#octagon what the hell dude!

[siflshonen]

OHHHHH MY GOD ATSUSHI JUST THREW THE COMMS SAYING DAZAI HAD A MESSAGE FOR AKUTAGAWA AND OCTAGON FELL FOR IT!!!!!!

TOP TEN ANIME BETRAYALS WINNER!!!!!!

[fala-alfredo-pasta]

Mentioned this idea in an ask to another user. But I like to imagine the Nagitos of the multiverse have formed their own little clubs with fellow Nagitos who share their romantic partner. For pretty obvious reasons, the Komahina + Kamukoma combined club is the largest. Hell, even most other Nagitos who aren't official members, are still sort of honorary members. It's hard to find a Nagito that doesn't break into little affectionate giggles at the word "Octagon" and how loveably dumb Hajime is.

But you've got others too. Like the Komaegi club, which is one of the most interesting cases of overlap between Despair verse and non-Despair verse Nagitos. Technically all the clubs have these, but imagine the Nagitos together with an Ultimate Hope Makoto explaining just how much potential he truly has to their non-Despair counterparts. It just makes them all want to smoosh their tiny boyfriend even more.

There's also the Komanami Nagitos. Who enjoy sharing stories about their Chiakis' comfiest hugs, and how much hope and joy she brings into their lives. You've got the Matsukoma Nagitos, a rare and exclusive club. Who are maybe just a teensy bit more prideful and smug than the other Nagitos, for having won the love of Yasuke Matsuda. Other small clubs like the Komazumi Nagitos exist too. They just love to coo about how adorable their Mahirus are in general, regardless of whether they're grumpy or happy. Her saying "Geez!" is kind of their version of "Octagon".

One of the more controversial ones is the Komamiki club, due to a multitude of factors. The first being that a number of more judgmental Nagitos are like "Really dude, Mikan? What do you see in her?". The second being that there are a handful of Nagitos in it that are kind of in a toxic romance with their Mikan. And the third being that all of them are so steadfastly loyal to their Mikan, that they'll beat up any Nagito variant that badmouths her.

"She's misunderstood! If you assholes just took the time to understand her, you'd know how wonderful Mikan is!"

...Of course it's nowhere near as controversial as the underground Junkomaeda club, which is widely viewed with scorn by most other Nagitos.

askldjlsaj i was waiting to hear about the Junkomaeda Nagitos if the Komamiki ones are considered controversial lololol

That one Mukuro Stan Nagito who infiltrated the circle in order to slowly coerce them to the other side by constantly showing them how much cuter Mukuro looks when dressed as Junko than Junko herself and "clearly she is the superior twin". He's banned but somehow keeps getting back in lol

That one Seiko Stan Nagito: *after the Matsukoma club says 'Yasuke is the only medical partner anyone could ever use'* "Incorrect. Seiko."

That one Mukuro Stan Nagito: *after the Komazumi club says 'How many can say they have partners with the cutest freckles?'* "Me. Mukuro."

These two have formed their own club: The "We-Only-Talked-Like-Once-But-It-Was-Magical-And-There's-Just-So-Much-Potential-There-No-Hear-Me-Out"

Legend has it that a Sansmaeda Nagito pops into the meetings occasionally.

[dmwrites]

There comes a time when all things return to the earth. In what form? Well, that is up to how kind fate and engineering is, it seems. But all things must go.

This death was kind of fate, perhaps. Set down under an oak tree, in a flower forest filled with soft sunlight and stunning sunsets. It had to be death, Doc could only assume. He had wandered out into the world, lost and utterly confused and occasionally cursing out that pesky bird, until his mechanical bits started shutting down. Some kind of weird freak out, and normally he’d be able to fix it, or at least slap something together long enough to get back home, but that was the whole thing, he wasn’t home, with only some sticks and rocks in his pockets. He’d wandered off, dazed and confused, and now here he was. Broken and dying.

Again, it was, perhaps, a kind way to die. It was pretty, at least. The functioning parts of Doc’s mechanical body had focused their energy on keeping the creeper part of him alive, though various small shocks and some odd version of food. But he’d run out a day ago, and his robotics hung uselessly, a heroic effort. Doc ran the fingers on his working hand over the delicate petals of a flower. His time was running out, he knew that. No one even knew where he was, or couldn’t find him. He closed his eyes.

“What the- DocM baby, what the hell are you doing taking a nap out here?”

Doc’s eyes jolted open, and the sun was being blocked out by the always enormous and always hairy Ren, who looked down at him in confusion. Doc tried to talk, but his throat was too dry to allow it. He gestured weakly to his throat, then his dead mechanical parts.

“Oh goodness, something isn’t right here, is it!” Ren seemed to understand, probably thanks to years of friendship. He pulled a water bottle out of his inventory and knelt down, pouring some into Doc’s mouth. “Woah, your mechanicalage isn’t looking too hot, DocM. And your clothes look almost sun-stained. Wait, how long have you been sitting out here?”

Doc’s voice still wasn’t working, but he nodded, hoping Ren would get the hint. Ren stood up and looked around, and for a wild moment, Doc thought he was going to leave him. A second, even wilder thought that Doc was in fact dead and Ren was his afterlife chased the first one. But then Ren knelt back down and scooped Doc into his arms.

“Listen, you’re not dying on me, okay? I know the way back, but you gotta stay with me, okay?” Ren began to walk, Doc heavy in his arms. “Dude, I’d heard you’d come through that riftage, but we all thought you were off doing some crazy secret redstone thing! I came through the rift late, you know, took some time after all that king stuff, and I’m so glad I found you, baby. Empires has not been kind to you, but I am. You’re my buddy, my Octagon partner! Stay with me, dude.”

And Doc did. The universe wasn’t done with this mad scientist yet.

[borathae]

Chapter 7

are we about to see his art collection or his "art collection" ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

sneaking around is fun keke no wonder she is all excited and giddy haha cutie pie

Stop laughing”, Taehyung warns quietly, looking over his shoulder. He carries fondness in his eyes and a mischievous grin on his lips. stop IM GONE IM SIMPING IM A PUDDLE

NO UR A MENACE FUCKER DECIDES TO TICKLE ME TO STOP MAKINGME LAUGH NOPE watch my ass fall down the stairs and wake the whole house up

“You’re beyond adorable."

I told my familiar to light the candles your WHAT????

Taehyung is thinking into the future. THATS I WHAT THOUGHT TOO YIPPEEE

other than the rest of the house - which reminds you more of a museum than a home - his wing looks like a home. Bear in mind it was still a very impressive - and royal - home, but it gave you a homely feeling with its burgundy red walls and hardworking radiators. ooh red walls, they feel cozy/warm and very royal vibes

He is already wearing fur slippers HOW DID HE DO THAT dudes faster than flash

Why ruin your home with the dirt of outside? FR 💯

HE TOOK OFF OUR SHOES AAAH and TOUCHED OUR ANKLES THEY BOTH ARE FOR THE COBBLESTONES

They are matching with his UWU, im imagining cat slippers its too funny

You have the prettiest of ankles, my sweetest me to hobi and kook

ALSO HOW MANY ANKLES DID U SEE MY MAN (ik he saw a lot considering he is ancient lol)

Tall windows let in the moonlight from the left, illuminating the paintings on his walls that sounds extra cozy, i want to put a fluffy blanket on my shoulders

“Doesn’t he? It’s the reason why I purchased it”, he says excitedly. 👀 u sure about that?? 👀 did he get kneller to paint it for him 👀👀you sure that this isn’t like your great great great grandfather BABY CONNECT THE DOTS

come now I want to show you something else. HE CHANGED THE SUBJECT

Oh no”, you chuckle, “he just likes to show off.” still cool cousin kudos to him

“Three years? Holy cow and I can’t even work on an essay for twenty minutes without feeling the need to procrastinate.” WOW TAEHYUNG DAMN THATS SICK also u didnt need to call me out like that i-

Delicate roses climb up a marble pillar thats amazing i love murals

"A very long time." edward cullen who

Shall I show you something else too?” he asks quietly. aww my cute lil pookie go ahead why so nervous, smooches the fuck out of nervousness😭

the description of him playing violin gave me goosebumps and its 33C here. why am i slightly teared up

THERES A SECRET DOOR OMG IM GONNA PLAY BARBIE AND THE SECRET DOOR THERE FUCK THIS IS SOO CUTE AAAH

Gosh you own so many cool things.” ik he is soo cool, he can totally murder me on the stairs

Do you have your secret stack of drugs up there?” you joke, dont what if he is a mafia boss???? also he is about to throw you off the top 😭 yeet

Okay yep, holy cow. This is better than drugs FR OCTAGON SHAPED ROOM ARE THE BEST, my uncle's living room is like that and its amazing to play "find the object with hints" type games

if I could marry one room it would be this one TAE MOVE SHE IS MINE WE ARE MEANT TO BE MARRIED wait tae dont move, we can be a throuple

people were right, namjoon copied love yourself album FROM SIR KIM TAE-ITH HYUNGWILL THE THIRD, love thyself

His skin is glowing silver again, like water when it reflects the moon at night or snow when the sunlight hits it just right. singularity performances *shudders

You are the only person who knows this room exists.” SAY WHAT *faints

Why did you paint the stars?” THAT TOO FOR 3 YEARS AND HE THOUGHT OF IT AS HELL, his therapist will need a therapist

NAUR THE ICE CREAM NO SHE JUST TOLD U NOT TO hes such a cute lil shit i cant

oh the trying to be invisible, i do that too, i keep doing that for half of an academic year, and all that time i just vibecheck everyone and the other half, i slowly come out of the shell (not much tho lol) that way i dont miss anyone or does anyone miss me and they cant hurt me too

this chapter was so cute, fluffy and cozy and they both speaking more about themselves aah its sooo good. and i loved his home/wing. the description of the place was just great i could feel the bed and the stars

byee 💜💜❤️❤️

This ask was a ghost ask on my computer 😶 like I saw that you sent me an ask in my notifs and I could open it on mobile, but it was non existant on my laptop HFHADHSF help

sneaking around is fun keke no wonder she is all excited and giddy haha cutie pie

no but they're so cute no joke 🥺

I told my familiar to light the candles your WHAT????

he's just a rich lil spoiled vampire

Taehyung is thinking into the future. THATS I WHAT THOUGHT TOO YIPPEEE

EHEHEH <3

other than the rest of the house - which reminds you more of a museum than a home - his wing looks like a home. Bear in mind it was still a very impressive - and royal - home, but it gave you a homely feeling with its burgundy red walls and hardworking radiators. ooh red walls, they feel cozy/warm and very royal vibes

I agree YES 🥺

HE TOOK OFF OUR SHOES AAAH and TOUCHED OUR ANKLES THEY BOTH ARE FOR THE COBBLESTONES

he is so fucking HOT

You have the prettiest of ankles, my sweetest me to hobi and kook

I'm obsessed with their ankles 😶 it's the Dom in me 😶

ALSO HOW MANY ANKLES DID U SEE MY MAN (ik he saw a lot considering he is ancient lol)

imagine all the ankles he had resting on his shoulders 😶

Delicate roses climb up a marble pillar thats amazing i love murals

NO BUT ME TOO 😭 I wanna paint a forest mural on my bedroom wall, but I'm too scared to mess up

Shall I show you something else too?” he asks quietly. aww my cute lil pookie go ahead why so nervous, smooches the fuck out of nervousness😭

he's just a lil pookie <3

Okay yep, holy cow. This is better than drugs FR OCTAGON SHAPED ROOM ARE THE BEST, my uncle's living room is like that and its amazing to play "find the object with hints" type games

ooh nice I love this vibe <3

Why did you paint the stars?” THAT TOO FOR 3 YEARS AND HE THOUGHT OF IT AS HELL, his therapist will need a therapist

he does not a Therapist I can tell you that much HAHAHHAAH

oh the trying to be invisible, i do that too, i keep doing that for half of an academic year, and all that time i just vibecheck everyone and the other half, i slowly come out of the shell (not much tho lol) that way i dont miss anyone or does anyone miss me and they cant hurt me too

That was me too when I was younger, but we're allowed to take up space on this earth. That's our right too, remember that my love 💜

this chapter was so cute, fluffy and cozy and they both speaking more about themselves aah its sooo good. and i loved his home/wing. the description of the place was just great i could feel the bed and the stars

I'm so happy that you loved it so much seriously heheh 💜💜

[ultimateplaylistmaker]

speaking of hajime, the popular trope of him being a dumb jock really forgets that out of the three protagonists, he's technically the smartest in a certain standpoint.

like, hear me out, makoto has his luck, shuichi is already a detective, but hajime just has common sense, his really good memory and deduction skills.

he's already at a disadvantage from the get go but he still manages to forge through and figure out the murders despite being a regular joe. he's the most interesting boring guy and i love him so.

the octagon joke is funny but it really hit his intelligence in the english circle when in japan, it's understandable if he, a high schooler, wouldn't be familiar with english because english may be wide spread but they're freaking japanese

To be fair to Hajime if you asked me what a heptagon was I'd just stare blankly at you, but also YEAH also the reserve course is like very advanced stuff im pretty sure? dude's smart as HELL at worst he just has a weak spot in math and like, so do a lot of people!

[yourimagines]

Party part 6

* English is not my first language I apologise

* gif is not mine

* triggers: swearing, violence

Nate POV

“And now she doesn’t want to talk to me anymore.” She threw up her hands. “Like he started all of it.” “I know.” “They are trying to blame it on you.” As she pointed at me. “It’s fine babe.” “ No it’s not!” She drops down next to me on the sofa. “She’s throwing everything away what we had for a guy that isn’t even her type.” “Maybe your guys are not meant to be.” “20 years gone.” I wrapped a arm around her and pulled her close. “I’m sure it’s going to be alright.” As I kissed her on her head. “Sorry for distracting you for your fight.” “No is okay, your important too.”

- Fight Night -

Nick stopped by to pick us up and drove us to the stadium. He parked the car at a reserved spot. “You’re ready?” I asked her. “Yes I’m ready.” “Stay with Nick okay?” She nodded as Nick replied “Don’t worry, I’ve got her.” We got out of the car and started to walk inside. The camera’s where pointing at me, as the press starting to shout questions. I ignored them and followed someone from the organisation to my locker room. We all arrived and I closed the door. “You have 15 min to get ready, then the cameraman will be here.” Said my coach. As I starting to change my clothes.

Y/N POV

Nate was doing some stretching exercises. “Nick will take you to your seat, don’t leave your seat till he gets you.” He said. “And if something happens, like a fight breaks out, leave and go to the security guard okay?” “Yes, I will be fine, don’t worry about me.” “I’m just making sure my girl will have a good time.” He stopped and walked up to me. “I’ll make sure that you’re seeing a great fight.” I laughed. “Just do your thing Nate.” “I will.” Nick walked up on us. “It’s time.” We nodded and I gave Nate quickly a hug. “Let’s put up a show yeah.” “I will baby, enjoy.” As he pressed a kiss on my head. I stepped back and nodded at Nick. “See you in a bit.” Nick said to his brother As we walked out of the locker room. I stayed close to Nick as we entered. “Here’s your seat, enjoy yourself.” “Thanks.” I took a seat as Nick walked back to support his brother.

Nate won and the stadium went crazy. He was celebrating in the octagon as a fight broke out somewhere close to me. A girl gets pushed into me. “Whoa, you’re okay?” As I held her. “Yeah, thanks.” She picked up a bottle with water and threw it at the person who pushed her. “Bitch!“ she yells. I started to back off a little bit. Another girl jumped over a seat and starts swinging at her. “Y/N!” My brother is running up to me. “I didn’t know you where here?” “I didn’t know you where here either.” He grabbed my arm. “Let’s leave, they will hit us if we are to close.” “Great idea.” He pushes us through the crowd till we got in a hallway. “That was close.” He said laughing. “Are you alone here?” “No I’m with Lucas, are you?” I shook my head. “No I’m here with the guy I’m dating.” “Not really a good boyfriend if he’s leaving you alone in a fight.” “That’s not fair.” “Then where is he, I don’t see him.” As he sarcastically looked around. “I don’t have time for this, I need to go back.” As I tried to walked pass him, but he grabs my arm. “Hell No you’re going back.” I tried to unfree myself from his grip. “Let go of me.” As I pushed him. “No, you’re not going back.” “Now you’re hurting my arm, let go of my arm.” I said while trying to get free. “Hey!” I looked around and Nick was walking very fast at us. “Let her go.” My brother starts to laugh. “What the hell.” He let’s my arm go as nick pushes him. “Dude what’s your problem.” “My problem?” As nick swings at him. Then Nate walks up and pushes me behind him. “Nate…That’s…” “We handle this baby.” My brother only defends himself. “Listen dude I’m not a creep.” Nick didn’t listen and hits him on his left eye. Then he almost falls into the ground. “Stop!” I run at my brother. Who was holding his eye. “He just hit me.” “Let me look.” He took his hand of and his eyebrow was cut open. “Y/N what are you doing?” Nick said angry. “You hit my stupid brother, that’s what’s going on.” Nick and Nate looked shockingly at the scene. “I’m sorry I didn’t know he was you’re brother.” “You didn’t gave me a chance.” My brother said whining. “I don’t think I’m gonna survive this.” I turned around and pushed him slightly against his arm. “Stop being a drama queen.” Everywhere was blood. His face, his hands on his clothes. “Please tell me that he isn’t your boyfriend because I don’t want to be beaten by him.” Nick starts to laugh. “No but my brother is.” Nick said while pointing at Nate. Before we know it my brother falls onto the ground. “Well at least he knows now.” As I leaned forward to check on him. “Hey, let’s get you fixed.” He grunted. “Let me call Lucas.” As I called his best friend to pick my brother.

[blackgirllovesdramas]

BL Fight Club! If I can’t ship em, let ‘em fight!

We have been out of the BL Octagon for a while! Time to pop it back off with our first BL tag team battle. TAG TEAM!!

My Beautiful Man: Hira Kazunari (17-19 year old high school to university student) and his lover Kiyoi Sou (17-19 year old high school student to model/actor)

Secret Crush on You: Nuea (18-20 year old university student) and his love Toh (18-20 year old university student)

Stalker vs Stalker to kick off the match. Toh vs. Hira to get it off right! Both are photographers that love to make their men the subject of their lens and life. The blind idol worship these men give their partners is unreal. I mean we all remember that wall of photos Toh, not even mentioning all the trinkets! Hira we saw what you did with that one photo and all the change you got! Here is the thing, both of these dudes are jealous as hell. Both can be catty, but we have seen Hira get SUPER violent when his man is being mistreated!

They tag their idol boyfriends in and we get a battle of the pretty boys. Nuea and Kiyoi get to scrapping. Nuea would take the earlier lead being a bit bigger and more muscular than Kiyoi, but here is the thing, you can see in his eyes, Kiyoi would fight dirty. Anything to make sure his love knows it is him and he against the world.

Winners: Hira and Kiyoi

Theme Music

[rockshortage]

I came across the most INCREDIBLE camp, holy shit

[darklydeliciousdesires]

From Blood, Love and Courage - Chapter Seven.

A huge thank you to you all for your continued interest in this little story of mine! Your excitement over it and love really does bring me so much joy :)

Previous chapters - One  Two  Three  Four  Five  Six

Words - 4,316

Tag list - In the comments, please message to be added/removed

Warnings - Mentions of rape and the associated trauma of such to come in future chapters. While I do not plan on detailing these overtly graphically, there will be detailing of such and conversations surrounding the subject, so if this is a trigger for you, you’d be best not to begin reading the story. 18+ content throughout, minors DNI!

High knees while jogging in place. Lord, how he hated it. And she’d made him do it while alternating between other different exercises, too.

“Come on, you’re not even really sweating yet!”

“I can feel it running down my damned back!”

“Pfft, that’s nothing! Okay, jump lunges, twenty on alternating legs and then twenty jump squats, go!”

Ezekiel Reyes; he was a man in two worlds that morning. One of pain, and one of regret. Huge, eclipsing, all-encompassing regret.  

“Jump burpees, thirty, go!”

Oh hell.  

“Mountain climbers, fifty, go!”

His lungs felt as if he’d inhaled fire.  

“Press ups, fifty, go!”

Holy mother of god.

“Back to jump squats, fifty, go!”

“Lily!”

She paused, giving him a curious sideways look. “Oh, does he quit? Is he ready to give up his fifty bucks?”

He wasn’t, so soldiered on. By the time he’d reached twenty-seven jump squats, his body told him that he was, pulling the slightly crumpled bill from his pocket and handing it to her.  

“Why thank you, sir.”  

He huffed, panting hard, picking up his water bottle and taking a few gulps before emptying it over his head. “You’re evil, and I concede. No wonder you look the way you do when you train that hard, Jesus.”

“Well, I have no choice but to, really. I can’t be anything less than one hundred percent fight ready right now,” she shrugged, taking her own water bottle and chugging back a few mouthfuls.  

Indeed, she couldn’t, her match now just two days away. “How’re you feeling about it?” Her cringe made him laugh. “Oh, come on. Your coach wouldn’t have put you into it if he didn’t have faith that you’re competent enough, that you could win.”

“Yeah,” she scoffed, sipping more water. “He said that last time, and I walked away with dented pride and a really bad headache.”  

EZ shrugged, standing up and stretching. “And there’s your incentive to go and beat her ass into submission, you have history there, a score to settle. Don’t let her get away with it twice.”  

She took a deep breath, sinking down into the side splits to do some stretches. “I hear you, dude. My confidence will kick in eventually. Probably while I’m on my way to the octagon. As soon as I see it, it’s like, I remember who I am then, you know?”

He understood, offering what Lily soon thought to be the perfect analogy. “It’s almost like the octagon is your holy place, the space in which you feel more secure and connected. Kinda like a Muslim at Mecca, except more brutal.”

She beamed at his words. “Yes! That’s exactly it!” Pausing for more water, she took a glug, turning to see her love arriving with Coco through the gates. “Come on, we still have laps to jog, let’s go.”

“Absolutely not,” EZ replies determinedly, receiving a swift, soft kick up the butt.  

“Move it! You might have lost, but the workout isn’t finished!” she ordered, pointing ahead. “Come on, pussy. Let’s go!”

He narrowed his eyes as she began to softly jog backwards, her face full of mischievous mirth. “Oh, you’d better run.” He shot after like a lion charging a gazelle, Lily squealing and adding speed to her pace, ducking and darting as she played chicken with him, full of giggles, Coco and Angel pausing to watch the scene unfold.  

“Yo! You’re signing your own death warrant, boy scout!” Coco called, Angel remaining tight lipped. It bugged him no end, seeing how well his brother and girlfriend were getting along. It all seemed a shade too close for comfort to him. It only built as a full-on play fight followed, Lily managing to free herself of his grasp upon her wrist, turning under his arm and aiming a strike for his lower back, EZ spinning around and managing to lose an arm again when she grabbed it and twisted it back on him.

“Oh, you bastard!” she shouted, Bishop and Hank coming out to watch the scene, Lily shrieking as EZ attempted to stop her, cheating somewhat, grabbing the back of her thong where it peeked out from over her leggings and pulling, her scream loudening, their audience roaring.  

“You gonna die, homes!” Coco called through his laughter, Lily sweeping at his legs, trying to get him over.

“Doubtful.” He yanked her thong higher, Angel not pleased at all seeing his brother grabbing at a handful of his girlfriend’s underwear, frowning heavily, Lily suddenly sweeping at his other leg as she shunted herself against his chest, taking him down, herself too since he refused to let go. She wiggled her way out of his grasp, locking both legs around his arm, holding his wrist in a tight grip and pressing her feet down into his chest, EZ attempting to move, but finding himself totally immobilised, much to his chagrin.  

He tried, but he couldn’t free himself from such a hold, Angel finally beginning to see the funny side of it, Lily eventually releasing him, holding her hands aloft as she did a little victory lap. “Armstrong wins again!” she called with delight, EZ eventually getting up and offering his hand, shaking hers before giving her a hug.  

“My brother is right, you are dynamite, Lily.”  

Lily grinned up at him. “And you’d do well to remember that before trying to win via wedgie ripping!” It should have been a cute sight, EZ conceding, hugging his opponent in admission of his loss, but for Angel, it only made him burn with jealousy. It might have been a play fight, but for him, it had connotations of flirting to it, especially with his brother taking a handful of her underwear, and Lily not even telling him that such a move was wildly inappropriate.  

EZ went off to get a shower, Lily moving to Angel, hugging him. He stiffened a little. “Hey, what’s up?”

“You’re all sweaty,” he muttered.  

She was a little perplexed. “That doesn’t usually bother you.”

“Yeah, but I ain’t trying to get my clean clothes all messed up, go take a shower first.”  

“Angel, is there something wrong? You’re acting off with me,” she questioned, her boyfriend crinkling his nose slightly.  

“Nah, we’re good.” They weren’t, though, and she knew it. Something was bugging him. Unfortunately, she didn’t have time to pursue it, running into the clubhouse bathroom to quickly shower and then dress, her shift beginning at the coffee shop in a half hour.  

“So, I’ll meet you back here tonight? You can hug me now, too,” she spoke, approaching him. He did, but it wasn’t with his usual warmth. “And we’ll talk too, because something is up with you.”

“Yeah, alright. See ya.”

She kissed him, turning to leave. “Love you.” she called over her shoulder.  

“Hmm.” He was pissed off to hell, but when that happened with Angel, when something hit him emotionally, he wasn’t always quick to verbalise it. Sometimes, he would dramatically blow up, and others, he’d seek out another way to let the person know they’d pissed him off.  

Unfortunately for Lily, he’d choose the latter. Until then, though, she could only wonder what she’d done wrong. It hit her about ten minutes into her shift, kicking herself as she took cake slices carefully from the catering pack sized box and arranged them neatly within the glass display.  

Who had her boyfriend always felt as if he’d lived in a perpetual shadow of? His brother. She suddenly saw it through his eyes, how he might feel insecure over what was simply her making an effort with his family, her actions misconstrued as rejecting him in favour of EZ now that they’d met. She cringed, scrunching her eyes shut as it hit her in waves. Fuck.  

They’d both being doing really well, too, until very recently, each of them now having an emotional wobble where there was absolutely no genuine cause for such to occur.

She had to call him.

The sooner she could acknowledge that she knew how it looked, and reassure him just like he had with her and Sofia, the better. Because of the rush, though, she didn’t get a chance to take her lunch break until 2:15pm, sitting in the small staff room at the back of the shop and calling him. No answer. She paid it no mind, figuring he was likely busy and made a note to try again at the end of her break. Still, no answer, nor the other few times she attempted to call him when Carol wasn’t watching her like a hawk. She knew this had less to do with being busy and everything to do with him being annoyed at her.  

Sadly, he could be childish at times, so she’d noticed, so she guessed this pouting and ignoring her wasn’t too out of the ordinary. Once she returned to the clubhouse, she planned to pull him aside and talk with him, but upon her arrival, she saw that Angel had very different ideas on how to handle his mood. They included another girl.  

Watching the scene as she parked up, she could make him out, him and a few others around the fire pit, sitting there with a girl on his lap, beginning to kiss her as he saw her getting out of the car. Anger shot through her, but she knew he was doing this for a reason, that reason being that he wanted to provoke a fight, sought for it to all blow up. This was him throwing bombs at a good thing, just like he’d warned her. Except she wouldn’t fall for it, or give him what he was seeking.  

“Hey, Lilypad,” Taza greeted her with, Lily bending to kiss his cheek. “I have no clue why he’s being like that, but I’m sorry.” he then whispered as he held her head close, Lily nodding.  

“And my sugar is where?” Bishop called, making a kissy face at her. He laughed warmly as she made her way to him, bending to greet him with the required kiss, completely ignoring Angel and the barely dressed woman sitting astride him.  

“Anyone want a drink?” she asked, looking between him and Taza, Gilly ambling over and taking a seat after greeting her.  

“Nah, we’re all set, sweetheart.” Bishop replied, gesturing with his eyes over to Angel and back at her with a questioning face. The look he received told him clearly, it’d get sorted. He could only quietly wonder how, surprised she hadn’t flung the girl off of her boyfriend and then kicked him clean out of his seat.  

Going inside, she got her usual of vodka over ice, saying hi to a few more of the guys before heading back out and seating herself next to Taza, turning to watch Angel silently. Everyone felt it, the air thickening, Lily’s displeasure very palpable, until finally, she spoke.  

“Care to explain your bullshit to me, Angel?” she asked, calmly and evenly.  

He didn’t tear his eyes away from the girl to begin with, making her wait before he finally turned his head. “It’s called payback.”

“Okay, I expected you to be annoyed because of this morning, but really, this is how you’ve chosen to deal with it, by being the guy you said you didn’t want to be any longer? I realise how it might have looked to you, but I thought we could discuss it civilly, not have you act like a complete ass.”

“Oh what, you think you can be all over my brother this morning and I’ll just let that shit slide? Nah, no way. How’d you fucking like it, Lily?” he vented strongly, his brows furrowing.  

She was aghast. “All over your brother? We had a playfight, Angel. Big deal!”

“Oh, like the big deal you made of me hugging Sofia the other day, huh?” he charged her with, his temper beginning to ignite.

“Which I apologised for as soon as I knew I was wrong and behaving stupidly!” she yelled, Angel snorting and shaking his head.

“You ain’t over it, though, or you wouldn’t be trying to use my brother to get to me, would you? Didn’t have you pegged for someone who’s vindictive, but apparently, I’m wrong. Either that or you just want his dick, probably a little of both.”

And yet the behaviour she was witnessing from him right then was the very definition of vindictiveness.

“So, you’re doing this just to hurt me, because of what you perceive you saw, right?”

He was defiant in the face of her accusation. “I’m doing this because I want to.”

“Emotional retaliation because you let your jealousy do the talking. I thought you didn’t want to be that guy any longer? The guy who fucks up a good thing?”

He glowered, hands stroking the curve of Izzy’s waist. “Who’s to say you’re a good thing?”

Lily felt her temper spiking, the sharpness of his words cutting, upsetting, but she wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of handing him what he wanted, because she knew exactly what he was doing, and why. “Stop looking for a reaction from me because something I did completely innocently hurt you, because of how you feel about you, and not how you feel about me, or me trying to get to know your brother. Those are your issues. Don’t make them mine when you can’t even have the basic decency to come to me and talk.”

He said nothing, because there was nothing he could come back with in the face of her uncomfortable truth; his uncomfortable truth. “So, if you’re that confident that this is what you want, then fine. Do it right in front of me. Have some balls. Or perhaps, have the fucking stones to do the right thing and admit you fucked up and overreacted. Drama only keeps on biting at your ass because you invite it to do so each and every time, you know. So, come on. As you were.”

She sat back, kicking her feet up on the crate before her, feeling Taza reach to discreetly squeeze the back of her arm. She turned to him, acknowledging his deep nod of respect, her wise new friend telling her without words how well she’d handled the situation.

As Angel sat, he felt himself grow more uncomfortable by the second, each separate thread of that discomfort braiding together within his mind, the fact that once again, he’d acted like an ass because of his own insecurities, that Lily had rightfully shamed him for it in front of three of his brothers, and the growing realisation that she wasn’t prepared to stand for it, sitting there staring at him, her eyes icy, her gaze unwavering.  

He’d disappointed himself and her, but she hadn’t let him get away with it, or given him the reaction he’d sought. She could have flounced off, but she hadn’t. Why? She knew they deserved more, and she wasn’t prepared to let him ruin what they had because he was a coward, but by god, she’d make him acknowledge it, be answerable to both his wrongs and her, all in one fell swoop.

No other woman had seen straight through his bullshit like that before.  

He straightened, looking up at Izzy. “Yeah, you need to leave.”

The girl made a hmph noise of light annoyance, climbing from his lap and sauntering back into the clubhouse, Angel looking over at Lily, arms folded, her face expectant. “Can we go somewhere and talk?”

“No,” she began, nodding to Bishop, Gilly and Taza. “Whatever you have to say to me, you can say in front of them.”

Oh, hell. She wasn’t going to make anything easy for him.  

“I’m sorry.”

“What for?” Her question was so cold and biting, he was surprised those two words didn’t freeze as soon as they left her mouth.

“For acting like a fucking pendejo.”

“And why did you act like a pendejo, exactly?”

His mouth tightened, discomfort riddling him. “Because I’m self-destructive where women are concerned.”

“And what are you not going to do in the future?”

Oh, she was really, really going to town on him, Bishop and Gilly glancing at one another, cringing on Angel’s behalf, although they both separately thought that this was exactly what he needed, a damned good dressing down by his girlfriend for his bullshit. Taza only looked on at her proudly, such was the weight of his genuine affection for the young woman he’d befriended. Also, as much as he loved him, Angel had it coming. This was, after all, why he hadn’t been able to keep a steady girlfriend in years, which was a presence in his life Taza knew he needed probably more than most.  

“I’m not going to fuck things up by running off with someone else just because I feel...”

“Because you feel what?”

He inhaled sharply through his nose, bolting back his beer. “Because I feel insecure!” God, he hated her in that moment for making him speak the truth, absolutely mortified by it, but shit, underneath, did he love her for it, too. She wasn’t giving up on him, and she was determined to show him how much of a better person he was capable of being. His bullshit? I wasn’t going to work on Lily. He wouldn’t, or rather couldn’t, scare her away.  

She nodded with satisfaction, standing up slowly as she walked to him, leaning down to kiss his forehead. “That is because no matter how much of a stupid fuck you are, I love you.” She then recoiled her fist and punched him sharply, straight in the eye. “And that is for trying to make me look like an idiot. You will never, ever fucking try and taunt me with another woman again because of your own internal crap, or next time, I throw you in that cage over there and really go to town on you, and by the time I’m done, you won’t have the luxury of calling me your girlfriend. You’ll just have broken bones, cuts and bruises. Learn your damned lesson from this, Angel Reyes.”  

“Ooooh, she’s pissed!” Gilly whispered, wincing, Bishop crushing the side of his tongue between his teeth to prevent himself from laughing, Taza not even bothering biting back the smirk.  

“I deserved that, I did,” Angel began, gingerly touching his eye. Fuck, she threw a mean punch. “You want another drink?”

“My usual, please.”

“Alright. And I am sorry, baby. I know I fucked up. I know. I’m gonna make it right with you, though, I swear.” He turned, heading back into the clubhouse. As soon as the door had swung shut behind the blare of loud music, Bishop broke, snorting before hysterical laughter followed, Gilly and Taza both in similar states.  

“You’re in the wrong job, Lily,” he began. “You should be a fucking interrogator. You’d empty Guantanamo in about twenty minutes!”  

She sat back down, Taza pulling her into a hug, kissing atop her head. “He’s needed a woman to do that to him for years. Trust me, darling. That’ll be the last time he ever acts up!” They continued to laugh hysterically for a couple of moments before composing themselves, Angel coming back out with a massive measure of vodka and a beer... and a towel with ice in it, which as soon as he rested against his eye, had Bishop in hysterics again.  

“Fuck you, Bish! You should be on the receiving end of one of her punches, shit man, she don’t play!”

“And you deserved it, my friend,” Bishop replied, swigging his beer, knowing that the entertainment value of the moment wouldn’t leave him for a while. “If you’re gonna pick a chick who does MMA for fun as your sweetie, you have to expect that she might, just might, be a little temperamental if you piss her off.”  

“Yeah, me and my stinging eye know all about it, thank you.”  

“Don’t be a drama queen, baby,” Lily warned softly, reaching to stroke his forearm, her anger towards him beginning to simmer.

“I’m not! Woman, you just slugged me so hard, I saw the faces of my damned ancestors for a few seconds!” His words only stoked the laughter at his expense, Lily eventually cooling off enough to join them.  

“And did they tell you to stop being a prick as well?”  

He muttered something under his breath, sipping his beer. “I’m glad y’all think this is hilarious!”

“Don’t worry, we do.” Taza’s chuckles rumbled on, reaching to squeeze Lily’s hand.  

Angel looked between her and the ground a few times, her eyes falling back upon him. “We good?”

Her nostrils flared, only ever so slightly, her jaw twitching. “Not quite. We’ll discuss it more later on.” Once back at her place three hours later, that’s exactly what they did, sitting out on her small balcony, sharing a bottle of tequila.  

He knew she was still mad at him, he could see it clearly through her frosty demeanour, knowing he’d have to work his ass off to claw back a little of her trust again. What he’d done, childishly trying to make her feel like shit because of his insecurity, had triggered her own, of being abandoned, of not being someone’s choice long term... the exact same issues he had in relationships.  

“I feel like such a dick for what I did, I really do,” he admitted, sighing. “I just... seeing you and EZ getting on so well, and he was always the one who was better than me, fucking golden boy, he had everything that I didn't, so...”

Where he trailed off, Lily filled in the blanks. “So why wouldn’t he have me too? Why would I want you with him on offer?” He nodded, his lips pressed together firmly. “Except, your brother isn’t on offer to me, and I’m not on offer to him. Or anyone else, for that matter.”  

“He said you’re hot, when we discussed you.” That was hardly reason for Angel to have freaked out in the way that he did, but she got it.  

“That doesn’t mean shit! All I want from EZ is to be his friend, and you know full well he loves you too much to ever make moves towards me. Has he done that in the past, gone after one of your girls?”

“Nope.”

“Well then!” She softened a little then, realising her exasperated tone wasn’t necessary. Of course, she’d had a similar visceral reaction in storming off after seeing Angel innocently catching up with Sofia only a few days before, him having to reassure her it wasn’t what she thought. She’d got over it without feeling the need to punish him, though. Angel, it seemed, was very different in that respect.  

“You can’t punish me for trying to get to know your family. You could have given me the chance to reassure you, like you did when I flipped at seeing you hugging Sofia, but you didn’t, and that’s what really hurt me, the vindictiveness of it.”

He shook his head, shrugging. “I guess I’m just a bad guy who doesn’t deserve you.”

No. She wasn’t having that. “Angel, you have a really good heart; you just need to unwrap the layers of razor wire which surround it, or no one will ever be able to get close to it. I’ve been putting the work in, since you turned up at the coffee shop and made me face up to my toxic shit of running away, and that was right at the damned start. I’ve now been cut on your razor wire, so unless you want me to keep on bleeding because of you, it’s time to remove it and fucking let me in properly. I thought you had, but really, you wouldn’t have gone to such lengths if that were true.”  

He breathed in deeply, pinching the bridge of his nose as he shook his head. “It’s fucking terrifying, how well you know me, know my shit,” he began, bolting back the tequila, Lily following suit before he topped off their glasses. “However, it’s also a comfort, not that I’ve wanted to let it be much of one. I know that I need to, though, that there’s probably nobody else out there who’s better for me than you are, or who’ll ever understand me like you do. And I did let you in, baby. I have, more than any woman I can remember in recent years. I just let my toxic behaviour take over and I won’t do it again. I promise you.”

Her mouth twitched at the corner, Lily nodding just once, tongue rolling around her mouth softly as he continued. “Another thing about you that I love, you don’t accept me for who I am either, because who I am is a fucking jerk. You accept me for who you know I’m capable of being, the man you’ve seen, the man I have been when I’m with you, up until today.”

“We are all but one person, Angel,” she began, lighting a cigarette, knocking the pack across the table to him with her fingernail. “It just depends on whether we feed our light, or our dark.”

He took a deep breath, drawing up a little before resting back, letting the air out slowly though his nose before reaching for the cigarette packet. “That shit’s profound.”

“Yes, and if you were brave enough to feed your light a little more where instances like today are concerned and just talk to me, you could be profoundly happy. We could be profoundly happy. I mean, I thought you were until tonight.” She got up, moving across the small space, shimmying between the rail and the table, seating herself across his lap. “Are you brave enough to be happy?”  

The way he kissed her was all the answer she needed.  

[sushirens]

It’s Mutual

Had this idea at 1:52 a.m., decided to write it. [Dedicated to @blooming-mushroom ]

•—•—•—•—•—•—•—•—•

Fandom: Hermitcraft Characters: Ren/Doc

THIS IS A SHIP FIC ! TW: Slightly suggestive? There's a lot of flirting, maybe some intense hate-flirting more specifically.

============================

“I told you already, man, it’s a mutual agreement.”

“Oh, so you and Doc just mutually benefit from suddenly moving in together when you claim to hate each other? Fat chance, Ren.”

“Bdubs, bro, I know you’re jealous that you’re losing your roommate, but Doc and I have a seriously huge project this season and we figured it’d be easier if we based together.”

Bdubs was having none of this. He knew Doc, and he knew Ren, and they never got along. Ever. He took a small swig of his beer, giving the werewolf across from him an incredulous look.

“I’m not jealous, I’m just calling what I see. And I see a lot of bullshit.”

The door creaked open, the pastel pink unmistakably Xisuma. “Hi fellas,” X smiled, “Ren, thanks by the way. I know you two don’t always see eye to eye, especially after the whole revolution thing a few seasons ago, but it means a lot that one of our most talented redstoners and builders are working together on this project. People are gonna go nuts over it, I can just tell.”

Ren quirked an eyebrow towards Bdubs. “Told ya, B. All in the name of X’s moon project.”

“Fine, whatever.”

•—•—•—•—•—•—•—•—•

A few weeks passed, Season Eight kicking into full gear as the two strong-headed Hermits got into a groove a fake friendship. All smiles and jokes on camera, all hateful off camera.

Ren and Doc had built up such a convincing fake friendship, even some of the Hermits began to believe they'd really turned a corner. But they hadn't heard what went on within the walls of their base.

"Keep your shitty 'Renstone' on your side of the island."

"Oh please, your raw building skills are the only shitty thing here. Without your precious "Motherboard", you couldn't build more than a dirt hut."

"Fucking werewolf."

"Dumbass creeper."

•—•—•—•—•—•—•—•—•

The disdain the two held for each other hadn't dissipated, it just became more complicated and ludicrous. Wels had been the first to notice the shift in the two headstrong builders, and he decided to have a bit of fun with it.

"So, how're things Doc? You seem less pissy all of a sudden."

"Mostly because I'm getting a break from Ren. Thanks for the collab, I needed to take my mind off him."

"Uh-huh, I'm sure. We were all in Team S.T.A.R. together, but even then you two could barely stand the sight of each other. Somethings changed now, you seem to be a lot more agressive towards him."

"Because he keeps overstepping his boundaries."

In the past weeks, Ren had seriously and truly begun to grate on the scientist's nerves. The more hateful and spite-inducing comments Ren made on the sly, the more Doc found himself hating the hybrid.

"Something's different though, don't you agree?" Wels smirked, taking a long sip of his drink.

"How do you mean?"

"Hate flirting, obviously. The more you two talk the more fruity you two get."

Doc's eye twitched. Ren? Flirting with him? That sent him over the edge. Without another word he flew off towards the Octagon, mechanical eye scanning the ground for the stupid werewolf. He landed gracefully, marching over to his idiotic base mate.

"What the fuck man?" Doc yelled, shoving Ren's back against the wall of chests.

Ren grunted from the sudden impact, throwing his hand up in a poor attempt to shove Doc away. "What the hell Doc? The fuck are you on about?"

"Fucking hate-flirting is what. All week you've been annoyingly close, always bothering me for the most meaningless things."

Ren's face flushed. Had he really been so obvious? The stoic doctor hadn't realized until just now, so maybe that was a plus?

Ren tried to keep up the facade. "Dude, who's putting these ideas into your head? Nevermind, must be some faulty wiring."

A screaming match started between the two, both men shouting profanities and insults through the small gap between their faces. Their faces were flushed, but neither of them realized how close they'd moved together.

"Fuck you!" Ren spat.

"Then do it!" Doc screamed back.

Silence enveloped the two. Doc's face flushed as he stammered, trying to find the words to correct himself.

Ren stood quietly, completely shocked. His tail had stopped wagging long ago, but now every inch of fur stood up on edge.

"Doc? Bro, you okay?"

The pair had become acutely aware of how close they were, the heated breath of each other dancing over their lips. The fatal mistake Ren had made was letting his eyes glance down to Doc's lips for a moment, before continuing the awkward eye contact.

Doc sighed, breaking the silence. "Forget this."

He closed the gap between their faces, locking their lips into a heated kiss.

•—•—•—•—•—•—•—•—•

The end.

Maybe I'll continue, maybe I won't.

[thevindicativevordan]

On Kong Kenan/Super-Man

It should've been him. He should've been the Superman of 5G/Future State/right now not Jon, and he should be the one getting an HBO Max series not Val. Hell he should be getting a movie!

God this dude is literally the best legacy character Superman has ever gotten, wholly his own person with his own lore and status quo while still building on the idea of "Superman". I am so pissed at DC for essentially just dropping him after his ongoing ended, what the hell Lee? You keep trying to make the Wildstorm characters happen, I need you to get my man Yang another Kenan book.

Have to admit I was a bit nervous at first about whether or not Kenan would be a worthwhile character. Yang's New 52 Superman run had been a disappointment to me overall, with only the the arc where Superman has underground wrestling matches against forgotten gods really sticking with me. Now he was introducing a brand new Superman? Didn't feel like he had "earned" that yet. But from the first issue I was hooked on this new character.

Kenan was unlike any other member of the Superfamily. He wasn't kind or sweet, he was an asshole! He was a bully! He was fantastic! Right from the start Kenan was set up to undergo a very different kind of character journey than the other members of the Superfamily. Empathy, humility, respect for people weaker than himself, these are all traits most heroes wearing the S-shield already posses by the time they first don the crest, but not Kenan.

Like all bullies he was even a bit of a coward himself at first, trying to bail on the experiment meant to give him Superman's powers right as it begins. After "saving" Lixin (the kid he bullies and steals lunch from every day) from Blue Condor he demands all the money Lixin has on him as payment. He's not courageous or selfless either at the start, Kenan is as much of an opposite of Superman as you can get short of being Bizarro. Learning the appeal of these traits formed the basis for his growth over the course of his series.

Seeing Yang bring in a lot of recognizable "Superman" elements in the series, but with a twist, was also great. Kenan is the one who bullies "Luo Lixin" rather than the traditional Clark/Lex friendship of Pre-Crisis and Birthright. Initially Kenan develops a crush on intrepid reporter for Primetime Shanghai, Laney Lan, but she dismisses him as too young and Kenan eventually ends up pursuing Avery Ho (Flash) instead. Baxi the Bat-Man of China has a similar relationship with Kenan as the traditional Superman/Batman in terms of being vitriolic best buds, however Baxi is the one who has the most respect for authority while Kenan is the rebel. Kenan is a part of the "Justice League of China" which does not meet with the approval of the already established Chinese superheroes, the Great Ten. That contrasts nicely with the good relationship the Justice Society and Justice League have, as well as seeing Yang lampshade the "Chinese copy" trope and incorporate that into his storytelling.

One of the funniest differences is how Kenan chooses to immediately reveal his identity as Super-Man to the world by taking off the compliance visor he was forced to wear, contrasting with Clark's choice to hide his identity. He was so eager to impress people that he never gave any thought to the danger he could put himself or his family in by revealing his identity until it was too late, something Clark is well aware of and has taken great pains to keep his identity secret. Was a missed opportunity for DC to have Kenan comment on Clark copying him for once when he outed himself under Bendis.

But one of the most poignant differences between Clark and Kenan is the gulf in separation between their relationship with their parents. Clark has a loving relationship with Ma and Pa Kent, trying to live up to their lessons as best he can. In contrast Kenan's mom was believed to have died in an airplane crash when he was just a child, and he never really knew her. His father was distant from him after that and the two weren't really close despite Kenan's attempts to impress him. So Kenan lacks that strong connection while still clearly loving both of them.

Pa Kent's death is one of the most tragic examples of Clark's love for his parents, and I've always been a fan of takes where Clark promises his father to fight for the powerless on Pa's deathbed. Kenan gets a similar scene at the start of his career, his dad "dies" (after being exposed as Flying General Dragon, a pro-democracy "supervillain" from the Chinese authorities perspective) and wants Kenan to promise he'll fight for Truth, Justice, and Democracy. But because Kenan's dad never really bonded with him, Kenan doesn't know what those mean, and can only promise that he never wants to see people die, something his father takes comfort in at least. In classic comic book fashion it's revealed that Dr. Omen, Kenan's "boss" and the one who gave him his powers, saved Kenan's father, because she is Kenan's mother! Kenan's relationship with his parents forms a lot of the crux of his character arc, and seeing how Yang utilizes the classic Superman concept of family kept the storytelling exciting.

Yang's brilliant exploration of the concept of "Superman" through the prism of Chinese culture was a great way to differentiate Kenan as well.

I absolutely freaking love how he tied to the concept of Qi to the S-shield in particular. Connecting the shape of the shield with the way Kenan has acquired his powers along the path of the Bagua (eight trigrams used in Taoism that represent the fundamental principles of reality), with his octagon S-shield outline representing all eight principles together, was mindblowing! So was the idea of restricting Kenan's access to his powers unless he was actually acting in a Superman manner, that tied his character growth to his power growth in an entertaining manner. There were so many characters and concepts that meshed Chinese and DC lore together, like how Emperor Super-Man was Kenan's "Doomsday", they even recreated that iconic dual kill shot! The Chinese Wonder Woman Peng Deilan, being based on the Chinese Legend of the White Snake! There was even some Korean mythology referenced with the Aqua-Man member of the JLC "Dragonson".

Yang also managed to do a Superman Blue/Superman Red story with Super-Man Yin/Super-Man Yang!

Shameful that it took me a while to realize what Gene Yang was doing but once I caught on I was touched. You can tell how much Yang loved Superman and his mythology, and how he was excited to incorporate as much from Clark as he could, while still using it in a way that was solidly Kenan's. And not just Superman's mythology, but the history and lore of the entire DC Universe. I-Ching got to be brought in, fleshed out, and used as Kenan's mentor! The "Yellow Peril" villain from Detective Comics #1, the comic DC gets its name from was brought in and revamped as I-Ching's twin brother All-Yang! Hats off to Yang for taking a racist caricature and attempting to make him into something more.

This series was a beautiful attempt by Gene Yang to build a space for Asian heroes and villains where they could be more than stereotypes, Kenan himself being a defiant mold-breaker in every regard as the complete opposite of most Asian characters in Western media (a jock, a bully, loves his dad but not on great terms with him, a powerhouse as a hero, etc). So much thought and hard work was poured into this by Yang and his team of artist collaborators.

Especially the costumes, man Kenan had so many great looks. From his starting outfit (which is my favorite Superman variant not worn by Clark himself), to the one with the Yin/Yang shield he acquired later on, to his Super-Man Yin & Super-Man Yang outfits, Kenan looked damn cool. Part of me is bummed they didn't go with the Chinese character shield they toyed around with, but I loved how Yang used the "s-shield" as a plot point, so I'm not too broken up over it.

All that great work Yang did to build that space up has been more or less forgotten sadly. It was nice to see Kenan in the DC Asian Month Celebration issue. Avery is going to be in Justice Incarnate at least (unsurprising considering she was created by Williamson). So fucking bummed that Superman Family Adventures cartoon didn't happen, they were going to have Kenan and John Henry Irons in it! Would've been a dream come true for me to see Irons in animation again, and Kenan making the jump to outside media! Maybe that would've encouraged DC to let Yang keep writing New Super-Man, or at least encouraged them to use him elsewhere instead of allowing him fall into Limbo.

Unfortunately I'm not sure what the future holds for Kenan. Jon is being pushed as Clark's replacement in the comics, with DC keeping all the other contenders such as Kon benched. Calvin is leading the Justice Incarnate team likely due to the upcoming Coates reboot that will make Clark black. Val will probably get something once Taylor leaves Jon's book or once they officially announce the HBO Max show is happening. So where does that leave Kenan, my new favorite PoC legacy hero? Currently my only hope is that Yang is working on something for DC involving him. Yang left Batman/Superman, where I was hoping to see a Baxi/Kenan team up, to go work on "exciting other opportunities" per his Twitter. So fingers crossed that there's something in the works for Kenan!

One day I hope he gets his day in the sun again.

[qoinq-qhost]

home - dannymay day 2

my unplanned continuation of day 1 

.

Danny floated aimlessly through the endless green void. His head was bandaged, still slightly throbbing, as he moved slowly through this strange world. He hoped to see anything that would jog his memory, but the swirling scenery looked helplessly unfamiliar.

Whatever this place was, it didn't feel like home.

He was told that he belonged here, with the other dead things. He still could barely process what had happened. He didn't feel dead. Sure, he didn't feel great — his head still hurt like hell and the gaps in his memory frustrated him to no end — but he didn’t feel dead.

What he did feel was hurt. Confused. Betrayed. The words still echoed clearly in his mind: You don't belong in this world. His own mother told him to get lost.

And of course, Danny knew how his parents felt about ghosts. Even though the couple had never actually seen one, the conviction with which they spouted anti-ghost rhetoric made it clear in Danny’s mind ever since he was a small child; these creatures were ruthless and to be feared. Ghosts were horrible things, not bound by physics or morals.

And now he was one of them.

He had hoped that him being family would have meant something to his mother. He may have died and come back, but he was still her son.

But the way she looked at him made it clear: this was not the case. He could feel a distance between them that wasn't there when they spoke before as mother and son. Her patience thinly veiling a deep distrust. And she even corrected him when he called her “Mom” — I’m not your mom. I’m Dr. Fenton. That hurt worse than any injury.

And then once she patched him up she basically shooed him out of her laboratory, through the gaping hole to another dimension so conveniently placed in the basement of his family home.

She told him he belonged there, in the Ghost Zone. He made no argument. His brain refused to cooperate, to think of any rebuttal. He let himself be guided towards the octagonal hole in the wall and braced himself as he ventured through.

Being in the Zone unsettled him greatly. He felt off, though it was hard to pin down what exactly was causing it. It could have been the place itself, unfamiliar and foreboding, or the dizziness he still felt from his injury, now graciously paired with the feeling of floating through this endless abyss of a realm, no way of orientating himself amongst the endless swirling scenery.

More than anything, he wanted to go home.

And at this point, he wasn't really sure where that was anymore.

After drifting in the Zone for god knows how long, he came across another ghost. He wasn't really sure if it was safe to approach, but once the other specter noticed him she called out.

“Yo, Phantom!”

This ghost appeared to be holding a guitar, her hair mimicking a roaring blue flame, flaring up as she spoke.

Danny then remembered that he was called Phantom. The ghost was talking to him. She noticed his delayed reaction.

“Damn, what's wrong, man?” She noticed his bandaged head and asked even though she knew the answer, “You hit your head or something?”

She didn't seem particularly worried about him, more curious than anything. Danny figured he could talk to her. She wasn't outright attacking him, as he had feared, so he was taking that as a good sign. But still, he was cautious. He didn't think it was smart to reveal to this stranger that he was essentially helpless right now, with his memories gone, but just talking to her couldn't be so bad, right?

“Um, yeah, I got kinda turned around.” He tried for a casual chuckle. It did not sound casual. “I was wondering if you could just point me in the direction of my, um, ghost house.”

The ghost narrowed her eyes at him.

“Your... ghost … house.”

Shit.

She looked him up and down once before her eyes went up to his bandaged head again.

“Tell me something, Phantom,” she paused again to examine his face. She noticed the way his eyes seemed a bit unfocused, his face showing no signs he recognized her. “What’s my name?”

Yeah, he had no clue.

“Um. Debbie?”

The ghost sighed and brought her hand over her eyes. “Okay, why do I gotta deal with amnesiac Phantom.” She met his eyes again. “You don't live here, dipshit. You live with your stupid ghost hunter parents out there in the human realm.”

Now that didn't make sense.

“Wait, wait, wait. My mom just told me I live here. In the Zone.”

“Ugh, dude, I don't know what you want me to say. You literally stay out there in the human world all the time just cuz you can make yourself look human or something, then you get mad at us any time we try to do the same thing. It's so annoying.”

“Look human?”

“Ugh, yes!” The ghost was growing more frustrated. “You do that thing with the lights and the rings or whatever.”

“I have no idea how to do that.”

“Well, figure it out or something. That's probably the only way you’ll be able to go back home.”

[blursed-ninjago-ideas]

Giant vampire lady au

[Nya points at her significantly more pointy bat like ears frowning]

Nya: What have you done to us and don’t lie tell us!

Misako: Wait you children just now have noticed I’ve been dosing your food with my blood? Specifically the traits gained from it?

Skylor: Mother!

Misako: If anything I sped up the natural course of such events and made sure he can’t escape.

Nya: Traits! You can’t just dose us with your blood without our consent! Has anybody else known about this nonsense?

[Zane blushes and rubs the back of his neck nervously]

Zane: I didn’t say anything and figured it would be beneficial in the long run.

Cole: Zane what the hell! Actually now that I think about it explains my sight in the darkness getting better.

Zane: Well I didn’t want to lose you guys plus considering her lifespan and powers it seemed useful and relatively harmless in the grand scheme of things.

Cole: Dude you’re not going to lose us I’m planning on becoming a octagon.

Zane: It’s called an octogenarian Cole.

Misako: Well now you’ll live to a couple of hundred years at least.

[Lloyd starts bouncing up and down in excitement]

Lloyd: One of us! One of us! Now I get to keep them too.

Misako: Yes Lloyd one of us as you so eloquently put it. Now stay still or you won’t be getting any dessert tonight.

[Lloyd stops bouncing but still smiles eagerly with his fangs out]

Jay: I thought the super strength was part of being an elemental master?

Misako: Well yes and no on the super strength dearie. While it is true elemental masters do have enhanced strength compared to most mortals of this realm it shouldn’t be that powerful in you compared to say the elemental masters of earth and metal.

Kai: I thought this was part of puberty?! No wonder our training gi’s smell a lot more awful and Zane’s cooking smells and tastes better.

Misako: You’re all so young and Skylor deserves only the best in her court and companionship. If anything I blessed you all. My kind can have such lonely social life’s outside of the odd mob or do-gooder who tries to kill us.

Nya: Next time ask someone.

Yeah, that’s probably how it would go down.

-Ivy

[spartanxhunterx]

Bug And Shell(d): Stoneheart

tags: @death-by-ladybug, @anti-hero650, @validate-me-please, @latchycat, @seraphichan @justheredreamin @imnotjealousjustgay @flimango @fer1521 @bronwynsfandoms @your-bro-bronwyn @sweenyalice @heldtogetherbysafetypins @queenofnot @dur55

If anyone else wants to be tagged let me know.

"The stone beings are scattered all over Paris, and for the time being, they are showing no signs of movement. Police have cordoned off the area."

Nino sighed as he watched the morning news, seeing the pictures of the stoneheart copies being stuck like statues. Each image a reminder of his and ladybugs failure yesterday.

This wasn't what was supposed to have happened, everything was supposed to have been fixed, not made worse. And he couldn't blame anyone but himself, it was his job to help Ladybug, if she didn't remember something it was his job to remind her.

So when he too forgot. Then he too had failed, failed Ladybug, failed Paris.

 "We won't stop until we find a way to get these people back to their normal selves, but for now, we're not making much headway."

 Neither was he, but hearing the mayor say he was doing everything he could was a little comforting, even if he knew it was pointless. Wayzz had said that only ladybug could fix the damage done by Akuma's and she needed the original Akuma to do so.

 "Paris is relying on our new guardian angels, ladybug and Carapace, to save us all. Our lives depend on them."

So far there was nothing that could be done unless Ivan got re-akumatised into stoneheart, only then could he and Ladybug capture the Akuma.

It was a complicated procedure that shouldn't have to happen, if only they had been more observant the first time around.

 " Nino? " the boy in question looked down to his younger brother, seeing him look up to him with eyes filled with wonder and childlike innocence, yet fear too.

His older brother instincts kicked in and he placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "What's up little dude?"

 " Are... Do you think they can fix this? "

Nino blinked before he realised what he was on about. "You mean Ladybug And Carapace?" Seeing his brother nod Nino quickly enveloped him in a one armed side hug. " Oh don't worry about it dude, I'm sure, wherever they are, they're trying to fix this right now. "

 "You think so?"

 " I know so. " Nino spoke factually, messing up his brothers hair. "I have full faith that the hero's are going to fix this, so don't you worry."

 For what choice did Nino really have? He was chosen to be Carapace, chosen to be a hero. He had to fix this, if not for his own sake then the well-being of all those who were being affected right now.

 "Chris come on, let's go." Their mother called and he had to suppress a chuckle at seeing Chris deflate.

His brother had really hoped for his school to be shut down with everything that was going on. Not that his school was in danger, no, it was far away enough to be considered out of the way.

 "Nino, make sure you leave on time, a lot of roads are closed cause of those statues."

 " You got it mom. "

Nino waited until he heard the door shut until he let out a defeated sigh, turning off the TV before he could see anymore of his failures.

 "Please don't beat yourself up master Nino, no-one is perfect."

 He looked up to see Wayzz sitting on the table, having come out after his family had left, munching on some of the fruit pieces he had been slowly munching on.

 "I know Wayzz but," Nino sighed as he shook his head. " You told me to help Ladybug and Ladybug said her Kwami told her to capture the Akuma, but me not remembering or reminding her that. I've failed Paris, failed you. "

 "Nonsense, I could not be more proud to call you one of my hatchlings." Wayzz floated up, then landed on his knee, a grape held in his nubby hands. " besides, one cannot improve if they do not fail. "

 "One does not learn through success but from failure. Already you have learnt a valuable lesson, Capture the Akuma, your next failure will teach you something as well. Master ."

 " how very inspiring Wayzz. " Nino flinched at the bluntness in his tone before he cast an apologetic look to the Kwami. "Sorry."

 He stood up and moved to his room, leaving Wayzz to float around as he pleased. As much as Wayzz was speaking the truth he didn't want to think about his next failure, or even the idea of failing from now on. Sure he had to learn but he shouldn't need to fail to do so.

As he scooped up his bag his eyes caught onto the inside, seeing the crumbled remains of his headphones, the events of yesterday had made him completely forget about getting replacements, not that he could do so quickly anyway.

Dumping his bag out into his desk he rearranged everything so he only had the essentials, trying to leave a large space for Wayzz to sit in comfortably. However, he didn't like the idea of him staying in there all the time, just in case he got separated from his bag, he needed Wayzz closer to him and he didn't want to leave him in his hat all the time.

People would notice it was crooked. Moving to his closet he opened it up and began to shift through everything, bypassing the T-shirts all of them the exact same until he came to the few jackets he owned.

There was a long sleeve white fleece jacket, a black bomber jacket, a brown hoodless jacket and...

Nino pulled out the green short sleeve zip up hoodie, seeing dark green octagons on the shoulders and elbows, the zip had the same dark green bordering it, a large pocket was on each side of the zip and the baggy hoody was hanging off the neck.

it was a gift from Marinette on his fourteenth birthday. It was a few sizes too big, or it had been, he had grown a little since he got it. Aside from a few occasions he hardly wore it. He opened the jacket by undoing the zip and peered inside, yep, right there were two large pockets on each side.

it was perfect.

Slipping it on he left the zip undone, it was beginning to reach warmer weather but there was enough of a chill in the air to justify wearing it. He adjusted the hood so it was open behind his neck before he picked his bag up and strung it over his shoulder, letting the bag rest on his hip.

Stepping out of his room he caught Wayzz finishing off the last of the fruit, for such a little guy he certainly could eat.

 "You ready to go buddy?" Nino picked up his lunch from the counter along with a few packets of mixed fruit.

 "Yes Master." Nino frowned as he zipped up his bag.

" Dude, I know you mean well. But please don't call me that, it makes me feel old. "

Wayzz chuckled as he floated up to him. "Of course, apologies, it is a habit I find hard to break."

" You're good little dude. " He opened up his jacket, revealing the pockets and Wayzz was quick to settle into one of them, now he wouldn't have to worry so much about losing him. Making sure his hat was on properly he left his house.

-

Once outside he began to make his way to school, he let his shoulders relax and kept his eyes open on where he was going. He wasn't exactly expecting Stoneheart to drop down in front of him but after yesterday he couldn't exactly ignore the possibility.

He eventually found himself stepping around to the street that had his school and he picked up his pace, at best he would get through today fine but, given that Ivan was their classmate, everyone would be talking about what happened yesterday... Right in front of Ivan too.

Hell, Ivan would be the center of attention today whether he liked it or not and who knew what he was feeling. He picked up his pace and before he knew it he was already through the doors. Eyes scanning left and right, seeing that school was just beginning to fill out properly.

His eyes landed on the hulking frame of Ivan, who was slouched on the bench, head down and eyes cast to the ground. Fortunately he was alone, unfortunately he didn't look to be in a good mode.

Call him selfish but he didn't want Ivan to be akumatised again, not because he didn't want everything to be fixed but because he didn't want Ivan to go through that again. He already looked defeated enough as it was and it hadn't even been a day yet. He stepped closer until he was before him, realising that Ivan wasn't paying attention he sat next to him and waited.

it was only when he looked towards Nino that Nino looked back. "You alright dude? You look a little... Grim?"

Ivan sighed, hand dragging along his face. "I don't know, it's weird."

 "About yesterday?" He saw him nod and he couldn't blame Ivan for not wanting to talk about it. It was unclear what he was feeling or even how he was responding to everything. "Hey, don't worry about it too much, I know it must be... Confusing but I don't think you're at fault for this."

 "You don't? " Ivan sounded surprised and Nino suspected it was because he wasn't expecting anyone to say what he said. Or at least defend him in some way.

"Of course not, if you were going to blow your top it would be because of Chloé and her... Well Chloé being Chloé I suppose, not to mention, if everything that happened yesterday came from you... We would have seen it a lot sooner."

Ivan huffed, and Nino was left with the impression that he had said the wrong thing. Still he made the decision to stay where he was, just so Ivan knew he at least had Nino as silent support.

"Yo! Ivan." Nino winced as Alix skated up to them, he silently hoped that she wouldn't start anything. The pink haired girl was normally pretty chill but had her aggressive streak when pushed. He hoped for Ivan's sake she was in a chill mood today.

"Alix. Don't." Alix at least had the dignity to look affronted and held her hands up defensively.

"Hey, I'm just checking in." Well that wasn't too bad at least. "Need to know if he's gonna go Rocky Road Reject on us."

" Alix! " It was bad enough to hear the same insult that he had said, in the heat of the moment, but to hear it be used against Ivan was worse. "Not cool Dude. That was uncalled for."

" What? Just making sure we're safe. " Nino clenched his jaw, this was the opposite that he wanted to happen, this would stress Ivan out and he would get re-akumatised.

He could tell it was going to be made worse by the approaching group of Kim, Juleka, Rose and Max. Nino sent his own silent pleas to them to not cause anything but it seemed the prospect of talking to Ivan was too tempting.

Hell, even Chloé had moved closer, leaning herself against the beam with Sabrina next to her, holding her bag for her.

Ivan seemed to pick up on the negativity too, as he huffed while looking away. "Guys, Don't."

" What happened yesterday man? " Nino was seriously going to smack Kim upside the head, the jocks indignation be damned.

"Kim." It seemed Nino's words were falling on deaf ears today as no-one responded to him.

" I don't know. " Ivan looked so beaten down right now, with the way his shoulders were hunched and he was trying to make his large frame look small.

"You have to admit it is strange, people don't just become Rock monsters in a day." For once, Nino actually glared at Max and it seemed he took notice of him, finally. Whatever words were on his tongue died as he nervously cleaned his glasses. "So clearly we're missing a lot of important information, I just wanted to ask you about it."

" There's nothing to tell, I don't even remember anything. " that seemed to get everyone's attention as their faces relaxed, although Nino quickly noted that Chloé didn't seem to do the same. Granted she didn't look like anything other then relaxed already.

"Wait," Alix seemed to pause, as if contemplating what she should say. "So you really don't remember anything? At all?"

"You were totally going ballistic." Nino sent an annoyed look to Juleka , seriously her too? She seemed to take his pointed look in stride, not even flinching.

Ivan was halfway through shaking his head when Kim stepped up closer, not aggressively but certainly far from calm. "You were seriously out to crush me dude!"

Missing the way Ivan looked towards Mylene, who was standing a little away from the group, Nino stood until he was between Kim and Ivan. "Maybe he wouldn't have been like that if you didn't antagonize him yesterday, what did you even do?"

 "Its nothing Nino." The Moroccan boy looked back to the class giant, finding to odd that he was telling him to not worry. "I'm sorry Kim... I wasn't myself..."

The disbelieving, antagonizing scoff that came from behind them was enough to set Nino's gutt off, he was quick to turn to Chloé, who he had been graciously ignoring to not start anything with her himself.

 "Once a monster, always a monster." Nino hardly had time to retort before Iavn had gotten up with a huff, shoulder checking him as he stalked past and away from everyone else. "Don't let the door hit you on the way out!" She called after him, hardly looking up from her manicured nails.

"Really Chloé?" The blonde didn't even look up at him but Sabrina certainly sent a smug look his way.

" plu-ease, I'm not wrong. "

 "Oh yes you are!" Nino blinked as Alya stepped up to Chloé, not at all bothered about getting close to the mayor's daughter. "How could you say that to Ivan? You're the real monster."

 "Ugh, so I'm the one who broke Sabrina's dad's arm am i?" As much as Chloé was a brat she often had good points when it came to her arguments but Nino wasn't going to hold it against Ivan. Given that he was under mind control. "Just because your footage of those lame superheroes was shown on Tv, doesn't mean you have to get so high and mighty."

 Chloé blew the wad of gum in her mouth to form a bubble between the two girls faces, who had gotten quite close to each other, until it popped in alya's face. "Why you Little..."

 "Look out, she's angry! She's going to split her underwear and turn into a huge muscly monster." Chloé snickered as Alya walked away in her own huff, would she be akumatised as well? Could there be two at once? Nino didn't know and he certainly didn't think to ask Wayzz before.

" Hey Chloé. " Whatever was going to happen came to halt as Chloé seemed to light up in delight , actual delight, as she turned to the source of the voice. Nino could hardly see the head of Blonde hair before Chloé had jumped onto them.

That was enough for Nino to know that whoever they were, they had enough familiarity with Chloé to actually choose to be around her. And that was bad enough in Nino's eyes.

"Hey is that Adrien?"

" Adrien Agreste? "

"Is that that model?"

Nino ignored the whispers as he walked away and towards his class room, ignoring the way how the new boy gently pushed Chloe away by her shoulders , as if it was normal to have the blonde girl hanging off of him.

once he got in the room he placed his bag down and sat in his seat, Marinette wasn't here yet, neither was Alya or many other students. Only nathaniel was present, drawing in his book.

It was times like these that he wished he had his headphones, just so he could jam out to a little music before class, Bustier was very lax on that as long as he didn't do it when class started. But he had some time to waste so he brought out his phone and powered it up. He sat there, just goofing off as he waited for the class to begin.

one by one the other classmates entered, taking their seats and quietly talking. Nino shot a quick look down to his jacket, he couldn't see Wayzz but he could just feel his weight in his pocket. It felt weird just having a tiny being right there, a massive secret that could be blown out of the water if someone were to look in his pocket.

 "Wow." Chloé's voice flowed through the doorway, for once Nino could swear it sounded like she was actually happy. It sounded really strange after all the false happiness she had given off over the years. The way how she half ran into the room gave off her excitement. "This is your seat, Adrikins. " The blonde girl gestured to the seat next to Nino and, for once, she didn't seem bothered that he was there. "I saved it for you. Right in front of me."

Adrikins, or Adrien if Nino had heard correctly, walked in. Back straight, head high and not unlike Chloé. Passing by Chloé he placed a hand on her shoulder. "Thanks Chloé."

" Just remember, as long as we get past roll call you're in the clear. " He gave her a thumbs up as he sat in the seat next to Nino, it seemed as if he had only just seen him.

 "Uh… Hey!" The blonde boy held out his hand in greeting, "Adrien."

Model boy.

friend of Chloé.

He looked well off by his clothes.

Not a good combo in Nino's eyes. "So, you're a friend of Chloé's huh?" He leaned on his raised hand, balling his fist just below his jaw as his elbow rested on the table. Eyes narrowed slightly in suspicion, even as Wayzz tapped against his chest calmly.

For a fleeting moment Adrien's faced dropped, the smile he had been giving him faltered and his hand dropped to the table. Perhaps things would be awkward between them but Nino knew he had to put his foot down somewhere, if not between Chloé and Marinette then between himself and Adrien.

His sight didn't last on him for long as Nino's eyes darted to Chloé, seeing her pass off her chewed gum to Sabrina.

"Really Chloé? Can't go a day can you?"

Chloé turned and gave him the stink eye as Sabrina took the gum. " This is none of your business Lahiffe, why don't you drown yourself in your music like a good boy. " Nino frowned as Chloé turned to admire Sabrina's work in sticking the gum to the seat, giving it a squish to spread it as far as she could.

Adrien also seemed to notice after turning back towards them, what surprised Nino was the look of slight disgust that crossed Adrien's face upon seeing their 'work'.

"Hey," he was quick to stand up from his seat and Nino had to blink as his own assumptions of the boy were broken. " what's that all about? "

 " The brats that sat here yesterday need a little attitude adjustment." Chloé seemed satisfied with what Sabrina had done and gestured her to get up. "I'm just commanding a bit of respect, that's all."

Adrien leaned down in the space that Sabrina had just vacated and hesitantly tried to pick up the Gum. "Is that really necessary?" The blonde boy grimaced as the gum stuck to the end of his fingers but he didn't stop trying to remove it.

" You've got a lot to learn about school culture adrikins, watch the master." Chloé looked rather proud with what she had caused and Nino would admit he wasn't expecting Adrien to try to remove the gum or even question Chloé for that matter.

Perhaps he had been wrong about him or at least... There was more to him then he could see anyway. Perhaps he had been a little hasty with the way he had acted, been rude for presuming. Maybe it would be best to restart with him?

Especially if he did manage to remove the gum, as he was still trying to do, that seemed to garner a little respect from Alix too. As she had front row seats to his attempts.

The sound of two gasps caught Nino's attention and he swung his head back around to the door, seeing both Alya and Marinette there.

"Hey!" Half the class jumped at Marinette's shout and Nino could've sworn he heard Nath mutter something. "What do you think you're doing?"

If it wasn't for the sour look on her face Nino would have considered Mari's stomping to be quite cute.

Adrien stumbled slightly, fingers slipping on the gum and making it spread slightly more. "uhh... I..."

As Mari's face grew into a scowl as both Chloé and Sabrina burst out laughing, as if putting one of their friends under the ire of a, presumably, angry person was a funny thing.

if this was how she treated friends then he really didn't want to know what she did to people she loathed.

"Okay." She had turned to the two girls, directing her scowl to them. "I get it." She rounded back on Adrien, Nino could see she was making him nervous. "Good job, you three. Very funny."

She knelt down as she tried to remove the gum herself, grimacing as her fingers came away with the gum attached.

 "No No. I was trying to take it off, really." She stood, turned on him and leaned into his space, naturally he leaned back, not wanting to have the clearly angry girl up in his face.

" Oh really? I find that hard to believe. " As Chloé and Sabrina laughed even harder she backed off, opened her backpack and pulled out a napkin that she laid on the gum, so as not to sit on it herself. "You're friends with Chloé right?"

 "Why do people keep saying that?" Like it was a bad thing went unspoken. Mari huffed at him before taking her seat, being mindful to not actually sit on the napkin. Alya taking her seat next to her a moment afterwards.

Defeated, Adrien slumped down in his chair next to Nino, arms crossed in front of him and head down slightly.

 "Now do you see what I mean about respect?" Chloé's hands came up to her chin, where her fingers intertwined together.

Adrien let out a sigh as his head dropped slightly further, his first day at school wasn't going as well as he thought it would.

Nino looked on, seeing the defeated and disappointed look on his face and he truly felt bad for him. Very few had ever earned Marinette's ire, Chloé being the prime example, and he felt bad that Adrien had gotten on her bad side after his first meeting with her.

Not a feat easily broken.

 "I know I've seen him somewhere before." He could hear Mari speaking quietly, her eyes were narrowed at Adrien and for a moment Nino and Marinette locked eyes. Her eyes softened, as if recognising that he was in a bad place, being surrounded by the trio.

Her attention was stolen when Alya bumped her arm and she turned to her seat-mate where her attention was stolen by her friends phone. She quickly took it before scrolling through the images present.

 "Of course, he's the son of my fave fashion designer Gabriel Agreste. "

 "Daddy's boy, Teen supermodel AND Chloé's friend. " Alya counted off each point with a raised finger, her head shaking after she was done. "Ha! Forget it."

Nino winced as Adrien shrunk in on himself quietly, it seemed having someone pointing out a few things that made him unfriendable really took a hit on him. He leaned forwards, catching his attention.

 "Why didn't you tell them it was Chloé's idea?"

 "I've known Chloé since I was a little kid. I know she's not perfect, but I can't throw her under the bus. She's like my only friend."

Only friend? As in one and only friend? He couldn't imagine going his whole life with just one person as a friend, much less someone like Chloé.

 "I'm Nino," He outstretched his hand towards him, copying his greeting from earlier. "and it's time for you to make some new friends, dude."

He saw Adrien's smile curve up slightly before their hands clasped together in a firm shake. Solidifying a new friendship, much to Chloé's Charing.

 "I suppose I should apologise about earlier, I may have jumped the gun and judged you a little too early. " Nino rubbed the back of his neck as he looked to the door, seeing Miss Bustier entering the room.

"It's cool, I guess I've still got a lot to learn about public school. "

Nino would have questioned him further if not to Bustier clearing her throat to get everyone's attention. "Alright class, time to quite down now."

Several students grumbled as they ceased their conversation, several put away things that would be deemed 'distractions'. Mylene gave an apologetic look as she came in and quietly took her seat.

"Agreste, Adrien? " She inquired as she read off the register, eyes looking up expectantly at the boy.

Nino leaned over, hand half covering his mouth as he whispered. "You say 'present'."

 "Uh, Present!" He had raised right out of his seat, standing up tall as he raised his hand all the way up. The entire class burst out laughing , even Chloé who simply covered her mouth with her hand to placate herself.

Nino only chuckled slightly as he sat back down and Miss Bustier gave him a fond, slightly amused smile.

"Bourgeois, Chloé?"

 " Present. " She flicked her hair as she said this. However, Nino didn't pay attention to her as the sound of heavy thumps began to draw closer.

 "Bruel, Ivan?" Quicker then Nino could blink the large form of stoneheart ran up to the door, reared back his fist and then punched the door right off its hinges where it flew back towards the opposite wall.

"PRESENT!"

Miss. Bustier had dropped her register at the sudden noise. Nino scrambled to stand, grabbing Adrien by the biceps and dragging him across the bench towards him and away from the centre isle.

"MYLĒNE?" As stoneheart stomped closer to the middle of the room everyone else scrambled away, Alya and Marinette rushed out of their seats and began to back up, screaming, to the far end of the classroom with Kim, Max, rose, Juleka and Alix.

Sabrina had disappeared, Nathaniel was halfway between trying to run and hide and Chloé was sunk down below her desk.

Nino watched from the doorway as Stoneheart batted away Marinette's desk before reaching out and picking up Mylēne after bumping the table out of the way.

She squirmed in his grasp, trying to escape. "Let go of me Ivan."

"I'm not Ivan anymore. I'm stoneheart. " Nino watched from the doorway as everyone else also watched on in horror, he didn't know what had set Ivan off again but he hoped he wouldn't be as destructive as yesterday.

"Why are you doing this?" He pitied Mylēne, stuck in the grasp of someone who wasn't themselves, even as Wayzz whacked himself against his chest to urge him to run and transform.

 "So you and I can be together, Forever." Such a statement would normally be cute if not for the fact that Ivan was a towering mound of rock and intimidation. Nino slowly began to back out of the room, eyes caught on stoneheart as he did so.

 "Daddy." Chloé's voice echoed around the room as she spoke into her phone, drawing Ivan's attention to her, his raised the girl in his hand above his head to see below him, Mylene let out a squeak at the movement . "The monsters back."

 "You!" He grabbed the desk Chloé was hiding under, flinging it to the front of the class, Miss Bustier had to duck down to avoid being hit by it.

"Chloé!"

As Stoneheart reached out to grab her, Adrien, who had been standing close to where Chloé's desk had been, ran forward to her. As he grabbed her around the shoulders both blondes were caught up in Stonehearts fist.

Adrien's arms were pinned around Chloé as her legs kicked the open air below her, half catching Adrien in the shins. Chloé gave out frightened yells as Adrien kept grunting at the pressure surrounding the two of them, along with Chloé kicking him in the shins.

"Ivan Stop!" Nino's hand clenched onto the doorframe, half holding himself back and half keeping him from running away. " This isn't you! "

"You're right. " For a moment Nino thought that he had gotten through to him, made him come to his senses, only for that to come crashing down. "This is stoneheart, Not Ivan! "

Stoneheart turned towards the wall, raised his foot, then kicked it down. Sending bricks, dust and rubble into the road below, he jumped down, making his three passengers scream out as they came closer to the ground.

finally Nino's legs let him move and he quickly turned away from the door and out the classroom, feet hitting the floor in his haste, before he knew it he had found himself in the empty locker room. As he leaned against the row of lockers Wayzz flew out of his pocket.

"Sorry for not leaving faster dude. I just..."

" Thought you could resolve it without violence, " Nino nodded at the little beings words, not bothering to speak his own. "It's ok to detest violence but sometimes to defend people it is necessary. We should go, ladybug will be needing us. "

"You're right. "

He stepped away from the lockers and backed up into the bathroom, although there were no cameras in the locker room he didn't want to run the risk of someone seeing him transform. He took one look at himself in the mirror, seeing his slightly ragged state before breathing in a long breath before letting it back out.

 "Alright. Wayzz, Shell on. " He pinched the brim of his hat, running his fingers across the edge as he fastened it to his head, Wayzz morphed into a ball of pure energy as he was pulled into the miraculous, turning it from its pale green to it's darker, active, variant.

He shot out his right hand as the magic began to flow over his body, covering him in his suit. His other hand laid flat on the floor as he transitioned into a backspin as the rest of his body was covered from the neck down.

His shield popped into existence on his back and he halted his spin by placing his hands on the floor, pushing himself up he reached behind him to grasp at the hood as it started to form, bringing it up and over his head as his glasses transformed into goggles.

He ended his transformation off by having his arms crossed over his chest with his back straight and shoulders taunt.

His eyes caught onto the little shell shaped tool on his hip and he brought it up to his eyes level, holding it like one would hold a phone. "Really gotta figure this thing out." Clipping it back to his waste he made a move for the door. " really hope ladybug isn't far away, gonna need her. "

-

Outside, Stoneheart stomped his way down the street, each step caused cars and loose object to jolt and bounce in place.

In one hand Mylēne squirmed in Stonehearts grip and in the other the two blondes were squashed together tightly.

 "You have no idea who you're dealing with." Chloé's neck was crained as she tried to look behind her at Stoneheart, failing due to Adrien blocking her as he was squished to her back. "My daddy, the mayor, will bring in the police, the army, the entire cavalry!"

Perhaps she was putting up a front, trying to seem like she was in control of the situation and not at the mercy of her captor but she would never give anyone the satisfaction of thinking otherwise.

"Don't forget the superheroes!" A dull thunk echoed as Carapace's shield rebounded off the back of Stonehearts head, a second later the hero responsible landed on his shoulder before back-flipping off of him to land before the four of them.

 in response to the hit, the cracks between his body began to glow and stoneheart grew in size, become even larger then he had been the first time Carapace had fought him.

 "Oop's, my bad."

"Super incompetent, more like." Chloé casually tapped her fingers against Stoneheart enlarged hand in an annoyed fashion, still trying to come off like she had control of the situation. At least she and Adrien weren't as squashed together anymore.

 "Really chloé? Is now the time? "

"Oh, hush adrikins. "

Stoneheart huffed, his shoulders jolting as he did so. "You wanted the cavalry? Well, here it is!" All around them large pounding noises echoed around them and multiple of the stoneheart copies began to run towards them, circling him. He was wondering when they would show up. "Seize him!" 

Carapace jumped to the side as one of the copies tried to slam their hand down on him, then he quickly rolled between the legs of another when they stepped forwards.

"Behind you!" glancing back he saw the wound up fist of one of the copies, quickly thinking he backflipped, hands gliding up the closed fist until he grasped onto the Rocky bumps that made their knuckles, landing on its wrist as it slammed into the ground were he had been just a second prior.

Seemingly bored of watching his minions toy with the hero, Stoneheart turned and walked away. "Ivan, where are we going?" His Rocky stoic features seemed to lighten up slightly before he looked off in the distance.

 "To deliver a message, then we'll be brought together forever by a pretty black butterfly. "

"Ugh, all this lovey dovey stuff is making me sick."

 " you sure that's not just motion sickness chloé? "

Stoneheart looked down to the two blondes in his hand, glaring at them, he may not have intended to grab the boy but anyone who choose to defend someone like Chloé was not a good person in his mind. "Don't worry you monsters, I'll deal with you two as well. "

Chloé cringed as she tried to sink further into Stonehearts hand while Adrien went stiff as a board.

-

Just further down the street Carapace was doing his best to catch up to the original Stoneheart whilst trying to simultaneously dodge each of the copies as they tried to capture him.

further behind them Alya was running up the road, phone out recording trying to capture as much of the fight as she could. She saw as one of the copies hurled a car at the turtle hero, forcing him to roll out of its path, her legs twitched with the desire to get closer but stayed back for the sake of getting the perfect shot. Even as she crouched behind a nearby bin.

 "If you can hear me bug! I could use a little help!"

 Alya eyebrows furrowed as she looked around to the rooftops, trying to spot the red clad hero. There was no sight of her, she didn't think the two heroes would be far away from one another for long yet she couldn't see a single drop of the colour red.

"What is she waiting for?" Her arms dropped slightly as she tried to look around more, as if the hero would have been flying around outside of her field of vision.

Due to this she did not see when one of the copies threw another car at Carapace, while he dodged with precision the car continued its journey towards the blogger.

When it's shadow cast over her she looked back and her eyes widened at the sight of the several tonne vehicle flying right at her. It's front bumper was half scraping against the floor as its rear was swinging down towards her. She didn't hear other noises around her as her eyes locked into the car, eyes seeing nothing but the undercarriage.

Until a round green shield wedged itself between the wall behind her and the automotive in front of her. Even then the shield couldn't protect her for long as the car slipped to the side, dropping in front of her and trapping her in place when it leaned on the wall again.

The car was putting just enough pressure on her that she couldn't move very much and what few movements she could make were uncomfortable at best.

The sound of a zip wire caught her attention as a black wire wrapped its way around the car, slowly the car pulled back off her allowing her to crawl her way out of the space she had been trapped in. She hardly had time to pull up her phone before ladybug had walked up to her, here eyes only half on the blogger.

 "You can't stay here," She flicked her wrist, sending her yo-yo out as it hit Carapace's discarded shield, forcing it to bounce off the ground where she caught it in her free hand. "It's too dangerous."

The black panels on her back lifted as her four wings began to flutter, she took several running steps forward before launching her yo-yo at a streetlamp where it wrapped around and pulled her forwards and off the ground.

Using her yo-yo for leverage she swung her way around the corner , flying around the furthest back stoneheart copy she twirled to keep her partners shield in her grasp. She landed on the shoulder of the second copy before jumping up and out of its reach, she spotted Carapace stuck in the grasp of the fourth copy, one arm held in its grip but the other was moving freely, trying to pry himself free.

"Carapace! Catch! " Twirling her whole body around she threw the shield with all her strength, it was heavier then it looked. "Wedge it!"

He caught it with his free hand seamlessly before slamming it down into the gap in his captors hand.

Nothing happened.

He tried again with the same result. " Bug! It's not working! "

"Working on it!"

Carapace tried to jam the shield in the gap between the copies thumb and fingers, trying to pry it open. He was meet with the same results as the other attempts. Ladybug was fluttering about around him, just  out of his captors reach whilst also deflecting the projectiles that were thrown at her.

What he needed was something else that would fit in the gap, something smaller. He felt a tingling in the back of his head, like he was remembering something. His trapped hand brushed against something, a bump in his suit... His other tool, of course! Maybe that would do something.

He grunted as he twisted his hand to grip it, feeling the few ridges in it that made the top half feel like it was bigger then the lower half. Slowly he twisted his arm and tried to get his hand between himself and the stone copies fist. He hardly had his hand halfway up his chest until he couldn't move it no more.

"I'm trying something! Get ready to act!" Ladybug nodded before flying around to the front of the line using her Yo-Yo to trip the front most one to slow them all down. He squeezed the tool and it hissed out its response in the form of four short cables coming out of it, one from each of the four 'holes' in the tools design that made it look like a real turtle.

The wires shot out from his captors hand and quickly curved inwards, all of them intending to meet up with one anohther, they all connected together behind the stone copies head and suddenly his tool was retracting the wires. Pulling his captors hand closer to their own head.

with a heavy thunk the two body parts collided and in their surprise they had opened their fist enough for Carapace to slip out, taking his tool with him as the wires snapped back into place.

the staggering stone minion collided with the one behind it and Carapace couldn't stop the triumphant smile that spread across his face. He felt a wire wrap around his chest before he was yanked up off the floor until he was dropped onto a nearby roof, ladybug landed next to him, her wings fluttering as if ready to take off again.

"Sorry I was late, but we need to go."

"It's cool dudette, you're here now, let's start with these guys." Carapace Clipped both his shield and tool to his back and hip before rolling his shoulder, legs bending as he readied himself to jump back down.

 " No. " her yo-yo wrapped around his chest again and before he knew it she was already pulling him along with her as she flew over roof tops. Each time she hit her peak height she would tug on her wire, sending him higher then he could go himself.

 He could manage the landing just fine and was able to jump from outcrop to outcrop but he couldn't make the larger gaps between buildings.

"If we wanna save them all then we need to go to the source. " Ladybug had launched them over a large gap in the building, sending them over the trocadéro before they landed close to the centre.

He landed in a roll as Ladybug fluttered down next to him, the two of them had a perfect view of the original stoneheart, of  Ivan, as he stood  on top of the higher floor of the Eiffel tower, yelling as the helicopters got too close to him.

"That one." From where they stood they could see all the other Stonehearts getting closer to the bottom of the Eiffel tower, putting pressure onto the police officers who were trying to stop them.

Just at the beginning of the Bridge a small police blockage was set up, more to stop civilians from passing then stopping the monsters from roaming as they pleased.

Mayor Bourgeois was just in front of them, a megaphone in hand.

"I demand you return  those kids to us immediately!" Even from where they were, due to his size, they could see Stonehearts face Scrunch up in disgust.

 "Daddy! " They did pitty Chloé, even they knew she didn't deserve to be stuck where she was.

 "You Know what! ? " They saw him begin to pull back his arm, fear  coursed through them as they realised what he was about to do. And it wasn't just Chloé who was there either, Adrien was caught up in the Same hand too.

 "Bug, throw me." She looked to him, then down to her yo-yo before flickering it at him, wrapping it around his chest once more.

"You're welcome to them! " Stoneheart sent his arm fowards, opening his fist to release the two blondes who went soaring through the air.

 around them Screams echoed as all the bystanders yelled in horror. Chloé heard none of it over the wind and her own quick plea to be saved in turn for being nicer.

Before she hit the ground she felt two arms collide around her until she was sliding on the air, when she opened her eyes she saw herself looking up to the heroine from her arms. Ladybug had caught her. "I didn't promise."

 " What? "

Chloé shot up as she looked around her, eyes landing on Adrien as he was curled up in the arms of Carapace, who looked like he had done a knee slide after catching him. Later she would watch the video footage and see that he had come out of nowhere, ladybug fast on his heels, and catching her long time friend midair.

For now though she was content to run to him and embrace him in a hug as he stood up and away from Carapace.

He two Hero's quickly got back together, standing side by side as they looked up at Stoneheart.

 " Alright, we're clear to attack! " Officer Raincomprix ordered from the top of the police van, one arm still in a sling, the officers around them readied their weapons and took aim at Stoneheart.

Wait what! Mylēne was still up there.

 "No Stop! You'll only make it worse." Roger seemed to scowl at them, his good arm pointing at them in a way a parent would scold a child.

 "I have a new plan, unlike you!" He waved his arms in a dismissive manner, trying to dismiss them. "Move aside and let the pros do their thing. You've already failed once!"

Beside him ladybug gasped quietly, her body going still as her wings froze. Her shoulders slumped as she turned to him. "He's right you know." Nino flinched at the look that had crossed her face, defeat mixed with sadness. "If I had captured Stoneheart's akuma the first time around, none of this would have happened! I knew I wasn't the right one for this job…" Her hands had come up to her face, as if she were trying to hide herself away.

He breathed in a sharp breath as his shoulders tensed up, he didn't stop to think about how their failure could have affected her. " No. "  He patted her shoulder reassuringly before he turned around to Roger, a glare leveled his way. "You're wrong! If it wasn't for us Stoneheart wouldn't have stopped rampaging yesterday!"

 Those around them gasped at him as he spoke to Roger in a clearly disrespectful mannner, voice rising with each sentence.

 " If it weren't for us you would have a lot more damage on your hands, and these two-" He pointed to both Adrien and Chloé. "Wouldn't be here right now! And that would have been on you!"

 " yeah we failed but you know what!? We learned, we now know what to do! So don't tell us to back down when you're the one lining up to shoot him, " his arms gestured to stoneheart, who was starting to wobble slightly, "While he is STILL holding onto a hostage!"

Silence feel over those present and Roger actually looked ashamed to realise he had almost ordered people to fire on a kid, well two actually.

Standing on her own Ladybug felt her heart quicken, her eyes roamed over Carapace, as if seeing him for the first time. She couldn't remember a time when someone defended her like that, it was... heartwarming.

The sound of a deep intense cough caught everyone's attention, all of them turning to stoneheart as he bellowed out the coughs, small black clouds escaped his mouth before he collapsed backwards on the towers platform with a groan.

  A larger Clowd rushed out of his mouth and all of them converged together, spinning and spiralling until they formed a shape, no, a face within the floating form of... many, many Akuma's.

 "People of paris! " the face moved as it spoke, as if manipulated to copy the speaker, the deep voice echoing around the entire area and it sent chills down people spins. "I am Hawkmoth! "

"Hawkmoth? " The two heroes looked to each other, now they had a name to the one who had caused the Akuma in the first place.

 "Ladybug, Carapace. Hand over the ladybug earrings and cat ring now! You've done enough damage to these innocent people."

What? They had caused enough damage, that didn't even make sense, not to mention neither of them had the Cat ring, he had the turtle bracelet and she had the earrings but not a ring.

A slow methodical clap came from next to him, his eyes darted to Ladybug as she slowly walked forwards, hands clapping against one another as she went.

"Nice try, Hawk Moth, but we know who the bad guy is." She spread her arms wide, confidence radiating off her in waves. "Let's not reverse the roles here. Without you, none of these innocent victims would be transformed into villains."

" And trufully, if you weren't the bad guy, you would have asked for the ladybug and the turtle not the cat, that goes to show you aren't trying to help people, you're after those miraculous specifically for yourself. "

"Hawk Moth, no matter how long it takes, we will find you, and YOU will hand us YOUR miraculous!"

 She pulled her yo-yo from its belt, her wings began to flail wildly as she began to run, flicking her yo-yo forwards she grabbed onto the fence before pulling herself towards the railing, she pulled herself to it and jumped up off of it, high into the air where her wings began fluttering hard to keep her afloat.

Her yo-yo split open, revealing the pure white magic inside that thrummed with energy. She flung her tool towards the massive Cluster of the akuma, capturing a large swath of them in a single go, leaving a open chunk left in Hawkmoths face for a moment before more of them replaced them.

Hawkmoths image began to help out in frustration, the face changing to match its master true feelings.

She didn't let up though, she swung again, and again, and again until the Akuma could not continue to sustain the form any longer, splitting off individually in a burst of energy where her yo-yo caught all of them as they tried to espace. The last one tried to fly off but she flew towards it and caught it as she landed on the floor of the tower.

Down below, everyone else stood in shock, disbelief and amazement written across their faces as they looked up to her.

 "People of paris, Let me make this promise to you. No matter who wants to harm you, Ladybug and Carapace will do everything in our power to keep you safe! " Her hand flicked open her yo-yo and she raised it above her head, within a second a giant swarm of butterflies erupted from it, where they scattered around Paris in a manner similar to an explostion.

Down before the people cheered, Overjoyed to see that not only did the hero's have their back but that they would truly defend them. The officers clapped each other on the shoulders while Chloé jumped into her father's back out of excitement.

 " I think I'm in love. " came from the blonde boys mouth. enhanced with the beauty of Ladybug. His love for the new icon would be... Blinding.

Carapace crossed his arms, a smirk growing on his face, seeing her change dramatically from upset to pure confident was good, especially when it was him who caused that... or at least he hoped so.

His face dropped though, this wasn't over yet. His eyes hardened as they looked to the spot behind his partner, Stoneheart was still there. Pulling his tool from his hip he began to run towards the tower. As he drew closer to the bottom of the leg he jumped, managing to reach a height he had not reached previously, he landed on the beams of the tower, then jumped up again to the next beam within his reach.

He wasn't able to jump anywhere close to as high as Ladybug could, but it was enough that, with a few leaps, he could make it to the floor where she stood in a few short moments. 

a loud road echoed from the floor were she was and Carapace watched as she went flying away unwillingly, she rotated to catch herself before hoovering in the air, her eyes darted down to him just as he got up to where she had been.

"Help me!" He could see Mylēne wave her arms from where she was stuck in Ivan's hand.

 "You'll never take Mylēne from me! " The hulking form of Stoneheart bellowed as he jumped up to a raised part of the platform, his heavy impact had sent him down into his butt before he could make use of his tool.

He jumped up and latched onto the steel beams of the tower slowly bringing himself up with only his free hand as leverage. "Come to me my stone beings! "

The tower began to shake with each Rocky hand that grasped hold of it, the grumbles and grunts of each of the minions echoed around them as they climbed higher and Higher.

Carapace looked over the edge of the railing seeing the advancing beings with a hint of worry on his face, He hadn't faired very well when he went up against them last and now he might have to do it again.

Ladybug landed next to him as she too surveyed the scene, her eyes moving up to Stoneheart himself.

"Alright, so we're surrounded." Carapace started, walking closer to Ladybug in a half pace. " he's climbing higher and we have no way of attacking him. "

 "yes, but we know where the Akuma is." Carapace turned to look where she was, seeing stoneheart climbing up the metal above them.

 " In his clenched fist, the one he's holding Mylēne with. So..." He trailed off, trying to think of some way for them to separate both Ivan and Mylēne, at least long enough to get the akumatised object.

"So we know he's in love with her." Her eyes widened, then came the joyous smile that accompanied her exaggerated arm movements. "That's it, We don't separate Stoneheart and Mylène: we bring them closer together." She brought her hands together, palms flat as she tilted her head to the side, as if daydreaming. "They're made for each other, they just don't know if yet."

Her wings flapped as she jumped off the platform, dropping for a second before she floated upwards, body facing him as she twirled her yo-yo next to her.

 "I don't see what you see, but I trust you. Let's get this done." He took a few steps forwards before leaping up to stand on the railing, Ladybugs Yo-Yo wrapped around his torso tightly. "You know, I feel like this," he gestured to her tool, " is going to be a common thing from now on. "

"Just letting you keep up."

She took off, wings bringing her up higher as she circled around the tower, Carapace had his feet hitting the metal as he ran to keep up with her momentum. Her wire did most of the work in pulling him up, his eyes caught the helicopters that were getting just a little too close for his liking.

As he cleared the railing of the upper most platform Ladybugs yo-yo slipped off of him and he landed in a roll. Ladybug herself used her momentum to flip her body around and down until she landed perfectly onto one of the small poles above.

Mylēne saw her from her place in Stonehearts hand and she reached out towards ladybug despite the considerable distance. "Help! I'm scared of heights!"

 " everything going to be ok! "

Stoneheart let out a gravely roar as the two helicopters got way too close, they veered off and almost began to get out of control before they straightened themselves back to normal and backed off.

Carapace rubbed his ears as he looked around him, seeing the Stoneheart copies pulling themselves over the railing and up to where he was.

He dodged the first wild swing with a back-peddle, his arm reached behind him and pulled his shield off his back as he rolled away from a second swing.

Bringing his shield up he let a third hit connect, the force making him slide away slightly, yet it left him no worse for wear. Feeling the heavy footsteps coming from behind him he turned his shoulders to peak behind him, standing there, arms raised ready to come down on him was a third Stoneheart being, the other two being positioned in front of him.

Seeing as he had no room to move or dodge, he raised his shield up. "Shell-ter!" The invincible dome of magic formed around him just before any more hits could connect to him. With the passing seconds he could feel the three present minions pounding away at his defences. If they weren't dealt with soon he would be forced to maintain the barrier until his transformation dropped.

"If you're going to do something, now's the time dudette!"

She breathed in, out, then locked eyes on Ivan. It was now or never, all or nothing.

"Lucky Charm!" Here yo-yo split open, the cloud of Ladybug swarmed together to create a, "Parachute? What am I supposed to do with this?"

Seeing one of the beings step abck, Carapace dropped his barrier before darting between the now empty space, hands grabbing into the support for the section in which Ladybug was perched he pulled himself up and just out of their reach. "We gotta work fast, my timers going!" To illustrate his point his miraculous let out its first set of beeps as the first segment faded away.

 " Just get ready. "

She threw her yo-yo, the string going under Stonehearts arm before coming back around his neck and up to her. She grabbed hold of the end and braced her feet into the area in which she was standing.

She pulled hard, causing Stonhearts hand to be pulled closer to his chest, where once the two of them were close enough, Mylēne accidentally kissed his chest, just below his chin.

She released the Yo-yo wire as he reacted, throwing his arm out in surprise, the fingers opening enough to send the akumatised object tumbling down.

Mylēne herself was airborne too, body flung down and close to Stonehearts hand again, but she was moving just a little too far away to be caught again. Carapace acted, he Jumped up and over one of the minions before jumping down to the original, as he slide down his arm he threw hit shield at the Akumatised object like it was a frisbee.

He slid down the rest of Ivan's arm before stopping at the edge of his fingers, one hand holding onto the rock giant while the other grabbed Mylēnes arm to prevent her from falling down.

"Gotcha!"

Carapace's Shield flew down, it's front side faced down, halfway down it caught the solidified ball of paper and began a slow climb back up the tower as the shield attempted to return to its owner. His throw had meant it had severely overextended that, going above ladybug, where the object dropped off the shield as it flew overhead.

" Got it! " She wrapped her wire around it before tightening it as it leaned against the hard edge of her tool, the object cracked and the black and purple Akuma escaped from it.

Ladybug relaxed slightly as she saw it, finally this could be over once and for all... For now anyway.

She flicked open her yo-yo, the pure white energy on display once more, it dropped to hang limply by her side before she began to spin it violently, her eyes locked onto the butterfly before it could get away again.

"No more evil doing for you Little Aku-"

The sight of the black energy around Stoneheart caught her eyes and as snapped her attention to the dangling trio, faster then she could react Stoneheart had transformed back into Ivan, the sever size difference meant that his hand had lost grip on the tower, body now a few meters away from any and all handholds and she watched as all three of them began to fall from where they were.

In his surprise Carapace had let go of Mylēne, his slightly heavier body dragging him down faster then her, Down below the people watched and yelled as one of the hero's and the two kids fell.

Ladybug looked down to them, then back up to the Akuma as it flew away from them. She did this for another second before she took a leap off the top of her perch, her wings flapping hard to propel her downwards faster. Her hand tightened around the straps of the Parachute before she violently spun her body around and threw it towards her partner.

 "Carapace! You take care of Ivan!"

As she flew down to intercept Mylēne he caught the Parachute, eyes quickly scanning over the item as he assessed the best course of action to take, a quick glance showed that the Parachute would not support two people, as least, not at the altitude they where at.

acting quickly he grabbed a hold of Ivan's ankle, spinning the two of them around rapidly as he quickly maneuvered the Parachute to fit on Ivan's back while gaining minimal protest. Just as he was done he spun himself back around to his front so the two of them were face to face.

"Don't panic." He placed his feet to Ivan's chest just after clipping the buckle up, one hand grabbing the release handle . With a strong push he attempted to slow Ivan's decent as Much as he could while he pulled the handle so the 'Chute would open.

"Gotcha!" With one arm around Mylēne Ladybug swing back around and pulled her yo-yo to her, the Akuma now trapped within. Her eyes widened as she watched Carapace fall away from Ivan, her Lucky Charm doing it job in saving Ivan but that was NOT what she had thought he would do with it.

 as her other arm caught around Mylēne she tried to fly down just that bit faster to try to catch up to him, maybe she could grab him too, maybe she could use her Yo-yo on him again. But as she tilted to go down faster, she felt Mylēne tighten her grip on her and had to let up on it, she had to let Carapace fall on his own.

Her heart raced at the idea of something happening to him now, they had only just begun their work as heroes, she couldn't let him get hurt cause of her own mistake. Her heart yearned and preyed that he would be unharmed.

There was a moment of silence from everyone, all eyes turned to Carapace, concern fear, panic. Suddenly His Hand shot out, body twisting to catch his wayward shield as it finally came back around to its owner. With barley a few dozen metres between himself and the floor he righted himself to have his feet downwards.

 "FORTIFY ! " The pale green energy surrounded him as he fell, glowing visibly for people to see. His legs bent just before he hit the ground, a loud klang echoed around the area as his shield hit the concrete.

Everyone watched, concern and curiosity hitting everyone as they watched the still hero.

Carapace breathed hard as his heart hammered in his chest, blood rushed through his ears and he heard nothing but his own breathing, he was in a kneeling position, his right leg was bend back, knee on the ground, his left leg was bend up, foot planted firmly. His head was bowed as he looked to the floor as his shoulders raised and lowered with each breath.

With a small groan he slowly stood up, head raising to look at the spectators, his shield raised off the ground to show the cracks that had been left behind by the impact. Slowly he raised his shield before attaching it to his back as Ladybug landed beside him, Mylēne in her arms.

As she let her down to the floor he turned around to catch a hold of Ivan, helping him settle his feet before taking the parachute off him As he supported the bigger boy.

Silently Ladybug took the item from his hand, before looking at it with a look of contemplation before she bent her knees and threw it up.

 "MIRACULOUS LADYBUG!"

He watched as the item glowed before exploding into hundreds of red ladybugs that swarmed all over Paris, restoring the damage that had been caused by Both of Ivan's akumatizations.

The crumbled building was restored, the bent frames of the tower where undone and lastly, the cracks beneath his feet where repaired.

 "Whoa... thats..."

 " Miraculous. "

The two Hero's looked to each other, small smiles on their faces and Ladybug had to fight the urge to look embarresed, there was something about Carapace's impressed look that sent a shiver down her spine.

 "Pound it!" As there fists collided Carapace's bracelet let out another ring, warning him of his impending de-transformation.

" I'll see you next time bug, you two stay safe too. " He nodded to Mylēne and Ivan before taking off away from the scene.

-

The sound of the increasing downpour hit the boys ears, besides Nino, Adrien fidgeted with the strap of his bag as he looked over to the Blue haired girl.

Paranoia was apparent on his features and Nino thought his new friend would pass out and have a headache if he was left to think. "Just go talk to her dude, she's not going to bite you. "

"I...uhh.... What do I say though? I don't want to make things worse."

Nino sling his arm over Adrien's shoulders, squeezing him a little. " Just be yourself, explain what happened and most importantly, be truthful and open. Nette will come around. "

"I... Ok."

Nino leaned against the wall as he watched the blonde boy approach Marinette. Content to let things transpire naturally and without interference from his part.

"It was nice of you to help him out." Nino looked down to see Wayzz peaking out of his jacket. He rubbed the little Kwami's head with his finger, sort of petting him in a weird way.

"Of course, it's the least I could do after not speaking up earlier, besides Mari's the forgiving type. She's never held a real grudge for long."

" such a kind heart, it's no wonder you like her. " Nino sputtered slightly as he tried to find some counter but came up blank before he signed in defeat.

"Yeah, I know. Shame she doesn't see me as anything other then a friend though."

" who knows, maybe on day things will change. "

"Perhaps dude." Nino walked forwards as Adrien walked away from Marinette, leaving her with his umbrella.

it seemed all went well if the gentle look on her face was any indication, he bumped shoulders with her as he came up to her, gaining her attention.

"So, everything good now?"

" Yeah... I messed up earlier. " Nino leaned against her shoulder as he scooted under the umbrella with her.

"Didn't we both. Now what say I walk home with you so you don't slip?"

Marinette giggled at him before poking his chest. " You just want an excuse to get free treats. "

"Well... Yeah, no need to call me out like that."

The two of them laughed their way to Marinette's house, both none the wiser to the elderly man who watched from down the road. His own umbrella shielding him and the black cat Kwami.

"Alright, I'll admit, you choose well. Now can we get out of the rain? I don't like getting wet. "

Fu chuckled before he turned away from the duo, he knew the miraculous would be in good hands now.

[stoopsbookstore]

Seven Deadly Sons Chp. 1

Welcome all who enter these halls! A new year brings new changes and with new changes comes new people. We are excited to announce an exchange program! Demons, Angels and Huma-

"Oh, fuck off."

Throwing his textbook at the speaker, Seonghwa growled at the news. Six other bodies joined him in their secret room, a small lounge for them to sit and gossip about the student body, which happens to be growing this year.

"Humans," Yeosang took a sip of wine from his chalice, "how pathetic. At least Angels have abilities to make them worthy."

"Humans can be useful, little brother," Yuta patted Yeosang's shoulder, walking past him to pick up Seonghwa's book, "they make great fucktoys."

"Well, from what I've been told, there's one girl who's coming from Earth that Diavolo wants us to keep our eyes on, make sure no ones fucks with her," Bang Chan jumped over the couch, landing on the middle cushion and reaching for the remote to turn on the TV.

Appearing on the screen was a girl in a mid-thigh pastel purple dress, holding her cross-body bag walking with Diavolo.

"From my research, her name is Y/N," Shinwon sat up, his laptop on his chest, his finger flicking the mouse wheel, "according to this page, she doesn't really have a social media presence, only really having an Instagram full of aesthetic shots, either taken herself or from Pinterest."

"And why do we care?" Seonghwa yanked Shinwon's laptop, folding it over and reading the page himself, "Oh, lookie here. Looks like she's going to be our new plaything, fellas!"

"Diavolo is trusting us with the human?! That's rich," licking his lips, Yuta zoomed in on Y/N, her skirt flowing in the wind, "come on, upskirt shot."

"Enough, Yuta," Kun grabbed the remote from the older male, shutting the TV off and pointing at the door, "We're supposed to go meet the new people, including the new girl. Get up, get dressed and look presentable."

A groan from behind the couch startled everyone. Kun throws a energy drink to a hand that launched up behind the furniture.

"That includes you, Shinwon."

》《》《》《》《》《》《》《》《》《》《》《》《》《》《》《》《

"This is the quad!"

Diavolo gestured around the octagonal space, lush plants growing on one side with a stunning waterfall and on the other, a small volcano warms the surrounding area.

"This is where you'll be able to hang out before, after and during the class day. Now, those who are underage will be on a curfew of 9pm, while those are older are allowed out until the gates close," Diavolo conjured up a projection of the front gates, the ominous feeling leaking through, "The gates close at 2am every night. If you're outside, Thornwood is not responsible for any injuries, deaths or other occurrences that may happen!"

Y/N zoned out, sitting by the small pond as she looked around. A fire demon set up a blanket by the volcano, sunbathing by the blanket. Her eyes scanned over the seven boys who appeared next to the headmaster, not stopping as she followed a butterfly that flew by her. The beautiful creature caught Y/N's eyes, the tour group leaving the quad just as Y/N noti-

Thud!

"Oh my God, I'm so sorry." Y/N recovered, jerking forward to avoid falling on the ball of whatever.

"Don't be," The lumpy blanket begun to speak, moving with a sloth-like pace, a head of orange-tinted hair popping out, "My fault for plopping on the ground really."

Fully exposed, the tall boy made Y/N feel small, clutching her notebook to her chest as she struggled to find the right words. Anyone could tell hs was exhausted, dark circles under his eyes in need for concealer, caffeine or something to wake him up.

"Again, I am so fu-"

"Shinwon! What are you doing to the new meat?" Seonghwa and Yuta were walking towards the newly named demon, the former dressed in a blood red button down and black skinny jeans while the latter was dresed in a loose white shirt with khakis that had been torn in suggestive spots, "At least wait a week, let her get used to the place."

"That's never fun, Mars," Yuta circled Y/N, smiling and seemingly examining her, his fingertips barely touching her waist, "might as well give her a proper introduction to Thornwood."

"A proper introduction," Yuta jumped away from Y/N at the voice of Diavolo, the three boys bowing to the ground like servants in a palace, "does not include the violation of a human with your penis, Yuta."

"Sorry, Diavolo," Yuta bows his head in the one time he willingly shows any shame.

"You three, go study. Let the new exchange students explore in peace," Diavolo gently nudged Y/N past the boys, his smirk beaming as she left the quad.

"Dia-"

"Not now, Seonghwa," putting up a hand, Diavolo silenced the younger boy, "you and the other six will be requested for a mission. 7pm. It's very important, don't be late."

With that, Diavolo vanished, Yuta, Seonghwa and Shinwon coughing at the dust cloud. Shinwon patted Yuta's back while posing a question to Seonghwa.

"Should we tell the others?"

"They already know what to do."

》《》《》《》《》《》《》《》《》《》《》《》《》《》《》《》《

Walking with her map in hand, Y/N strolled past door by door, the corridors ornately designed, purple walls with gold trim and artifacts from all around the world through the history of time.

Stopping in front of a mirror, Y/N traced the designs. The swirls under her fingers telling a story of years past and the millions of those who have walked the campus grounds. This mirror has seen millenniums of history, millions of faces, no cracks and the gold still shining as if it were brand new.

"Beautiful, isn't it?"

Y/N saw a boy in the mirror, his hair dirty blonde and a little bit past his ears. His outfit seemed too formal for campus life, a deep purple velvet jacket with gold designs, not unlike the hall with matching pants. Y/N found herself staring at his reflection, his face was softly sharpened and his cat-like eyes pierced through her.

"The mirror, I mean," he fixed his hair, leaning into Y/N, his breath against her ear, "but the two standing in front of it aren't that bad either."

"Uh-"

"Don't worry, I already know your name, you've met my brothers," the boy bowed, presenting his hand to Y/N who hesitantly took it, "you're Y/N, our new exchange student."

"And you are?" Y/N broke the gaze, shaking her head and letting go of the foreign hand she held, the demon rising from his bow.

"Yeosang, it's a very nice pleasure for us to meet. I'm sure maybe we can get together," Yeosang had a condescending tone in his voice, sliding Y/N's notebook out of her hands and flipping through the blank pages, "bask in my glory a little bit."

"I don't think that's how it works," feeling offended, Y/N took her notebook back, walking away before slamming into a body, money and chocolate syrup flying everywhere.

"Kun!"

"Chan!"

"Dumbasses!"

Two boys were on the floor, a third filming as Yeosang pulled Y/N to his chest, the chocolate syrup and money narrowly missing her. The mess in the hallway was ignored by those who were saw this as an everyday occurrence, one girl even throwing a towel to who Y/N can only assume is Chan and Kun. Blowing a kiss at Y/N, Yeosang let her go, stumbling over Kun and into the arms of the one filming.

"Yeosang! What the fuck? I could've had the best shot for my new DemonTube video!" The admittedly whiny voice demon pushes Y/N, Chan and Kun standing up and catching her just as she fell chest first, her outfit ruined.

"Joshua!" Yeosang clinched his teeth together, vividly gesturing to Y/N, "he-say s-iay he-tay ew-nay irl-gay."

"What the fuck are you saying?" Joshua's anger was palpable, his face a bright tomato red as he slammed the camcorder shut, "I don't care who this girl is, she ruin-"

"Dude," as they were getting up, Chan was fascinated by Y/N while Kun covered Joshua's mouth, chocolate smeared on his face, both of their eyes widened, "Exchange program, Diavolo, human?"

"Oh?" Looking Y/N up and down, Joshua shrugged, his discontent apparent as he stole the towel Chan was using to wipe himself down, "Demons are cuter."

"You assholes know how to make a guest feel fantastic on her firsr day," Y/N brushed past the four, aggressively bumping her shoulder into Joshua's.

"What is her problem?"

"I don't know, Joshua, maybe you just made her feel like crap for no reason."

"Rule number one of girls, Kunnie," swiping a stroke of chocolate off of Kun's cheek, Joshua licked his finger cleaned, "Make a girl yours by making her believe she's not. What's up with Chan?"

Chan had ran away before hearing Joshua's question, catching up to Y/N as her stomps could be heard echoing.

"Wait! At least let me buy you a new outfit," Chan grabbed onto Y/N's shoulder, the girl immediately turning around to land a sharp slap on his cheek.

"I don't know how the hell you creatures treat people down here in where the fuck this is," Y/N was almost on the edge of tears, her notebook, dress and cardigan covered in chocolate and coins, her map on the floor as Chan reached for it.

"I'm sorry that this is your first impression, please let me tak-"

Plucking some coins off of her dress, Y/N threw them at Chan, frustratingly ripping her map out of his hands.

"At least let me show you your dorm please."

Chan took Y/N's map and her hand, Y/N looking at it like it was infested, the same sticky substance coating him. Chanting something in a language Y/N has never heard, Chan magically transported them to a large opaque glass door.

"I know this wasn't a good day, but welcome to Thornwood. I'm Chan, but you can call me Chris if that's better."

"Chan's fine."

Happy with a response that wasn't shouting, he knocked at the door, looking at Y/N with a sympathetic look. Sprinkling something over the human, the chocolate stains and mess that was created suddenly vanished just as the door opened. Standing in the doorway, 7 girls peeked their heads out, groans and gasps aplently.

"You must be Y/N!" The girl looked over to Chan, her face dropping into a grimace, "he hasn't done anything to you, has he?"

"Thanks for thinking highly of me, Joy. I actually am the reason she's not dead yet," Chan gestured Y/N in, handing back her map and bowing, "Y/N, if you need me, it seems like I'll be in your classes. Don't be afraid to ask."

Slamming the door after Y/N was safe in the living area, Chan backed into the wall across from the door, sliding down the wall in frustration before Diavolo appeared before him.

"My office. Now."

In the girls' dorm, all of the others looked at Y/N like a rare specimen, one girl go as far to tug and pull at her arms like she was a rag doll.

"Sunny, I think something's off, I thought humans were to be cheerful."

"Jesus, Chaeyoung, be a little nice," Sunny conjured up a cup of tea for the new girl, Y/N reaching for it almost instantly, "She was with Bang Chan, you know what that means?"

At the sound of his name, Y/N busted into tears, falling into the arms of the long black haired girl next to her. The six other girls knew what happened, each of them grabbing a stereotypical sleepover food before the girl who Y/N could assume was named Joy patted her head, a gentle smile on her face.

"It's okay. No one has a good experience with the seven deadly sons."

[praphit]

BAMFs of 2019

Here's last year’s CHAMP -

THANOS

(Thanos: ”WTF did you just say?” #Mood)

Let's see if he made it back.

But, first, let’s take a look at some honorable mentions, as well as some people who were trying too hard:

Rey - 

Of course she is a total BAMF. So, why isn't she on this list? 3 REASONS: 1) She looks like a racist ex that I once dated. How can someone who decided to date you (a black man) be racist? Did y'all see the movie "Get Out"? You didn't know that the story was based off one of my relationships did you? So, yeah, she ain't ever gettin on this list.

2) The force is cheating - their I said it.

3) This last movie sucked. This rap she did didn't help her cause.

ALSO - there’s this - her rapping. I repeat, she ain’t ever getting on this list.

Nic Cage - cuz he's Nic bleepin Cage

Cardi B - cuz she’s Cardi bleepin B

Hooded Justice - if only he had been in more episodes. A black man disguising himself in a hood, as well as white, to fight evil in his neighborhood, that the police force (of which he is a part of) refuses to stop. Hell yeah! I love "Watchmen".

Lupita! - her brilliantly scary performance in "Us" is def BAMF material.

The Rock - honestly, The Rock is so awesome, and has been for so long, that he needs to be extra awesome to make it.

Trying too Hard. Please STOP:

Batwoman -

I like Ruby, but she's like an elf. She's an elf model. It's not bad to be an elf model, but... If a villain in Gotham, let's say "Bane" 

has me cornered, and Batwoman shows up to "rescue me", Imma start praying. He'd swing her around by that red hair of hers until her head pops off.

Rambo - He’s like 80! C’mon, Sly. Please STOP.

Dark Phoenix - a movie about her temper tantrum 

Joker -

 - not with all of that awkward dancing he was doing

NOW, finally, the top Bad Ass Muthas of 2019!

12) Greta - 

Say what you will about climate change, but you can't deny her passion and dedication, and how inspiring it is (unless you're Prez Trump or Fox News) to see and hear a kid like her do her thing. I admit that her winning the honor of "Person of the Year" is too much. But, we all wish our kids would be this dedicated to what they believe is positive change. Plus, she has a kickass soundtrack. Gets me hyped every time!

11) Dave Chappelle

Back in the day, comedians used to be brought on stage, tasked with the difficult job of making a room full of different types of people laugh. Now, it's not just about the job of jokes, but you have to do so without offending anyone, and with clean living. When did we start holding a comedian's behavior to a higher standard than we do elected officials? Dave saw this, and kept doing what made him popular anyway. In a world where most comedians are running scared from difficult topics, Dave plunges right in. BAD ASS. 

10) Linda Hamilton - 

Old as bleep! We have what's-her-face here, 

who is kinda badass herself, but despite being a badass cyborg (or whatever the hell she is), she still felt the need to ask for help from Linda bleepin Hamilton. LH traded her Hospice bingo card in for some guns and went to town on some machines! It'd be like if your home was being surrounded by aliens, and despite you having some fire power in your home and 911 at your disposal, everyone's first thought is to call grandma. That'd have to be one BAMF of a granny!

9) Masvidal - 

Allow me to describe this brotha to y'all who might not know.

Some guy was talkin smack to Masvidal, and that guy got kneed in the face by Masvidal (fastest knock out in UFC history = 5 secs). Some guy was arrogant enough to say he was the baddest mofo around, and Masvidal scheduled a fight with this dude for a literal baddest mofo around belt. Plus, that same night of the fight, when he was talking to the media after he had won, he started mocking Conor McGregor, talkin bout Conor don't want none of this. He was talking trash, publicly, about Conor, while people were feeding him pizza. BADASS!

If there is ever a fork in the road, and on one side you see The Rock, Jason Statham, and Will Smith chasing after you, and the other you have Masvidal sitting down, eating a slice of pizza, you had better take your chances with the three action heroes over this BAMF.

8) Nunes - 

If you don't know who she is, I wouldn't be surprised. The UFC botched her marketing before and after she fought and beat (badly) Ronda Rousey - yeah, RONDA ROUSEY; remember her? Nunes pretty much ended her career.

The UFC was so certain that Ronda was going to win, and so shocked when she lost, that they missed an opp to get behind a fighter who is better than Ronda (though mad respect for Ronda), and is currently holding TWO belts (first woman to do so). ALSO, she's the first openly gay UFC champ in history. She's so sweet too! - well, unless you're locked in the octagon with her, then she turns into a werewolf.

7) MANDO

I don't know about you, but all of this talk of teamwork from comic book movies can be a bit tiresome. The Avengers, The Justice League, The X-Men. Everybody wants to form a band. What happened to solo acts? What happened to lone rangers? People may say "There's no I in TEAM." Yeah, that's the prob! What about I?! Sometimes, you're Justin Timberlake, and the rest of the group is simply holding you back. That's Mando. He's Disney's updated (non-racist, unless you’re talkin drones) Lone Ranger. He doesn't need teamwork (maybe a weekly cameo, and a baby tag-along, but that's it!). He has beaten up gangs of robots, burnt people up, taken people out Jason Voorhees style, cut people in half, blown people up, blown off heads, BUT because it's Disney, we haven't seen any of that good stuff. He'd be higher on this list if they gave my man an R-rating.

6) Capt Marvel -

Captain Marvel is definitely the most powerful person on this list. She is probably also the fiercest person on this list. In Endgame, when she saw her black daddy (Nick Fury) on the screen, talkin bout Thanos snapped him away, and then something snapped inside of her, and she said "I'm going to go kill that mofo." The Avengers accompanied her, but I don't think she would have needed their help. She didn't really need their help in the final showdown with Thanos. He threw her aside, but you know she was coming back, until Tony got in her way. She is so fiery that it wouldn't surprise me if in her sequel, she goes back in time in order to rematch Thanos by herself, to prove her dominance. The reason that she's not higher on the list is because she's so damned destructive. She's just like The Hulk in the fact that she shows up to destroy everything. Now, she's a lot more focused than The Hulk, but she's so powerful that she does more damage. And she doesn't have much of a personality (so far), so it's hard to gauge her badassery of attitude, you know?? Like, if you're a villain, and you get in the way of a gorilla, that gorilla will destroy you in a very spectacularly badass way, but... it's a gorilla, you know??

I’M NOT CALLING HER A GORILLA. Don’t go snitching on me to her.

I just don’t know if she’s a hero or simply has anger management issues. Is she badass or too powerful not to do badass things?

Either way, RESPECT... or she'll come for that ass.

TIME FOR A BREAK - 

Let’s break from all of this badassery with some cuteness

Look how cute it is - I CAN’T TAKE IT!

Ok, back to action.

5) Iron Man - 

Look, Iron-Man started this shit! Who knows what would have become of the MCU had Robert Downey Jr. blew it. Tony Stark assembled the team (granted, he was partly the reason for the break-up), he gave us Spider-Man (with that suit) (he also gave us Ultron, but let's not get bogged down with details), he held his own against Thanos in "Infinity War",

Dr. Strange thought HIM worthy of saving, and no way time travel would have worked in "Endgame" without him. Plus, in the very end, he out-smarted Thanos, and countered Thanos' one-liner ("I am inevitable.") with his own ("And I... [five minutes later - I swear that's what it felt like] am Iron-Man.").

Paid the ultimate sacrifice. Hell yeah, he's on this list. I felt kinda bad for his wife. After IM3, she was barely around. And when Tony died, she was barely comforted... cuz nobody knew her. Oh, well.. she be aiight.

4) Thanos - 

This dude saw his demise coming, and still went straight ahead towards the foes who cut his head off. BADASS! He was exceptionally crafty in playing The Avengers and blowing up their base. Then, he was just sitting around waiting for the main Avengers (Capt, Iron, and Fat Thor). He wanted to gloat a bit first. BADASS! And had Gamora not betrayed him, and had given him the gaunlet, he would have beaten The Avengers AGAIN!

He even died with a cool pose (he took a knee and got his "Thinking Man" on). BADASS!

3) Arya Stark - 

This young lady scared the bleep out of me. She has my fear AND respect. I was actually scared for whomever her current target was... I was like "Run, fool! She gonna get ya! Damn, Arya, you didn't have to do them like that!"

Now, I know I talked about Ruby Rose being a ridiculous choice for Batwoman, but if Arya Stark left on a voyage to Gotham and became Batwoman, I'd buy that. I can see her killing Bane very slowly. This woman is a frickin psychopath, and I love it. She's fearless! She also went up against the top cheese of the white walkers. Y'all remember that badass move she had at the end!

YES! I only wish she had said something cool when she took him out, like... "You've been Starked." No, that's terrible, but something like that. I wish she was the one sitting on the throne, but they... you know... did what they did.

2) Capt America - 

I think that it's fair to say that Capt America was the rock of The Avengers After the snap, he was the only one to keep his shit together; he actually worked to help others keep their shit together.

Meanwhile, Widow is crying in the dark every night while having a PB sandwich and bourbon dinner. And she just gave up on her hair.

Thor became an alcoholic.

And you could say Hulk was ok, but... was he?

I mean, that ain't right. This is avoidance behavior if I've ever seen it.

But, Capt kept it together. Then, that fight with Thanos at the end was one of, if not THE best one on one fight of the series. Using both Thor weapons, meaning he was both badass on a fighting level and a righteousness level - which ain't easy to accomplish. And when he straped tight his shield in that trailer, and gritted his teeth - hell yeah!

Chills. Capt to Thanos: You motha bleeper"

1) John Wick - 

Three movies with no time in-between to shower, sleep, take a piss, brush his teeth, NOTHING! His life for the last few years (it seems like) has been running, lurking, hiding, beating ass.. and beating ass some more. Lord knows what this dude's kill count is up to. His nickname is "Baba Yaga" Have y'all seen what the actual Baba Yaga looks like?

Terrifying. And yet, not as terrifying as John Wick when he's angry at you.

The amount of endurance and focus that has gone into this long stint of murdering (only fueled by rage and a few shots of bourbon from time to time) is uncanny.

In JW3 he makes a guy eat a book (imagine what must be done to a person's jaw for that to happen), he gets shot, stabbed, hit my two cars (seconds within each other)... Nah, y'all ain't hear me! TWO CARS! The people in the cars were trying to kill him! He fought two super ninjas - like IP Man caliber, he beat up an army of soldiers, crawled through a desert, got shot by a friend who betrayed him, fell off of a building (bouncing around a few times before hitting the pavement), and was somehow still good to schedule a fourth movie after all of that - which I assume will pickup right there.

He doesn't have any superpowers (though you wouldn't know), but his tenacity is to be envied, and outdoes everyone else's on this list.

BAMF!!!