New place, same fight
Danny loves his friends, they have been with him since they were little and they have experienced too many things together, things that have helped them grow, things that only strengthen their friendship. Because Sam and Tucker were everything to him, as he was everything to them.
But at the same time, Danny could admit that he hated his friends; not always, but there were times where they wouldn't stop fighting, where they forced him to choose. The halfa could understand, Sam and Tucker had different world views, they saw different things and occasionally Danny thought they only got along because of him.
That was okay, he learned to live with them, to be the center of their arguments. And when they moved from Amity to Gotham, when they decided to rent an apartment together and go to the same college (which miraculously had all their majors), he thought everything would be fine.
It was idiotic of him. Because at the time he could only see a repeat of what had happened in high school; Sam was having a protest about the cafeteria menu and Tucker had organized the meat lovers (again), and the halfa knew how it was all going to end.
The point is, Danny was tired of repeating the same cycle, a cycle that apparently included Waylon and Poison Ivy fighting in the cafeteria at his new college (and how the hell did his friends manage to get the Rogues of Gotham into their fights?), so when he saw the people in bat suits he exploded.
When Sam and Tucker turned to ask his opinion he shook his head, pointed at Lunch Lady, who had her arms crossed and decided it wasn't his problem before disappear. Literally, no matter if half of Gotham was calling him meta, he was tired.
Red Robin gawked at him before turning his attention to Lunch Lady, who was gathering all the meat around her to form a giant meat monster. And Danny decided it wasn't his problem.
Apparently, Sam and Tucker decided that the bats could take care of it before they looked worried and started looking for Danny. It became obvious that the bats needed help when Danny looked at a giant meat monster two hours later, the halfa arched an eyebrow in dismay, weren't they supposed to be professional heroes? Lunch wasn't even trying...
1K notes
·
View notes
Part 30. The Return
< First | < Previous | Next >
Description below the cut
Nathalie scrolls through photos on her tablet. The pictures of Adrien have all been replaced by a white void.
Nathalie (internally): Aside from a few unprofessional photos, it seems Adrien has been wiped from the record.
Nathalie looks off to the side, frowning in anticipation.
Nathalie (internally): Gabriel won't be pleased. Any moment, he's going to burst through that door and—
Gabriel bursts open the doors to Nathalie’s room.
Nathalie (internally): Nathalie!
Nathalie (aloud): *sigh* Yes, sir?
Gabriel: I need you to arrange an immediate flight!
Gabriel prances about in dancing delight.
Nathalie: A... flight?
Gabriel: My akuma found Adrien! And then she immediately lost him, but I have my son's last known location now! And! We went near that area when we were all travelling the world! It'll just be one quick trip to grab him, and he'll be back where he belongs!
Nathalie revolves what she knows around her head before coming to a decision.
Nathalie (internally): So, Adrien is retracing our footsteps? He knows something about Emile, so is he just looking for answers? Or is he seeking something we missed that could help her? Regardless...
Nathalie (aloud): I'm coming with you.
Gabriel waves his hand indignantly.
Gabriel: Absolutely not! You aren't fit for the expeditions we used to go on anymore! You can't jeopardize your health traipsing up mountains!
Nathalie looks at him with steely resolve.
Nathalie: It's Adrien. I'm coming, Gabriel. You're going to have me there at your back whether you like it or not.
Gabriel adjusts his jacket in defeat.
Gabriel: Fine. I won't waste any more time arguing with you. You may come.
Nathalie: Very good, sir. I'll make the call.
Gabriel looks down at Nathalie appreciatively.
Gabriel: Your loyalty is truly admirable, Nathalie.
Nathalie: ... I do what I must.
Cut to the rooftop where Chat Noir once prepared a candlelit surprise for Ladybug. A “Find Adrien” billboard is on display there (the spot where Adrien was once depicted replaced with white void), with all the lights that would illuminate it broken except for the one on the end. At the dark end of the billboard, Chat Noir sits on the ground, waiting.
A close-up of Ladybug’s feet ‘plop’-ing to the ground. Chat Noir turns his head to look behind him in excitement.
Chat Noir: M'lady!
Ladybug holds up a warding hand and holds tight to her yo-yo, making Chat stop his attempt to greet her in its tracks.
Ladybug: Stay back.
Chat Noir: M'lady?
Ladybug grips her yo-yo in her hands.
Ladybug: I need to know that you're not some sort of trick. I need to know you're you.
Chat Noir looks at Ladybug with a need to fulfill her every request. Ladybug’s head is shown from behind as the free parts of her hair blow in the wind.
Chat Noir: What do you need me to do?
Ladybug: I need you to remember.
Ladybug, eyes still obscured by blowing hair, holds up yo-yo defensively.
Ladybug: What conditions did you give the Celestial Guardian for relinquishing your miraculous?
Chat Noir: Hmm. I don't remember giving him my conditions.
Ladybug: That's your answer?
Chat Noir holds out his hand invitingly.
Chat Noir: Well, I don't count telling Su-Han to 'come and get it'. You're the one I gave my conditions to: That if I have to give up my miraculous, I will. But only if you ask me to.
Ladybug rushes Chat Noir with a hug, throwing his arms around his neck, as he embraces her with a smile. Images of them together are shown in the background: Ladybug smiling as she hugs Chat and he nestles his face in her hair; Chat holding Ladybug up in the air in front of him as she holds his face in her hands; Chat Noir swinging Ladybug in a circle as she grabs onto him and lets her legs fly outwards around them, Chat smiling as he holds Ladybug close.
Ladybug: That's right, Chat. And I never asked you to.
Chat Noir: You would have. I know you've given other heroes exceptions before, but me? You'd never. I knew it the moment Mayura recognized me: I'd have to go.
Ladybug and Chat cry in each other’s arms.
Ladybug: But I never even got the chance to say goodbye. You were just gone and I had no idea if I'd ever see you again. I’ve missed you so much, Chat.
Chat Noir: I’ve missed me too.
Ladybug boops Chat’s nose with a teasing glint in her eye. Chat gives her a playful grin.
Ladybug: Hold on... did you just say you missed you too?
Chat Noir: Hey, I'm very missable!
Ladybug: Ha! You dork...
Chat Noir: Always your dork, m'lady.
Ladybug take’s Chat Noir’s hand and pulls him towards the railing, pointing behind herself at Marinette’s balcony.
Chat Noir: But shouldn't we be getting out of the open?
Ladybug: I'm already ahead of you: Marinette Dupain-Cheng is spending the night with a friend, so she’s letting us use her room.
Chat Noir pulls his hand out of Ladybug’s.
Chat Noir: Wait. What are the odds that Marinette is actually Mayura?
Chat Noir looks away in panic, grabbing at his bell with one hand and touching the back of his neck with the other.
Ladybug: What? None. She can't be.
Chat Noir: 'Can't' in that you wouldn’t have expected it of her? Or 'can't' as in you’ve seen Marinette and Mayura in the same room together? And there wasn't a chance of it all being an illusion or a fake or—?
Ladybug: Kitty!
Ladybug holds Chat Noir’s hand in front of her (interlocking her fingers in his) and looks directly at the viewer with complete reassurance.
Ladybug: I am 100% paws-itive that Marinette is trustworthy. Yes, she's not allowed to be a temporary hero anymore. But she's safe. I never would have entrusted her with saving our kwamis if I wasn’t absolutely sure she was on our side.
Chat Noir collapses into Ladybug’s arms as she looks at him with concern.
Chat Noir: Thanks for reassuring me. I never wanted to doubt her. It’s just... hard to go back to trusting people when I know I'm wrong about somebody.
Ladybug touches Chat’s face and shoulder comfortingly. He holds onto her arm with both hands and looks into her eyes, comforted by her support.
Ladybug: I'm glad you still know that you can always trust me. You ready now?
Chat Noir holds up the trapdoor to Marinette’s room, following Ladybug down as she holds his hand with both of hers, smiling up at him.
Chat Noir: After you, m'lady...
Below is the same image as above, only without text:
51 notes
·
View notes
Ride 768: Doubashi attack!!
Pag 1
1: Orange....
“Less of a hero”? Ah!?
2: Nonsense!!
You've never been a hero to begin with!!
Pag 2
1: Ha..... Hakogaku!!
Even Hakogaku caught up!!
2: Thick.... thick.....
3: A man like this holds the strongest of powers!!
6: I'm thin compared to him!!
That's not true, Oosumi-kun!!
7: Senpai, is he strong?
The Hakogaku member who last year defeated Sohoku's Kaburagi in the first day's sprint is
Pag 3
1: him, Doubashi Masakiyo!!
Buah!!
Pag 4
2: Buah...
So in the end you've decided to run?
3: “Chicken”
Pag 5
1: We're passing by the sign the signals 5km until the sprint line!!
2: Hakone Academy.....!!
3: Ace sprinter, Doubashi!!
Ugh.....
6: We're at “5km left” until the sprint
7: There's not much left
Pag 6
1: It won't take more than “10 minutes”!!
2: So you've come, Doubashi!!
It's “san”!!
San!!
How many times have I told you!!
3: Again!!
Pag 7
1: You want to get revenge against me!!
2: That's how someone who won last year would speak, but you lost against me!!
3: Hahaha, are you being a sore loser?
I'm telling you you're the one who lost!!
4: Whatever, come at me!!
It's not whatever, what are you even thinkin when saying that!!
Are you that self confident
Pag 8
1: We'll definitely win!!
2: Interesting, buah!! I came here to humble you!!
4: Ugh....
He's different.....!! He's much more dangerous now that he's running rather than when I met him this morning in the tent!!
Pag 9
1: Hakone Academy's Doubashi!! He's so overwhelmingly intimidating!!
It's like the pressure of a huge raging bull that has its eyes on you!!
2: Just by looking at me he makes me feel like my hands and feet are restrained
Issa fought against someone like him last year!?
4: No!!
5: Calm down
Steady your breathing
6: Swallow your nerves, Danchiku Ryuuhou!!
Pag 10
1: He moved on his own!!
Everyone is so overpowered by Hakogaku that they're not moving!!
For me, on the contrary
2: It's a chance!!
Nagoya's Komao used the curve and jumped ahead
He plans on going ahead alone!!
Pag 11
3: The sprint line is 5km from here!!
Horse acceleration!!
I think I can aim for a breakaway victory!!
4: That guy has a reputation for running solo!!
Gallop!!
This is bad!!
5: Doubashi has an incredible pressure!? But isn't this kind of things
6: just fears that we create ourselves!?
7: I can keep going like this!!
Doubashi isn't worth fearing!!
Pag 13
1: Where are you going?
3: Uaaaaaaagh
Pag 14
1: I thought I was 200m ahead of him, and yet
2: I could have let you go freely, but if you keep wandering around in front of my eyes like that
3: I can't win comfortably!!
Wa-
Pag 15
1: Hakogaku's Doubashi accelerated in an instant and passed Nagoya!!
Gallop!!
2: Together with Sohoku!!
3: Ah!? “Sohoku”!? Tch!! He reacted at the same time as me...?
4: You're the only one who can react at the same speed as me in this leading pack
Orange!!
Pag 16
2: Chicken!!
Pag 17
2: Orange is still behind!?
3: Did he give an order to this guy?
4: And he still managed to keep up with my speed of reaction!?
6: What, this guy's eyes, this running
Pag 18
1: What happened, your expression has changed!!
So this guy wasn't a chicken!!
2: Sorry, Doubashi-san
We'll take this sprint
3: The two of us!!
Pag 19
1: Garuaagh
2: After stopping Nagoya down, Sohoku number 5 jumped out from there
3: and attacked again!!
Tch
4: Hahaha
I told you!!
Pag 20
1: “We'll definitely win”!!
2: Orange!!
Hahaha, what we're aiming for is to be
3: “Japan's number one”!!
4: I'll make you Japan number two!!
76 notes
·
View notes
IDW Megatron and Optimus weren't friends before the war. Here's why that makes their ship dynamic more interesting.
One comment I've heard among people comparing IDW1 MegOP to other continuities of MegOP is (paraphrased) that since they weren't friends before the war, there isn't as much material to ship them with/they don't have an established dynamic/they don't have ~*history*~ that makes them be the bitter exes we all know and love them to be.
In this meta post, I'm going to contend that the IDW1 MegOP lack of friendship before the war is actually a benefit to their dynamic in this continuity, not a negative. Although they didn't get a lot of time together before the war in terms of quantity, the quality of their interactions and the weight it gave their future rivalry is due to the tragic nature of their relationship: They saw a glimpse of each other at their best in their youth, but like a tragic myth of old, circumstances conspired to keep them apart, traumatize them, and turn them into people who couldn't trust or reconcile with each other.
The IDW MegOP's first meeting is like a fated encounter, almost as if it was destined to happen. The way that one single brush can change the entire course of history.
I like to call this a "love at first sight" moment because, although they're not in love, it has this sort of storybook magical quality to it where this one single moment has a lot of weight. This one moment where they saw each other at their best and could have a positive interaction.
When I say that they met each other "at their best" here, I'm referring to Megatron's pacifistic essays and poetry that represent his pure revolutionary spirit and care for Cybertron, and Orion's trait of showing kindness and encouraging individual freedom despite his position of authority. The way that their first encounter was so brief and unassuming makes us, the readers, yearn for more. Doesn't Megatron's silent glance behind him in that final panel make you wonder what he's thinking? They only had that one brief talk at the rodion police station but it went on to ricohet the rest of their lives. Orion started thinking about the corruption of the system due to Megatron's writing. Megatron looked back at Orion with curiosity/lingering feeling after he was escorted out of the station. Even Megatron being put on Messatine was indirectly due to Orion, since Orion delivered that speech on his behalf.
It's almost like literal chemistry, where two particles bumping into each other once can cause a chain reaction of other particles bumping and bumping and bumping until suddenly those two particles are back together.
It's a sort of magical real life scenario where you meet a stranger just once but something they did or said to you makes you remember it and think about it for a long time afterwards. except in this case the MegOPs are (un?)lucky enough to meet again. And they start a war.
I also really like that Megatron and Orion/Optimus spent most of their pre-war backstory apart from each other, because I feel like it makes them stronger characters individually instead of making all of their most important moments be about each other. This is more of a comment on fandom than canon, but many romantic stories fall into a pitfall of a relationship where the two people obsessed with each other: their romance is the most important relationship they have; the entire plot revolves around whether they're happy or upset with each other, it can even make their relationship seem unhealthy and like they have no meaningful relationships outside of their romance. In terms of MOP in other continuities, I feel that putting too much emphasis on their friendship kind of cheapens the worldbuilding and political conflict. True, it's nice when the personal and political intersect in the MegOP's lives, but sometimes I feel (especially in fanon) that the "they were friends but then they disagreed and now they're not friends" concept sometimes ends up being written as if this one simple friendship conflict was the basis of a whole war.
The benefit of IDW1 MegOP is that because they spend their pre-war time apart from each other, they develop separately as people and end up transforming into someone different from their "love at first sight" moment. I like that Orion had relationships with people like Shockwave, Roller, and Zeta, and Megatron had his student/teacher relationship with Terminus and the whole arena thing happening.
Both Megatron and Orion went through traumatizing events during this time period that changed their worldviews for the worse and made them more cynical. Megatron suffered an attempted brainwashing, losing his mentor, his first killing, then being stuck in the arena. Orion went through the loss of Shockwave to a fate worse than death, then the disappearance of his best friend Roller, then worked for Zeta and began to doubt in his ideals/goodness as a leader. In that time between the MegOP's first encounter and their ensuing encounters in a military conflict, they came back as very different people than the first glimpse they got of each other.
Since they only had that ONE first glimpse they had of each other, then met again only to be disappointed by each other's fall from grace (in each others' eyes), this sets up a lot of angst. They wonder if that first glimpse of each other was really true or if it was a lie. Should they trust in those "good" versions of each other they saw so long ago? Do those people even exist? Are they or were they ever worth believing in? Does that man I saw still exist or did I just WANT to see something good in him? That man ruined my life and I hate him for fighting against me, he's a hypocrite. I thought that man was a good person, but he's betrayed the hopes I had by becoming a violent criminal warlord/working for the evil government I thought he opposed.
It sort of has the vibes of a "love at first sight" story gone wrong where their first encounter was kind (I like to imagine Megatron was touched or at least curious about Orion, a cop, telling him to keep writing and be vocal) but then they descended into their worst selves. They only had that one small glimpse of each other at their best but now they're in a scenario where they can only be enemies.
The longing and disappointment is more obvious on Orion's part about Megatron, because Orion got this shining glimpse of Megatron at his best and most passionate, only to encounter Megatron again and all those good parts have been buried to leave only his worst. Megatron's POV about OP isn't really shown, but I feel like it could be interesting to write headcanons about it. How did Megatron feel about Orion making that speech on his behalf? Getting moved to Messatine because Orion made him so public, and all the bad things that happened there?
Yes, their first encounter was brief and they didn't really have a personal relationship before the war. But that brief encounter changed the trajectory of their entire lives. When you combine that with the fact that they saw each other as their "ideal selves", it creates that valid obsession between Megatron and Optimus. It is kind of unhealthy LMAO, because they do kind of become obsessed with each other based on an incomplete view of the other as a person. But then the war happens and they keep having personal and professional encounters that would give them opportunities to meet (such as in diplomacy meetings like Tyrest's peace negotiations and other political things that come with war). And those repeated meetings would only cause them to get to know each other better. Then you get into more mythical/legend-like story dynamics where Megatron and OP have to learn how the other thinks tactically, and their tactical knowledge becomes so intimate they start understanding how the other thinks and it's very dramatic lol. The typical our-enmity-is-so-deep-it-could-be-love enemies to lovers fare.
TLDR:
Circumstances outside of their control drove them apart, made them into different people, and kept them from becoming friends. It makes IDW MegOP feel legendary or mythical, like some sort of epic Greek tragedy of two people who were always 🤏 this close to being friends. There's longing there, and tragedy, imagining what might have been if they'd only been able to talk again, or if they had somehow been able to influence each other before they went down the bad path (violence and crime for Megatron, following Zeta and becoming Prime for Orion/Optimus). But despite that, their natural chemistry perseveres, and they talk to/about each other in a way that shows they still think of each other even when apart.
186 notes
·
View notes