Octo Dealer, trying to see how much they can get away with compared with the normal Azul. Octo Dealer is legitimately at a loss as to how this world’s Azul doesn’t keep them in line without letting them turn to a crime or two. Then he learns about Azul’s contract business and feels a pang of commiseration and understanding.

Poison Queen, Royal Flush, and Snake Charmer are unpleasantly shocked when their dorms address them by their respective secret identities in front of their fellow supervillains out of the blue.

Poison Queen has to put up with King’s uncontrolled laughter as he finally understands the full extent of the incident with White Neige so long ago, while Tsunotaro tries to tell him he liked Schoenheit in his role as the evil dragon prince in the GaoGao dramatization. Royal Flush is about two seconds away from throttling Octo Dealer if the bastard doesn’t stop trying to make a deal to guarantee his mother doesn’t learn about her son’s private activities. Snake Charmer’s just glad his civilian identity flies under the radar enough that Charon has to try and look him up to understand who he is (and fails because he’s not on school wifi and his cellular data is bust).

Poison Queen is also getting a headache from Rook rhapsodizing about how his villain form is another, enhanced mode of beauty he is fortunate to lay eyes upon, as if he hadn’t been willing to skewer Poison Queen along with the rest of the supervillains five minutes ago. He’s at least able to amuse himself by letting Epel run away with his speculations about how he’s the buff hyper-masculine muscle for Poison Queen.

Kalim is crying that Jamil had to resort to becoming a villain in his home world! He must be so sad if he has to do that! He’s mildly cheered up when Snake Charmer tells him they work together on schemes, and that Snake Charmer is actually reasonably happy with his chosen vocation—and then he begins panicking that Jamil will like that world so much, he won’t want to come back.

Royal Flush is glad his counterpart at least has good people around to look after him, even if it is odd to have young versions of Trey and Cater trying to mother hen him despite the fact that he’s the older one now. At least Ace and Deuce acting up seems more fitting now considering their age than it ever did on their adult selves.

Ace huffs a sigh and leans on Yuu’s shoulder. “This is a mess, huh Prefect?”

“You said it.” Yuu replies. “I just wanna sleep forever.”

The supervillains go still.

“I’m sorry,” Snake Charmer says carefully. “But isn’t Enma-san the Prefect?”

“No?” Yuuken replies, confused. “Yuu’s the prefect of Ramshackle Dorm. I’m their vice— or would be, if we had any other students apart from them, me, and Grim.”

Octo Dealer laughs, sounding slightly strained. “Ah, apologies, but you see, that isn’t possible. It can’t be. Yuu isn’t—”

“But I am the prefect, Azul-senpai.” Yuu the Prefect says. “I’ve–I’ve always been the prefect.”

There’s a stunned silence.

Royal Flush places his head in his hands. “What the fuck.”

Back in the Supervillain AU universe, Yuu the Reporter sneezes sharply while trying to wrangle five frightened teenagers, one frightened-but-playing-tough twenty year old, and one confused however-old-he-is-but-younger-than-Tsunotaro fae.

They wonder what the chill down their spine is.

[bamboobrat]

succession s3 e9 recap: what am i going to do with a soul anyway? 1/6

i'm going to hurl. i'm going to scream. i would like to cry, but i'm medicated.

i can't believe this season has come to an end. and WHAT AN END!

it's been an absolute delight to write recaps this season. a weekly highlight in the midst of winter and covid.

mere hours after finishing episode 9, our government alerted us that we will be heading into another lockdown. i will be spending my time drunk on zoom, talking about succession. if anyone is interested, hmu on discord.

now.... back to the recap. it is going to be a long one, because i have so many theories and thoughts and also i can't go outside anymore:)

logan is reading a weird, morbid children's book to his grandson while telling both iverson and the audience that kendall was fine in the end.

he didn't drown, guys. but maybe by the end of this episode he wishes he had...

logan screams out for gerri and i'm SO ANGRY WITH THAT MAN AND SO ANGRY WITH ROMAN WHO SAYS SHE'S A GOOD PAL FOR TAKING THE HIT FOR THEM.

fuck you, roman. fuck you and your dickpics.

you'll see i feel all of the emotions this episode in relation to roman. in this first monopoly scene (yes, they are playing monopoly), that feeling is rage.

tom is on the up and up and leaves the game of monopoly to get interviewed because he is apparently successful now. oh, what selling your soul to logan can do.

shiv is clearly surprised that tom is doing something well.

and she is surprised that you're not allowed to cheat in monopoly.

the roys don't play by the rules, willa.

roman treats kerry like his own personal staff and i want to stab him in the eye with a piece from monopoly.

kerry says she'll have to go get the kids menu. love that for her.

(i also have what i think is a GREAT theory concerning her coming up)

despite dickpicgate, gerri is still somehow part of logan's inner circle. he still respects her more than he does all his kids put together, i think. suck on that, roman.

kendall shows up and looks like death and is reminded that he tried to drown himself. he blames it on having had a few too many.

i'm not convinced. the kendall brown era depresses me.

gerri is still there and she looks great. i don't really have much more to add.

something something something business related. gojo isn't a safe bet anymore and they need to go back to mattson's to chat.

roman asks if he should join him and logan says no. then shiv offers and logan quickly changes his mind. so it's roman and daddy on a day trip to switzerland to talk to some swede, i guess.

you'd think these people don't have phones.

what they do have, however, is

HELICOPTERS!!!!!! <3 succession vibe: check

part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, part 6

[peppersonironi]

Batfam/Avengers Crossover Chapter One: Arrival

Yo, this has been on Ao3 for a while and people seem to really love it, So I thought I’d post it here! Chapter below the cut.

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Category: Gen Fandoms: Batman - All Media Types, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types Relationships: Selina Kyle/Bruce Wayne, Natasha Romanov & Damian Wayne, Clint Barton & Cassandra Cain, Tim Drake & Peter Parker, Peter Parker & Tim Drake & Duke Thomas, Pamela Isley/Harleen Quinzel, Tim Drake/Kon-El | Conner Kent, Dick Grayson/Wally West, Roy Harper/Koriand'r/Jason Todd, Characters: Bruce Wayne, Selina Kyle, Jason Todd, Dick Grayson, Tim Drake, Damian Wayne, Cassandra Cain, Stephanie Brown, Barbara Gordon, Justice League (DCU), Alfred Pennyworth, Tony Stark, Steve Rogers, Natasha Romanov (Marvel), Clint Barton, Thor (Marvel), Bruce Banner, Peter Parker, Alfred the Cat (DCU), Bat-Cow (DCU), Goliath (DCU), Selina Kyle's Cat Isis, Kate Kane (DCU), Duke Thomas, Additional Tags: Batbrothers (DCU), Avengers Meet The Batfam, MCU/Batfam crossover, Crossover, no beta we die like robins, rated T for Jason's language, I bleeped it out though. Just to be safe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, canon? What's canon?, Deaf Clint Barton,Deaf Character, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Happy Batfamily (DCU), Birdflash and joyfire are implied/referenced,

Summary:

The Avengers find themselves in an alternate universe where none of them exist. Instead, there is a different group of heroes: The Justice League. They decide to work together to get the Avengers home. But not not everything is instantaneous, so the Avengers need a place to stay. The only place available is Wayne Manor.

Que Batfamily shenanigans!

Multi-chapter fanfic, with some one shots that go along with the plot thrown in.

Notes:

This is my first time writing anything with the Avengers - especially a deaf!clint - and the Batfam, so I apologize if anything is doc. Constructive criticism is appreciated!

This is mainly comic DCU with Movie Avengers (Set after the first avengers movie, plus Spiderman, cause I can ;-)

Crack! Bang! There was a flash of blindingly bright light, followed by a huge explosion.

"Wha- where are we?"

Tony Stark looked over to Peter who had been the first to speak. Crap, the kid had come here too. But wherever here was, he did not know.

Tony, Steve, Hulk, Thor, Clint, Peter, and Natasha stood in a loose clump at the center of a smoking crater. The sky was cloudy  and dark, and they appeared to be at least five miles outside of a big city, judging from the buildings in the distance. There was also a highway filled with streaming cars a couple of miles to Tony’s right.

“This isn’t right,” He muttered, opening his faceplate. Where were the sunny tropical trees that housed the compound of Anagnorisis - weird name, he knew - who was some D-list villain who thought some slightly advanced tech made them a world-conqueror. But Tony was beginning to think that those guns were a bit stranger and more advanced than he had previously believed.

“Tell me about it,” replied Steve. “Any idea where we are? Was it some sort of teleportation gun that was shot at us? This looks nothing like the Amazon.”

Before anyone could speak, Tony received a notification. Multiple incoming objects were approaching, fast . With the exception of the second fastest, they seemed to be airborne. “Multiple incomings, perhaps hostile. Most are flying. And they aren’t missiles. I think people ? But -”

“Who are you?”

Suddenly the first object arrived, and Stark was right. It was a black haired man in a blue skin tight suit with a red “S” on it and a flowing red cape. It would look ridiculous if he wasn’t glaring daggers at the group while flying .

He was joined almost immediately by another man, this time wearing an all red bodysuit with a lightning bolt on the chest and cowl. He was not flying though. He stopped in front of them swinging his arms as lightning dissipated. He had run there.

Next came a woman dressed in the colors of the american flag, with golden cuffs, tiara, and lasso by her side. She came with a man in a green, white, and black skin tight suit with some sort of symbol - perhaps a lantern? - on his chest. He also wore a green ring and black domino mask with white lenses on his face. They were both joined by another, a split second later. This was by far the strangest arrival. He was completely bald, with green skin and red eyes. He wore navy blue pants and cape, with only a red “X” over his chest. All three were floating.

“Who are you?” The blue and red man repeated.

Tony scoffed. Was this guy serious? “We’re the Avengers, obviously.”

The group shared a look. “Is that some new kind of villain group? I swear to all that is good and holy if I need to deal with another group who think they can rule the world, I. Will. Quit.” This time the man who spoke was the runner.

Steve replied, confusion clear on his face. “We’re not villains! We’re the Avengers; Earth’s mightiest heroes!”

Instead of coming to their senses, the strangely dressed newcomers laughed .

“You do realize you are speaking to members of the Justice League?” The woman spoke, her lips pursed.

“The who now?”

“Be quiet Kid, we don’t know what we’re dealing with.” Tony spoke to Peter. He was getting more worried by the second. Something was seriously wrong.

“Dealing with?” The green dressed man frowned, clearly suspicious of the Avengers. He started to fidget with his ring. “Well, since you don’t seem to know, let me enlighten you.” He gestured to each of his companions. “Superman, son of Krypton. Wonder Woman, Amazonian Princess. The Flash, fastest man alive. Martian Manhunter, well, a martian. And Me, Green Lantern. Member of the Green Lantern Core.”

Well, that explained everything. Not.

“We do not know you, strangers.” Thor spoke this time. “Perhaps you leave us be, our green friend over here gets frustrated easily.” He pointed to Hulk, who was breathing heavily.

The green man - martian, apparently - spoke for the first time. “Not until you tell us who you are and why you are in a smoking crater near His city.”

“His?” Clint clearly did not like the way the martian spoke of this character. To be honest, Stark didn’t either.

This got the most surprised reactions from the five. They looked at each other, and Tony could have sworn there was a hint of fear in their faces.

“Oh, He is so not going to like that.” Green Lantern said.

“Combined with the fact that we ditched Him.” The Flash cringed. Then looked worried again. “Yo, green grape, you okay.

The Hulk’s breathing was growing heavier, his face contorted into that of utter rage.

“Uh-oh,” Steve said.

“I . . . Not . . . GRAPE!” Hulk roared as he charged the The Flash who nimbly dodged. Superman went down to intercede, and just got punched by the Hulk. Though it did not seem to physically bother him, he was clearly angry.

Tony shut his face plate and moved forward, intending to stop the fight, but he only got attacked by the martian. Peter jumped forward to help, and soon everyone was fighting.

Thor was pitted against the Wonder Woman, and they seemed evenly matched.  Black Widow was against The flash, and despite his incredible speed she seemed to be almost winning. Both Hawkeye and Captain America were battling Green Lantern.

No one seemed to have the upper hand, which worried Tony. These people were tough. If they couldn’t beat them . . . he didn’t know what would happen.

Peter didn’t seem to share his worry though. He instead seemed to be having fun. Tony could tell the kid was smiling beneath his mask, and his body language screamed hyper and happy. He seemed to get that way whenever they fought together, and a small part of Tony was filled with a sense of parental pride.

The fight seemed endless, no one gaining traction. Until something incredible happened. Thor threw Mjolnir directly at his opponent, and instead of being knocked down like everyone else, she caught the hammer. Every Avenger - even the Hulk - immediately froze, catching the attention of the newcomers.

“This is a very well crafted weapon, though a bit clunky,” Wonder Woman said as she tossed the hammer from one hand to the other. She paused, seeing their reactions.

“You are worthy.” Thor spoke with disbelief and a tint of resignation in his voice.

“Pardon?” Superman spoke, his frown apparent.

“Only those worthy can lift Mjolnir - my hammer. She clearly can, which means that you are trustworthy.”

*****

Five minutes of somewhat confused conversation later, they had reached an uneasy truce. Neither spoke much at first, but they soon began to compare notes. Apparently They both believed themselves to be the protectors of Earth, which brought on a bout of argument before Peter stepped in.

“Woah hold on, calm down. Something is clearly up, so there’s no need to argue!”

Wonder Woman looked contemplative. “How old are you boy, you seem young.”

Peter bristled. “I’m 15, and I’ve been a superhero for a while now, so I’m not inexperienced!”

Green Lantern laughed. “That’s not what she met, kid. We aren’t going to tell you how old you need to be to fight crime. The amount of we work with, and some even younger than you . . .” He shook his head and laughed. Then he realised how he had sounded. “I mean, we don’t force them, it's up to each individual to make that choice for themselves. Well, with the mentor’s approval of course.”

Natasha furrowed her brows. “How young are some of these kids?” Tony knew she had a thing against child soldiers, so he wasn’t surprised she was disapproving.

Green Lantern looks to the Flash. “How old is Robin at this point? 9?”

Flash laughed. “Naw, that little devil is 11. He was very adamant on that fact when he threatened me with his katana.” He shook his head.

Green Lantern laughed. “Yeah, most of the others are teenagers. Robin is the youngest, and I’d say most deadly, but Red Hood . . .”

“The Dark Knight really does have a problem,” Flash said.

His last comment made Green Lantern freeze. They both looked at each other then turned to Peter.

“Kid, stay away from The Dark Knight.” Green Lantern says.

“Yeah, if He sees you, there’s no way you’ll ever leave.”

“He’s the most dangerous man on earth,” Green Lantern adds.

“Guys, stop. You’re scaring him.” Superman looks disappointedly at the two heroes who Tony pegged as the trouble makers of the group. This idea was further cemented in Tony when they started laughing. Despite this, he decided to keep Peter as far away from this supposed Dark Knight as possible.

“Speak of the devil, he’s on his way.” Superman says this with a smile, then he cringes. “And we’re going to get an earful alright. Ten minutes ahead of him is a big deal apparently.”

In a moment. Tony got an alert that something was approaching. Fast. Soon he saw a large black military type armoured car fly down the highway from the city and off the road. It zoomed toward them.

It was a sight indeed to see the menacing black car swerve and expertly stop a few yards from the group. The top opened and a dark form shot straight up before landing in a kneeling position in front of them. The figure rose, and Tony got the first good look at him. He was a tall man with a broad chest and shoulders, dresses in complete black. There was a bat-like symbol on his chest, also in black. He wore a cape that flowed around menacingly. His face was covered by a cowl with pointed ears, like that of an owl, or perhaps a bat. The only part of his costume that was not black was the dark gold utility belt at his waist. Altogether, he was utterly frightening.

Tony took a step forward, effectively blocking Peter, who scoffed.

“Batman,” Superman said, a smile on his face.

Batman fixed the most impressive and terrifying glare upon the man that Stark had ever seen. “You broke protocol by going ahead of me. You are in my territory Superman. And you know that I cannot fly or run at the speed of sound.” He fixed his glare on the rest of his group who all reacted with either flinches or sheepish shrugs.

Batman grunted before looking at the Avengers. He sized each of them up, staying longest on Stark. Tony felt as if his entire being was being stripped away under the scrutiny.

“Alternate Dimension jumpers, not by choice I’m assuming.”

He spoke so simply that it took a minute for Tony to react. Even then, the man was already on his way back to his car.

“We’re near Gotham, let’s regroup at the Cave.”

Tony didn’t know what this Cave was, but he wasn’t sure he liked it. “Are you the Dark Knight?” He asked, before he lost his nerve.

The man looked immediately at the Flash and Green Lantern, who looked both scared and amused. Their sheepish smirks and chuckles dissipated when Batman looked away and back to Tony.

“The Dark Knight, The World’s Greatest Detective, The Caped Crusader, The Batman. All are titles I have earned. See you at the cave.”

And with that he hopped in his car and sped off back toward the gloomy city beyond.

[eat0crow]

Cliche but can I request flower shop owner Marinette with gang boi Jason?

Dear sweet Anon, you have no idea how weak I am for cliche tropes. I took some liberties here seeing as Red Hood is already a sorta gang leader and just used that! I hope you like my rambly headcanons! I had so many ideas for this au that I really had to try to hold back.

Ground Zero

1) There’s a flower shop right on the edge of Jason’s territory that’s essentially become an urban legend.

No one is actually sure how exactly it’s still standing, it borders two rival gangs, Red Robin’s usual patrol route, and Jason’s terf. There have been at least three gang wars raging on the same street, yet still Miraculous stands as the one neutral spot in all of Gotham. It’s a cute shop, don’t get Jason wrong, but the only miraculous thing about it is that no one has even tried to claim it.

He brings it up once, the keyword once. Because the shop has stood as neutral ground for at least a century, and no one wants to be the one to break that streak. The shop is also cursed apparently, or at least protected by some malevolent force. The building lost a shingle once in the ’80s to a member of the False Facers, and the very next day saw Gotham PD hauling in at least two-thirds of the Black Mask’s operation.

Which is probably exaggerated, right? None of the minor drug lords under Jason want to get into it. The Black Mask doesn’t want to get into it. (He clams up the moment Jason tells him the shop re-opened, apparently, it had closed a year after the shingle incident)

Miraculous, as well as the parking lot it sits on, is the ground zero of Gotham. No crime goes into the lot, no crime goes out. The pots are never tipped over, no one tries to steal even a single rose from the display. No one touches the cute building, even if it’s painted an obnoxious pastel pink that stands out like a sore thumb in the Gotham night. At least, as far as everyone knows—Jason is still kinda skeptical about that. Really, it’s the perfect set up for a smuggling ring.

Tim is there sometimes as Red Robin. All the time really, at least twice a week. Jason has caught him more than once staked out with a pair of binoculars in the windows. A couple of times he even catches him helping the clerk repot plants. Which, yeah, Jason’s met Tim a time or two, he doesn't make a habit of sticking around his family, but the kid never came off as the gardening type.

It’s especially funny though, to see the pictures of Red Robin in a pink apron behind the counter trending on twitter.

He’s tried to go in a handful of times, to offer the owner his protection and whatnot. But each time he tries he forgets what he’s doing before he even turns the handle. Whoever runs this place must have the best luck in the world because this shit has been happening since it was built.

You’re a wayward gang member attempting to talk to the owner, you end up forgetting what you’re doing mid-action, and only start to remember five days later. The building is damaged, so is whatever scheme you’ve been planning. Actually in the shop when you decide to talk business, nope, it’s time for the most inconvenient phone call of your life.

“Why Dick, did you have to call me? I was so close.”

“Jason, are you crying?”

“I finally made it into the door. I’ve been trying for months to get in. But no, your ass gets stuck in your suit, and suddenly it’s time to call Jason. Nope, lose my number.”

2) Apparently everyone, including the fucking demon spawn, has been to Miraculous.

They all get kind of quiet when he brings it up though, Alfred actually leaves the room. Jason may have issues with Bruce, and Dick, and Tim, and don’t even get him started on Damian, but Alfred’s always been the neutral party for them. He’s always been the one they go to, no matter what. Upsetting Alfred is a capital offense. Jason feels...shitty about it.

“Alfred used to go, and get a bouquet there every weak after you died,” Dick tells him, folding his hands together, and settling in. Tim looks uneasy, and far more awkward than usual—which is saying something. “He’d get some white lilies to put on your grave. I went with him a few times, but he hasn’t been back since. I think the shop reminds him of it. When you were...you know.”

“Oh.” Jason really feels like an asshole.

“Yeah, I can’t say I’ve been back either.” Dick rubs the back of his neck like he’s admitting to something secret. “It used to be on my patrol route, back when I was first Robin. It always used to creep me out so I'd avoid it.”

“Really, Grayson,” Damian says with the same air of condescending superiority he always has.

“Hey, back in those days it was an abandoned building. The one that the witch owned! I don’t know about you, but I don’t fuck with witches. No thank you! I like my limbs.”

Jason might actually remember something like that, it’s hard. Like all the memories from before are hard, but he thinks back to being a kid. To growing up in a scummy neighborhood, and hearing people talk about the witching house that no one was allowed near. The one spot Squatters and Junkies, no matter how desperate, wouldn’t step foot in.

“It’s not all that bad,” Tim says. “My mom remembered when it was open the first time around. Mr. Fu was really nice, he used to let her play in the pots.”

“That aside,” Dick says fixing Jason with a half-crazed look. “It re-opened like a month after you died, so yeah, I went there with Alfred a lot. Like once a month a lot. The shop has this thing. You go in, and you’re instantly wrapped up in this nostalgic warm-fuzzy-reliving-my-childhood feeling. It’s weird.”

Tim stares. “I think that’s a you problem. I go in all the time, and yeah, the shop has a nice vibe, but it’s more like a you’re-safe-here thing.”

“You’re both, as usual, utterly wrong.” Damian sniffs. “If anything, the shop feels like coming home.”

The entire table turns to stare at him with wide unbelieving eye’s. Jason can hardly believe his ears...did Damian really just say something like that. The shocked look on even Dick’s face goes a long way in saying just how much no one can believe something so well adjusted came out of the demon spawn’s mouth.

Damian’s blush is priceless, his stutter—yes it’s a stutter no matter how much he denies it—is even better. “I mean to say. It feels familiar. The shop, you walk in, even for the first time, and you feel like you’ve walked through the door hundreds of times.”

Which, huh, because. “I always thought it felt like a warning. You step one foot onto the lot, and it feels like the walls themselves are daring you to start shit.”

3) Despite the hype that's built up around Jason going in, his first visit—No, Marinette that one didn’t count I literally just turned the door handle—is really anticlimactic.

It works like this, Roy asks him to pick up flowers, because Valentine's Day is today, and Kori will know what he's doing the second he tries to make up some lame excuse. Jason will never know how the man could ever be such a bad liar. As far as Kori knows, Jason is doing a typical supply run. Which, he is doing a supply run, even if the thought of cheesy romantic comedy cliches makes him sick.

All the same, Jason takes his role as best bro seriously, even though he has doubts about being able to complete this task. If his previous 52 failures are anything to go by, Miraculous hates him. There are only so many times a man can get maimed before he comes to the conclusion that the building itself has it out for him.

The hornets were what sold him. Not the bees, the hornets.

So with the air of a man who has just been sent out to war, Jason puts on this thickest jacket, his gloves, leaves his phone behind—even if attempt 34 taught him that was a really stupid idea—and braces himself to step inside. Maybe it’s because this is the first time Jason has gone into the flower shop for actual flowers. Maybe his luck is improving. Maybe...maybe the universe is setting him up for something even worse. Either way, it’s the first time the hair on the back of his neck doesn’t stand up the moment his foot hits the floor.

The girl at the counter is cute, just around his age with the bluest eyes he’s ever seen. That says something, because Jason has met Superman. That man's eyes are literally otherworldly. But Marinette’s, Jason has a suspicion this is the Mari Tim is always talking about, her eyes look like they’re glowing.

Jason realizes he’s been standing in the doorway staring, way too hard, when Marinette, that’s what her name tags says, clears her throat. With an air of confidence—Jason is a firm believer in the inherent power of bull shitting your way to success—he walks up to the counter.

“I’m looking for a bouquet,” Her stare is piercing and Jason swears it burns all the way down to his soul. “For Valentine's day. One with roses, and all that shit.”

Marinette huffs, and points to a depressingly empty display shelf. “You, and just about everyone else. Did you place an order?”

“Did I place an..” Jason trails off under his breath. “Please tell me you have something with the name Roy Harper in your registry.”

Marinette takes a moment to glance down, to ruffle through her papers. “I’m sorry, I only have one left, and its got the last name Grayson on it.”

Jason sees his life flash devastatingly fast across his eyes. It ends with him being torn to shreds by one of Roy’s homemade bombs when he comes back empty-handed. There won’t even be enough of him left to throw in a Lazarus pit. Nope, he’ll be sidewalk chalk.

So really he feels no guilt in fleshing his most charming smile, the one that always makes the old ladies coo, and saying. “Perfect, I’m here to pick that one up.”

Marinette takes one look at him draped over the counter, and bursts out laughing. Today is not a good day for Jason’s ego. “I thought you were Roy Harper.”

“No, I’m Dick Grayson.” The words are bitter in his mouth. “But the bouquet is for my friend, and I wasn’t sure what name he put it under.”

“Oh,” Marinette says, a smirk playing across her lips. “You think I was born yesterday. Sorry hon, but you’re not an alternative pick up, and I'll need to see some ID.”

“You expect me to show ID for flowers?..... Really?”

“Yes, I expect you to show ID when you’ve given me two different names, and those flowers are worth over a hundred dollars,” Marinette bites back. “Sorry, but that’s been paid in full, and I’m not going to lose a customer.”

“Okay,” Jason says, taking two crisp bills out of his wallet. It hurts because Roy gave him a twenty, and Jason will always be a cheap bastard at heart. Nevertheless, he likes Kori, she deserves this, even if Roy, who will be begging for mercy later, does not. He has to very consciously remove his hand after sliding them over. The urge to snatch them back is strong. “Listen, I really need that fucking bouquet. I am prepared to pay you double the price Grayson paid.”

Marinette actually looks offended. “Just because everyone else in this city is okay with being bribed doesn’t mean I am. You can keep your money.”

“Everyone has a price.” Jason gives her a look. “Name it.”

“Well, I don’t,” Marinette snaps, reaching down for her phone. “You can take your money, and fuck off. Before I get Red Robin over here to flush you out.”

“And here I was, thinking this was neutral territory.”

“It is.” Marinette stiffens. “This place isn’t under Red Robin’s protection, but he’s still my friend. I won’t hesitate to get him over here.”

“How about this then. The bouquet for protection. I can get Red Hood to claim this place.”

“What part of neutral didn’t you get?” Marinette asks, leaning over the counter and getting into his space. From here, just inches apart, her eyes are iridescent. Blue light toxically dripping out of a cracked glow stick. “Miraculous doesn’t get involved in your shit. You all want to wage war on each other? You want to pedal drugs? You want to smuggle shit? That’s cool, but you keep that away from my fucking shop. Miraculous doesn't get involved, you can all kill each other outside.”

She’s kind of terrifying up close. If Jason wasn’t convinced she would disembowel him, he’d be tempted to kiss her. Consent, however, is sexy as fuck.

Jason knows when he’s fighting a losing battle. “Is there any way. Anyway in hell, that I can get my hands on those fucking flowers?”

“Yeah,” Marinette says sitting back down. “You can call Grayson, and have him give them to you. But aside from that, I’ve seen a lot of shit. Sorry buddy, but you can’t buy me or scare me into anything.”

“I’ll call the sorry bastard up right now.”

“I’m not giving you his number.”

“I don’t need you to give me his number, I have it right…” Jason trails off, suddenly he remembers leaving his phone behind.

4) Jason is a petty asshole who has learned that the secret to getting into the flower shop is to think flowers.

Listen, Jason had to make do with drugstore flowers, and Roy’s disappointed puppy eyes for a month after being kicked out on his ass. To add insult to injury, Tim tracked him down two days later, as he was mid drug bust, to tell him to stay away from Marinette.

Okay, it’s not like he hadn’t already been planning to go back, frankly, the shop is a strategic masterpiece. Half of its cred as an urban legend comes from the fact that whoever claimed it would be given an instant power-up. It’s the One Ring to rule them all. Jason has to go back, and convince Marinette that the Red Hood is the one to ally with. He has to.

So yeah he’s going to go back anyway, but now he really wants to. Because Tim, his replacement, dared him. Maybe a bigger person would back down, what with all the external forces building up around the shop, the legend, the neutrality, the many failed attempts, Tim somehow having a vested interest…well, Jason has never been the bigger person.

Not by a long shot.

The first three times he attempts to return, Marinette meets him at the door. She’s quick about flipping the sign from open to closed. Jason, the first time, had tried turning the handle, whatever magic makes that building hate him, makes it lock up the second the sign changes. It’s not Marinette, Jason watched her. Her hands never touched the lock.

The first person he complains to is Roy, of course, who actually gives him the idea. Roy is a genius sometimes. So attempt four ends with him buying a single sunflower. It’s gaudy as all hell, and also the first thing his hand touched after he spent an hour trying to get Marinette’s attention.

She apparently will only talk to him in the brief thirty seconds she spends cashing him out. Which, yeah, that’s fair.

And so it begins. Every day except Tuesday, the only day the shop is closed, Jason goes in, buys a single sunflower, and talks up the Red Hood.

Even if Miraculous never comes into his fold, this will all have been worth it just to have seen the look on Tim’s face the first time he comes in just as Jason's buying his daily flower.

There’s a small hole burned into his wallet, but Kori loves sunflowers.

Jason’s not the only regular, but he’s the most frequent, by the end of his fourth month he knows all the other regular’s sob stories, and everyone and their mother thinks he's sweet on Marinette. That may be the kind of true by this point. He’s worn her down to where she will talk to him as he browses. Even if she also complains that, “It’s pointless. I already have your sunflower set aside.”

Month six marks a distinct turning point in their relationship. He was upgraded from General-Creep to Recurring-Menace to Okay-I-Guess-We’re-Sorta-Friends-Now a while ago. Month six is the month he gains the title of Permanent-Fixture. It’s marked by him walking in and Marinette forcing an apron on him.

“I told Red Robin when he started coming by, that if he was going to hang around than he needed a reason to. So if you want to hang in Miraculous you’re going to work in Miraculous.”

“Unpaid labor is illegal.”

“No, it’s not. It’s just called volunteering.”

5) Getting together actually takes a while.

Jason is relentless when it comes to his recruitment pitches, but he has standards for fuck's sake. No woman actually enjoys it when men flirt with them on the clock. There’s a whole power imbalance thing that makes him sick to his stomach.

Sure Marinette can take care of herself. She’s a force of nature. Jason had offered to help carry potting soil for her once. One time. That was before he saw her lift the thirty pound bag over her shoulder like an empty sack of rice. Marinette can take care of herself, she just won’t.

Jason has seen more than one scummy fuck harass her. She gets quiet….she loses her confidence, and it’s just so wrong to see a person as strong as Marinette look small. He’s not sure what about blatant flirting and bad pick up lines bothers her so much but—Marinette can never know, and they’ll never tell her that the Red Hood tracked each one of them down. Threats are beautiful things. They just make it all come together.

He is a gentleman, even after he starts working with her. While co-workers flirting with each other isn’t as bad, it’s still kind of awful. The problem is that Marinette is always working, she never leaves Miraculous. Even on her off days.

So Jason, never finds the right time to ask her out himself. All the regulars already think they’re dating. His brothers think they’re dating. Alfred, Alfred thinks they’re dating after walking into the shop one time since Jason’s resurrection. He’s thankful his brothers gave him a heads up—not. Alfred walks in to find him behind the counter with a fluffy pink apron on, even his refined British manners are tested. Jason just knows he’s laughing. He knows.

It happens like this, Jason teams up with Batman and Co. to help with a standard smuggling ring. Nothing difficult, the only reason it should have required all of them was because of the shipment size. It should have been easy. It had been easy.

That is until the Joker shows up, Jason freezes, and takes a bullet straight to the stomach.

Stomachs bleed...a lot.

He doesn’t remember much of what happened after that. Stomachs also hurt a lot, and it’s hard to think coherently when you’re in excruciating pain. Jason, blacked out shortly after Dick started putting pressure on the wound. For future reference, while stopping the bleeding might be important, it hurts like fucking hell.

Marinette is the first thing he sees when he opens his eyes. She’s hunched over herself in the plastic chair next to his bed. Someone, probably Dick or Alfred, draped a blanket over her. She looks vastly out of place, like the room itself is sucking the life out of her. The lighting makes her skin almost translucent.

The second thing he sees is the sunflowers covering every inch of the hospital room. There must have been a couple dozen, at least. It was probably closer to a hundred if not more. Despite the pain that comes with laughing, Jason can’t help himself.

His laughter alerts the nurse, who alerts his family. Apparently, they’ve all been camping out in the waiting room. Much comfier couches there. His family wakes Marinette, who turns her piercingly otherworldly eyes on him.

Marinette stays quiet through all his family’s fussing. She stays quiet even after that. All she does is stare. Jason doesn’t think she’s actually seeing him.

“I didn’t think I missed this many days,” Jason jokes, gesturing to the multitude of flowers wrapped around every available surface.

“No, you didn’t.” Marinette’s answer is curt. She’s distracted, Jason really wishes he knew what she was seeing.

“Not a fan of Hospitals?” Jason tries.

Marinette blinks. The cloudy look on her face disappearing as she shakes her head. “No, I really can’t stand them.”

“Me either.” Jason feels an intense desire to continue the conversation, if only to keep Marinette from closing up again. “You know, you didn’t have to visit me.”

“I wanted to,” Marinette says. “Your brother called, and told me what happened. I came by just after you were finishing up in surgery.”

“What about the shop?”

Jason has been working at Miraculous—volunteering because Marinette still doesn’t pay him—for months. He’s invested in the place now.

"It can be closed for a few days,” Marinette says, reaching over to take his hand. Jason lets her, he’s always hated hospitals. It's gotten worse since he came back. The comfort is welcome. “This is more important.”

Jason wants to say something, to take his shot, and ask her out. Because she’s just as important to him, but it feels wrong so, he settles with, “You’re a really good friend Marinette.”

He does his best to ignore the way the words choke him.

“I think,” Marinette starts, only to stop herself. There’s a moment of internal debate before she continues, “I think we both know we’re a little more than just friends.”

6) Jason never does claim Miraculous, it remains perfectly neutral, despite having the Bat-Family practically living out of the apartment upstairs.

“Hey, do you think now that we're dating you can convince Tim to come by out of costume?”

Jason blanks. “What?”

“Tim, do you think you can get him to stop dropping by as Red Robin so much. People are starting to think Miraculous has been claimed as part of Batman’s terf.”

Jason does the most logical thing he can think of. He buries his face in his hands, and groans. “Why did you have to figure it out?”

“Was I…not supposed to?”

“No, no you weren’t. How did you?”

“Jason, there’s only one person you hate as much as Tim, and that’s Red Robin. I’ve seen how you look at both of them. No one makes your eyes scream murder as much as he does. Not even Dick.”

“Oh God,” Jason says wiping a hand across his face. “Does that mean—”

“That I know you’re the Red Hood?” Marinette asks, cutting him off. “Hmm, I’ve known that for longer. Probably since you first started coming around consistently. At first, I thought you had like, the biggest boner for the guy, but then you seemed really into me and well, you talked him up way too much to either not have a crush on him or be him so, I connected the dots.”

[wonderfulworldofmichaelford]

Psycho Analysis: Jason Voorhees

(WARNING! He’s back! THE MAN BEHIND THE MASK!)

...ki ki, ki, ma ma ma...

The slasher subgenre of horror has plenty of villains, but the key to any great slasher movie (aside from quality kills) is having a memorable slasher who sticks in the mind of those who watch the film. You can’t just have some generic evil guy and expect the killer to be cool and memorable; you need to give them a fun gimmick. And in the scores of slashers who populated the 80s, there are few out there who are quite as legendary and iconic as Jason Voorhees. Jason is one of those few villains who, even if you’ve never seen a single one of his movies, you’d know on sight.

Even now, with him being absent from cinema for over a decade at the time of this writing due to legal disputes (though not from other mediums such as video games), Jason is still a household name, still remembered as one of the coolest, creepiest horror villains to come out of the 80s. In fact, I’d even go so far as to say Jason might be the greatest slasher villain of all time. So let’s take a look at the man behind the mask and see what we’ve got here.

Motivation/Goals: Jason as a villain is motivated by two main factors: a desire to make his mother proud, and a desire to get vengeance for how he was treated. The first few movies are all Jason taking out his anger over his mother’s death on anyone near Camp Crystal Lake. In earlier movies, he’d really only kill anyone who invaded his territory, but later sequels had him expand his killing range by going to Manhattan, Springwood, and even outer space. Basically, Jason is motivated by revenge against a world that persecuted him, and a desire to impress his mother. The simplicity of his motivations is actually a great strength, because it means there doesn’t need to be constant time in each new film adding on to Jason’s lore like they do with Freddy, Michael Meyers, and so on. Jason kills kids who have sex, that’s it. Simple, clean, effective, and a vehicle for cool kills.

Performance: There are a LOT of people who have put on the hockey mask throughout the franchise, but perhaps the most well-known name is Kane Hodder, the hulking actor who portrayed Jason in the seventh through the tenth films. He’s certainly the Jason that will spring to mind when thinking of Jasons, but he’s the obvious one. His actor in Freddy vs. Jason, Ken Kirzinger, was chosen because he had kind eyes and could tower over Freddy, and amusingly he actually appeared in Jason Takes Manhattan as a huge chef Jason tosses aside. Then of course we have Ari Lehman, the man who cameoed as Jason at the end of the first film in the Carrie-esque jump scare, most notable because he is so proud of his role that he named his punk rock/heavy metal band First Jason.

And these are just the few I wanted to highlight here; the original continuity is ten movies worth of actors playing Jason, and he even has multiple actors in some films.

Final Fate: It depends on the movie. His mortal life is ended by a young Tommy Jarvis in The Final Chapter, but then he comes back in Jason Lives as a zombie, a zombie who is only incapacitated until Jason Takes Manhattan where he is seemingly killed off for good by the nightly flooding of the Manhattan sewers with radioactive sludge (likely a safety measure against C.H.U.D.s). But then he comes back in Jason Goes to Hell where his original body ends up obliterated for most of the movie until the ending, but soon after he’s dragged right down to, you guessed it, Hell. But then comes Jason X, and he’s brought to space where he finally ends up obliterated for real by falling through the atmosphere of a planet and burning up. And this isn’t getting into the numerous deaths from games, comics, and so on; Jason is a man who is very hard to kill.

Best Scene: What does one pick for the best scene? His sleeping bag kill from VII? The liquid nitrogen kill from Jason X? The numerous amusing scenes he has when he actually reaches Manhattan in Jason Takes Manhattan? It’s a tough choice, but honestly. I might just have to go with his corn field rave massacre in Freddy vs. Jason. It’s just so damn cool.

Final Thoughts & Score: Jason Voorhees is one of the great early slasher villains and, most impressively of all, he managed a remarkable level of consistency until the very end, at least compared to some of is peers. Compare to Michael Meyers, who had to constantly be rebooted because filmmakers kept trying to find ways to humanize and explan his motivations to the point that franchise has a fractured timeline to rival the Zelda series, or Freddy Krueger, who deteriorated from a terrifying psychopath who treated killing like a game to a non-stop quip machine that spent more time slinging one-liners than kills. Jason, while certainly going through some odd phases – recall the time he was a weird demon worm that could surf between bodies, or the time he went to space and became a cyborg – never really lost sight of the things that truly made him effective as a character.

Yes, Jason is a silent antagonist, but he says a lot with his deeds and actions. He’s a killing machine, but he certainly isn’t mindless, and he usually seems to have some sort of ethics that perhaps we don’t understand, but Jason certainly does. For instance, in later films Jason does not hurt animals, and once he’s a zombie he doesn’t kill children either. A lot of this likely stems from Jason essentially being a child in a deformed man’s body, and this goes a long to making him an interesting, tragic figure. Jason almost certainly doesn’t understand what he’s doing is wrong, and if he does, he’s almost certainly too blinded by rage to care, especially after becoming a zombie.

I think the underlying tragedy of Jason simply being a monster who only wanted to please his beloved mother and violently lashes out at those he sees, through his warped perspective, as the ones to blame makes him an interesting and complex character… and here’s the great thing! Unlike other slasher villains, this is all established very early on, and rather than continue piling on more and more backstory, the series decides to throw Jason into interesting situations. This is a problem that befell his slasher sibling Freddy; as cool as Freddy managed to be, every new film added more and more convoluted backstory rather than trying to put Freddy into an interesting scenario he could have interesting kills in. And the less said about Michael Meyers, the better. But Jason? They gave him all he needed in the first two movies, made him a zombie in the sixth, and then spent the rest of the series getting weird and creative. Jason is a villain effective because his simple characterization and motivation means he can slip into any sort of situation, be it fighting a telekinetic girl, going to Manhattan, fighting Freddy Krueger, fighting Ash Williams, slaughtering camp counselors en masse, or going to space.

It should be incredibly obvious Jason is an 11/10. He’s a testament to what makes a slasher villain great and memorable: he has a simple yet flexible mindset that allows him to be thrust into a variety of situations, he has an iconic outfit, he has an awesome weapon of choice, and he is parodied, referenced, and known throughout the world to this day. He has killer video game appearances in the likes of Mortal Kombat X and his own Friday the 13th game, he has tons of comics including ones where he takes on Freddy, Ash Williams, Leatherface, and even Uber Jason, and despite the obnoxious legal battles currently keeping him from appearing in any media to any great extent, you’d be hard pressed to find a person without even passing knowledge of Jason.

Here’s a few interesting notes, though – a lot of shout outs to Jason have characters using a chainsaw, which as we all know is the tool of Leatherface. Jason uses a machete for the most part but is very versatile, but even so the closest he ever came to using anything remotely like a chainsaw was in VII, where he used a weed whacker. Jason also didn’t gain his iconic look until the third film; in the second movie, Jason wore a burlap sack over his head. And finally, there’s a bit of trivia I’m sure most are aware of by now: Jason was not the killer in the first or fifth films. In the first film, the killer was actually Jason’s mother, Pamela Voorhees, and the fifth film Jason was still kind of dead so a copycat killer named Roy Burns took his place. So hey, while we’re here, let’s talk about these Jason adjacent killers:

Pamela Voorhees is one of those rare female slasher villains, and the fact she is so absolutely amazing makes you wonder why there aren’t more. She’s basically to Friday the 13th what The Boss is to the Metal Gear Franchise – an all-important female figure whose actions completely and totally changed the course of history. Her quest to avenge her son’s death led to her slaughtering people at Camp Crystal Lake, which led to her death… but then it turns out her son had lived all along, and her death served only to make him into a violent, vengeful monster. Add on the fact that Pamela was using the Necronomicon Ex-Mortis on her son to empower him (supported by Jason Goes to Hell and Freddy vs, Jason vs. Ash), and Pamela is indirectly responsible for every murder in the series. Or perhaps even directly, if it really is her voice Jason hears in some of the movies and the Friday the 13th game. Betsy Palmer absolutely kills it in the role (pun intended), and it’s a shame she was annoyed by the role for years, though she apparently did eventually come around and embrace it. As one of the great ladies of horror, Pamela definitely earns a 10/10.

But now let’s take a look at the opposite end of the spectrum with Roy Burns. The idea of a Jason copycat killer is not entirely without merit, and for the most part, the movie is incredibly solid, with good kills on Roy’s part. The issue comes with the ultimate reveal of his identity, which turns the entire movie into an utterly convoluted mess that makes absolutely no sense. The lack of buildup of any kind, save for two brief scenes prior to his unmasking, makes the twist lack any sort of punch, and his reasoning for killing people is just absurd. Hell, he isn’t even targeting the one person responsible – that guy gets away with a jail sentence while Roy butchers innocent people!

 Basically, Roy fails at being an engaging replacement for Jason due to the film’s finale, which goes out of its way to undermine him and everything you just watched. It should come as no shock that he’s a 1/10. Still, unlike most villains with this rating, he does have a little bit of redemption due to being playable in the Friday the 13th game. You’re just controlling him as he kills without any worry about stupid backstory, so hey, I’ll give Roy that at least, and I can’t deny his mask is pretty sick.  

UPDATE: Ok, I was way too hard n Roy. Yes, his motivation is stupid and poorly explained, his killings are absolutely ridiculous and make no sense with his motivation, I still stand by all that... and yet, I’m watching this movie for creative kills, right? And boy does our boy Roy provide. He slaughters his way through these oneshot characters with gusto! I think I’m just still bitter he’s not Jason, but I like Season of the Witch even if Michael Meyers isn’t there, so maybe I’m just too harsh on Roy and his movie in general. I think his dumbass motivations hold him back, but I think the correct score for him is a 6/10. He is most certainly not abysmal enough for a one and I was really foolish to issue a score like that. Sometimes even I have trouble overcoming my biases.

It’s interesting, though, that both of these characters tend to be forgotten, overshadowed by Jason. In the intro of Scream, Drew Barrymore’s doomed character accidentally says Jason is the killer of the first film, rather than Pamela. And I think that while that is likely a common misconception, it’s less because Pamela is forgettable but more that Jason is so overwhelmingly cool that he overshadows anyone else in these films with few exceptions. Jason may very well be the greatest slasher villain of all time, and if you disagree, well, who won in Freddy Vs. Jason again, hmmm?

And more importantly, what slasher villain has an Alice Cooper song dedicated to him?

I rest my case.

[kneesheee]

a surprising adoption

             DAY THREE: OMEGAVERSE | [ACCIDENTAL BABY ACQUISTION]

It all started with Hermes.

Of course, it did.

He was the god of thievery.

He was also considered the god of speed.

When his nephew, Kyle, started hanging around those mortal speedsters. He was intrigued. Diana, Donna, and Cassie tended to keep him away from their mortal friends.

He never met anyone that was as fast as he was. Even Apollo didn’t count since he tended to beat his friend on occasions.

Hermes was only the god of speed. These speedsters embodied speed. With a mischievous smile on his face, Hermes set off to pull of his greatest heist yet.

The person up next was Apollo and Hephaestus. They each took one looked at the redheaded archer that Jason was friends with, and both went: “Adoption time.”

It was awkward for both when they appeared outside of Roy’s workshop. They stared blankly at each other before both dived for the door. The two wrestled with Apollo coming out of top when Roy half asleep and more than a little paranoid had one of his exploding arrows pointed at their faces.

The stance. The detailing of the weaponry. The fierce look in his eyes. The half brothers shared a glance before nodding their heads.

With a slow smirk dancing on their faces, they reached for the mortal and disappeared from the earthly plane.

The next person to go was the man of willpower himself.

Ares had taken one look at Hal and just knew.

He kneeled with broken fists and knees. A part still untamed. He denied his truth self because he couldn’t stand to cause his friends pain. Ares decided to help him. This little mortal. This little child.

He understood where he was coming. Being the personification of war itself. He knew how hard it was to push down the urges. Maybe that’s why he always admired the little solider. From the second he saw him next Kyle.

It wasn’t his so-called willpower to overcome fear. It was his willpower to be better. He could see it in his eyes the need to cause destruction… the need to let all his grief and anger out being held back by a stubborn mindset and a sense of duty.

Ares knew rage. And he knew how deadly it could be when not properly managed. It had taken Kyle a while to learn how to use a weapon filled with an emotion he rarely gets to see.

The man of willpower was staring into nothing when Ares came for him. He could feel how the man reacted. The need to fight was strong.

He turned towards the god slowly with his ring beginning to glow. Ares smiled at him with all teeth before reaching out and taking him away.

After all, Ares wondered the same thing every day.

When will my war be done?

Kyle had just made it back to Earth when the Justice League called for a meeting. He was surprised to see Jason there. He knew that Jason was still considered public enemy number one. Yet, the other demigod had a blanket wrapped around him as Diana and Donna comforted him. Green Arrow was sitting beside them with his head in his hands and Dinah rubbing circles into his back.

He wasn’t the only one looking miserable or worried. Jay Garrick, Max Mercury, and Iris West-Allen were all sitting together. The woman was still crying. Not too far away from them Nightwing was sitting stock stilled. The emotions that Kyle was getting from him were filled with worry and confusion and pain. Wonder Girl and Superboy were huddled together around Red Robin as they all looked blankly around the room.

When he and the others stepped into the room, all eyes fluttered towards them. Dread filled Kyle when Diana and Donna’s face pinched. No. The last time the two of them looked so broken and closed to crying was when Jason died. Kyle couldn’t lose anyone else.

Donna walked towards him slowly wrapping him into her arms, “Oh Kyle.” He was already shaking his head. No. “Kyle, Hal’s missing.”

Hal? Hal who was basically his mortal dad. Hal who listened to him bitch and complain about his Olympian family and teased him relentlessly about the crush he had on Jason. Hal who was the reason that he was introduced to this group of highly weird people that he loved all the same. Hal who trained with him on using the rings and laughed when he used it the way his family taught him. Hal who told him that no matter what… never suppress his emotions. They are what make him.

Hal?

He could feel John and Guy right behind him. He could sense Jessica and Simon moving closer to their group. “No. No. No,”

Superman stood up from his chair, “And he’s not the only one. Flash, Kid Flash, and Impulse were taken earlier today around 2 o’clock. Witnesses claim that it was streak of silver greenish light that snatched them away. And thanks to the Red Hood and Starfire, we’ve learned that Arsenal has also turned up missing. Taken directly from his workshop. Whoever taken him was good enough to not set off any alarms, but still decided that force entry was the key. We’ve only just realized that Hal was missing due to trying to reach him when witnesses also state that a bright blood red light taken him.”

Kyle could almost throw up. Two of his friends and Hal?

“Does anyone have any leads,” stated Batman as he gazed around the room. Kyle could sense the worry the man held for his children’s emotional state, but he did his best to shove them away. Donna led Kyle over towards Diana and Jason. Cassie huddled closer towards her effectively moving Superboy and Red Robin closer to their pile also.

[Neither Jason nor Kyle would admit how could it always felt to be around other godlings. Especially during times like this.]

The meeting dragged on and on. Jason had long ago zoned out. He was vibrating with worry about Roy. It was enough that only Kori could hold on to him now for comfort. The power of the sun and light burning in his blood making his unnaturally cold skin give almost third-degree burns.

He zoned back in when Donna’s face appeared in his line of sight, “Come back to us, little sun. Diana suggested asking the gods for help. Roy and Hal are close to you and Kyle. Wally and Bart are Cassie and I’s best friends. Maybe they have seen something if not, we could always ask Apollyon what he knows of their future.”

Jason nodded his head slowly. If anything, he was perfectly fine with this plan. His best friend was missing. What he needed right now was a hug from his dad and maybe some of Aunt Demeter’s hot chocolate. Anything to distract him from whatever torture Roy could be going through right now. He chanced a glance at Kyle who was turning a little pale.

Ah, Jason forgot that being the wielder of a literal mood ring and the son of love was bad for Kyle when he was in an unfiltered setting. There were too many emotions for the other demigod right now.

“Let’s get out of here.”

Jason, Donna, and Kyle all stared blankly at the sight of five grown men dressed in onesies. Adult size onesies with typical baby slogans that you’d find in the toddler section of Walmart.

“Dad,” Jason stated. “What’s going on?”

The four gods looked up from arguing over a feeding schedule to stare at them. Hermes was the one to break out into a smile first flying over to the speedsters’ sides. “Look, you guys, it’s a speedy baby! 3 of them!”

The three of them could only stare. The three mortal speedsters looked simultaneously happy and miserable. [Though it leaned more towards happy since Uncle Hermes provided them with an all you can eat buffet.] Roy was bent over Hephaestus’ favorite workbench messing around with Apollo’s third favorite bow. [Only Jason could touch the second, and only Artemis could touch the first.] While the Speedsters may have looked slightly sad, Roy was downright ecstatic.

Hal was the only one to seem at true peace. Him and Ares were doing one of the war god’s meditation techniques. Kyle was sure that Hal’s ring was flickering white.

Hephaestus smiled slightly from where he was holding onto his anvil while Roy rattled on about the quality of Apollo’s bows. Apollo turned to look at the others, “We all had the same idea. A little surprise adoption goes a long way. Meet your cousins and half-brother.”

“Kidnapping,” Donna deadpanned. “You kidnapped them.”

Apollo rose a brow, “By human laws, they are much too old to be kids.”

“But you’re not human,” Kyle questioned. The god of plague turned his gaze onto the White Lantern and Kyle decided to be quiet. This was the same god who threatened to rip his urethra tube out with only a toothpick for not so accidently drawing Jason in nothing but a chlamys.

Donna nodded her head at Kyle’s words, “He’s right. You’re not humans. You’re gods. Deities who have lived for more than millennia. They are so young compared to you all that you really can’t even call them children.”

Hermes clapped his hands excitedly, “Exactly. Besides, your little mortal friends weren’t treating them with the respect they all deserve. So… we’re keeping them. Okay bye.”

The herald of the gods quickly flies away cackling. Jason took one glance at the floor surrounding the kidnapped mortals. There was no one Hermes was going to just let someone steal from him. He was the god of thieves. He did the stealing.

It wasn’t on the floor, but on their clothes instead. A rune that didn’t release any of them unless the god that took them allowed it.

Apollo smiled a little mockingly, “We have a council meeting to get to about the Amazons. Jason? Kyle? We leave them in your care.”

Donna choked on her laughter as she turned to Kyle and Jason, “Congratulations, it’s a boy.”

[maxmundan]

Tina and I are attending the trial of accused murderer and pedophile Roy Dadio. I have no idea how we were able to get seats for this thing as it is the biggest trial that’s been held in California for many years. Dadio stands charged with 17 murders and an even larger number of child sexual assaults. The details of the case, elaborated daily in the local newspaper, have been lurid and disgusting, with Dadio slaughtering entire families so he could kidnap a child he has targeted. He then imprisoned the children and raped them repeatedly over a number of years before he was finally caught. It is my understanding that this trial is a fait accompli. Dadio has not confessed yet to the crimes he is accused of, but the children were found chained in the basement of his house in the Palmdale area and several of the children are expected to testify to the unending abuse they suffered at his hands. Those of us in attendance in the viewing area are here to see a monster like Dadio get what is coming for him. Dadio is a strangely imposing figure. He is a tiny, weaselly man in his fifties with a greasy scalp almost entirely empty of hair. A few wayward sprigs branch out here and there, but they are disquieting in such a way that they make you wish there were no hairs at all. He’s wearing an orange jumpsuit now, but when he was arrested, and in all the now famous photographs of him, he was dressed in his signature filthy blue jean overalls without a shirt, his pasty white flesh and bulbous stomach protruding and plainly visible. Today’s testimony was by a young boy of 11 or 12 named Carl. I know they mentioned his age but neither Tina nor I can remember what it was. It seems like a weird thing to block out but neither of us can remember it for the life of us. Carl is a very withdrawn child and the prosecuting attorneys have been having a very hard time getting him to speak up so that the jury can hear him. Those of us watching have had to strain mightily to hear his words ourselves. The story he tells, however, is outrageous. He claims to have watched Dadio murder his parents and sister with a pick axe and a bone saw and then spent the next several years chained in Dadio’s basement, where he was fed nothing but stale bread and maggoty canned meat and was regularly raped and beaten by Dadio at alternating intervals. Carl has spent the entire day relating these details in a shallow, whispered voice with tears streaming down his face. It is simply impossible to watch him and not be moved to tears yourself, and both Tina and I have been crying our eyes out all day, so that when we walk out of the courtroom at the end of the day, our faces are red, and our eyes burn from rubbing them with our fingers. So, Tina and I are now standing outside the courtroom discussing the case and today’s testimony when, to the shock of us both, Dadio walks out of the courtroom completely unencumbered by handcuff or police escort of any kind. He is a completely free man, at least for this moment. This makes absolutely zero sense, of course, for a lot of reasons, least of which is that his trial has barely begun, and to the understanding of Tina and I, was supposed to be being held without bail because of the horrible nature of his accused crimes. Nevertheless, there he is, striding out of the courtroom with a shit-eating-grin on his face like he owns the fucking place. Dadio stops for a second just outside the courtroom door to cast his glance around the area looking for all the world like a man observing the length and breadth of his kingdom. Both Tina and I are just watching him with our mouths wide open but nobody else seems to even notice, just going about their business as if nothing remarkable is transpiring in front of them. After scanning the entire area outside the courtroom, Dadio’s gaze falls, to my dismay, on my wife and me. His smile widens with a sort of oily, festering recognition as he fixes us inexorably with his vicious stare and begins to saunter across the room directly toward us. As he gets closer I see that his interest is entirely on Tina. He doesn’t notice me at all. It is as if I am not even there. Every bit of his attention is focused on my wife. You can feel the lust and desire coming off of him in waves as he walks straight up to her. Hell, you can fucking smell his lust like he’s releasing a cloud of it into the air. He stops right in front of Tina, and without saying a word, winks luridly at her. I am frozen in place. I know I should do something, say something, but I am frozen in place. It isn’t fear that is paralyzing me but shock. This should not be happening. Why is it happening? Where are the police to take this scumbag and put him back in his cell where he belongs? Suddenly, he reaches out to grab Tina by the waist and pulls her body hard against his. As he does this he lets out a cacophonous cackle that has a similar effect to nails being scraped across a chalkboard. I glance at Tina and aside from the look of incomprehensible horror on her face, I can see that she is experiencing the same atrophy of her limbs and body that I am. Luckily, at that very moment, my frozen muscles are freed from their impotence, and I am able to leap across the room at Dadio, ripping him away from Tina and pummeling his now rigid and strangely pulsating body into the ground. I punch him repeatedly in the face. Over and over again I hit him until my fists are bloody and I start to see pieces of tooth flying wildly though the air in reverse trajectory form the arc of my punches. At the same time, I am screaming at him, “You will not touch my wife. You will not fucking touch my wife.” I have no idea where this level of rage is coming from. It seems to have appeared from nowhere. I can’t remember feeling even mildly angry before I attacked this scumbag. At the same time, I am thoroughly enjoying the feeling of releasing my rage upon this eminently deserving subject. I continue punching the bastard for what feels like an eternity. How long have I been punching him? Have I always been punching him and only just noticed it now? At some point, over the sound of my screaming and his screaming and his bones crunching under my fists and of the wet, oily sound that I assume is his flesh, I notice Tina’s screaming voice too. What is she saying, I wonder? It takes me several minutes to realize that she is begging me to stop. Only then do I really notice the damage I have done to Dadio. He is a person no more but a writhing, twitching, wheezing lump of bloody tissue, that is not only covering the floor but also staining my hands and clothes. I am covered in him. I am drenched in Dadio. Suddenly, I stop punching what is left of Roy Dadio and rise slowly, with no small amount of discomfort, to my feet. I turn towards Tina, bits and pieces of my victim still falling off of me and onto the floor, to see that tears are streaming down her face and she is looking at me with abject horror in her eyes. I try to take her in my arms, but she pushes me away. I reach out for her again and she slaps my hand down, screeching “Stay away from me. Stay the fuck away.” Then she turns and runs, as fast as she can, grunting madly and jerkily waving her arms in the air. I watch her disappear in the distance. “What brought that on?” I wonder, wiping a few remnants of Dadio from my shirt sleeve, “I was only trying to help.”

Max Mundan, The Trial of Roy Dadio

[stusbunker]

What Lingers Within: Five

A Supernatural Fan-fiction Mini Series

Featuring: Past Dean Winchester x Female Reader

Written for @thisismysecrethappyplace​

Amazing help & beta’ing from @itmighthavebeenintentional​

Lovely aesthetic from @thoughtslikeaminefield​

Word Count: 1972

A/N:There are some quick flashbacks and talk of rotting bodies, but nothing out of the normal of the show for warnings. Angst. Thanks for reading! xoxo Stu

Series Masterlist

^*^*^*^*^

    In a strictly “looking for a silver lining type way,” Sam was impressed with how Dean held in the road rage as they reached the city limits. He felt it too, the worry, the restlessness, the need to do something, anything. Dean drove, Sam thought; it was all they could do in the moment, however unsubstantial. Luckily, the natural progression of intense emotion defused overtime leaving logic and hunters’ patience on their side.

   They spotted Michelle in her parked truck, right where she’d told them to meet her. Dean had to circle back twice before they found a spot big enough for the impala. They made do with only their handguns hidden on their backs, clocking their bustling surroundings on the way to the old pick up. Michelle dodged traffic and met them on the sidewalk, her shock dulled with exhaustion. Sam tried his best to reassure her before walking her back to wait in their car. 

    Ten yards before Sam reached his brother, Dean’s phone rang.

^*^*^

    The first week had been a blur, being introduced to everyone repeatedly and suffering through hours of online training in your tiny bland cubicle. Your new job, essentially, was double checking other people’s work. “Quality Assurance Specialist’’ had been thrown around, but your title didn’t matter; it was entry level work.

    You went home each day to your airy, quiet apartment alone. Hours spent reminding yourself that you had made the right choice moving and starting over. But there were moments when it felt like you were stuck, by moving you had acted on a hidden impulse to search for something. Something missing from your life.

     Your nights were spent scrolling decorating boards cuddled on the couch in an old flannel that had started to wear in patches from burying your face in the soft fabric, searching for a scent that had long been washed away.

    Mornings were easier, especially with a coffee shop just around the corner. Slowly you had built a routine, growing more comfortable with your surroundings and your coworkers. 

     Then came the afternoon Katelyn called you into your office, the day this all began when somehow you had put a chopping block over your own head and inadvertently, Chase’s.

      You had been doing your job, she couldn’t fire you over the discrepancies you had bubbled up. But, whatever scheme she had been working was deemed more important than two people’s lives. The memory burned into the back of your mind as you listened to the call ring over the line.

     “Agent Berkman.”

      “Dean?” You croaked, his voice broke through your fighting mentality, bringing an instant vulnerability.

      “Thank God! Where are you?”

       “I don’t know! Katelyn got out on bail—the cops know you guys aren’t FBI!” Your mind jumped back, warning Dean before you could focus. His fake business card crumpled in your clenched fist.

      “Is she there now? Are you someplace safe?” Dean coached.

      “Um, I think I’m in a basement, it’s all cement and smells. This is Katelyn’s phone, I had to—,” you started to sputter.

      “Hey! Listen to me! Is there a door? Can you get out?” Dean pressed.

       You exhaled slowly. “I think so? I don’t know who dragged me here. I didn’t see them clearly before they knocked me out. I got fucking chlorofomed! I didn’t think people really did that.”

       Dean grumbled, and you realized he must have been catching Sam up. 

      “Well, generally they don’t. I’m guessin’ Katelyn and her partner aren’t exactly experienced kidnappers.”

      “That’s oddly reassuring.”

      “You movin’ yet?”

      “Oh, right. Don’t hang up.” Drawn out of your daze, your eyes focused onto corroded metal, your only exit.

       “Honey, I wouldn’t dare,” Dean huffed out a chuckle. It made your cheeks burn as you wiped away the tears. You took another deep breath for courage and cranked open the heavy, old door.

*^*^*^

    Her voice rang through the pre-dawn air, she was already giggling his name as he nuzzled against the back of her neck.

    Dean was already hard, but the way her laughter broke off had him aching. Noises in any other context would be annoying were melodic, craved, sought out there. She was soft against his chest as he wedged a knee between her thighs. He rocked into the inviting cushion of her ass as they rolled, sheets twisting into an inescapable cocoon.

    He took his time, sprinkling kisses over every inch of her back as they settled into place. With nowhere to go and no one that needed them, they indulged in each other. It had been a hard fought couple of months finding a new normal without Sam, but they’d done it together. This was just the dollop of whipped cream on their slice of pie. A perfectly lazy morning lay, something they’d done dozens of times before and Dean couldn’t imagine them ever stopping.

    She whined with exhaustion and moaned with pleasure, a soundtrack he never knew he needed. He fell back asleep sometime after nine, and she lingered beneath him, playing with the hair at the scruff of his neck as he drooled in the crease below her bare breasts. Sticky and sloppy and stupidly content.

    They went for brunch or ate in or any number of other silly weekend things regular couples did. It didn’t matter. 

      What mattered was the feelings never left Dean’s memories. They were folded in among the layers of her scent and the flash of her smile, the warmth of her voice and the shape of her body against his. Things time had faded but could never fully erase. 

^*^*^

    Dean and Sam beelined for the alleyway, retracing her steps until they ran into the trail they had followed to the vampire den less than a week prior. Dean switched his phone to his other hand as he held open the hatch for Sam to ease into the service tunnel. He prayed he wouldn’t lose service as he continued to talk her out of one room and into the labyrinth. 

    “Alright, are you being followed? Check again. Don’t stop watching your back, you hear me?” Dean huffed, his shoulder pinching his phone against his ear as he climbed down after Sam, leaving civilization behind.

    “I am!” She was whispering all the sudden, which only made him more worried.

    “Do you see anything? Any emergency lights or signs, pipes maybe?” Dean offered, crouching as he kept up with Sam’s hurried pace.

    “Oh god,” she broke off.

    “What is it?” Dean barked.

    “I figured out what the smell is,” she coughed.

    “Let me guess, bodies?” Dean jutted his chin to Sam.

    “Who says that as your first guess?” She muttered the rhetorical question. “Wait, did you do this?”

    “Maybe. Listen, whoever dragged you down there knew the vamps had been cleared out. Keep sharp.” Dean pushed against Sam’s back, speeding up as much as they could in the cramped space.

    “I’m not going in there, I just spotted them through the hole in the wall.” She was adamant; Dean knew exactly the face she was making with that tone in her voice, and he couldn’t help but crack a smile.

    “Alright, we’ll be there as soon as we can. Just, uh, keep talking,” Dean prompted.

    “So, uh, is it weird that I’m hoping to see Michaelangelo or Donatello down here? Because I am getting some weird nostalgia vibes right now,” she wondered aloud, earning a solid guffaw from Dean, which got him a questioning grimace from Sam.

    “If you see a man-sized rat, I wouldn’t stop and ask for any Kung Fu tips,” Dean mock warned.

    “Master Splinter is more than a mere rat, dude,” she tisked.

    “You see the new ones?” Dean kept her talking.

    “With pretty boy Casey Jones? Or the cartoons?” 

    “I’ll take that as a yes. Look, they could have been worse—,” Dean was cut off.

    “Shit! Roy’s calling! What the fuck do I do?” She started to panic.

    “It’s call waiting, just let it ring through, you’re fine. It’s going to be okay,” Dean tried to soothe her with only bullshit and a sliver of hope.

    “What if it was him that drugged me, Dean? What if he’s looking for Katelyn and comes looking for me?” She continued to spiral and Dean felt like they were moving backwards. It hadn’t taken them this long to find the vamps the first time, had it?

    Just when he was going to butt in and calm her down, the line went dead.

^*^*^

    If Katelyn’s phone had grown hands and punched you in the face, you would have been less surprised; Roy’s face, in an altogether uncomfortable smirk, stared back at you from the blue tinged call screen. Somehow he had managed to interrupt your call to Dean.

    There was no hiding that you weren’t Katelyn. You had no reason to answer her phone before, why would you now?

    Too bad logic didn’t ease your worry.

    You pushed End Call and shoved the phone in your back pocket. Suddenly feeling very exposed, you ducked into the hole with the decapitated vampires and hugged your knees. Any moment you could be discovered. You kept yourself quiet by reminding yourself that there was hope that Dean or Sam would find you before Roy could.

    You buried your face in the grime and sweat on your clothes, trying to block out the stench of decay. You felt eight-years-old again, hiding in your grandmother’s closet waiting for the older cousins to find you. You remembered they had given up and started playing baseball without you. No one had come to find you until it was time to leave. Your dad said you had won Hide & Seek, but you knew what he wasn’t saying: you had been forgotten because you were unnecessary. A bother.

    It wasn’t the last time you had been left behind. 

Just when you decided to try and continue escaping, heavy footfalls echoed closer. You trembled in place, face hidden in your forearms while your eyes slammed closed in fear and childlike instinct.

    “Where is she?!” Dean’s voice broke through the eerie quiet. “She said she was out here.”

    “Here! I’m, I– I didn’t know where to go?” You crawled onto your knees and then climbed out through the gap in the wall.

    You fell into Sam’s side, one pair of warm hands caught your waist and another righted your shoulders. Before your eyes could readjust to the light, you found yourself drowning in freckles and lashes.

    “Are you alright? Did they hurt you?” Dean searched your cheeks and neck, wrists and feet for any sign of injury. His touch was hurried, but careful, like you could crumble at any moment.

    “I’m fine, just a little woozy.” You mumbled, suddenly self-conscious of being the center of attention. “We really need to get going.”

    “Did you see Roy?” Sam asked, gun out and eyes darting around.

    “No, but he’s bound to track Katelyn’s phone eventually.” You held up the phone. Hastily, you wiped it off with your shirt best you could before dropping it to the mildewed floor and crushing it beneath your shoe.

    “Why’d you do that? Why not just leave it for a false trail?” Sam cocked his head.

    You shrugged. “I was hoping it would delay the inevitable. Katelyn’s dead. Or at least I think she is. I killed her.”

    “You what?!” Dean and Sam gaped in unison.

    “Look, can we keep moving? I need you guys, uh, to hold off on the questions, because I am not really sure how I feel about it yet.” You hoped your desperation was coming off as endearing, because you still needed their help. Sam was obviously befuddled, but Dean’s expression looked more like pride. 

You pressed your luck. “Be my getaway driver?”

    “I’m all yours,” Dean smirked and clicked his tongue, ushering you to follow Sam’s lead.

^*^*^

Series tags: @tiggytaylor​  @vicmc624​ @kalesrebellion​

General SPN tags: @flamencodiva​ @dolphincliffs​  @dontshootmespence​ @thoughtslikeaminefield​  @fangirlxwritesx67 @dawnie1988​ @mrswhozeewhatsis​ @cosicas-cuquis​ @foxyjwls007​ @tumbler-tidbits​ @defenderrosetyler​ @ericaprice2008​ @princessofthefandomrealm​ @wingedcatninja​

^*^*^

Read On: Chapter Six

[fluffykitty1999-blog]

Burned Chapter 2- Engaged in Combat

Alright, here's chapter 2.

Please know I've read and thoroughly enjoyed all of your reviews. You guys inspire me to keep writing! :)

Edward crossed his arms and fairly flung himself on the brown couch in Mustang's office, letting out a slow breath and blowing his golden bangs out of his face.

Seriously, Mustang? First you rag on my search for the stone- that, I could understand- but then question my skills as an alchemist? I can afford to be reckless... Well,I have to be. Al deserves his body back, but you don't seem to get that...

Ed frowned, looking around the empty office, disinterested.

And then you have the nerve to go running off, leaving me here to sit until you get back to whine at me some more... You know what, screw it.

He got to his feet, brushing himself off. I'm not gonna wait around here like some stupid housewife. Maybe Hawkeye or Furey has something that needs doing...

He wandered into the other office, doing a double take when he found it deserted.

Huh. That's weird. Almost like they all ran out...

He wandered over to Furey's radio, falling into the man's chair. Out of everyone, Furey was the most gentle-tempered. He reminded him of Al, almost- with his hesitant smile and quiet but passionate enthusiasm.

He had just sat down in the chair when he heard a voice breaking through the static...

"All available unit, respond! All available units, respond! The Electric Touch Alchemist is approaching the police station on 9th street, I repea- ARRRUUUGGGHH!"

Ed's eyes widened, and he inhaled sharply-

Before he was fully conscious of what he was doing, he was on his feet and running towards the door, red cloak billowing out behind him.

He'd heard a death scream on that line- the agonized vocalizations of a dying man.

Some perverted person was using alchemy to take innocent lives. Why, he didn't know- he'd vaguely connected the dots of Team Mustang's sudden departure to the sudden rampage of a murderous alchemist, but he hadn't understood why Mustang had chosen to leave him behind...

It doesn't matter. he thought to himself firmly, booted feet pounding down the pavement, lungs burning. I have to stop him. Before he hurts more people- uses alchemy to take more lives...

He skidded around the corner, racing towards eighth street. He was still nearly a dozen blocks away, but he knew where the police station was- he often walked past it to head to his favorite bakery, and he'd grown used to seeing the faces of the officers around...

He swallowed, eyes stinging from running and unshed tears.

Whoever the heck you think you are- I'm going to stop you!

The car skidded, blocking off the road completely. He threw it into park, throwing open the door and ditching the car entirely as he stared up at the sky anxiously.

They were hunting the Electric Touch alchemist- a state alchemist gone rogue. The man was so skilled he could manage to rearrange atoms and manipulate their charges, allow him to direct bolts of electricity at will.

The man had been a pioneer in the usage of electric alchemy- and he was now on a genocidal quest, as evidenced by the trail of corpses of soldiers and military men he'd left in his wake.

Roy hadn't heard much of the details before team Mustang had been dispatched, but the entirety of Central's military and police force was currently trying to corner the man.

He was at the junction of 9th street and 4th street, running towards the police station.

He stopped, standing still. From what he'd been hearing over the radio- they had him from all sides.

Armstrong's unit was on the east side, they had him from the west, and MP units with guns drawn were holding the north and south with road blocks. Hawkeye was on the roof with her rifle, having his back- they had him.

Roy slowed his pace as he grew nearer the police station, frowning. All of a sudden, the brick front of the building exploded in a mass of bricks and electricity- as the dust settled, a lone figure stood, dragging something behind him.

Roy watched in gross fascination, shocked, as he realized the man in front of him was dragging a police officer into the street by the boot.

He picked up his pace, running forward.

The police officer was scrabbling, trying to free himself- he left a blood trail on the pavement behind him, hands floppily clawing, trying to free himself...

"Hey! Stop!" Roy shouted.

He was getting closer- he was nearly ten feet away from the maniac.

The man turned- stringy blonde hair falling about his shoulders- and flashed Roy a murderous smile, hurling the still-alive police officer forward and placing two fingers on something bloody on his cheek- bolts of lightening materialized from nowhere-

Roy watched the man seize hopelessly- body viciously jerking unnaturally, limbs twisted at odd angles- before, all too soon, the man was unnervingly still on the pavement, flesh smoking.

The smell of electricity and burnt flesh lingered in the air, and Roy stared for a moment, horrified.

If only I'd been faster...

The man turned, leering, fingers still pressed to his bloody face, crooked yellow teeth like that of a reptile and nearly translucent skin.

Roy realized with some degree of horror that the man had actually carved a transmutation circle into his cheek.

The crazed alchemist ran his pink tongue over sooty lips, burning brown eyes scrutinizing Roy with something akin to passion. "Finally." he drawled lazily, licking some of the soot from his lips- "someone worth my time."

His feet splashed through the filthy water, the cloak below his knees wet as well.

"C'mon- c'mon!" he hissed, feeling his way along the dark sewers below the street.

He was below ninth street- in his head, he had a vision of the street above him. He could remember the manholes on the street- he was just trying to find which manhole would let him out closest to the police station. Unfortunately, it was horribly dark, and he was horribly lost.

He heard an explosion above him on the street.

"Screw it!" he had to be close. He chose the next manhole he saw, latching onto the rusty ladder and climbing as quickly as he could- he lifted the manhole off and scrambled out, finding himself in the alley beside the police station.

"Okay... I have to be close..."

"Finally, someone worth my time." a voice that flowed like maple syrup spoke.

Ed frowned, peering out at the street. The front of the police station had been blown to smithereens, and fragments of brick and stone littered the road. A smoking corpse of a police officer laid in the street, and Ed found himself staring at the back of a man with stringy blonde hair and an odd, slumped build...

His rage burned, staring at the dead cop in the street. He could've had a family...

Still, he frowned, taking note of the two light posts on either side of the crazed man- his target- on the street.

There. if he could run into the street and get behind the man, clap his hands to the pavement, then he could re-form the lamp post as a form of restraints around the man and transmute them to wire that didn't respond to electricity.

However, he was running low on time.

Something was clearly going down- he had to act now- before this maniac killed again.

He took a breath, turning and running into the street, hands clapped together. He was directly behind the man, now- everything was falling into place. And then his world exploded into flames.

Roy stared at the killer for a moment, unnerved. Those brown eyes seemed to have insane depths- never blinking, never faltering, just staring at Roy with a mixture of amusement and contentment. His eyes had a sort of predatory glint in them, like a cat watching a mouse. He hadn't yet moved his fingers from the bloody array carved into his face.

Roy's gloved hands were at either of his sides- he didn't want to kill an unarmed man, but he couldn't let this madness go on- the man was poised to strike him at any moment, with just the simple thought of alchemy...

It all depended on who was faster with the trigger.

The man's cheek twitched into a malice- filled grin a fraction of a second before the air crackled with electricity, but before the man could finish the transmutation, Roy had snapped his fingers- he watched the man's gleeful expression darken to one of shock as the flames swirled- he'd calculated the exact diameter of the flames, changed the concentration of oxygen... it was a clean kill- incinerated within seconds.

Over his own pounding heart, however, he heard it- screaming.

He frowned, eyes widening. He'd aimed perfectly- there was no way the man could've survived!

For a horrible fraction of a second, images flashed through his mind- flames, charred flesh, half-burned bodies when he'd miscalculated...

His eyes snapped open, however, and a moment later the flames died.

There, lying on the ground, was a small charred heap of red fabric.

"Fullmetal!"

That twist, though!

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Enjoy!

[corpse--diem]

Blood On Your Knees | solo

Summary: A plan comes together. When: Sunday, June 7th Guest Starring: @streetharmacist and @detectivedreameater

“You have one week.”

Roy’s voice echoed in her head, followed only by the silence that came with that smirk of his. The one that knew Erin couldn’t fight this. Knew that he and he alone had all of the power between them. And now that Sunday night had arrived, it meant two things: Dale would be due for his weekly pick-up and that her time was up. This was happening. This was really, really fucking happening.

Trying to focus on anything but what she was about to do had been a complete joke. By the time Friday rolled around, she gave up on work all together and put her energies where they needed to be. Planning and preparation was a fluid motion once she let her brain do what it needed to.

When Sunday night came, it was all set. Every part. She was ready. And even if she wasn’t, she had no choice.

Just as Erin predicted, Dale didn’t see the blow coming when he strutted into the funeral home basement like he had every other Sunday before then. One good knock upside the head with the baseball bat laid him flat—no fighting, no bickering, no squirming around the inevitable. She couldn’t afford those kind of mistakes tonight, and she’d been right for thinking that. A cold chill went up her spine when she found the rope alongside the gun on the inside of his jacket. Seemed like Dale had plans tonight, too. She wouldn’t allow her imagination to wreak havoc. Put her nose to the grind and got to work.

It got easier once she cuffed him, rolled his behemoth of a body into a black body bag. Easier. Fucking weird thought too. But he still alive. Just out like a light. The corpse lifts had done the rest of the more backbreaking work for her, and before she knew it, she was slipping him into the back of the hearse. Like any other body on any other day.

The warehouse set up at Finney Docks was just a short drive from there. He’d woken up at some point, which made it easier to slip him inside. Blood dripped profusely from the splinter above his eyebrow. He tried to argue, to fight, to beg for his life--but when she cocked the gun against the back of his skull, for the first time since she’d known him, Dale shut the fuck up. Nic had shown her the very basics of how to handle the pistol in her hands, how to make it do the one thing she needed it to. Enough to handle herself right here and now. And maybe it was the gun, maybe it was the foreboding darkness of the dusty warehouse and a baseball that had struck the fear of God into him good and hard. Maybe he just knew his time was up, but he marched onwards into the building.

“Sit,” she instructed simply, giving him a shove towards one of two metal folding chairs in the center of the large room. Her hands were shaking but she gave no indication of it in her voice. It’ll be over soon, she kept reminding herself. It was her or him. Her or him. Those were the only two options.

His bloody, cracked smile unnerved and disgusted her in equal measures. He must have cracked a tooth or two when he face-planted in the basement earlier. It took him a moment, sluggish and disoriented, but he managed to sit.

“Guess this means you’re breakin’ up with me, sweets?” Dale chuckled until a cough overtook him. Spat blood at her feet. Metal handcuffs rattled against the chair as he struggled to get comfortable. For all his bravado, he was fading a little bit at a time.

There were a thousand things she’d been dying to say to this ogre of a man since the moment she’d figured out what he’d done. What he was going to do to her. And she’d be a liar if she pretended she hadn’t pictured whacking him with her baseball bat months ago. He deserved it. He deserved this--but now that she was faced with this--with him--the only thing she felt right now was sick. Roy’s smirk flashed in front of her again and she steeled up quick. Just get this over with, she told herself. But then his goddamn voice broke through her thoughts.

“Christ almighty. Of all fucking people, it ends with fucking you.” His laugh was low and sardonic now. He knew it was over, just as much as she knew did. Knew he’d gotten himself in too deep to back out. Knew he’d been outsmarted. Dale grit his teeth, trying to hold back his seething while she still had that gun in her hand. He honestly had to wonder if she even knew how to use the damn thing.

Fuck it. If he was gonna go down, he’d go down swinging.

“I guess you wanna know why? That’s why you brought me out here?” He asked. Knowing how this ended didn’t mean he couldn’t at least try to buy himself more time.

Erin shook her head, taking a seat in the other chair across from him. Raised a brow and shook her head. “I really don’t care why,” she shrugged. When it came down to it, it was greed. It was always greed. Greed and fear and idiocy. That’s what had put her father into an early grave, hadn’t it? Her elbows rested on her knee as she leaned forward, the gun still aimed at him. “I brought you out here so no one would hear you scream.” Not her best line, or the most original. Just the honest truth. 

He stiffened at that. Still, another strained laugh overtook him and this time he shook his head. “Oooh, real fuckin’ tough now, aren’t ya?” He craned his neck, taking a glance around, as if somewhere within the shadows would be a way out. “Nah, I don’t mean that. Think it’s pretty obvious.” He dropped his head back, giving it a good roll, easing some of the tension from his neck and shoulders. When no hint of recognition flashed over her face, just more confusion, he gave a hard pause. Oh, perfect. This was the set up he was looking for. Tit for fuckin’ tat.

“Don’t tell me you don’t know about Mama Nichols? The hell was her name. Didi? Deb?” He made a smacking noise with his lips when it came to him. “Diane.” He met her eyes with that question and her face gave her away the second he saw the blood drain from it. She sure as fuck hadn’t expected that.

“Oh, you’ve got no fucking clue.” He gave a heartier laugh this time, throwing his head back.

Erin stood so fast the chair behind her clattered to the ground. “I swear to God, Dale,” she tensed, both hands on the gun as she pointed it just inches from his face.

His smile soured. “I’ll tell ya if you give me a kiss--” he barely had time to make those obnoxious puckering motions before Erin pulled the trigger. She hadn’t meant to--didn’t even think when she did it. Some instinct had been prodded and a white hot bolt shot through her. She dropped her hand and the bullet obliterated his kneecap. The sound was deafening and the shot startled even herself as it gave a little kick. But fuck did his howl of pain sound sweeter than anything she’d heard in months. “Jesus Christ, you crazy fucking bitch!”

Holy fuck, she did that. She shook but didn’t move. Didn’t back off. “Talk,” she shouted above his crying and she pointed to his other knee. That anger was alive, unfolding and taking control. Doing what needed to be done. “NOW,” she instructed, kicking the leg she’d just blown a hole in.

“Your dipshit dad got behind! He--he--” Dale was stuttering, gritting his teeth through the pain, but he made sure to show that he was cooperating. He was still baffled that the mortician had it in her. “Chambers wanted to send a-a message. Fuck. Wanted to make sure he knew his place, that--that this wasn’t some friendly neighborhood loan shark kinda set-up he had going on.” Dale hesitated, taking a moment to holler out another string of obscenities  Found her eyes again just for a second. Something he didn’t want to say was written in every pore, every dark crease filled with dried blood. Knew his time was coming to a close real fucking soon. But she saw it. That fear. He swallowed hard, took a long look at the gun. Now that he knew she wasn’t afraid to use it, he was going to make sure this hurt as much as the fresh new hole in his fucking knee did.

“Last thing his old lady ever saw was my beautiful, shit-eatin’ grin.”

Erin couldn’t breathe. For a few seconds, she genuinely had forgotten how to. Everything was red. All-consuming, molten red.

The whole fucking time--

“You--” the rest of the words caught in her throat. Dale. She slowly lowered the gun as it sunk in. Bile rose in her throat and she was seconds from losing it. And if he hadn’t taken that time to kick the gun out of her hand with his one good leg, she probably would have. It was a stupid, last-ditch effort on his part and he hurled himself at her, slamming her back into the concrete below. Swore she saw actual stars when he slammed his whole head into her face, dizzying her up enough to give him time to hobble a few feet away.

It took some effort but she was on him before he could get even close to the gun or the exit. One good kick to the legs floored him. And another once he was down. Another, and another, one to the gut and another at his head. Her mother’s smile flashed in her mind’s eye and she finally stopped. Had to force herself to stop. No, no, no. He didn’t get to go out like this. This was too easy. Rage had replaced every other quaking emotion inside of her.

Erin caught her breath, wiping a shaking hand over her mouth.There was blood on her lips and she could feel the warm pulse where his bald head had slammed into her cheek. Her other hand waved to the shadows around them, beckoning them forward.

“This is gonna hurt,” she promised.

The element of surprise was an often overlooked thing. But it had its uses, and it had proved very useful for everyone tonight. Because even as Dale lay face down in a pool of his own blood, he hadn’t seen this last surprise coming, had he? How could he have? He had no idea about her. And when she’d stepped from the shadows, pulling them around her like a blanket as her body came back into the world of the visible, his eyes widened in disbelief. Red eyes formed in the room around them and shone directly down at him, a wicked smile below.

Marley walked calmly over to Erin and Dale, sputtering on the ground. She supposed she could’ve stepped in earlier, but this was Erin’s prey, and she was there to act when wanted. If he’d gotten to the door, she was sure she would’ve stepped in-- she wanted to see this man suffer, too. Perhaps not as much as Erin did, especially after that riveting exchange about her mother, but that didn’t change the fact that Marley would relish in destroying a man like Dale. A man who took advantage of those weaker than him. Well, now, he was the weak one.

She didn’t bother with the gun next to her, or the one on her hip.

Instead she kneeled in front of him, grabbed his chin, made sure he was looking directly into her eyes. “I would say I wonder what a man like you fears, Dale,” she cooed, “but I already know.” Still, she let it was through him, over him, consume him. He was crying out within a few seconds and she was smiling. The taste of it was like a fresh spring’s water and she lapped it up.

But it was time, now, and for Erin, she would make sure he suffered. Nothing quick, nothing easy. Her hand smothered his mouth and lips, and as she drew it away slowly, so did she draw away his breath. He gasped and gagged for air, wheezing as his lungs expended themselves. Minutes passed as he gaped for it, inhaling uselessly. His face turning red then blue then pale, eyes searching desperately.

But by the time she stood up straight over him, hand balled into a fist, he had stopped sputtering. She opened her hand and blew into her palm, as if blowing away the ash or dust of his breath. Turned back to look at Erin. “What next?”

In the end, the long sleep came for everyone. Even the fools that thought they were above it. It would get their hands on them and drag them down, one way or the other. The fae had spent a few days ruminating on the concept of mortality and he had to say, Dale’s blood went real well with the Hawaiian shirt he wore. Really brought out the desperation and stupidity in his eyes. Felix wasn’t the type to get up close and personal, even though the knife up his sleeve digressed. He saved that for special occasions. The real black tie events and Dale wasn’t one of them. As angry as he was about missing money, this wasn’t entirely his gig. Not yet. He was content to watch from overhead, arms leaned against the warehouse railing as shadows clung to him.

It was a familiar kinda tragedy that had befallen the Nichols family. Everyone had their moves to make in the great game. Dale had made his and now his knees were blown out. These things happened. Felix liked to guarantee that they did. But Erin, well, she had done all this on her own. Put the pieces together. He smiled from on high as he listened to Dale’s sputtering. What Marley did, she did well. Very well.

He lit a cigarette and took in a long, feel good drag. What a night. Be seeing you, Dale.

A small flame burned in the dark as he headed down the metal stairs. Wandered out from where the shadows draped over him.. Cigarette in hand, he came to stand by Erin as the breaths from the broken came and went.

“A real creative way to make one’s bones. I dig it,” he said, eyes on Erin from between the slight gap of his glasses. At Marley’s question, he smiled thinly. “Y’know, bones ain’t too bad a foundation to start with.”

For all the death Erin in her life, this part—where the lights went out behind a person’s eyes, and suddenly they weren’t a person anymore. This part, that exact moment, was uncharted territory. A morbid fascination kept her eyes locked on Dale, even as Marley strutted from the shadows. There it was again. Fear poured from him in unbridled waves.

Erin pulled one of the seats up, settled in, and watched. Marley was more terrifying than she had anticipated but she appreciated the dedication. She only flinched a little when his screams turned shrill, when he choked through sobs to beg for mercy or for his hell to end.

Had her mother plead for the same thing?

Her fists clenched tightly when Marley went for the killing blow. This part too was fascinating. Watching her work, taking her time in ending it using only her hand as a weapon. Her explanation hadn’t done the actual task justice. Whatever she was doing, she took her time. Made him struggle.

And then she saw it—the lights went out. It was over.

She heard Felix beside her, heard Marley’s question. Her throat was raw and dry and her focus remained on the corpse. There was no relief. No muscle in her unwound and only some of that anger was dissipated with Dale’s last breathe.

This wasn’t over. She didn’t know how or what that meant when it popped into her head, except that it grew louder. Clawing for attention above all other thoughts. Second only to it was Roy Chamber’s smile, slipping in like a weed. But they were waiting on her. She had to say or do something now. The plan. There was a plan. A snap as loud as splintering wood echoed in her head and she pulled herself together. Nodded at Marley, even if that small thanks felt wholly underwhelming in that moment. It was all she could manage. And Felix had his proof. Took care of the problem, just like she’d promised. Roy has his pound of flesh. Erin had gotten more than she’d bargained for from it all. Answers she didn’t know she had questions for. Fuel to a fire.

But it was done. It was all done.

“Not bad at all,” Erin finally spoke, clearing her throat. Her jaw ached and her lip cracked open again. Something to remember him by, she supposed. She stepped towards Dale, gesturing towards the very limb, very heavy shell of a man. A long sigh fell from her as she glanced between the two. “Give me a hand?”

Her night, at least, was far from over.

[harveywritings92]

Happy Death day to you. {Vergil’s Version}

It was raining heavily Y/n sniffled as she hugged her arms, Her wet h/c hair was matted to her face and her blue dress was soaked and stuck to her skin. 

She was just so angry she stormed out of Vergil's house without a jacket, 2 years they've been together! and not once has the white haired man ever told her he loved her or even hinted that he would want a future with her! 

Tonight was turning point it was their anniversary, Y/n had planned this dinner for months! they argued and..and he choose his job and another woman over her! She saw that blond in black corset and leather pants waiting outside looking smug..before driving off.

Y/n made her decision right then and there...Her and Vergil were through! She left her key to his house on the front steps she'd send for her things later so she wouldn't have to see him... 

The distraught woman sat in a bus shelter, her red and tired eyes scanned the schedule then looked both ways the streets were empty only the sound of the rain was there to keep the lonely woman company, Then there was a new sound Y/n's ears strained to focus on it...Footsteps. Her e/c looked out into the darkness through the rain she saw him. A man he scruffy looking was in a prison jumpsuit stained red.

She felt a chill go down her spine when she recalled the news about the escaped murderer, but she was sure they caught him. He looked up from where he was standing and smiled in way that was almost un-natural as he slowly took a step forward towards her... 

Y/n's survival instincts kicked in and she took off running with the man hot on her heels...She dared not look back as she turned into an alley only to be met by a brick wall! The last sensation Y/n felt was a large hand grabbing her shoulder...

A group of teenagers found what was left Y/n that morning...Soon the alley was closed off the crime scene was set up, When Dante opened his door that same morning he was confused to find two police officers standing on his front steps looking grim.

"Are you Vergil Sparda?"

"No I'm his brother Dante, is everything alright?"

"Sir, Do you know a Y/n S/n?"

"Yeah she's my brother's girlfriend... Why, is she in trouble?"

The two officer decided it was best if Vergil heard it from his brother then from strangers. "I sorry sir, She's dead...last night a dangerous convict had escaped.." The officers left as a lightheaded Dante walked over to his phone and called Vergil and Trish. 

["...left her alone on your anniversary, are you thick?!]" He heard the she-demon yell at his brother, Dante winced fuck it was Y/n & Verge's anniversary yesterday.. "What Dante?!" his brother snapped as his twin swallowed trying to breathe, Was he seriously doing this over the phone? Yes he was.

"Verg..You need to come home,now!" Dante said sternly as he brother began to protest as he and Trish were in the middle of a job. "Vergil! It's Y/n, something happened I'm sorry...She's gone." the younger twin's voice was getting hoarse, There was a few seconds of silence when a portal opened in the DMC's office as Vergil and Trish walked through it. the blond could already tell something horrible had happened the Dante's aura was listless and forlorn.

"Where is she? did she leave a note?" Vergil huffed assuming his brother meant Y/n had run off, He went to reach for the door Dante tried to stop him. last night the rain had covered up the smell of blood, now it had stopped...A harsh wind blew through the air and with it the scent blood...

Vergil knew whose blood it was, he smelled and tasted it enough times there was no mistaking it, It was Y/n's... That's how Vergil learned his girlfriend was the nineteenth victim of the Red Grave Slasher...And Vergil was going to get his revenge.

[one month later]

E/c eyes snapped opened before blinking a few times trying to adjusting to what little light there was in the room, Was she home? Had Vergil come back? Y/n winced as she lifted herself up her body felt sore, heavy and her head was killing her. the h/c girl's eyes had finally adjusted and she got a good look at the room she was in, this wasn't her apartment and it certainly wasn't Vergil's house!?

W-where was she?! she then looked under the sheet that was covering her...She was naked?! what happened last night?! she felt like she was hungover but...She didn't drink that much or maybe she did? the sound of foot steps snapped Y/n out of her freak-out, Y/n quickly flopped down and closed her eyes pretended to sleep as the door clicked open;

And a black haired man who definitely wasn't her boyfriend walked in stared at her for a few seconds rolled his eyes and went to the window pulled the curtains opened. as his back was turned Y/n slowly reached for the lamp on the nightstand planning to strike him with it and escape..."Y'know..." the man spoke up causing the h/c to freeze. "If you're going to pretend be asleep, don't make it so obvious." Y/n eyes snapped opened she sat up and saw the man staring right at her unimpressed as she hugged the sheet close.

"Where am I?!" She demanded voice wavering as the man studied her, before sighing "Your in my room above my shop Dead man's pawn." he said tiredly as he pushed away from the window and approached the bed.

 Y/n flinched as he reached into the nightstand drawer and toss an envelope on to her lap the h/c girl looked down at it bemused then look at the man. "What this supposed to be, hush money? After what you did I'll-" she hissed the man put his hand up to silence her.

"I didn't do anything to you, just look inside it'll tell you everything that's happened the last two months." Y/n eyes widened as soon as he said that. T-two months?! that can't be?! he had to be lying it couldn't be August...The guy was off his rocker! "My name is Henry by the way...now get cleaned up, dressed and meet me downstairs." Henry said walking towards the door "you have a busy day ahead of you." with that 'Henry' closed the door and Y/n was alone.

*what did he mean, Busy day?* a chill went down her spine as she thought about whatever he was planning. Then looked down at the envelope, swallowing she opened it and newspaper clippings and a folded letter fell out searching the clippings Y/n stomach churned as read the headline. "Red Grave Slasher claims Nineteenth Victim." how does this answer why she woke up in a stranger's bed? 

She read the article and Y/n felt like her stomach was full of sand as she saw her name and picture staring back at her, it must be a mistake or a trick! she reasoned as she read the details and felt more frantic before looking at the letter her hands were shaking as unfolded it praying she'll see Dante's handwriting saying :GoT'ChA  or something like that...But that all shattered when she looked at the paper in her hands...

I wasn't a letter, it was her death certificate. 

[twenty minutes later.]

Y/n came downstairs wearing a large hoodie, sweat pants and flip flops, Henry was waiting for her doing a Crossword looked up and sighed "Ok..You found the clothes I left. good now let's go." Y/n kept her distance and stared at him suspiciously. "what's going, who put you up to this?!" The [y/height] hissed obviously not believing she was dead, Henry grumbled something under his breath. "Look I'll explain once we get there." he said keep his aged eyes on her, making it clear that Y/n had know choice in the matter reluctantly followed after the lanky man.

"Where are we going?" 

"Someplace that’ll make you feel better.

"A where would that be?"

"Your grave Snow-pea."

"...Snow-pea?" 

Soon the two were at the cemetery gates Henry led Y/n through the graveyard passed a few rows before stopping Y/n eyes widened when she saw Vergil leaving flowers; immediately she tried to run to him only for Henry to hold her back. "Don't, he won't recognize you." her brows furrowed as turned to look back at Vergil only see him walking away with that blond woman he ditched her for...Y/n felt rage bubbling in her stomach as Henry dragged her over the grave Vergil left flowers on...

Soon her anger turned to melancholy as she saw her tombstone [Y/n L/n y/b/d/-2019 loved and missed dearly.] then the anger returned "Loved and missed..." she snorted Henry cocked a brow as her curiously "He sure got over me pretty quickly..." She mumbled bitterly as the light bulb went off in Henry's head "Y'know you really shouldn't assume things..."the tall man deadpanned as Y/n shot him a look "I'll start listening to you, when you tell me what the fucks going on." The man hummed before taking leading Y/n out of the cemetery and eventually to a fancy high-rise apartment building, They got into the elevator and were headed to the penthouse floor.

"You were suppose to have this speech months ago, but your soul was so shattered that it took it's sweet time pulling you back together." The black haired man began as Y/n brows furrowed as she listened intently."So, what? Am I ghost or something?" the the man snorted and muttered something under his breath "You're definitely something Snow-pea, but a ghost you are not." The h/c was beginning to get frustrated as Henry continued his explanation.

"See, you have selected since the day you were even a thought, the second Roy bumped in to you and extracted your soul from the ties that bounded you to the mortal plains...Y/n welcome the ranks of the grim reapers." He said happily as elevator door to reveal a bloody massacre there was blood and bodies littering the apartment causing Y/n gag and throw up.

Except, something freaky happened instead of liquid this weird cloud of shimmering vapor came out Y/n's mouth causing the y/height girl to gawk at it, she curiously went to touch the cloud as it slowly faded away only to see her hand was spectral.. "Gah!?!" she yelped showing Henry who clicked his tongue at her.

"Don't worry that'll go away once we some food in to ya." He pulling the pale girl into the bloody apartment. "please tell me we're not here to raid their fridge." she said to sick to eat at the moment trying not to touch anything as Henry started looking around and smile when he found what he wanted.

"Naw-naw of course not...We're robbing it!" he said indifferently Y/n relaxed until she registered what he said; then heard a loud crash looked in the dinning room and saw Henry in the wine cabinet pulling out bottles and reading the labels.

"Are you insane?!" she shrieked as Henry waved her "They're not using it anymore, where do you think most of my wares come from?" before Y/n could convey her disdain at Henry's behavior a woman's voice cut in.

"Sorry Henry, but I called dibs. so everything here is mine.~" ??? purred as Y/n whirled around to see a beautiful woman wavy red hair wearing a dark green cocktail dress with a sports bag slung over her shoulder stuffed to overcapacity with what Y/n assumed to be clothes, jewelry and other belongings of whoever these people were.

"Cod dammit Megan! can I at least keep the wine?" Henry pleaded as Y/n between him and "Meg" who's gray eyes widened when she noticed the newbie. "Tell you what, you can have two...if I get Nineteen out those rags." she bargained as Henry sneered at the redhead "Five...I keep four of my choice and we split the fifth." the two stared each other as Meg caved.

"Deal...let's go Nineteen" Y/n awkwardly introduced herself as Henry sifted through the wine selections. a few minutes later the girls came back Meg had dress Y/n in a light-blue sundress, black stockings and light brown ankle boots. she still wore Henry's hoodie over it either due to low-self esteem or she was cold, whatever the reason she made it work.

"There, doesn't she look cute?" Meg ask as Henry look her over and just shrugged "meh... Anyway we gotta get going, we still have a few more stops today." Meg frowned at the shaggy haired man's indifference. "Well that was to be expected..You take of yourself Nineteen." The redhead chirped putting the h/c on the head as she grabbed another sports next to the exit and walked down the fire escape, She heard a zipper and Y/n saw Henry stuffing SIX bottles into a backpack before ushering the y/height girl towards the elevator.

"C'mon before she come back.."

"Wha..whoa! okay stop shoving!" Y/n yelped nearly tripping on a dead man's leg as Henry practically carried her to doors, cue the most awkward elevator ride ever. As Y/n and Henry waited for their floor the Reapling" as Meg called her had to ask.

"So...How did those people die?"

"Murder/Suicide. husband though the wife banging his best friend,...Turns his friend was gay, And his wife was just trying to help him come out to everyone."

Y/n felt bad for the wife and friend; killed without ever given a chance to explain...She wanted to ask if they were going to be reapers too? then the elevator came to a stop Y/n felt heart jump when she saw a familiar blue coat about to enter, she quickly threw her hood up  and kept her head down as a pair of familiar boots stepped on to the elevator stopping next to her. "Rough night?" Henry asked jokingly as Vergil rumbled in annoyance.

"Y'wanna talk about it." the h/c swallowed hard as the hunter coldly answered "I have no business with you." he hissed Y/n suddenly felt lightheaded as the elevator started up again, her breathing got shallower as tears started falling down her cheeks getting Vergil's attention. 

His hand suddenly moved like it was going for her hood, before Henry threw his arm over her shoulder and spoke up "Sorry about her, she had a bad night, can't handle liquor very well." he said as Vergil's hand lowered back to his side, “I see..” the white haired man hummed, Y/n relaxed as the elevator finally came to their floor. 

As the two reapers exited a large gust of wind blew causing Y/n's hood to fall off, her eyes traveled towards the closing doors just in time to meet Vergil's icy blue eyes she saw a flash of confusion slowly morph into recognition!!! She felt her mouth go dry and suddenly grabbed Henry's hand and took off running dragging the confused man behind her. 

Soon as they were far away from the apartments, the senior reaper got her to stop they finally did in-front of a Computer repair shop. "Why did you make us run ten fricken blocks?..I'm all for quick getaways, but damn!" Y/n didn't answer she pulled her hood back up frantically.

Then it click Henry sighed in frustration. "Is this because of your boyfriend? Look I told you before he won't recognize you." the black haired man huffed Y/n didn't seem too sold. So he brought her to the store front showing her the TV/Camera display that was pointed at the street "See? this is what we look like to the living." He the h/c nervously looked up at the screen to see a sickly looking girl who sort of resembled her, but the girl she was looking at had different [Skin tone, longer/shorter Darker/Lighter hair color, a dull not/your eye color.]

Y/n was stunned for a moment as she brought a hand up to the glass, her doppelganger did the same then she looked at a broken mirror and saw her normal appearance looking up at her before turning back to Henry "Who decides what we look like?" the black haired man shrugged along with his surfer dude looking doppelganger, the h/c girl felt a chill go down her spine as she remembered Vergil...

"Does this trick work on demons too?" She asked warily as Henry looked at her bemused. "Well demon aren't really human. So no, Why?" He asked as the temperature in the street suddenly plummeted causing the older reaper to pull his coat closer then he noticed, no wind so where chill coming from?

He saw Y/n looking across the street almost terrified he followed her gaze to see a dragon-like demon [SDT! Vergil.] it was huge and surrounded by blue flames that seem to freeze everything it touched...

"What did you say you boyfriend’s name was?" he said shivering as the demon got closer "V-Vergil Sparda." She stammered before Henry could react a blue flash obscured his sight and something large grabbed the stunned girl, when Henry could see again Y/n was gone... 

[runnfromtheak]

fanfic author’s tagging game (yay!)

Thank ya darling for tagging me!!!! @boyblunder-thedarkheir!!!!!

AO3 Name(s): LostandLonelyBirds aka RUNNFROMTHEAK

Fandom(s): Primarily Batfamily (so, Dick Grayson) and Young Justice (along with DCU obviously, but I also dabble into Miralculous Ladybug, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Harry Potter, and MCU (none of which I will ever seriously write for? Idk man).

Number of fics: 22 I will admit to (how do you have so many, my dear @boyblunder-thedarkheir​? What is your secret?)

1. Fic you spent the most time on: Are we talking writing or thinking about writing, cause those are two very different answers. I spent the most time writing this bitch of a fic I’m working on right now, and the most time thinking about the two latest installments of my main series, Death is But An Illusion (aka How Could He and How Could It Be). I agonize over every goddamn detail with Dick’s anger, Jason’s Jason-ness, and every person’s every move and word. I am a mess, and I’m going to be murdered if I don’t update them soon. I am not sorry about that XD

2. Fic you spent the least time on:  You Came Behind Me Secretly and Shattered Every Piece of Me (There's Blood On My Hands) aka my pick-your-own-canon clusterfuck of Dark!Dick Grayson and Dick Grayson being traumatized and tortured with no comfort (Some of them are so fucked up I question my own mind). I take less than an hour to write 80% of them, cause they’re short, and they very rarely take any time to plan. Fun and easy!

3. Longest Fic: At present, he had a chest full of heart and a body full of scars (pain became the only way that he could ever learn)  is my longest, but the fic I’ve been hinting at on my other tumblr, @lostandlonelybirds​ is easily double the length (why do I do this to myself? Why am I like this?) the long boi (named one, not the one I won’t shut up about) is easily my best fic at the moment, and I’m so excited to write a sequel whenever I get the chance.

4. Shortest Fic: With Bated Breath and Pain You See (We're Nothing More Than Memories) technically, I have one shorter than that, but it’s a collab that wasn’t my original idea so I’m not counting it :)

5. Most Hits: You Came Behind Me Secretly and Shattered Every Piece of Me (There's Blood On My Hands) why do you people like this trash-fire so much? I don’t understand

6. Most Kudos:  How Could He which does not surprise me.

7. Most Comment Threads: Technically, How Could He followed by the trash-fire AU title thing I’m too lazy to type again, but I’m gonna love on this one: Just Close Your Eyes (No One Can Hurt You Now) because it’s my baby, and it deserves it okay?

8. Fave Fic You Wrote: Ooo we are doing a top five.

             5. How Could It Be (Jason is precious and sad and Dick is oblivious, and I love one-sided pining wayyyy too much)

             4.  How Could He (I put my life force into this stupid fic, so ofc it’s here)

             3. I'm Scared to Live But I'm Scared to Die (I'm Numb Inside) (the suicidal boy, major trigger warning)

             2. I See Things That Nobody Else Sees (And It's Slowly Killing Me)  (the only fic I’ve ever written from Cass’s perspective, and definitely one of the creepiest and most fucked up. Bruce does not look good here)

             1. he had a chest full of heart and a body full of scars (pain became the only way that he could ever learn) (so ummm Bruce doesn’t look good here either? RHATO #25 if DC wasn’t cowardly and let Dick react how he actually would, aka fuck Batman is the new motto)

9. Rewrites?: Fuck. All my older ones? Everything? Who knows.

10. Share a bit of your WIP or share a story idea that you’re planning:

Let’s do two. I’m nice.

First comes from How Could It Be:

“You loved him,” Donna says, ignoring his barb. “You loved him, and no one’s seen you or heard from you and I’m concerned, damnit.”

 She punches his shoulder roughly, and he’s reminded of her strength, no matter how small she seems in her dead best friend’s sweater.

 “I’m fine. Peachy-keen. Couldn’t be fuckin’ better. Honestly, you should be more concerned with Replacement, don’t think he’s slept in—”

 “Jason.” Her voice is firm, even as her eyes swim with tears and she holds her arms tight to herself, breathing in the well-loved item’s scent. Jason wonders when Dick wore it last, if Donna had taken it from his abandoned Gotham Penthouse or his Chicago Apartment. He wonders if he’d left it draped over the couch, like the natural disaster he was, or if it had been folded neatly in a drawer.

For someone who prides himself on not being sentimental, Jason suddenly wishes he had something of Dick’s too.

 “I’m here because I care, and because if Dick was here, he’d be doing the same thing I am.”

 “But he ain’t here,” Jason snaps, “Is he?”

 Donna’s head falls, and he feels like a giant jerk. He just… reacts poorly to that name, hasn’t heard it spoken since the transmission and subsequent funeral, since the guy he’d had the hots for since wearing the scaly panties had his mask ripped away and his life taken in front of Bruce’s eyes (who, to absolutely no one’s surprise, failed to save his son).

In the aftermath, no one said Dick Grayson’s name, always Nightwing, or some inane nickname the superhero community had for him. Last time he said it was to Damian, a failed attempt at comfort. But even Jason’s form of mutual grieving had been better than any of Bruce’s shit ideas. Bastard immortalized the ripped costume from his own son’s corpse (not that it had been the first time) and hadn’t even had the decency to give it a plaque (No ‘Good Soldier’ or ‘Good Son’, just a bare glass case with a bloody suit). Which… was weird. Jason was far from B’s best friend, but even he noticed something seemed strange, off, just not quite right. Like the funeral he didn’t speak at, like the breakdown none of them had witnessed beyond a one-off rage fit

“B, what the fuck happened down here?”

The Batcave was a disaster, dents glaringly obvious in several vehicles and a large spiderweb crack across the Batcomputer. Bruce closes the screen down, but Jason manages to catch a spiraling eye.

“Nothing, just…”

Bruce looks at the spare Nightwing costume none of them had taken down yet, still clean and ready for use (too bad its owner died and would never wear it again).

“Dick?” Jason questions, and the way Bruce’s eyes snap to his face is almost suspicious, almost enough to arouse concern.

“Yes. I—”

Jason sits next to Bruce on the desk, crossing his arms over his chest.

“I miss him too, Old Man. Don’t mean you need to be an ass about it.”

 A memorial next to Jason’s own, but Dickhead’s is empty and broken from Damian’s fists and grief, and Jason’s is just gone. No one told him why, it was just gone.

Kind of like Dick.

He wonders if Bruce would have told him if the video hadn’t been broadcast, if he would’ve told anyone. B did love his fuckin’ secrets.

 “No,” she whispers, and he can hear the tears in her voice, can feel her grief as keenly as his own. It’s palpable, tangible, “He’s dead, and I’m alive, and I don’t know how to handle it.”

 And then, to Jason’s mounting horror, she starts crying openly.

…..

Second comes from my one I’m working on rn with Stray!Dick called I See Sunset In Your Eyes (I Hate This Part Right Here)

“Come on,” Wally says with a pout, dragging an overly amused Jason and Dick with him through the karaoke bar doors. “Donna and Roy are waiting for us, and Dick had to take forever to primp.”

 Dick shrugs with a grin.

 “Beauty takes time, time I can tell you did not take.”

 Jason snorts, and Wally glares at him.

 “At least I don’t take five hours to finish getting ready.”

 “At least I can last longer than five minutes.”

 “Ouch!” Roy butts in, throwing an arm around Jason and Dick’s shoulders. “Claws are out tonight!”

 “Speaking from experience?” Jason asks, eyebrow raised.

 Dick smirks without comment, sauntering past the group towards the table Donna’s lounging at.

 “Hey gorgeous twin of mine,” He greets with a kiss to her eyes. She smirks, rolling her eyes at him.

 “You’re just stroking your own ego with the twin tacked on, Wonder Boy.”

 Dick bumps his shoulder against hers.

 “Can’t I stroke both our egos?”

 “You can stroke mine,” Wally mutters, turning red when Stray winks at his phrasing. Jason and Roy both facepalm, groaning. “Not what I meant guys!”

 “Why Kid Idiot,” Dick replies, hand on his heart, “I had no idea you could be so forward~!”

 Wally glares, waving over the waitress.

 “Round of shots, on this dick,” he jerks his thumb at Stray, offering up his fake ID. She doesn’t bother checking it, probably because this is Gotham, and they were all in uniform. “Whisky, please.”

 “Trying to get me drunk?” Jason jokes. It is, after all, his first big outing with the Titans for non-mission reasons. Stray had practically dragged him out of the Manor with a wink at Alfred and a middle finger for Bruce, saying that Jason needed to have fun outside of books.

Jason knows better than arguing with Dick Grayson-Kyle when he wants something, Stray trained him well.

 “Of course, Batboy,” Roy replies, “It’s not a Titans outing if Stray is fully dressed and everyone’s sober.”

 Dick shrugs.

 “You’ll have to get some real liquor in me if you want me to do anything like last time.”

 “Last time?” Jason asks, looking to Donna for an answer. Dick snorts. You get near naked one time…

 “Boy Blunder ended up in just his boxers in a dancing cage drunk of his ass. Everyone thought he was one of the strippers, and he made, what, three-hundred dollars in bills?”

 “Five-hundred,” Dick replies proudly, offering the waitress a twenty as she came back with their drinks. “Keep the change, darlin’!” He adds with a wink.

 She flushes, making Jason frown.

 Stray, of course, notices this and elbows Jason.

 “Don’t get jealous, Blue Jay, it’s not becoming.”

 Jason does not blush. He doesn’t, and that’s the hill he will die on.

 “I’m not. On an unrelated note, pass me a shot.”

Jason is the master of changing the subject, Stray thinks sarcastically, passing him a shot and downing one of his own.

 “Five bucks says alley cat blacks out,” Roy says smugly as Dick makes a face, the way he always did with heavier liquors. He glares at the redhead, who shrugs unapologetically.

 Donna eyes them both speculatively, taking a sip of her own drink.

 “Twenty says he gives a lap dance before he blacks out.”

 Roy snorts.

 “I’ll take it,” and to Dick, “Don’t do it, for me.”

 Dick bats his eyes innocently.

 “Lil’ old me? I would never do something so…” He trails a finger down Roy’s chest, making him swallow roughly. “Scandalous.”

 Donna grins victoriously as Roy groans, trying and failing to hide his excitement.

 “I hate you. I hate you both.”

 Tagging whoever sees this, I suppose?