#strength alone because the toxin makes it hard for him to keep any kind of bulk. he's very lean and willowy. disorientating his enemies is

[starry-bi-sky]

@ghostboidanny

I was thinking pre-Dani, but that's largely because I just don't pay her much mind lmao. I mean this lovingly, but she's a narrative deadweight in my eyes. But you're right, actually, it would be fun for her to show up a few months later and find out what happened to her brother-cousin-template. You didn't specify how late so I'm gonna be a little dramatic and say she shows up in Amity Park, finds the Fenton house missing, and seeks out Sam and Tucker to ask them where Danny is.

When she finds them they fill her in on everything, and she freaks out when they say that they haven't actually heard from Danny in months, not since he went into Vlad's custody. They thought Danny would contact them after news of him missing came out, but they haven't heard anything.

(This wasn't on purpose or anything, Danny's just been preoccupied living with Bruce)

Dani does the reckless thing and goes to sneak into Vlad's manor for clues. She doesn't find anything -- well, she finds where Danny's room is. Vlad obsessively kept it the same way Danny left it (albeit it had very parse few decorations besides the one Vlad put up), and then she sneaks into his lab.

She doesn't find much there either. Except for leftover remains of the blood blossom toxin, she immediately dumps it down the lab sink in there because that just sounds like trouble. She has a run-in with Vlad, has a confrontation with him that clearly reveals he's become increasingly unstable since Danny's disappearance, and books it out of there with only the knowledge that Danny was last seen in Gotham.

Gonna... skip over their reunion because frankly i dont have the brain energy to come up with how she finds him. But just know that she does and its a big ol reunion.

(throwaway idea where danny can't handle being around other ghosts either because their strong ectosignatures subconsciously agitates his own and as a result boosts the toxin)

Danny tells Ella an edited version of how he came into Bruce's care -- which up until they both have that 'are we family' convo, was both considered as a sort of unofficial witness protection. -- because Bruce's secret identity is not his to share, and if he didn't even tell Jazz about being Phantom then he's not telling Ella about Batman.

With this lack of context, Ella has a misconstrued view of Bruce. You're right, she probably wouldn't even if Danny keeps vetting Battinson and insisting that he's a good guy.

Ellie: You don't know if this guy is manipulating you, Danny! He could be evil, like Vlad!

Danny, once watched Bruce trip over his own cape and nearly eat gravel: Ellie, I love you. But you're wrong.

Ellie: he's a fruitloop.

Danny: Elle, "fruitloop" doesn't mean "weirdo rich person". That would make Sam a fruitloop. "Fuitloop" means "murderous, evil rich bastard with delusions of grandeur, and a sense of entitlement so big you couldn't see Jupiter around it."

Danny: honest to all things, look at Bruce and tell me that he has delusions of grandeur.

Ellie, watched Battinson scramble over a fence to get away from reporters:....okay. but i still don't trust him.

idk if she'd get adopted, but it takes her a hot minute to warm up to Bruce and actually trust him with Danny's safety. Which, speaking of, she's heartbroken over his illness and it's incredibly strange to see her once powerful, starbright older brother so... small. He used to be so full of life, and he still is now, there's just... an undercurrent of exhaustion now. In his smile, in his eyes.

The death of his parents, his "illness," living with Vlad, oh, and I just remembered he'd be scared of becoming like Dan too, it's all been weighing down on him. He's had a real shit couple of months, but it's all been getting better with Bruce's help, Ellie watches him brighten up around the guy.

She keeps a more "cousin" role in the family, visiting the manor whenever throughout the years.

Unfortunately I don't really have much to say about the idea of Dani being made after Danny runs away, but I like the idea too. She keeps a backseat role if she joins the family, or just isn't actively in the vigilantism at all. Just aware of it. Maybe she goes by "Harpy", short for the harpy eagle and their excellent eyesight because she's watching their backs. Danny calls her "Harps" for short.

I am loudly pushing the batdad agenda i am loudly pushing the— DPxDC Prompt

“Woah. You look like shit."

Granted, that’s probably not the first thing Danny should be saying to the guy that just bit the curb, but in his defense; he’s not running on 100% right now either.

The man -- tall, towering, and broader than Danny is tall -- whips around on his heel, black frayed cape flaring out impressively. Danny would've whistled in appreciation, but he takes the time instead to wipe the back of his hand across his mouth, smearing the blood running from his nose across his cheek.

"Sorry." He blinks widely, not even flinching as the man with the horns zeroes in on him. "That was rude of me. I have a really bad brain-to-mouth filter; Sam says its what always gets me into trouble."

And she's not wrong either, per say. His smart mouth is what landed him in this situation -- with blood blossom extract running through his veins and cannibalizing the ectoplasm in his bloodstream. Thanks Vlad.

The man grunts at him; a short, curt "hm" that shouldn't make Danny smile, but he does because he's somewhat delirious and probably concussed. The man keeps some kind of distance, sinking towards the shadows of Gotham's alleyway like he dares to melt right into it.

If it's supposed to scare Danny, it doesn't work. Danny's never been afraid of the dark; he's always been able to hide himself in it. He blinks slowly at the mass of shadows.

"You look hurt." The shadows says, blurring together around the edges. Danny squints, and licks his lips to get the blood dripping down his chin off. Ugh, he hates the taste of blood.

"I am." He says, "My godfather poisoned me. M'dying." The agony of the blood blossom eating him from the inside out looped back around to numbing a while ago, so all he feels is half-awake and dazed.

"Hey," Danny stumbles forward towards the man, a bloodied hand reaching out to him. "You-- you're a hero, right? You're not attacking me; which is more than I can say for most costumed people I've met." Maybe it's a poor bar to judge someone at, but he's already established that Danny's not in his right mind.

The man makes no change in expression, but Danny realizes blearily that it's hard to tell with the shadows on his face. He stays still long enough for Danny to latch onto the cape -- stretchy, but almost soft under his fingers.

He looks up blearily into the whites of the man's eyes. "Can you help me? I don't-- I don't wanna die." Again. He doesn't wanna die again. He blinks slow and lizard-like. "I mean- I'll probably get to see mom and dad again, but I told them I'd at least try and make it to adulthood."

There's a clatter down the street, and Danny's ghost sense chills up his spine and leaves a bitter, ashy taste in his mouth. He immediately knows who it belongs to even before the deceptively gentle; "Daniel?" echoes down the way.

"Daniel? Quit your games, badger, Gotham is dangerous for children."

Danny's mouth pulls back, and blood spills against his tongue. "Please." He rasps, and grabs onto the shadow's cape with both hands. "Please. He's going to kill me. Please--"

"Daniel? Is that you?"

His lips part, dragging in air to plead with the darkness again. He doesn't need to, the whites of his eyes narrow, and the cape whirls around him before Danny can blink. Soon swaddled in shadows, the Night lifts him up, and steals him away.

[dantesunbreaker]

Spectre & Toxin

@ruaniamh Here is my take on how Toxin and Spectre became friends. I drew a little inspiration from the doodle you made a while ago of them. Hope you enjoy it!

“It’s Toxin, right?” Spectre spots the British woman sitting with an open spot beside her on the helicopter as they all are returning from a mission. Spectre decides to eagerly plant herself right down beside her. “I’ve seen you around before, but I don’t think we’ve had the privilege to meet yet. I’m Spectre, or Quinn if we’re being casual.” Her words are punctuated with a soft giggle, smiling up at Toxin.

The sudden appearance of Spectre and her bubbling personality catches Toxin off guard, causing her jaw to nearly drop. Luckily with her gas mask still firmly in place it doesn’t read at all on her face. Only the slight widening of her crystal blue eyes shows anything to the outside world. Certainly she wasn’t expecting this when she boarded the helicopter after her mission. How could somebody still be so lively after an exhausting mission such as the one they just finished?

“Yes, my callsign is Toxin,” she looks at the lavender haired woman from the corner of her eyes, turning her head only enough to see her. “You can call me Imogen though. Lovely meeting ya,” she takes the time to offer her hand, shaking Spectre’s before turning back to face the other way.

At that, Toxin thinks it is the end of the conversation with the other woman, but oh is she so wrong about that. Spectre only seems encouraged at the response from Toxin. Moving closer, Spectre is nearly leaning against Toxin’s arm as she looks up at her.

“Oh that is such a beautifully unique name. I love it,” it seems like she begins to talk a mile a minute. “Where are you from? Where did you grow up? What made you join Rainbow Six?” Spectre keeps firing question after question, never actually giving Toxin the time to properly answer one before the next one comes. It sends Toxin’s head spinning a bit.

Only when the helicopter lands and everyone dispatches to grab their gear do the questions stop, allowing Toxin to quickly flee the scene. It doesn't appear that Spectre ever even noticed the awkwardness of the other woman. As far as she is aware, it was a very engaging conversation enjoyed by both of them. Spectre is left feeling that this is the budding of a new relationship that has the potential to be the best of friendships. Even if she is a bit more excitable and outgoing, and Toxin seems a bit more reserved Spectre is sure they will become good friends in no time.

It isn’t until a few weeks later that Spectre manages to cross paths with Toxin yet again. Both of them seem to be constantly jumping from mission to mission. When Spectre spots Toxin entering the kitchen still fully geared up as she returns to base for a long break this time, she gets a bit excited. Jumping from her seat, Spectre rushes up to the British woman. Toxin is a bit startled as she sees somebody hurtling towards her, but she quickly recognizes it as Spectre. With a sigh, she smashes down the instinct to run.

“Hey Imogen,” Spectre greets with a soft smile and giggle, lifting her finger to poke Toxin’s cheek. Since Toxin still has her gas mask on, she ends up just poking the hard plastic instead. This causes Toxin to pause once again to give the other woman a strange look. “Did you just get back from a mission?”

Taking off the mask and hooking it to one of the latches along her suit, Toxin turns towards the other woman. “Yes. Can I help ya, Quinn?” Toxin asks as she raises a rather inquisitive brow at her.

“Nope, I just wanted to come say hello,” Spectre smiles as she reaches up to poke her again, this time making contact with her actual skin. It seems she ignores the brief frown it causes. “Although I was hoping that we could maybe hang out. I would love to spend some time together.”

Frowning even further, Toxin turns to look away for a brief moment before looking back at Spectre again. ”You remind me a lot of my younger siblings. They always ask too many questions and never know when to leave somebody alone,” the tone of her voice is a bit strange. Spectre doesn’t know whether Toxin is angry, annoyed, or just upset. Either way, it brings a frown to Spectre’s usually smiling face.

“Oh… I’m sorry. I’ll leave you alone then.”

Toxin’s hand is reaching to grasp Spectre’s arm just as she turns to walk away, halting her in spot. An almost pained look is on her face, and she seems a little upset with herself.

“That isn’t… That wasn’t meant to sound like a bad thing,” releasing Spectre’s arm, Toxin straightens out and scratches the back of her head awkwardly. “I’m sorry. Just I miss them a lot and you remind me so much of them. Would ya like to maybe go get lunch together? I would appreciate the company.” She gives a soft smile, and it looks genuine.

Instantly Spectre is smiling again, nodding as she reaches to take the arm that Toxin offers out to her. “Of course, I would love to have lunch with you!”

“Come on back to my quarters with me first?” Toxin asks a bit cautiously, hoping she doesn’t take it as something it isn’t. “I just need to change into something a bit more comfortable, then we can go wherever you would like.” Laughing, Spectre assures her that it is completely alright. There is no need to worry about offending her or making her think she is flirting, seeing as Spectre already knows about Toxin’s budding relationship with Smoke.

Their lunch together goes incredibly well, leaving both of them with aching guts and cheeks from all the smiling and laughing they do together. It seems that Spectre was right all along, because already they feel as if their friendship is growing so strong. But soon, a bit sooner than really expected, Spectre finds herself in a position where she feels the need to test the strength of their friendship. Her day goes horribly wrong, an unsuccessful mission that ends up being an utter failure. While it is a miracle that nobody was severely injured, it still leaves Spectre feeling down in the dumps. Normally she would go to Blitz for comfort, but all the GSG 9 operators are away on missions. Thus, Toxin is her next best option. It has only been a few weeks since their first lunch together, but Spectre feels as if she has nobody else to turn to in her time of need.

So Spectre finds herself awkwardly standing at the door to Toxin’s on-base apartment, arm half raised as she second guesses whether or not she should knock. Does she really want to appear weak in front of someone who seems so strong? Would Toxin be annoyed and think her even more childish? Spectre hopes that won’t be the case. If the roles were reversed, she would hope that Toxin would feel confident in coming to her for comfort and support. So Spectre continues to raise her fist and knocks gently on the door.

Much to the surprise of Spectre, Smoke is the one to answer the door, standing in the frame in his casual clothes. “Roach, what can…,” upon seeing the look of distress on Spectre’s face, his question cuts off and a look of concern seeps into his features.

“Is Imogen here?” the Brit is surprised by how defeated her voice sounds as she glances down at her feet. Smoke doesn’t know Spectre very well. But from what he has seen during the brief few times he has stuck around with Toxin when the two women were hanging out, he knows that she is usually very eccentric and out there. There is nothing energetic about the woman standing in front of him.

“Of course, come in,” Smoke steps aside and allows the Canadian woman to enter Toxin’s apartment. Knowing the setup, Spectre walks straight towards the couch where she spots Toxin reclining as she hears Smoke close the door.

At the noise, Toxin turns to give Smoke a questioning look, but when she spots Spectre standing there looking near miserable she frowns and jumps to her feet.

“Quinn, what’s wrong? Did somebody hurt you? I swear I’ll take care of ‘em,” Toxin is standing in front of Spectre in a matter of seconds, eyes worriedly scanning her over for any injuries as her hands go to rest on her shoulders.

Not wanting to pry on what could be a very private or emotional conversation, Smoke respectfully walks past the pair of women so that he can go sit in the bedroom. At the moment, Spectre is a little more important than whatever his plans were with Toxin.

“No, it was just a crappy mission,” Spectre sighs into Toxin’s shoulder as she is pulled in for a tight and comforting embrace. She responds in kind, looping her arms around the other woman’s waist. “Just feeling a bit like a failure, you know? Maybe if I had done things a little different we wouldn’t have lost the container.”

“No talking like that, alright?” Toxin pulls back just enough so that she can look in Spectre’s eyes, her gaze firm and intense. There is no arguing with her. “You aren’t a failure. Everyone has bad missions every now and again. Don’t worry about it.”

For a few more moments, the two women simply hold each other as Spectre tries to calm herself down. Toxin’s words have surprisingly really helped give her that little bit of a confidence boost. Nobody is ever perfect. She knows this already.

“How about we do something to take your mind off it? Do you like ice cream?” pulling away from the hug, Toxin gives a gentle smile as Spectre laughs with a swift nod of her head. “Come on, I know where Dominic keeps his stash of the good stuff. I’m sure he won’t mind. He owes me anyways.”

“Sounds great, lead away,” Spectre is almost back to her normal bubbly self as she moves to let Toxin lead them out. Just as they are about to leave the apartment, she remembers that she obviously had interrupted something though. “Oh Imogen, I’m so sorry. Did I ruin your date night?”

Chuckling, Toxin shakes her head. “It is fine, James really doesn’t mind. The rest of the boys were running extra miles on the track, and he didn’t want to join. But if you’d like, I can ask if he would like to join us for ice cream? There is always more than enough to go around.”

Spectre smiles again, giving her a nod of approval. It turns out that Bandit doesn’t actually hide his secret stash of luxury chocolate ice cream anywhere special. Instead he keeps it inside of a container that nobody would ever think to look inside. The two Brits and Spectre happily spend their night indulging themselves on the sweet chocolaty confection until Spectre’s mood improves and they are all feeling better.

“Thanks for being a good friend,” Spectre smiles as she wipes some chocolate from the corner of her mouth with her sleeve.

Toxin just chuckles as she leans against Smoke’s shoulder, who is still digging into his ice cream with vigor. “You aren’t just a friend, Quinn,” the British woman is still smiling. ”You are a sister. If you ever need anything, you can always come to me.”

[queen-of-deans-booty]

Van Helsing

Characters: Dean x Reader, Sam

Word Count: 2,706

Warnings: nothing too bad, flirty!Dean

Request: Hi can you do a dean x reader where the reader is a Van Helsing (and shes the last one alive from hundreds of years cuz they got wiped out) and shes a vampires hunter.And she meets the boys and saves them from a nest and tells them that shes 1/4 of a vampire (some strength,stealth etc) and she can turn them back into human with a bite and her and dean instantly click Sorry if its to descriptive

Author’s Note: If you want to be tagged, leave an ask or message and I’ll add you! Same goes for my Series Rewrite! If you want to request a fic, please send them in! I love writing what you guys want!

Feedback is always appreciated

Tags at the bottom

The key to survival was all based on how well you knew your environment and the creatures around you. You’ve been alive for quite some time now and you’ve seen and killed a lot of things. Oh, don’t worry, you’re not a “bad” killer. You just kill the monsters that kill other people.

You’re a Van Helsing and you’re the last one alive from hundreds of years ago. You’re a vampire hunter and have been killing vampires since grade school. It’s what you knew best.

Years ago, on the night which you deemed the worst, you were bitten by a vampire. You were scared of becoming the things you killed but it turns out that he didn’t get to finish the job and left you for dead. Your family found you and they did everything possible to keep you from turning.

They got out most of the poison but you were left with being kind of a vampire. You were a special kind and before you, there was never any news of a Van Helsing becoming a vampire. You didn’t know what to expect. You didn’t live off blood, in fact, you hated it as much as you did all those years ago.

You did, however, acquire some of the vampire’s abilities such as strength and stealth. They aren’t nearly as good as a full-fledged vampire but you seemed to have gotten better than before. The one thing you hated the most about your tiny transformation, was that you had fangs.

You could grow them and extract them whenever you pleased but the difference between you and the normal vampire, was that you didn’t have rows of sharp fangs, ascending from your gums. No, you had 2 fangs where your upper canine teeth were. You could make them look normal but they would elongate when you were ready to attack.

The only reason you didn’t hate yourself completely was because you were special. Not only were you not a full vampire, you could cure one. You found this out when you were fooling around with a man one night.

As you kissed him, you could feel his gums with your tongue but they weren’t normal ones. You knew he was a vampire and you knew you had to get away from him as quick as possible before he could attack you.

Long story short, you ended up biting him in the shoulder and, out of your control, your fang extracted, releasing some kind of liquid into his system. He thrashed around in pain and you were beyond scared since this never happened.

Well, you found out that your fangs have this toxin that can cure a vampire and with just one bite, it will get released into their system and undo whatever Supernatural thing that has happened to them. You loved this piece of information and from there on out, you cured vampires instead of killing them.

Well, you tried to cure every vampire you came across but there were ones you had to kill in order to protect the people who were in danger. You have done this for hundreds of years and you never would have expected the moment where you would come into contact with another hunter.

Hunters weren’t that common when you were born and you thought that’s what it was like for the whole world but when you came to the United States, you found out that Hunters were common here. Luckily, you got out of their way and it stayed that way for a while until you met Sam and Dean Winchester.

Now, you had no idea who they were since you were from Amsterdam. Your accent has faded out over time but if you got really mad, you could definitely hear it. But, back to the Winchesters. As you hunted in North America, you kept hearing their names from all kinds of people.

You’ve been around a while to know what was a Hunter’s bar and what wasn’t so you would go to one of those and pretend that you were a complete stranger, listening in on other people’s conversation. Your hearing had also improved than the normal human.

You learned that these Winchesters were badass and that any kind of monster would tremble in fear just by the mention of their name. You’ve haven’t had someone tremble in fear since you were alive so you knew you just had to meet them.

You learned they were hunting a vampire nest in Indiana so you headed over there as soon as you could. You were lucky they were still there and you knew just where they were going to be at night.

You walked into the bar, patrons laughing as they drank and playing pool. There were eyes on you but you were interested in looking for the green ad hazel eyes you heard so much about. You spotted them at the bar, drinking beer as they talked about the case.

You tried to be nonchalant as you walked up to the bar, sitting next to the one they called Dean.

“Can I get a whiskey, please?” You asked the bartender, hoping to catch the attention of the brothers. Luck was on your side and Dean turned to you and checked you out.

“Hey, sweetheart, what’s your name?” He drawled out. You looked over at Sam to see him roll his eyes and gather some pieces of papers. Before he put them away, you caught a glimpse of one of the papers and it was an article of the dead bodies that the vampires were trailing around town.

“Y/N, and yours?” You asked, turning your body to face his.

“Dean.” He said with a wink.

“What about yours?” You asked Sam, catching him off guard. Usually when Dean was trying to pick a woman up, they focused on him and not his brother.

“Sam.” He said with a small smile.

“Cute. You’re both cute.” You said, smiling at the bartender when he passed you the drink.

“So, what’s a woman like you doing here alone?” Dean asked.

“I’ll be back at the motel, Dean.” Sam said, getting up from his chair.

“Wait, Sam, I couldn’t help but look at those papers you have. What are you guys?” you asked with a smile, halting Sam’s movements. Dean and Sam shared a look together and Dean decided to talk for his brother.

“Yeah, we’re FBI and we’re investigating the murders that have been happening here. You just caught us on our day off.” Dean said, lying easily.

“Your day off consists of working on the case?” You asked.

“Yeah, well, you can never have a day off when you do what we do.” Dean said.

“Right, well, it’s nice to meet you, Sam.” You said with a smile.

“Nice to meet you, too.” Sam said, leaving you and Dean at the bar.

“So, what’s a man like you doing here with your partner? Don’t think I don’t notice the stares you’re getting.” You said with a smile, drinking your drink.

“Well, why would I notice when I have a beautiful woman sitting in front of me.” He said smoothly.

“Wow, nice save.” You said, giggling.

“Hey, don’t give me that. I mean it.” Dean said with a smile.

“I know,” You said, scooting closer to him. Your knees were touching him and you stared into his eyes, mesmerized by their color. Never in your life have you met someone with such beautiful eyes. “Wow, you have amazing eyes.”

“Yeah? You have amazing lips.” Dean flirted. You blushed a bit, making a show of licking your bottom lip before pulling it into your mouth, biting down on it. You knew he was watching your every move. You didn’t have to do anything else and his lips were on yours. He was the one to lick and bit that lip instead.

You two had a good time, talking about anything and everything. Despite kissing him and practically begging to go home with him, you two clicked that night. You learned a lot about him but you knew he was keeping a lot of things hidden from you.

Pushing aside the vampires and hunters, Dean was an amazing man. You could see past his hard exterior and saw the vulnerable man underneath. You had a knack of seeing past what people put in front of you.

You knew you weren’t going to get anything out of him about the case but you knew you would have to find out where this nest was because when you rolled into town, you knew just how many there were. Sam and Dean would get themselves killed if they went to this thing alone.

After Dean left, you started working on finding that out and once you had that information, you got your own motel room where Sam and Dean were. The next morning, when the vampires would be at their weakest, you knew Sam and Dean would take action.

You weren’t affected by the sunlight so you walked out of the motel room, seeing the Impala gone. You used your above average speed to get you to where you needed to go. You didn’t need any kinds of weapons except the two you had in your mouth.

You couldn’t heal yourself like the other vampires could so you had to be careful. You were good at fighting, years of practice was worth it but you still needed to be careful. All you needed was to bite them before they bit you.

You usually went for the neck since a major artery was there and got to the heart faster than anywhere else but if you had to, you would go for the arm or hand. With those spots, it would take a few bites for the toxin to work but you’ve done it before.

You saw the Impala when you got there, hearing the grunts and yells of pain before you even got inside. You could spell the vampire blood and knew that they got some of them dead already. You rushed inside, immediately getting attacked by another vampire.

You grunted as you hit the wall, glaring at the man who threw you there. You hissed at him, your fangs extracting. His eyes widened when he saw the two fangs and he didn’t know what to do. You didn’t look like a normal vampire and you took that opportunity to lunge at him.

Your fangs sunk into his neck, letting out the toxin. You pulled away, wiping the blood from your face as you watch him drop to the floor, spazzing in pain as the poison took over. You left him, knowing he was going to be alright and walked into a room filled with the dead bodies of the vampires.

You hated seeing them dead when you knew they could be saved. You saw Sam and Dean fighting two more vampires, some of them having already fled because they were so scared of the Winchesters. The one Sam was taking care of, was killed and now you looked at Dean who had a stone look on his face.

He was about to strike but you needed to do something before he could kill.

“Stop!” You yelled, catching the attention of all three people in the room. Before anyone has a chance to say anything, you used your speed to push Dean out of the way, getting behind the vampire, your fang descending as you opened your mouth before plunging them into the woman’s neck.

She cried out in pain as you felt the toxin gush out of your fangs and into her blood system.

“Drop the girl! Now!” Dean yelled, his voice booming in the large room. You pulled away from the woman and let her drop to the floor and she started thrashing around as the toxin worked to heal her. You wiped her blood from your mouth, cringing when some of it got into your mouth.

“It’s not what it looks like, Dean.” You said, hoping to get the chance to explain yourself.

“Really? Because it looks to me that you bit that girl and now I have no idea what is happening. What are you?” He asked, not letting his guard down. You were about to speak when you heard a whimper come from the now human girl.

You looked at the brothers before kneeling down to her and smoothing away her hair.

“What happened to me?” She asked, scared.

“You’re cured. You’re not a vampire anymore.” You said, smiling at her.

“I’m not?” She asked with a happy smile, getting tears.

“No, you’re not. Look, there is a man in the other room who is also cured. Look, take him and get out of here. You don’t have to kill anymore.” You said. She smiled happily at you and nodded, getting up on shaky legs before getting the man you left in the other room.

When she left, you looked at the Winchesters who were confused now, more than ever.

“Who are you?” Sam asked.

“My name is Y/N Van Helsing. I’m a vampire hunter.” You said, only getting started.

“No, that's not possible. The Van Helsings were wiped out hundreds of years ago.” Sam said. You knew he was the smart one.

“What is happening here?” Dean asked, not knowing about this.

“Dean, Abraham Van Helsing was a vampire hunter over 500 years ago.” Sam explained.

“One of the first.” You butted in and both brothers looked at you.

“So, why don’t you quite lying and tell us who you really are.” Dean said, not letting his guard down.

“I’m not lying. I’m the last one. Abraham was my dad.” You said.

“Then how are you here with us now? Why did you have fangs?” Dean asked.

“I’m also a vampire. I know I don’t look like these ones but that was because vampires 500 years ago looked a lot different than they do now. But I’m only a fourth of a vampire. Not a full one. The one who bit me didn’t get to finish the job and my family got out most of the poison but not all of it. That’s why I’m here with you today.”

“What happened with that girl? What did you do to her?” Sam asked. In all his years alive, he has never read about a living descendant of the Van Helsing family. He thought they all were killed back then.

“I cured her. My fangs have a toxin in them that can cure vampires and when I discovered this, I’ve been curing vampires ever since, not killing them. I’m not the bad guy, Dean and Sam. Hunters were a different thing back then and as you might tell, I’m not from America. I was born in Amsterdam and things are a lot different there, especially in the 1400s.”

Dean and Sam looked at each other, not sure that to do with this kind of information.

“Look, I can leave right now and you can pretend that this never happened but don’t you want to help cure them instead of killing them? I only kill the vampires I know will still be bad when they’re human again. I have a knack for knowing the person before talking to them.” You said.

“No, I don’t want you to leave.” Dean said. Sam agreed and you smiled at them.

“Great. I can answer any kind of questions you have but we should get out here. Preferably quickly.”

“Why is that?” Dean asked.

“I can hear sirens. Police are coming.” You said. Sam and Dean nodded and quickly got rid of their prints before booking it to the car. You walked with them and didn’t know whether or not to get in with them.

“Are you coming? Look, what we had at the bar, I don’t usually have that with other women. I’m not ready to let you go just yet.” Dean said with a wink. You laughed and nodded, getting inside the car. You were glad to have met the Winchesters.

Out of your 500 years on Earth, you haven’t felt this way about anyone the way you feel about Dean.

The adventure has just begun.

Forever and ever:

@im-not-an-angel-of-the-lord @maddieburcham1 @ginamsmith @mogaruke @whit85-blog @inlovewithbja @spn67-sister @kdfrqqg @jarpadandjensenaremyheroes @roxyspearing @supercalifragilistic26 @mishamigose @cobrakai1967 @essie1876 @innernightwerewolf @wishedworld @justanotherdeangirl @crispychrissy @laqueus-ludovicus @nostalgic-uncertainty @jerk-bitch-and-an-angel @potterhead1265 @starswirlblitz @untitled39887 @ta-n-ja

Dean Beans:

@akshi8278 @mega-mrs-dean-winchester @winchesterandpie @spn-dean-and-sam-winchester @spn-applepie-imagines @tahbehonest @carribear31

Other tags:

@notnaturalanahi @27bmm @thing-you-do-with-that-thing

[aion-rsa]

The Secrets of DC's New Batman Superman Team

https://ift.tt/31djF3H

What does The Batman Who Laughs want in Batman/Superman? And how does this fit into the larger DC Universe? We've got the answers.

facebook

twitter

tumblr

Everybody knows that Batman and Superman are much more effective as teammates and friends than they are as enemies. Sure, the two most recognizable characters in the DC Universe might not have the same methods, and they certainly don't always see eye-to-eye, but they're the World's Finest team for a reason, complementing each other's many strengths and keeping each other honest.

And while DC long ago retired the "World's Finest" title, they do look for any excuse to put Clark Kent and Bruce Wayne in a book together. The latest comes in the form of Batman/Superman by Joshua Williamson and David Marquez, which will see the pair take on the creepy, nihilistic evil of the Batman Who Laughs, who has secretly infected beloved DC Universe heroes with Joker toxin, making them as evil and unpredictable as the toxin's namesake.

Here's what we learned about the new series from Mr. Williamson at SDCC.

Den of Geek: In Metal, the Batman Who Laughs wanted to destroy everything. And then lately it seems he's just kind of trying to destroy various Batmen. What is he looking for now in Batman/ Superman?

Joshua Williamson: Well, the Batman Who Laughs, he still wants to destroy everything. But he's taking a step back. So think about this. Batman has always been a master strategist and master planner. We know about things like the Tower of Babel and he has all these ideas like “this is what I would do if I ever need to do this.” Batman's thought about it. You know Batman's been like, "If I need to take over the world, this is how I do it. But I would never do that." Whereas Batman Who Laughs is like, "I'm totally going to do that. This is a good idea."

read more: The Batman Who Laughs and the Culmination of 10 Years of DC Stories

The stuff he wants to do, I don't want you to hit you with spoilers, but his goal is to destroy everything that he sees as a threat. Anything that's out there that he thinks could possibly take him down, he's going to destroy before it can take him down. He's essentially trying to assess stuff so that he can take out things that he sees as a threat. But he also doesn't think...Batman thinks that life has value and the Batman Who Laughs doesn't. And so he doesn't think we need any of it. And so he still wants to destroy everything, but on a bigger scale, which I know sounds crazy. 

So what kind of challenges does that present for you as a writer? Because this is a master strategist. If you're not totally on top of your game, it could expose your weaknesses as a writer. If readers are able to outsmart the Batman Who Laughs you haven't done your job, right?

 Well, thankfully I'm not alone in this. I have James Tynion IV and Scott Snyder working with me and we developed a lot of this stuff. Because the stuff that's going on in Batman/Superman, Batman Who Laughs, and Justice League, it really is part of a really big story that we're building. 

We're really building this gigantic story within the DC Universe. I like to say we're telling the story of the DCU. And you'll see as this year goes on and as you get into 2020 the stuff that we're doing in those books, it's going to have a huge, massive impact. I feel sometimes like people aren't ready for it. It's going to be huge. It's going to have an impact on the entire DCU. 

This is a story we've been building for over two years. We started having conversations about some of this stuff involving Dark Nights: Metal in 2016 when it was stuff that Scott and James already were developing. And then I came in. We started talking about it more. We've been talking about this for a long time and so we've gamed it out. We've kicked the tires. We've thought of a lot of this stuff. We've thought about the Batman Who Laughs and this big thing that he's building toward and what he wants. A lot of it ties into the stuff that's going on in Justice League. And some of the things you'll see as it continues with the multiverse, with Perpetua, with the Batman Who Laughs with some of the things that are on in the DCU. It's interesting, you have someone like Lex Luthor who's going out there and powering up all these villains. and then you have Batman Who Laughs going out there and he's infecting all of these heroes and turning them evil. 

read more: What Comes Next for The Flash?

At some point that might collide. I don't know. Something might happen at some point that puts those things into conflict. But it's hard sometimes because one of two things will happen. My brain is thinking about two years from now and I don't want to accidentally spoil something that's two years out and I don't want to ruin most of the story by accident.

You've written Barry Allen and Bruce Wayne together before, and we've talked about the differences in their thought processes as detectives. So now you're putting Clark and Bruce together. And we all know it's been discussed forever about the differences in their overall approach. But how would you describe their friendship in your book?

I mean they're definitely friends. I think that was the thing in the beginning. There was a concern of “are they going to be fighting each other? Are they going to have this conflict?” And I was like, "Oh, they're friends." They recognize that they need to work together to go up against this thing that's horrible and they recognize they only trust each other in this situation because they are nervous. They don't know who's infected. They don't know who has turned, they don't know who's a sleeper agent. And they see that they need to work together to fix this problem. They have to basically look at each other and say, “these are our best qualities together. Let's just move forward with that.”

And there's a couple of lines in the beginning, one of the things that's been really interesting about doing this book with the Batman Who Laughs as the villain, is the Batman Who Laughs had his own Superman on his world that he killed. I think he regrets that. And so we get to kind of see his thoughts on that relationship too. It creates a weird dynamic of our Batman being like, "Well I'm like him." And Superman being like, "No, you're not. I know you. You're not like this at all." So there's a lot of that. There's a lot of back and forth.

You can hear their voices. I've know these characters so long. I can hear them going back and forth. That's how I write the book. If I can hear them talking, then everything else I can shape the story around. But that's what's important, I can hear them talking to each other. But yeah, they're friends. 

I think in this situation, one of the things we've talked about a lot is that there are times in life when you see somebody who's the bad guy. And you see the bad guy is winning a little and they're winning because they lie and they cheat and they do things that are underhanded and you see it, you're frustrated and there's that part of you that is like, "You know, I'm struggling. If I cheated, I could win." But then if you do that, of course, that means they win, right? 

And so when they're in this situation, this as part of the conversation between the two of them, is Superman at times is like, "We could never do that. We could never cheat to win. We can never lie or do the wrong thing to win because then they're winning." And then, but Batman has a darker concern. His concern is, "If you and I ever acted like them, ever lied and cheated the way the villains do, we would be worse villains that they could ever be." And that's why they don't want to do that. So in this book, they can check each other and they try and make sure they never go down that path together.

Sounds kinda timely.

I don't know what you're talking about.

Is this your first time really writing Superman as a spotlight character?

Yeah, I mean, I wrote with him on Justice League vs. Suicide Squad. I've always tried not to write Superman.

 So here, let me tell you this story. So back in 2009 I was doing short stories for easy comics. I was just a kid, just a rookie coming in and trying new stuff. And I would do little short stories for them. And so one day at San Diego Comic-Con in 2009 one of the editors pulled me aside and said, "We want to have to do this thing called an inventory story." Inventory stories are basically one shots...they're kind of like tryouts in some places to test out how you are with an artist. But basically you’re upgraded and you're not doing shorts any more, and also to see if you can tell a beginning, middle, end of story.

read more: Year of the Villain Leads to the Biggest Event in DC Universe History

So he pulls me aside and he's like, "I want you to do an inventory story. You can pick. You can do a Batman one or you can do a Superman one but don't say Batman because everyone always says Batman." And I was like, "All right, okay. How about this? Let me do a Batman/Superman one. Let me do a team up because I love the DC Universe and my favorite part of the DC Universe is the relationships between the characters. And if I'm trying to prove you that I can write DC characters, if I can't prove to you that I can write Batman/Superman together, then what am I doing here?” And the editor was like, "No one has ever said that before. Yes you can do that. You can do a Batman/Superman story.” So I wrote a couple of these inventory stories and one of them was a Damian Wayne and Supergirl team up and that actually came out.

There's a few that will never see light of day, but I wrote them to prove and that helped me get work with them. And ever since then I would ask him "Can I do Batman/ Superman? Can I do Batman/Superman." Every few years I was like, "Let me do it for real, let me have that book." And it was never able to work out. And then last year, more than a year and a half ago, DC finally came to me was like, "All right, all right. You helped with Metal. Metal is doing well, Flash is doing well, what do you want? What do you actually want?" I was like, "Dude, you know what I want, I want Batman/Superman." And they were like, "All right, what's the story? " And then I told them the story I wanted to do and they finally gave it to me. So I got to actually do this book. And so yeah, now I get to write Superman. So I have experience writing Superman, but you've never read it basically.

Batman/Superman #1 hits on Aug. 28.

Mike Cecchini is the Editor in Chief of Den of Geek. You can read more of his work here. Follow him on Twitter @wayoutstuff.

Read and download the Den of Geek SDCC 2019 Special Edition Magazine right here!

facebook

twitter

tumblr

Interview Mike Cecchini

Jul 31, 2019

DC Entertainment

Batman

Superman

SDCC

SDCC 2019

from Books https://ift.tt/3186bpS

[jarienn972]

Mirrored - Chapter 6

Quickly getting the next chapter posted today so I apologize if any of the links don’t work properly.  I’ll fix those later if necessary.  This chapter brings us to a whole new level of angst as well as a potential resolution to Killian’s dilemma.

From the beginning on Tumblr: Chapter One  Chapter Two  Chapter Three  Chapter Four  Chapter Five

Complete on AO3 and FF.net

Pissed off was definitely the correct adjective to describe Emma's mood as she arrived back at the hospital.

Pissed off.

Exhausted.

Scared.

Frustrated.

She felt each emotion as itself and yet equally all at the same time. Locating Devereaux and throwing her behind bars hadn't resolved anything as she didn't have the antidote. All of this was just one disturbing game to the raven haired pirate. She hated the thought that they weren't any closer - that they were still at the mercy of this poison.

Exiting the elevator back onto the third floor corridor, the first face she saw was her father's and it was actually a bit of welcome relief. She had felt so guilty leaving Killian here alone, but her family – their family - had stepped in and for that, she was grateful. She felt such a huge burden lifted from her as David wrapped his arms around her and gave her a huge, reassuring hug before ever uttering a word.

"Dad, thank you for coming down here when I called. Sorry if my rambling didn't make much sense. How's Killian?"

"He's obviously still asleep, but I'm so glad you're okay. We've been hoping to hear from you all night."

"I know. I've been a bit preoccupied. Captain Devereaux Sinclair is now locked up in the holding cell but…"

"She didn't have the antidote," David completed her sentence. "I could tell by the look on your face."

"That obvious?" she whispered, feeling more than a bit defeated.

"Guess it's a good thing that Regina's working on the antidote then."

"Is she really? Devereaux was all too happy to inform me that the antidote requires a flower that doesn't grow here, so unless Regina has a private stash somewhere, how am I supposed to believe that she can make it?"

"Because Regina's been at the library all night trying to find a substitute," David told her. "We have to believe that there's one out there."

"You knew about the flower?" Emma scowled.

"We've known Regina for a very long time. Your mother and I would have known if she were trying to keep something from us. She just didn't want to burden you with it because she knew you already had enough to worry about."

Emma sighed and shook her head as she took a step toward Killian's room, but David moved swiftly to block her way, not allowing her to go any further without a warning.

"Emma, before you go in there, we need to talk."

"About what? It's been a long night and my husband needs me to be there for him."

"Yes, he does, but he doesn't need all of this anger right now."

"Anger? I'm not angry, I'm pissed! Pissed at Devereaux Sinclair for ruining a perfectly good day. Pissed at Regina for not telling me the complete truth AGAIN and most importantly – pissed at myself for not being there when he needed me because I was too busy trying to figure out what this thing was!" She pulled the bronze compact that had caused so much difficulty out of her pocket and handed it to David.

"Did you at least establish what it was?" he wondered.

"According to Regina, it's a looking glass. From what I've figured out on my own, it works kind of like a combination of a crystal ball and a mood ring. It showed me images that led me to Killian after Devereaux attacked him and finally to Devereaux herself. I don't really know what makes it work."

David studied the intricate compact for a second then passed it back to Emma. "Think it might be able to lead you to the thimble flower substitute?"

"I suppose it couldn't hurt to try," Emma said, taking back the compact and tapping the release button with her fingernail to open it. She stared down at the reflection of her own bloodshot eyes, but nothing was changing. Maybe she just didn't know what emotion she was supposed to focus on for a flower. "It's not showing me anything, but it draws on emotion, so maybe because it's a thing, not a person, it won't work…"

"Or perhaps you just have too many emotions going on right now," David suggested. "You just need to set all of that aside before you go in there. He needs your strength right now, not all this negativity."

She looked up at David with a sudden trepidation as she snapped the halves of the compact closed. There was something in her father's tone that implied he was avoiding a big part of the story. What had changed in the past few hours?

"What exactly aren't you telling me?" she wondered. "Please tell me that Killian is alright…"

David scrunched his face as he tried to determine the best way to deliver the news. "We had a scare earlier tonight, but for the moment, he's hanging on."

"Hanging on? What kind of scare? What happened?" She wanted to push past him, but David grabbed onto her upper arms and held her back. "Dammit, what don't you want me to know?"

"Emma, just listen – his fever got a bit too high and he started having seizures. Both of the fever and the seizures are under control again, but he was having difficulty breathing, so Whale connected him to a machine that's helping him breathe…"

He couldn't get out the rest of his sentence before his daughter muscled her way out of his grasp and scurried around him, only to freeze as she passed through the doorway and got her first real glimpse of Killian since Whale had sedated him hours earlier. Her knees buckled and she suddenly began to feel faint, but David was right behind her to guide her over to the chair where she collapsed. She hadn't been prepared to see such a drastic change in such a short time - startled by the shocking tidal wave of emotion.

"That's why I wanted to warn you," David said, trying hard to be as reassuring and gentle as possible without sounding condescending.

"Regina said this was a slow moving poison. I didn't think he'd go downhill this quickly," she sighed, summoning the strength to move from the chair to Killian's bedside. She stood over him for a moment, then gently reached out to caress his cheek without disturbing any of the multitude of tubes that were helping to keep him alive. With her right hand, she took ahold of his, drawing his fingers to her own cheekbone. She wanted so much to feel his fingers tighten around hers, but he was so deeply comatose that there would be no response. As she took a seat on the edge of the bed beside the railing, David started to take a step back. "Don't go," she said, stopping him. "I could use the moral support right now."

"I thought you'd want some time alone."

"Not yet," she replied, her voice trembling. "I can't go through this again…"

"And we're not going to," he stated. "Killian's strong and he's got something to hold on to – you. He's fighting it and I know he's going to hang on until Regina gets here with the antidote."

"I sure hope she hurries up," she said, her eyes welling with tears. Her focus kept being pulled back to his face – his typically sparkling sapphire eyes now so tightly closed; his lips being held open by the clear plastic tubing that allowed him to breathe. While still certainly not the worst she'd ever seen him, it was disturbing in its own way. "He doesn't even look like my Killian right now. He looks so…fragile."

"I'm not sure I'd ever use the word fragile to describe Killian Jones. More like determined, persistent and a royal pain in the ass, but certainly, not fragile."

He succeeded in getting her to crack a smile, even if it was only a brief one.

"After all this time, you two still think the same way about each other," she smiled through the tears, but the smile faded as she thought about one sure way to help Killian. "I guess what hurts the most is that I'm sitting here with the knowledge that with one kiss, I could take away all of his pain – free him from the poison and take it on myself. Maybe my savior magic would make me better able to fight the toxin."

"But you can't do it," David stated, knowing exactly why she couldn't even before she said it.

"He'd never forgive me if I did. It would be completely against his wishes, but I just know that if he takes another turn for the worse, I'll do whatever I have to do to buy us more time." David knew exactly what she meant, but remained silent. He also know full well that were he in the same situation, he'd do the same thing.

********************************

"Regina, I think I found something!" Belle exclaimed excitedly. After such a very long night of pouring through page after page of botany text and illustrations, she felt she had finally made a breakthrough – a huge breakthrough.

Regina rubbed her bleary eyes as she glanced over at the brittle vellum pages opened in front of Belle.

"I hope you've got something. I'm starting to see double," Regina complained.

"Look at this," Belle said as she pushed the small journal across the table to Regina. "This is the alchemist's journal that I was telling you about earlier. I just found this passage where he writes about visiting a 'land without magic'."

"You have my attention," Regina stated, pushing aside the other volumes before her to focus on the journal. "A land like this one was when we got here?"

Belle nodded, then continued.

"In this entry, he describes collecting a flower he compares to the thimble flower:

'I happened across a lovely little find while exploring the woods by the river – a beautiful, delicate stem of little bells that made me draw comparisons to our land's own thimble flower. The tiny blossoms reminded me of those cup shaped white blooms and based on my experimentation, appear to have similar characteristics to those of the thimble flower, although perhaps a tad more toxic. I've found I've needed far less of the flower to obtain similar results with my potions.'."

Belle stopped reading at the end of that paragraph.

"Does this mystery flower have a name?" Regina asked.

"Not here, but there is a sketch." Belle turned the page to display a charcoal drawing of the plant they sought. "I've seen these before," she stated, pointing to the image.

Regina stared at the drawing for a moment, then had an epiphany.

"So have I," she realized, reaching down to retrieve a book from the floor. She flipped frantically through the pages until she found what she was looking for – a photograph of a floral stem with multiple white blossoms that looked like tiny bells. "This…"

Regina tapped on the photograph as they both read aloud the flower's name.

"Muguet des bois," Belle read the French translation of the name.

"Lily of the valley," Regina echoed as she read the name in English.

"I've seen them growing out in the woods, but only in the spring," Belle said.

"Kind of a problem when its October," Regina sighed, feeling a bit discouraged by this new development. She knew what she needed, but there was no way the pirate would survive until springtime.

Then Belle had a marvelous thought - seeds!

"Seeds!" Belle gushed. "I remember seeing seed packets for these in my father's flower shop. Would seeds work if we can find them?"

Regina thought about the possibility for a moment. "They might," she said. "While I can't just magically conjure up a thimble flower, using magic to speed up the natural growth process of a plant could work. It would still give us the same end product – a natural, living plant."

"The shop won't be open for a few more hours though."

"Since when do I need for a shop to be open?" With a wave of her hand and a swirl of purple smoke, Regina brought herself and Belle to the floral shop. Outside, the first traces of morning were beginning to appear over the horizon, but it was still quite dark in the shop. Knowing that at least twelve hours had already passed, Regina wasn't about to play by the established rules.

"Clearly we're doing things your way," Belle said as she searched for the light switch.

"My way's quicker," Regina made her point as Belle located the switch and flipped on the lights. "Now, do you remember where you saw those seeds?"

"Over here," Belle replied, pointing off to their left where there was a small display of house plants and a round metal rack of seed packages. She wasted no time searching through the variety of seed packets while Regina watched impatiently. "Here! We've got one!"

She handed the package of lily of the valley seeds to Regina.

"We need something to plant them in," Regina said, pulling a potted house plant from a nearby shelf. She yanked the existing greenery out of the soil, then tore open the seed packet and sprinkled every seed into the pot. Covering them with a thin layer of potting soil, she then held her hand hovering above the pot until the soil began to glow a bright sunny yellow hue.

Regina smiled as a tiny sprout pushed its way through the dirt then grew upward in a deep forest green spike. When at last it reached its desired height, the pointed emerald outer leaves unfurled to reveal the dainty sprig of bells hidden beneath.

"It's beautiful," Belle exclaimed.

Regina plucked the stem of blossoms from amongst the leaves, twirling it between her fingertips.

"And it does look remarkably like a thimble flower. Now, let's hope that alchemist was correct because I've got an antidote to brew. Thank you for all of your help tonight. I don't know if I would have found that journal on my own."

"You're welcome. I just hope it will help whomever needs it."

"So do I," Regina said under her breath, "or there's going to be hell to pay…" She had said it before, but it bore repeating.

*************************************

Mentally unable to sleep and way too wound up with nervous energy to sit still, Emma found herself pacing absentmindedly at the foot of the hospital bed. Pausing only a moment to notice that the sun had risen, she glanced up at the clock on the wall which confirmed it was a little after seven AM.

She thought about how much had changed in just a little over twelve hours, but right now all she could focus on was that it was just too quiet. David had wandered off to find them both some coffee and now she was alone to contend with the seemingly too silent room - only in reality, it wasn't that quiet at all. She could hear every beep, every click, every hiss from the plethora of machines and monitors and as soon as she realized she was hearing them all at once again, she immediately resumed her pacing. The sound of her own footsteps became calming as they drowned out all of the unnatural noises that served as a constant reminder of where they were. She barely spoke to the nurses who were wandering in and out keeping a close watch on his vital signs as his temperature inched up a bit - though not yet back into the dangerous zone. It just felt like much more than a few hours had passed since she'd arrived back to the hospital.

"You know you're going to wear a hole through the floor," David stated, handing her a Styrofoam cup filled with what appeared to be coffee, although it didn't exactly have the right aroma. "It smells a bit like a swamp, but it packs a punch."

"Thanks," she replied, wrapping her hands around the cup and finally settling back down into the chair. "Do you think he knows we're here? He looks peaceful enough, but I just wonder what's going on inside his head."

"Having been through a sleeping curse, I know I experienced some really weird, vivid dreams, but I don't know if these drugs that Whale gave him would have that same effect."

"You remember what you dreamt while you were under the sleeping curse?"

"Some…well, most. It was a pretty intense experience. Considering what Killian has already been through, I really hope he's not experiencing any of what I did."

"I just want this to be over. I want to bring him home and get on with our lives – at least until the next inevitable crisis strikes this town. Is it really too much to ask?"

"No, it isn't," David replied, resting a comforting hand on his daughter's shoulder. "Why don't I go see if I can find us some breakfast? I think we could both use to eat something."

"I'm not really hungry, but thanks anyway."

"You can't survive on just coffee – or whatever that stuff is."

"Thank you for being the overprotective dad, but really, I'm fine," she smiled, right before their father-daughter moment was interrupted by a voice in the hallway. It was Regina who was clearly upset that she wasn't being allowed to get any closer to Killian's room since she wasn't immediate family.

"I'll take care of this," David said, stepping out into the corridor. "Its alright," he said to the nurse. "We've actually been expecting her." The nurse then quickly apologized and returned to her desk.

"Thank you," Regina said. "It's been a really long night. My temper's a little short."

"It's been a long night for all of us," David reminded her.

"Agreed," Emma spoke up, having made her way into the doorway, her ire focused directly at Regina. "A long night I spent hunting down a pirate who didn't have the antidote but who happily revealed a little bit of information that you omitted earlier – the fact that the flower needed to make the antidote doesn't grow in Storybrooke. Why did you lie to me about being able to make the antidote when you knew about that damned flower?"

Regina sighed while thinking of a response, trying to avoid looking directly at Emma.

"I didn't completely lie. I could make the antidote. I just needed to find a replacement flower – one that I spent all night flipping through dusty, musty books to find. And I found it…" She proudly held up a tiny glass vial containing a fine, pale blue powder.

"You found a substitute for the thimble flower? There really is one?" David asked.

"Actually, it was Belle who found it – a lily of the valley. But there's only one way to find out if it will work…," Regina used the vial to gesture toward the room where Killian lay.

"What the hell are we waiting for then?" Emma asked, stepping aside so that Regina could enter the room, but no sooner had Regina looked inside, she knew they had a problem. She paused in front of the glass wall for a second, unsure of how exactly to proceed. She hadn't expected that Killian would have a machine helping him breathe so soon. Devereaux Sinclair must have come across a particularly potent batch of widowsbane.

"We've got a small problem," Regina began, "or maybe a big problem depending on how you look at it…"

"What kind of problem?" David wondered.

Regina turned to meet David eye to eye, almost afraid to face Emma with what she was about to say.

"The antidote has to be administered in the same manner that the poison was – meaning he has to inhale it."

"What?" Emma couldn't believe what she was hearing. After all of this, they were still hitting a proverbial brick wall?

Regina shook her head. "I had no way of knowing that it would affect his breathing so quickly," she said. "I certainly didn't expect to come back after a few hours to find him breathing through a plastic tube."

"Inhaling the powder is the only way to give him the antidote?" Emma queried, not sure if she could take any more bad news today.

"Unfortunately, yes," Regina stated. "If he's not able to breathe on his own, we definitely have a problem."

"Okay," David spoke up, hoping to defuse the tension. "I think we need to get a professional opinion here. Whale said last night that they brought in the machine because Killian was having trouble breathing – not that he'd stopped breathing altogether. Let's get Whale down here and find out if he thinks there's a chance he could still breathe on his own – at least long enough to inhale that stuff."

"Go have him paged," Emma agreed. "We'll see what he has to say and if it isn't promising, I'm going to go to Plan B."

David knew precisely what she meant but chose not to comment as he made his way over to the nurses' station. There would be no arguing with her if it came down to Plan B.

"You have a Plan B?" Regina wondered.

"Yes," Emma stated. "I'll do what I have to do." Regina then realized where she was going with this.

"You're not planning to kiss him and poison yourself, are you?"

"I said I'll do whatever I have to do and I meant that. I'm not letting him die again, not like this."

"Are you out of your mind again? You have no idea how this poison would affect you."

"At least if I take on the poison, I can still breathe to inhale the antidote."

"It doesn't work like that. For all you know, you could end up not being able to breathe at all. Not to mention that you'd be receiving the poison in a different manner than he did. That would change how the antidote functions."

"So I'm supposed to do nothing? I'm sorry, Regina, I can't stand here and not try."

"It's too big a risk."

"So then Killian's expendable, is that what you mean?"

"That's not what I said and that's not what I meant…"

"Ladies!" David intervened before their argument got any more heated. "Dr. Whale is on his way. Why don't we all go take a walk so that everyone can calm down? We're all tired and stressed out but no one's doing anybody any good by shouting at each other!"

"I believe I heard my name mentioned," Whale said as he rounded the corner. "I could hear you halfway down the hallway. Now, is there a reason for all of this racket?"

"I've got the antidote for the poison, but we don't have a way to administer it at the moment," Regina explained.

"So you were able to make the antidote?" Whale asked.

"Yes, but as long as that machine is breathing for him, we have a problem. There's no way for him to inhale the powder," Regina stated.

"Is Killian able to breathe on his own at all?" Emma asked.

"Possibly," Whale replied, momentarily raising her hopes, "but there's no guarantee that he'd be able to take a deep enough breath to inhale anything heavier than air."

"Can we at least try?" Emma pleaded.

"You're his wife. With your consent, I can try removing the breathing tube. I'm not making any promises and I'm letting you know right now that if anything goes awry, my patient's welfare comes first."

"I wouldn't expect anything less," Emma stated.

"Then if all of you could wait out here for a few minutes so I can run some tests, we'll soon have our answer as to whether this is going to work." Whale then motioned for one of the nurses at the desk to join him as he walked into Killian's room and once again drew the privacy curtain.

[cabotcreekuniversity]

Dear Rhys Rainer as portrayed by SKYE,

Congratulations! On behalf of Cabot Creek University, I am pleased to announce your admission for Fall 2017!

The academic and personal accomplishments reflected on your application for admissions are exactly what Cabot Creek University embodies and represents.

We cannot wait to greet you this coming school year.

Please [ check here ] for further instructions on accepting the offer of admissions. We look forward to working with you.

Name, Age, Timezone, Pronouns: Skye, 30, EST, She/her

Character name: Rhys Rainer Rhys: Means “enthusiasm” in Welsh. Several Welsh rulers have borne this name Rainer: From the Germanic name Raganhar, composed of the elements ragin “advice” and hari “army”.

Character major: Major: Fine Arts Minors: Technology, Psychology Rhys has always been someone who has leaned heavily on the artistic side of things. He’s always been into fashion, make up, tattoos, graphics, and of course, all the things that fine art covers like drawing and painting. It was a way to express himself, alongside music, that gave him a certain amount of freedom. He’s someone who has had a difficult time imagining himself in a traditional career, and he likes the freedom and the choice that art allows him. It gives him insight into many different fields that are more likely to be in his wheelhouse. He decided to minor in Technology because it felt like a comfortable match with his art. Through doing graphic design, web design, etc, it opens up different avenues for him to be able to get his work out there. Not only that, but he figured having more of an insight into the technology that has practically become attached to him, felt like a wise move, though he absolutely can’t stand the focus and concentration that coding takes. As with most things in his life, Rhys always follows his heart over his head, and follows his interests wherever they might lead him. That’s why he’s managed to pick up Psychology as a secondary minor, realizing that getting insight into the minds of others is something that’s intriguing for him. It actually came as a shock to most people that know him that he would bother picking up a singular minor, let alone two, as he’s never been one to show a strong interest in school.

Clubs or sports: LGBTQ/Sexuality & Gender Alliance - Rhys isn’t necessarily a part of these clubs at the start. I think that he might show up at a meeting or two and then not show up for a few before going back because he finds it hard to commit himself to the group. I think he goes mostly to feel out the environment, to try and get a sense of belonging, and occasionally get to know the people, but has yet to sign up to either as a full time member. This might become a bigger part of his journey as he starts to answer some questions for himself. Student Entertainment Committee - I feel like Rhys is big into being able to put his creativity into something real. So, while he’s rarely able to commit to extracurricular activities, due to his rather flighty nature, this is a rare instance where he is willing to put time and effort in. He always tries to make sure the school entertainment is something worthy of his peers time, and it’s fun for him to be able to get his hands dirty doing something he loves. Fencing - While never really into sports or being on teams, when Rhys saw fencing was offered a a sport, he couldn’t pass up the change to play around with long pointy objects. In the end, it turned out to be more stress relieving than he’d ever thought possible.

Will your character have a job?: Rhys works at the Limelight, which feeds into his rather self destructive tendencies. He spends far more time at the location than he likely should, opting to spend hours there even when off work. This leads to many late nights, making it difficult for him to focus in his classes at times. He enjoys the atmosphere there though and often bar tends.

Give us a head canon about your character: Rhys loves tattoos and has even considered getting an apprenticeship at a tattoo parlor because of how much they fascinate him. He’s drawn up tattoos for friends, and while he didn’t actually place it on their skin, it was fun, and he realized it was exciting giving someone a piece of art they could have with them forever, if they chose to. In some way, it felt meaningful, and there’s part of him that wants to learn how to do the entire process from start to finish. Rhys has an eclectic taste in music and a strong connection with it. As a result he’s taken many music classes at the university for fun, even when the courses stopped counting towards his graduation. He’s not always practical. He tends to follow his emotions and his heart far more than his head, which can often lead him into trouble. Rhys is super close with his brother, and often he leans on him for support more than he probably should. He always finds it a miracle that he managed any amount of time without his brother’s presence around, because he finds that with his brother around he’s always taken care of in every sense of the word. He hates being lonely or ignored because it feeds into his underlying insecurities that he refuses to vocalize. One of his biggest fears is that he will be left alone.

Answer the following questions IC about your character. Feel free to use a gif to respond if you’d like:

What is an issue you feel most passionate about?: “Damn, that’s difficult… ah… there’s so many different issues that are important and I find interesting. Humane treatment of animals and ending their abuse? Humane treatment of people and ending their abuse. Trying to decrease the suicide rates…? An end to all the violence that has been happening in our world? Look, I’m not over the top with my expectations, the world isn’t going to change, not quickly — at least not for the better — and I’m not going to sit here and scream about world peace… but there’s a kind of beauty in that ideal, no? But then, there’s always a purity and a beauty to the unattainable”

Describe your thoughts on social media?: “I have to say, I kind of love it. It’s a really fun way to interact with other people. I can keep up on what is going on with people I know back home and they can stay up to date with my adventures and outfits too. It brings people together and that’s something I can appreciate. Sure, it has it’s crap sides, but doesn’t everything? At least you get to control what you post about yourself and if you’re uncomfortable, then you have the option not to use it all together.”

What is your favorite fandom or movie or TV show or book series (choose one)?: “I can’t say I’m really the type to get intensely into one thing when it comes to media. I’m very like that in other areas of my life, but I don’t feel like I catch enough TV or have enough time to read to really immerse myself in any one thing. I like plenty of things, but it’s certainly more on the casual side. I’ll watch shows like Game of Thrones when I catch an episode here or there. That or binge watch Buffy, I love that show. That girl can kick my ass any day.”

Opinion on love and romance?: “I’d say love is a toxin that pumps through our veins. We get that ecstatic high from it when we get that first hit, but as time goes on, we realize the damage it does to us, mind, body, and soul. I want to believe in love, in it’s essence, it’s strength, it’s purity… but there’s such a naivety to that notion. It ignores the risk, the chance that is based in reality, that it will fuck you up instead of save you. Despite all that, I’m drawn towards the idea. I guess in some respects, I’m foolish enough to take the gamble, in hopes there’s something better, something more out there.”

[voltagefanfic-angstlover-blog]

Jin Namba fanfic: Obstacles part 11

Obstacles part 11:

In the academy, instructor’s office:

All the instructors are sitting at the table, discussing any information they have on YN and Asahi Kyobe.

“Ayumu, any updates on YN’s whereabout?”

“Nothing so far, both their cell phones are off so I can’t trace them. Asahi has disappeared ever since and no one has saw him. I can’t believe how much work this crazy doctor has put me through yet I still can’t find him.” Ayumu said, annoyed.

“However, I did manage to find this after hacking through all his personal computer. I found the formula for the antidote.”

!!!

“Great work! Send it to the hospital lab now.” I cannot describe how ecstatic I feel upon hearing that news. With the formula, now we can create an antidote. That means YN’s condition is no longer a death sentence.

“No, send it to my colleague. She works with more advanced equipment and an elite team. I’ll ask a personal favour.” Ishigami chimes in.

“I appreciate your help.”

Ishigami’s lips curves upward slightly acknowledging my appreciation.

Now we can create the antidote, I’m just worried about YN’s condition. It’s already 2 days since her disappearance and we heard nothing from her so far. Her condition was not great and now she’s not in the hospital receiving treatment. What if her condition gets worse, what if I’m too late…..

My earlier elated mood turns gloomy again at this thought.

“YN is a strong girl, I’m sure she is going to be fine.” Shusuke pats me on the shoulder reassuringly.

“Chief, you have all our support.” Ishigami’s word is short but it’s nothing short of supportiveness.

“I’ll give him the interrogation of his life and let him taste what it is like to mess with public safety squad.” Kaga smirks.

Looking at all the instructors, I’m so grateful to be their boss.

“Thanks guys. ……Thank you.”

My tired features relief into a smile and they all do so in return.

“Chief, no need to thank us. We always have your back. Leave everything to us for now. Go home and take some rest. You need the energy to work and look for YN right? I’ll inform you straight away if we find something.”

Goto is right. Fatigue is dulling my senses and judgement. I need to take some rest so I can have the physical strength and mentality to find YN.

Nodding in agreement,

“I’ll leave things in your capable hands.”

Goto offered to drive me back and I took up his offer, I’m in no ideal condition to drive.

I got back to my apartment and it was all dark and empty. I miss having YN here, her cooking, her smile and scent and everything.

I stretches my stiff back, I miss having her putting heat patches on my back too.

I sigh and take off my suit dumping it on the couch. I took a quick shower and went to bed.

The bed feels cold without her warmth, I reach over to the other side and lay my hand on her pillow, imagining her sleeping face.

I quickly shake off the feeling and close my eyes. Let me escape from all the heartache just for a moment, even just for a duration of a dream.

I imagine YN’s smiling face and my whole body relaxes.

I miss you, little bird.

It didn’t take much effort and I drift into deep sleep.

 YN’s POV:

In a dark room.

Cough, cough…..Ah….I feel like my lungs are burning.

I open my eyes groggily and scan my surrounding. I’ve been in the dim room for 2 days now. I rotate my wrist, still bound to the chair.

Cough, Cough.

The next moment, someone forces a pill in my mouth. It’s Dr Kyobe.

I lift my eyes looking up to the man, he puts a glass of water near my lips and I take the pill down with the water. Thirst caused me to take big gulps and I choked-

Cough cough!

Just for a moment, I felt soft pats in my back.

After a few minutes, my coughing subsided and the burning sensation in my lungs also dampens.

Dr Kyobe walks away and sits down on a nearby chair.

2 days ago, I was in the hospital, out of nowhere, my heart started to hurt followed by chaos of machine beeping and doctors trying to resuscitate me. The last thing I remembered before losing consciousness was the long beep by the heart monitor.

The next time I’ve woken up I found myself alone with Dr kyobe in an isolated dark room.

Now that I’m taken away, I really misses him. I wonder how chief is doing. Is he working hard trying to find me? I picture chief’s panicked face and I feel a sense of anxiousness rising.

I shift my head towards Dr Kyobe and examine his face.

Contrast to his previous friendly nature, he spoke very few words to me in the past days and only forces pills into my mouth once in a while to help with my coughing. I asked him why he would do that and all he replied was to simply keep me alive.

I’ve tried asking him why he took me away from the hospital but to no avail.

But I too am stubborn and I ask the same question again and again:

“Dr Kyobe, why are you doing this?” Expecting no answer but to my surprise, he opened his mouth with a nostalgic and faraway look in his eyes.

“5 years ago, my family was happy until one day my sister in law contracted a rare disease. My brother is a medical researcher so he was frantic in trying to come up with a drug to cure her. He was so close to finish the drug too! But that man, Jin Namba! He has to interrupt and arrest him for illegal conduction of clinical trial! The drug was forced to leave unfinished and my sister in law died with no cure! My brother also took his own life. Just like that! Gone! They are gone! All because of that man!”

Dr Kyobe stood up with rage knocking over the chair.

Clinical trial? That means with human?

“Your brother….killed people while testing the drugs?”

“What do you know? It’s mere sacrifices for the name of science! Do you know how many lives he could potentially save with the drug and how many lives he have saved in the past with the drugs he developed? Yet the judges and jury all decided that he is guilty and separate him from his wife at the worst timing. That action took their lives. He was such an amazing brother and researcher. He could have achieved so much yet he died in prison! They should all pay. All of them!”

He roared with anger and resentment.

“I’ll let them have a taste of what true pain feels like, when they have a close encounter with death.” He smiles was cold and he turns his head towards me.

“As for you, I gave you the toxin from the pathogen that infected my sister in law. You will experience the same pain as her. He can feel the same hopelessness my brother felt when he couldn’t save her. You can die hating Jin Namba because he’s the one who interrupted the creation of the drug. I kind of liked you and feel sorry for you, you remind me of my sister in law. But don’t hate me for this. Hate him. Karma is a beautiful thing, don’t you agree? What goes around comes around. ”

Dr Kyobe walks out the room slamming the door. Just for a second, I saw a small box with flashing light outside in the hallway. Is that a bomb?!

I starts to panic and wiggles around in the chair. No matter how hard I try, the rope just would not budge.

What is he planning to do?

I settle down as fatigue overtakes me. Chief…I miss you, I want to go home.

 No one’s POV:

In the academy monitor room:

“Chief, I just tracked down YN’s cell phone signal. It’s located in an abandoned building on the south edge of the city.” Ayumu types away flagging a location on the map.

Jin looks ecstatic and relived at the same time that they finally managed to find YN’s where about.

“Chief, have your phone ready just in case you get any calls from her.”

Just on cue, Jin’s phone vibrates showing YN’s name on the screen.

Quickly connecting the phone with cables, the phone screen shows on the larger monitor.

Jin hits the pickup button and Asahi’s face appears in the video call.

“Long time no see, detective.”

“You!! Where is YN?!”

“Not so rushed shall we?” Asahi Kyobe turns the phone and YN comes into view.

“YN! YN! Can you hear me?”

Hearing chief’s voice, YN looks up to the phone Asahi Kyobe’s holding.

“Chief….Chief!”

“YN! Don’t worry, I’ll come and save you!”

YN look so tired and scared, but she shakes her head.

“Alright alright, enough reunion time. Let’s get back to business.”

“What do you want?” Jin glowers.

“More like what would YOU want? A bomb is set to detonate somewhere and sometime soon. You can go and disarm that bomb all you like, but if I don’t hear this explosion, then I will kill her. So what do you want? Her or the public? Or? Maybe if you come by yourself and take her place, I’ll let her live too. How about that? Aren’t I generous? You took 2 lives from my family and I’m only one from you. What a bargain. Hahahahaha.”

The call then ends with Asahi’s crazy laughter.

Jin bangs his hands on the table with frustration.

“Ayumu, do whatever you can to find that bomb. We have to stop it.”

Jin then picks up his phone and informs Ishigami about the bomb dispatching officers to scout out potential spots.

“Chief, what are you planning to do?”

Ayumu is obviously asking which one Jin will choose out of the two.

“They are both important to me.”

It might be an ambitious thought but I will not let it go down without a fight.

I have no idea when and where the bomb is located, I don’t have much time.

“Ayume, I’ll leave the bomb searching to you and the other instructors, I’ll go and find YN.”

“He easily let you tracked his location, just that one point is making everything suspicious. Chief, it’s too dangerous to go by yourself.”

“I’ll still have to go even it’s dangerous, YN’s waiting.”

Jin then turns to leave for the door without saying anymore.

“Chief!”

Jin’s POV:

“You are finally here. I see, I’ll give you points for that.”

Asahi Kyobe steps out from the dark as soon as I step my foot into the building.

I quickly point my gun at him.

“Watch it, or this one will go off too.”

I follow his hand and I see YN, sitting on a chair unconscious and bound with a gun pointing at her head.

“You….!” My voice is low with anger and I tighten my grip on the gun.

“you should drop the gun if you want to ensure her safety.” Asahi points his chin towards the ground.

I slowly kneel down and place my gun on the ground.

“Jin Namba, 5 years ago, you arrested my brother and caused them to die. It’s time you pay back that debt!” Asahi Hyobe’s body shakes with rage and his voice drips with hatred.

“Your brother’s research killed several people, what he conducted was a crime!”

“Silence!” Asahi points his gun towards me.

“He was meant to achieve so much more in his life. He has done so much for people but he died in prison! All because of you!”

“Crimes needs to be punished, that’s why we have laws.”

“Shut up about the law crap! Don’t make yourself so righteous! Look at you, kneeling on the ground and your fiancée is dying. All this happened because of you! If you never made the arrest, my brother and my sister in law wouldn’t have died. If you didn’t arrest him, the drug would’ve been developed! If you didn’t arrest him, your fiancée wouldn’t be sitting here today dying. This is all your fault!”

His words and accusation hammers me hard in my heart. If I really didn’t make that arrest 5 years ago, he wouldn’t be taking his revenge now, YN wouldn’t get involved in this.

I furrow my brows doubting my past decision.

“…..No, chief didn’t do anything wrong. It was your brother who committed the crime. How things unfold afterward was unfortunate but what your brother did was inexcusable. Chief did the right thing. Even if I die here today, I support his decision nevertheless.”

YN who has awoken weakly interjects but looks into my eye with love and affection.

That’s right, ensuring public’s safety and upholding justice and law is my job and passion. I do not regret the decision although what happened afterward was beyond what I can expect If I can choose again, I will arrest him again, that is who I am, I’m the chief of public safety.

“But he still doesn’t deserve to die!”

“No one deserves to die. And no one should have the power to decide someone else’s life. Not me, not you, not your brother.” I said with new found resolution.

“SILENCE!” Asahi Kyobe roars and pulls the trigger.

YN quickly rams her body into him knocking them both over sending the bullet straight to the ground.

BANG!

Asahi regains his posture and aims the gun at YN this time.

“YN!”

I pick up my gun and readies my aim. Just before he pulls the trigger again, I was a second faster.

BANG!

The gun flew from his hand and he crouch his hand in pain.

“Ahhhh!!!!”

 Changing to YN’s POV:

I watch Dr Kyobe crouching on the ground holding his bleeding hand in pain.

Chief quickly runs towards me giving me a tight hug with me still bound to the chair.

I miss his warmth and smell. I bury my head into his embrace and tears finally begins to roll down.

“Chief…I miss you so so much.” I croak.

“Me too, little bird.” Chief showers kisses onto my forehead.

“This is not over yet!” suddenly, Dr Kyobe shouts holding a remote in his hand. Terror fills my eyes.

The bomb! He must have hidden it else where as I can no longer spot the bomb in the hallway.

Also registering what Dr Kyobe is trying to do. Chief quickly pushes me down onto the ground and holds me tight trying to protect from the explosion.

So this is where everything is going to end?

I wiggle my bound hands trying to free them so I can hold chief. Chief tightens his embrace, so much that I feel like we will become one.

Atleast I can die his chief’s arm. My tears seep into chief’s suit.

“I love you chief.” I whisper burying my face in the crook of chief’s neck.

“I love you too little bird.”

The next moment, Dr Kyobe’s thumb pushes the button.

 Continutes into part 12

A/N: Yay, I finally finished writing this chapter, it was super long to write. Not too long until the end so please stay tuned! Again I welcome any comments! Thank you all!~

[sherristockman]

‘Primal Fitness’ Tips That Can Transform Your Health Dr. Mercola By Dr. Mercola The secret to lifelong health and peak performance is modeling the lifestyle behaviors of our hunter gatherer ancestors — the so-called Paleolithic approach. Mark Sisson, founder of the popular website Mark’s Daily Apple and a leader in the paleo movement, was one of the first to help me understand the importance of burning fat for fuel. This is also the topic of his book, “The Keto Reset Diet: Reboot Your Metabolism in 21 Days and Burn Fat Forever.” Mark is an accomplished elite athlete, and has been featured on the cover of Runner’s World Magazine three times. In the past, it was widely believed that the more aerobic activity (such as long-distance running) you did, the better it was for your heart. The aerobic trend — which captured both Mark and me — was largely catalyzed by Dr. Kenneth Cooper’s book “Aerobics,” published in 1968. In more recent years, fitness researchers have largely demolished this idea, showing this kind of exercise may actually do more harm than good, especially to your heart, and that intense but short, intermittent bursts of exercise are not only safer but actually far more effective. Fit as a Fiddle, Yet Falling Apart Mark became an accomplished runner early in life, placing fifth in the U.S. National Championships in 1980. He also qualified for the Olympic trials marathon that same year. When overtraining led to injury, he transitioned over to triathlons, and for a couple of years was one of the top triathletes in the U.S., placing fourth at Iron Man in Hawaii in 1982. At that point, his body had taken a significant beating, not just from overtraining but also from excess carbohydrate consumption. “I was so beat up from the diet that was required to fuel all those miles,” he says. [W]hen Robert Haas's book ‘Eat to Win’ came out … it was all about the carbohydrates. There wasn't a carbohydrate I did not love and slam down, from pizza and pasta to beer and cakes. I was falling apart. I was a picture of fitness on the outside … but on the inside, I had arthritis, I had tendonitis throughout my body, I had overuse injuries, I had irritable bowel syndrome that ran my life. I had upper respiratory tract infections six or eight times a year. It was like, ‘Wait a minute. Cooper said I was going to be healthy doing all this stuff, and now I'm literally falling apart.’ I retired … I was over all the pain and suffering I was putting myself through, just to be able to say I won a medal at a race, and ‘Oh by the way, I'm still not very healthy,’ and dedicated the rest of my life to researching ways in which to be strong and lean and fit and healthy with the least amount of pain, suffering, sacrifice, discipline, calorie counting, portion control, and all that other stuff that we talk about.” What Does It Take to Get Fit? All of that research and experimentation eventually resulted in the creation of Mark’s Daily Apple, along with eight books on fitness and diet, starting with “The Primal Blueprint.” Today, Mark favors fitness routines that mimic ancestral movement patterns, such as high-intensity interval training. Ultimate Frisbee is a favorite pastime, as is paddle boarding. Mark also stresses the importance of exercise recovery, saying: “If you're into this for the performance, then you must of necessity recognize that the less time you spend injured, the better … You must recognize that it is the rest period where all the gains come. The tendency is to … over train in endurance activities … I put in over 100 miles a week for seven years … [T]he endorphin rush — that true runner's high that people get — it exists. It is a morphine-like substance your body produces. Unfortunately, it's because your body thinks you're killing yourself that it produces this. [So] be very specific about what it is you're trying to accomplish. If you want to build aerobic capacity, you don't do that by running your heart rate at 80 to 85 percent of your max every single day … If you want to build aerobic capacity, you have to be good at burning fat, which means lower level aerobic activity … A heart rate of 180 minus your age would be your maximum heart rate for training in the aerobic zone, which is much lower than people assumed even 10 years ago, let alone 20 or 30 years ago when I was running … [T]hat's the [heart] rate at which you burn the most amount of fat and tap into your glycogen the least. To develop that scale of burning fat aerobically, you have to keep a limit on it for a while, while the body increases the mitochondria, increases the capillary profusion to feed the mitochondria. That's one of the things that I would really [advise you to] pay attention to … [Y]ou wouldn't go to the gym and do 300 sets of 50 pound curls every single day just because you wanted bigger biceps. You recognize you have to give your arms rest [and recovery]. That same principle applies to the cardiac muscle … I wrote a book called ‘Primal Endurance,’ which is about how to train for endurance activities; understanding the physiology of the cardiac muscle and mitochondria and so on, and taking advantage of the methods that are optimal for achieving an increase in performance.” The Importance of Strength Training At 65 years of age, Mark is formidably fit with a physique far younger men would envy. He’s a living testament to the fact that his strategies work, and they do not include long-distance running. In fact, he stopped running altogether 15 years ago. “I weigh 28 pounds more now than when I was a runner,” he says. “I have the same body fat level; I just have more muscle mass, because I only lift [weights] and I only sprint.” In other words, he converted from being a predominantly endurance athlete to a predominantly strength and speed athlete, and his physique reflects this. “The issue for people as they age isn't a loss of aerobic capacity, it's a loss of metabolic capacity and metabolic flexibility that comes with lean muscle mass. The best thing that somebody over 45 can do is start lifting weights rather than choosing to run. Ideally, you do both, but the standard incremental loss of aerobic capacity on a year to year basis after the age of 35 is 1 percent a year. The standard loss of strength is 2 percent a year if you don't do anything about it. You have much more to lose if you don't work out in terms of losing vital capacity … People don't really die of old age. They die of organ failure … When you build muscle … the fact that you're doing the work causes your heart to pump harder, causes your lungs to breathe in more fully … causes your liver to create more substrate and clear more toxins, causes all of these other organs to have to function to keep up with the demands of having this metabolically challenging tissue that is burning calories. To the extent that you maintain that muscle mass and maintain some mobility, your bones stay stronger, your heart stays stronger, your lungs stay stronger. Conversely, if you stop, atrophy sets in.” Mark’s Fitness Regimen As for his own fitness regimen, Mark: • Goes to the gym twice a week, where he does bodyweight exercises such as pullups, pushups, dips, squats and lunges. • Rides on a stationary bike once a week for 30 to 40 minutes, maintaining his max heart rate of 115 (180 minus 65). • Plays Ultimate Frisbee once a week for two hours, which he calls “the highlight” of his week. He’s been doing it for 14 years. “It's the greatest game ever invented,” he says. “Any school that lost their funding for PE, if they could invest $10 in a Frisbee and have a grassy place, it's the perfect game and learning experience for any kid in terms of camaraderie, sportsmanship and … hand-eye coordination.” You’re also moving and reaching your body in all directions, which only becomes more important with age. If you’re interested in giving this a go, do an online search for “Ultimate Frisbee groups” in your local area, or start your own group. “It’s just running and catching. It’s easy to learn, and it’s fun to play at all levels,” Mark says. • Does cold thermogenesis on a nightly basis. After soaking in his Jacuzzi, he’ll spend about two minutes in his pool where the water temperature is in the high 40s to low 50s. He does this just before bedtime, which helps him “sleep like a baby.” Maintaining Mobility Is Key for Healthy Aging Maintaining your mobility is of paramount importance as you age. When you lose your ability to move around unaided, it’s all downhill from there. Tai Chi and Qigong can be particularly helpful if you’re elderly and cannot run around catching Frisbees. Mark also recommends collagen supplementation to keep your tendons, ligaments, cartilage and joints strong and supple. “It's all the stuff that doesn't have a blood supply that we don't necessarily feed well,” he says. “We don't give the body the raw materials to rebuild from a stressful event. I've become the world's biggest fan of collagen supplementation. I do 20 to 30 grams a day.” Bear in mind that many collagen supplements are sourced from animals raised in concentrated animal feeding operations, which raises the likelihood of it containing unwanted contaminants, so make sure the product you’re buying is certified organic and grass fed. Like me, he’s also a proponent of exercising in a fasted state, but on days when he’s doing a strenuous weight-bearing workout, he will take a collagen supplement beforehand. “What we're trying to do when we're fasted is to go into that workout promoting fat burning. The main thing we're trying to do, especially if we're doing a hard workout in the gym, is to increase human growth hormone and testosterone … That is what gets blunted by drinking a post-workout carbohydrate replenishment drink. I do like to go into my workouts [fasted], and most of [the time] I don't take the supplement beforehand. If I'm going to do a bike ride, I don't need to do the supplement beforehand. If it's a lifting workout or … a paddling workout where I'm really going to dig hard and stress my shoulders, I want to have those peptides there for reconstruction — not for energy.” Healthy Lifestyle Basics Oftentimes, some of the easiest, most basic lifestyle strategies are the most powerful. Two of Mark’s top tips include optimizing your vitamin D and intermittently fasting. Aside from drinking a cup of black coffee in the morning, Mark eats just two meals a day, between 1 and 7 p.m. “It’s uncanny how little food it takes to keep me thriving,” he says. “That's been my biggest epiphany over the past five years.” Indeed, most people simply eat too much, and too often, and an overriding reason for this is because they’ve lost the metabolic flexibility to efficiently burn fat for fuel, and are running on carbs all the time. Since carbohydrates burn much faster than fat, you have to continuously keep eating. As noted by Mark: “When you achieve this metabolic flexibility [of being able to burn fat for fuel], which is the end goal of any true beneficial eating strategy … you can extract energy from any substrate that's available. It could be fat on your plate, it could be fat on your body. Could be carbohydrates on your plate, could by glycogen in your muscles. Could be glucose in your bloodstream. Could be ketones produced by your liver. As a last resort, it could be amino acids because there's nothing left, but you can combust those as well. When you become truly metabolically flexible, then your body has this increased ability to draw on, and never really run out of energy, and never really send a signal to the brain that says, ‘We must eat.’ The end result of this metabolic flexibility — which comes largely from restricting carbohydrates and training your body to become really good at burning fat — you get more energy throughout the day and you don't get hungry … If I do get a little bit hungry, my snack would be handful of macadamia nuts, or 2 tablespoons of coconut butter. It takes the edge off and I'm ready to go, no problem.” He also agrees with multiple day water fasting, which I now believe is one of the most profound metabolic interventions you can do to radically improve your health, as it allows your body to upregulate autophagy and mitophagy to remove damaged senescent cells in your body, including premalignant cells. It's also an extremely effective way to shed excess weight and extend your life span. More Information To learn more, check out Mark’s blog on marksdailyapple.com. There you can also find his books, which include “The Primal Blueprint,” “The Primal Connection,” Primal Endurance” and “The 21-Day Total Body Transformation.” If you subscribe to his newsletter you get a free copy if his fitness e-book. His latest book, “The Keto Reset Diet,” is available on Amazon and ketoreset.com. Mark also sells mayonnaise and salad dressings made with avocado oil, available on Amazon and primalkitchen.com. “We're the best-selling mayonnaise on Amazon,” he says. “It's been a fun project, because our mission is to make healthy eating fun and exciting again. I feel like we're achieving that.”