#swordsman and hawkeye don't get along

[wolfbearingroses]

Okay so the unlettered solicit for the new Ultimates title came out reccently, and for some reason this side detail stuck out to me:

It's Clint Barton doing the classic 'Spider-Man No More cover', only for Hawkeye.

Cool easter egg aside, this means that Tony went to give Clint his destiny like he did for Peter Parker. Only it didn't work and Clint quit being a hero. That means the Ultimate Universe won't have Hawkeye. Not that Hawkeye at least. That's right...

It's time for Kate Bishop.

I had a suprising amount of thoughts about this so, I'll leave them below.

Whilst this is just my wild speculation, the possibility of it has me excited. The original Ultimate Kate Bishop (seen below) was really underwhelming to me. She was just a goth girl who dated, and was forced to betray, Miles Morales.

Maybe Bendis or someone was planning to make her something else later, but she's not the badass she is in 616. Earth-6160 has the chance to change that.

One thing I love about Kate Bishop is just how... individual she is. I think stuff like the MCU has made people see Kate as just Clint's protogee, when in actuality that isn't true. She was already Hawkeye when Clint was dead. And when they first meet, they don't even get along right away (they're besties later don't worry). She didn't really need help becmong a hero, and the same can be true in this world without heroes.

The thing is Kate didn't even plan on being Hawkeye. It just happened that she picked up his bow along with Mockingbird and Swordsman's gear to help the Young Avengers and, after Hawkingbird was shot down, the Hawkeye mantle stuck. It came out of necessity, not idolism.

And the same could happen in the Ultimate Universe. They're clearly okay playing fast and loose with character ages compared to 616, focusing on ages that make a good story rather than mirroring main continuity, and an older adult street-level hero is a great part of an Avengers team. So I could definitely see an older-than-usual Kate getting fast-tracked into taking up the bow to become this universe's main Hawkeye.

Anyway, that's enough of me hyperfixating on a minor detail in a comic preview. It could all be nothing and Clint could come back (wouldn't be mad, I love Clint) but in a line that's all about reinventing classic Marvel mythology I think this would work. And that's my case for why Kate should be this generation's Ultimate Hawkeye.

[invye]

How They Met [1/3] - MiShanks

[CoraMiShanks Fix It AU]

I think it's time I write up my thoughts about how exactly Mihawk, Shanks and Rosinante met and outline the start of what will become their relationship. And since I am pathologically incapable of writing short posts, I'll cut it into three, so I can take my time.

Mihawk & Shanks [this post]

Mihawk & Rosinante/Corazón [link]

Rosinante & Shanks [link]

- Mihawk & Shanks -

The first meet in Loguetown, as they so often do. At the point of Rogers' execution Mihawk's exploits have pinged the Marine's radar once or twice, but he has not been given a bounty of his own yet as there were bigger fish to contend with. Mihawk attends to pay his respect to Roger as the Marine's greatest challenger, shoes that he doesn't expect - nor wants - to fill, but will aspire to anyway along his way to becoming the World's Strongest Swordsman.

He doesn't expect the reaction of the crowd to Roger sending them out to find his treasure, given that Mihawk himself doesn't care about treasure at all. Roger hasn't even taken his last breath yet and the pirates of tomorrow are running to be the first ones out at sea. It's a bit disrespectful, honestly. On top of that, crowds really aren't Mihawk's thing. At all. And he didn't bring Yoru (that would only have gone wrong with the amount of Marines all around), so while he's desperately trying to keep his cool and get out of the crowd's way, his mind is growing increasingly more frantic.

That is until he quite literally stumbles over Shanks. Mihawk recognises him immediately (really, it should be illegal to give minors bounties, no matter what crew they belong to), red hair, strawhat, planted like a rock in the moving crowd, the only person in sight to actually shed tears. Mihawk blessedly stops thinking (panicking) and instead starts acting. Grabs the kid, who no doubt would be the Marine's first target three minutes from now, and gets them the hell out of there, leading them away from the port instead of toward it.

They don't talk as Mihawk ducks them into an alley when the Marines start running by. It's not the best hiding spot, but with Mihawk playing up the bored noble act, shielding Shanks from direct view, its enough that the Marines don't look twice and keep going. Mihawk ends up handing Shanks his handkerchief, faintly hears himself giving a platitude about Roger having been a great man, and once things calm down he makes his exit, without looking back even once.

In the months following after, Mihawk is one of the many many new pirates who receive bounties during the rush onto the Grand Line. Shanks is elated when he finally gets to put a proper name to the man who helped him instead of thinking of him as Hawkeyes (he likes Hawkeyes though, and that nickname might already be stuck given how much he has asked around for him... Whoops).

Mihawk doesn't care for his bounty. Doesn't care for being a pirate either, but there's plenty strong people to fight among the pirates now, and a high bounty does attract interesting challengers... Also he does still have some unfinished business with the Marines, so.

Mihawk's bounty skyrockets as he's given the Marine Hunter epithet. Shanks turns around to newly recruited Benn and says: "This is gonna be our swordsman!" and Benn can't do anything but raise his eyebrows in open questioning of Shanks' sanity. Then again, he doesn't follow Shanks because he thinks he's sane.

It takes another year for Shanks to track Mihawk down. It really wasn't an easy task with how Mihawk seems to just go wherever the wind takes him, but he finds him none the less.

"Hawkeyes!!" Shanks yells (and Mihawk has a sudden epiphany about where that epithet came from, because he's heard it being whispered behind his back, but no one has used it to his face yet), "Join my crew!!!" "No." "Why not?" "There's nothing a crew could offer me." "I want you to be my swordsman though." "You carry a sword of your own." "You're better." "Obviously. I'll be the World's Strongest Swordsman before long." "See! That's why I want you on my crew!" "No." Had Mihawk known Shanks a little better at that time, he would have been worried about the sudden silence and the contemplating look on Shanks face. But he didn't, so he simply turned to leave. Then: "Will you join me if I beat you?" And Mihawk can't help but laugh.

They do duel after that. Mihawk thoroughly unites Shanks' behind with the sand under their feet. Shanks is weaker than him, a little off balance (might be the recent growth spurt [actually is mostly due to Shanks being flustered at realising he really likes Mihawk's laugh]), but his technique loudly speaks of his upbringing. It's exhilarating. There is a telling spark of Haki that Shanks is actively holding back and Mihawk can't wait to see what he can do when he decides to fully unleash it. Mihawk ends the duel by telling Shanks to keep up his training and try again a couple months from now.

Shanks is back the next month. He still loses, but from then on the duels are a regular thing, only becoming more frequent until there is barely a week going by in which they don't cross blades.

When Shanks eventually manages to eek out a win (by going all in with his Conqueror's Haki rather than his swordsmanship), he doesn't ask Mihawk to join the crew again. They've already long understood that if Mihawk ever is to join, he will do so on his own time and volition. Until then they will have their duels.

(Shanks is working on making Mihawk stick around for drinks every now and then, it's only a matter of time.)

[rorywritesjunk]

There's no race, no ending in sight

r rating. title comes from "two of us on the run" by lucius

(Casual chapter. Nothing too exciting happens.)

Taglist: @hey-august @thoraeth

pt 1 + pt 2 + p3 + p4 + pt 5 + p6 + pt 7 +Pt 8 + Pt 9 + Pt 10 + Pt 11 + Pt 12 + Pt 13 + Pt 14 + Pt 15 + pt 16 + Pt 17 (End)

Pt 13

They parted ways with Buggy kissing the back of her hand. She allowed it, smiling at him as Alvida led her back to her room to change back into her regular clothes and clean off the makeup to remove any sign of what Sunny had been up to that night. She let Alvida brush her hair out, removing the braids carefully before smoothing her hair out.

"So, you were surprised, weren't you?" Alvida grinned as she finished up with Sunny.

"I really was." She grinned. "Clever lie."

"Not really, I do have a date, it's just tomorrow." She told the blonde as she led her out of her room and out of the tent. "And playing with you gave me some ideas for her, so thank you."

Sunny laughed softly, shaking her head as she followed along. It was a good trick, really, and she appreciated the outcome. It was hard to go back home as she would have preferred to say back, but she had to. She didn't want Crocodile looking for her.

"Did you fall in love with him?" Alvida asked as they left the tent and walked along. "You had stars in your eyes and you couldn't stop smiling at him."

"Maybe... I don't know." She admitted as she stuck her hands in her pockets. "I got married at 19 and... Never loved my husband so I don't really know what it's like to be in love, which sounds silly, I guess."

Alvida shook her head and sighed. "You'll know it when it happens. Buggy won't stop moping about you. He's completely head over heels in love for you."

Sunny huffed softly and looked at her. "I almost wish he wasn't then none of this would be happening, you know? Maybe... Maybe I could have finally left Crocodile had Buggy not been an idiot about this and told him how he felt. How did he expect that to go?"

"He doesn't necessarily think before he acts unfortunately."

"Yea, I've seen that first hand."

Sunny sighed and stopped to look back at Buggy's tent. The bright colors and sounds coming from it made it far more inviting than Crocodile's, but she had to go back to her husband as much as she didn't want to. Alvida parted with her halfway there, letting Sunny walk the rest of the way by herself which she was glad for. She needed to think.

~

A few days passed. It was hard not to want to see Sunny. Buggy paced around the tent, jiggled his leg and tapped his pen during meetings, and even was watching how much he was drinking because he was so focused on coming up with some way to have another 'get together' that wouldn't make Crocodile suspicious.

One time he saw her in the garden, wondering if he could use the excuse that Richie missed her to get her to visit, but when he saw Crocodile making his way over to see her, Buggy went in the opposite direction. He wasn't in the mood for a beat down.

More days. More pining from Buggy.

He wasn't paying attention during one meeting, distracted by the appearance of Sunny bringing them a tray of drinks and snacks. When Crocodile kissed her Buggy's head dropped onto the table. Mihawk cleared his throat while Sunny hurried out, refusing to look at the clown. It hurt.

"It looks like there's an invite to a party on a nearby island." Mihawk said, breaking the tension as he held up a letter. "In a week."

"For everyone?" Buggy asked, rubbing his face as he sat up.

"Yes, you'll be attending as well." Mihawk said as Crocodile leaned back.

"Hawkeyes and I will do all the talking, of course."

Buggy knew he shouldn't ask, but he couldn't stop himself, "Are you bringing your wife?"

Crocodile turned to look at him slowly, a grin on his face. "Of course I will. Maybe I'll even dance with her this time."

"Anyway." The swordsman interrupted them, not wanting a fight to break out. "Just an overnight should be fine. The island has some lovely shops so Miss Sunny could have some fun while us three meet with these investors before the party."

"She'll like that. I'll have her buy herself something pretty for the party."

Buggy snorted and rolled his eyes. He doubted that. Sunny would be undoubtedly forced into some outfit she hated, something that was too tight on her that left marks on her body. Buggy couldn't stop thinking of her in the dress Alvida put her in, how happy and relaxed she look in the flowy material. He didn't want to think of her being miserable at the party.

"She probably shouldn't come if she's going to be a distraction." Buggy scoffed. "We have to talk about business, right? You'll spend half the time grabbing her ass and kissing her."

Crocodile looked at him again as Mihawk just shook his head. "Something you want to say to me about my wife, clown?"

"Just sayin' what I'm thinking." He retorted.

"And what else are you thinking, hm?"

"I'm thinking ab-"

"Gentlemen." Mihawk warned as he put the letter down. "Deal with this outside the room. We have a lot to go over today and I'd rather not waste anymore time with your personal business."

Buggy shrugged while Crocodile looked down at the paperwork in front of him. Pity he couldn't just kill the clown but they did need him to keep attention off him and Mihawk. Maybe they could get rid of him after the party.

~

Sunny wrinkled her nose at the idea of the party. She really didn't want to go. She'd be bored the entire time, Buggy wouldn't be allowed near her, and she'd just have to spend the time snacking and drinking to get by. Even after her husband told her she could go shopping and buy whatever she wanted, she didn't care because she didn't want to go.

"You're coming along." Crocodile told her that night in bed as she laid beside him, arms crossed as she stared up at the ceiling. "Stop acting like a child."

"What's the point? I'll be bored the entire time!" She told him. "I could stay here and tend to the garden!"

"I'm not letting you out of my sight." He chuckled. "There's no telling what you'd do if I wasn't around."

"I'd have less hickeys." She muttered as he pulled her closer to him. She tensed up, looking over at him. "I don't want to tonight."

"I just want to hold you." He murmured, kissing her cheek as he pressed his chest against her back, holding her tightly to him as his hand went to her stomach, rubbing slowly. "I want you to pick out something you'd like for the party, darling."

Sunny frowned and looked back at him. "Really? What do you want me to wear?"

"Whatever you want." He nuzzled her gently; times like this made Sunny wonder if she could have fallen in love with him. She got to see a side of him no one else saw, someone gentle and careful with her at times despite the damage and chaos he had caused to others. "You'll look beautiful in anything."

She nodded slowly, forcing herself to relax in his arms as she wondered what she should look for in the shops. Maybe something pink with a cute print on it. Something comfortable.

[seaoftales]

The usual go to response to any kind of threat was self defense at best, the death of the one who threatened him at worst. The thing was, he rarely faced an opponent this courageous with words even if her body gave away a whole other story. The soft trembles didn't go unnoticed --- he wasn't called Hawkeye for nothing. Even as they stood there, having a bit of a stand off, Mihawk's yellow eyes looked her up and down carefully, taking note of her stance, of the little feather-shaped metal blades, or at least he assumed it was something along those lines, and looking for any potential hiding places for other smaller blades.

Still, the swordsman made no move to unsheathe either Yoru or Kogatana and rather stayed in place, still keeping his eyes on the young woman in front of him. There was no doubt that she was ready to strike if he even dared to take a step closer, that much was clear, though he had no intention of doing such a thing. No, he was way more invested in the resions why she was on his island, one that was otherwise deemed abandoned after the war raged throughout it and whoever survived left.

"Statements like that could easily get you killed." It was a warning more than anything else. He had no intentions of attacking her and was way more invested on the reasons she was there. If she was deemed a threat, Mihawk doubted he'd have too many difficulties dealing with her. "I can't help but wonder why you're here, or who sent you here. And don't try to fool me."

Vivi had been wandering down the hallway in slight awe as she was more curious about the history or the building and the secrets it might hold. However, she was still tense, not letting her guard down, especially since none of the gorilla beasts were even daring to enter this area. She used the male that attempted to harm her as bait before rushing to the building for shelter. The female knew she left him good as dead after slashing vital points in his knees so he couldn’t run. It was a kill or be killed situation which she learned throughout her years working under Crocodile. A shiver ran down her spine as the female gripped her peacock slashers closer to her chest trying her best not to show fear. Minutes passed when she entered the foyer of the west wing and a voice reached her ears.

Turning around quickly as the hair on the back of her neck raised itself she saw who it was that lived here. The princess could feel the sweat dripping down from her forehead as everything finally came together. This is the island that Dracule Mihawk lived on. She knew who this warlord was as everyone considered him the strongest swordsman that ever lived. Biting her lower lip until she could taste the iron of her own blood she was frozen still like a statue. Vivi did not dare to make any sudden movements as she was trying to calculate on how to escape from here with her life.

Keeping in character as Miss Wednesday the female puffed out her chest acting brace even though her body was giving her fear away. “Well you know they say a cat has nine lives and you shouldn’t corner them unless you want to get scratched!”

[thebibliomancer]

Essential Avengers: Defenders #10: Breakthrough! The Incredible Hulk vs. the Mighty Thor

November, 1973

Finally, an evenly-ish matched Avengers/Defenders fight! Shame that it has to happen right in the middle of a city.

Those bubbled Defenders sure look peeved though. They’re no Lil’ Vision but they’ll do in terms of glaring at the cover events.

Anyway, last time on Avengers/Defenders War: Dormammu and Loki manipulated the Defenders into collecting the scattered pieces of the Evil Eye. Feeling schemer’s remorse, Loki double-crossed Dormammu and warned the Avengers kinda. Due to situations and evidences, the Avengers and Defenders mutually think the other is evil. Dormammu is pissed that the Avengers are interfering but it doesn’t really matter. The Defenders have won every altercation and walked away with 5/6 of the Evil Eye pieces.

This time: The cover tells the truth for a change. Hulk vs Thor over the last piece of the Evil Eye. Also chapters 9-10 of the Avengers/Defenders War.

We start the issue with the Hulk casually sauntering through Los Angeles. He’s not rampaging or anything, just kind of being a large green man out for a stroll. People are still freaking out. Because Hulk.

But he finds the location where Dr. Strange told him to look for the Evil Eye fragment and rips up a chunk of pavement to reveal it buried beside a fountain. Easy peasy.

Then Thor shows up.

The narration boxes are pretty hungry for action. “Would you agree that in the realm of comics, these two beings are the best there are -- the only true titans? Then let the clash begin!”

But Thor wants to try using his words. He tells Hulk that he understands the hatred the Hulk has for the world but conquering the universe is wrong! He’s barking up the wrong tree but at least he’s trying. He tries to beseech Hulk as one Avenger to another...

But Hulk punches him.

Hulk remembers being an Avenger. Hulk remembers not liking it. And, Thor, if you would remember, you were part of the hostile work environment that drove him to quit. Remember how you kept insisting he put on a shirt?

Hulk clarifies that he doesn’t like the Defenders either. He’s only in this to help the Black Knight. Maybe later he’ll smash Dr. Strange.

And then Thor Mjolnirs him.

Sure was dumb to turn your back on him, Hulk, when Journey Into Mystery #112 proved beyond all shadow of a doubt and the most stringent of nerd arguments that Thor is the superior of the two. The strongest there is, you might say.

Hulk disagrees.

With punches.

The narration boxes now prove a bit snide, saying that’s twice Thor has opened his mouth only to insert his foot.

Anyway, now the fight is well and truly on.

Hulk teaches Thor the downsides of wearing a cape.

Hulk makes the mistake of trying to catch Mjolnir.

There’s a crowd watching now because people are stupid and also because this fight is taking place right in the middle of Los Angeles. And now Hulk is so riled that Thor thinks that only death will satisfy him now. And the crowd picks up on that fear that one of the combatants will die today.

And then there’s a pinup of Hulk wrestling with Thor. Unsurprisingly, there’s a note from Steve Englehart and Sal Buscema suggesting buying a second copy of this issue so you can cut out this page.

And apparently they hold that pin-up pose for a whole hour. Well, art takes time.

But after an hour of wrestling each other on a pile of rubble in a cool pose for a splash page, they’re interrupted by the unlikeliest of sources.

I mean, unless you’re decently good at guessing.

The combined Avengers and Defenders teams have shown up in Los Angeles to stop this fight before Marvel has to conclusively state whether Hulk or Thor is the strongest!

Still, the fight was given a decent amount of panel time. Most fights around this time get finished quickly. We’re far off from the days of decompressed story and fights that take up a single issue or more. This Hulk/Thor fight went on for about eight pages. That’s nearly half the issue and the majority of this chapter of the book.

Plus, apparently over an hour of in-comic time. An hour wrestling in the pin-up pose plus however much time the fight before that took.

That’s impressive. In a way.

Anyway, Dr. Strange says that the teams are unified (Avenders? Defengers?) at last and ready to face the common foe!

So now chapter 10: UNITED WE STAND! (a not very good Avengers cartoon. Perhaps the worst.) We turn the clock back a little and visit the Sanctum Sanctorum of Dr. Strange and his weird lizard table.

At this point, four pieces of the Evil Eye have been collected.

And Dr. Strange senses that Namor is outside the sanctum so lowers the barriers so he can come in.

Apparently Dr. Strange’s senses can’t sense a plus one because Namor brought a plus one. Hope that’s cool.

And by plus one, I mean plus one team. He has brought all the Avengers minus Thor.

Obviously, everyone is mortified. You don’t just bring guests without asking the owner. Also: we’re fighting these guys and you just brought them into our headquarters.

Namor tells them to unclench their sphincters. He has news of the vital kind.

He recaps Cap and his encounter with Sunfire, although the flashback panel he shows clearly never happened. How many times has Namor gotten hit in the head?

But the salient point is that he and Cap were forced into a truce and someone in this conflict actually sat down and talked. So Namor learned that Loki told the Avengers that the Defenders want to conquer the universe.

Obviously, this is the kind of thing that needs to be cleared up ASAP, so Namor and Cap swung a detour on the way back from Japan to pick up the other Avengers (and presumably bust Swordsman out of jail).

Cap chimes in and says obviously they weren’t just going based off Loki’s word. That’d be dumb. There was a bunch of other things that looked suspicious as hell and it would be really cool if the Defenders would see their way clear to logically explaining it.

But the first most pressing question is, hey Defenders, if you’re not seeking revenge on humanity, whats the deal with this group of malcontents?

The Defenders basically give a piecemeal non-team team defenders of humanity explanation to the Avengers. Their mission statement if you will. Except you won’t because teams have mission statements. Support groups for grumpy loners have vague common interests.

The Avengers find this weird. A non-team team? But teams are the best! But they have to respect the Defenders’ skill and power anyway. So they spend a half-hour in one splash panel socializing.

Man, time is weird in comics. Dozens of panels can represent a minute and then an hour can pass while two buff dudes wrestle in a single panel.

I do love super heroes socializing though. Its cool to see these two teams standing around talking and blatantly ignoring the one chair in the room so nobody needs to fight over who gets it.

But while they socialize we get some different moods. Silver Surfer apologizes for triggering a volcanic eruption right in Scarlet Witch’s face. Hawkeye rationalizes that he felt like the Avengers were hassling him after he quit and we sorta personally digging the idea that the Avengers were baddies. Swordsman says Hawkeye is as dumb as ever and Hawkeye calls him a spare-tire Avenger. He also says that if Hawkeye hadn’t quit the team, Swordsman would never have gotten in.

Iron Man tells Hawkeye to stifle. Because he just realized something. Both Thor and Hulk are still on the battlefield and at the same location.

Ruh roh.

Both teams run outside so Dr. Strange can use sunlight for a mass transport spell.

So now back at Los Angeles and the fight between Hulk and Thor is cancelled. Thor understands completely that someone played the Avengers for fools chumps and they gotta find out who.

Now that he thinks of it, yeah, Loki is definitely involved. He helped set the Avengers on the Defenders. But Loki was blinded during a battle in Rutland, Vermont in Thor #207 so he can’t be working alone. Rutland, Vermont you say, says Dr. Strange. What a co-ink-ee-deenk. One of the Defenders earliest battles took place in the mountains near Rutland. They fought Dread Dormammu in Marvel Feature #2.

Maybe he’s Loki’s invisible partner.

Dr. Strange decides to examine the Evil Eye pieces more closely and asks for Hulk’s section.

Hulk is completely lost. And sort of annoyed? He fought Thor for a long time to keep hold of his piece and now Dr. Strange wants him to give it up?

He smashes the street with a FOOM! because that’s how Hulk do.

The dumb bystanders start to panic and Cap tells them that this area is now off-limits on Avengers’ authority. Of course ‘lettuce-head’ is all the authority he needs, says frightened civilian.

Lettuce-head is a weird nickname for the Hulk. His hair seems more like a spinach than a lettuce.

Anyway a disgruntled Hulk gives up his section but warns Dr. Strange that its the last time he does anything the magician asks him.

And Dr. Strange starts to examine the Evil Eye. Wherein ‘examine’ means lay them on the ground in order of ascending size and stating ‘wow yep they certainly do seem to increase in size maybe I should fit them together??’

He doesn’t get the chance because the birdy cousin of that evil mask from Mario Bros 2 comes out of nowhere and starts eating the Evil Eye pieces in order of ascending size like Pac-Man on pellets.

Dr. Strange recognizes the beast as Dormammu’s servant Asti, the All-Seeing, just in time to not do anything to stop it from stealing all the pieces of the Evil Eye.

Smashing job at doing anything, you two full teams of fourteen heroes total. Way to succeed at keeping the super powerful thing called an EVIL EYE out of the hands of EVIL.

Anyway, Dr. Strange realizes that since Dormammu was hiding his presence in this conflict, revealing his hand like this must mean that the Evil Eye is of paramount importance to him. BUT WHY?

But this. Before the heroes’ eyes, the landscape of the city begins to warp and change. The familiar reforms to become alien. And the panicking people begin to alter as well.

The bystanders begin to change into monsters. (I thought Cap cleared them out?)

Dormammu’s giant flaming head appears in the sky with gaping Kirby mouth agape. And he explains how he weaseled out of his promise never to invade Earthrealm through baby word games.

With the Evil Eye, he is merging his dimension with Earth’s. Earth is becoming Dormammu’s world and in Dormammu’s world Dormammu is undisputed king. After one Earth hour, all of Earth will be Dormammu’s slaves. Dormammu.

Dr. Strange shouts at the heavens that though they were his pawns, the Avengers and Defenders will fight back!

Valkyrie and Namor get in on the shouting at sky fire man. Valkyrie says that while any of the Avenfenders live, they will never be slaves! And Namor yells that if Dormammu wants Earth, he’ll have to kill all the Defenvengers.

And things are feeling a bit Inferno-y on Earth right now. The city warping into a hellish landscape, people becoming monsters. Lacks some of the dark slapstick humor and the sorta exploration of the objectification of women. If Inferno was driven by anything, it was driven by two women getting an absolute raw deal over and over and over and over and over and over. If the Avengers/Defenders War was driven by anything, it was thinking ‘hey wouldn’t it be cool if these two teams fought?’

Still I wonder if these scenes of Earth twisting under Dormammu’s rule inspired that later storyline.

And so the Avengers/Defenders War will conclude in Avengers #118. The meaning of the arc has slightly changed. Its still Avengers, /, Defenders, and War. But now the / means together instead of versus and the war is on Dormammu.

And frankly, that’s how all hero vs hero conflicts should end. With everyone joining forces to punch a giant sky fire man. It could even be an enlarged Johnny Storm, hypothetically.

Follow at @essential-avengers, perhaps.

[urfriendlyneighbornightfury]

Oh, there are quite a lot of them. Are they cool? Well, it depends on your definition of cool. But I'll tell you a bit about the original group, since our team has expanded a lot over the years.

Should start off with our... team? Group? I think our founder used the word team... our team name. We are called the Avengers. As the director puts it: "A group of remarkable people brought together to fight the battles so that others don't have to." We each have our own quirks, so to say.

I should probably start with our unofficial leader, Steve Rogers, aka Captain America. I say unofficial, because there was no big meeting or anything to declare him as leader. He is the leader because... well, aside from the fact that he is officially a Captain and over 100 years old, Steve is just someone you want to follow. He knows to do what is right, even when it's not easy or even against the law(s). Now Steve, he started off as a sickly scrawny kid, before he joined a planet-scale war. He was the test subject (he did volunteer and give consent) of a serum- a super soldier serum. Not only did it physically make him better, but it also made his qualities of being a good person better. I remember him being about my height, and now he's shot past me because of the Serum.

Next, we've got the billionaire genius of the group, Tony Stark, aka Iron Man. He's built a mechanical suit when he was captured by terrorists, and after escaping using the suit, he made a lot of modifications and enhancements to make newer and more improved versions of the suit. Tony's been though a lot- actually, we all have- and it's what formed him to be the person he is today. He's retired from the Avengers now, but he still runs nearly all the stuff behind the scenes- looking for potential recruits, building our armor and weapons, making sure everyone who got caught in the battles gets back on their feet, so on and so forth.

Then is the scientist, Dr. Bruce Banner, aka the Hulk. Now his... quirk... was accidental. He was caught in a radiation explosion, and... well... turns into a giant green rage monster when angry. He's kind of like your friend Wrecker, just somewhat bigger, very angry and... green. While we have figured out a balance between Dr. Banner and the Hulk (that's the green guy's name), making him angry is not a pretty sight. While he does go back to his more human form after calming down, there have been a few incidents where me and/or some other Avengers need to use magic to calm him down.

Next up, we got Clint Barton, aka Hawkeye. Though, he's recently changed his hero aliases to Ronin. He was a top agent of the former organization Shield (that is a whole different story). An master Archer, skilled swordsman, and fierce combatant, I actually don't know much about him. He, along with his best friend Natasha (who I will talk about next) both had their "backstories" hidden for a long time. Which is understandable, considering the line of work they have and had. I do know, however, that he is hard of hearing, so he wears hearing aids. Though, sometimes he forgets to charge them or just misplace them, so everyone who works with him is required to know American Sign Language. Also, while he does often play the dimwit card, Clint's a pretty sharp guy. Often notices things others don't.

Now, Natasha Romanoff, aka the Black Widow. Considering her line of work before she was found and recruited to Shield by Clint, I think it's better that she tell you her story. But what I can tell you is that she is a former master spy/assassin. And she's my usual sparring partner when I'm not tossing the boys around.

Now come the two more unusual members. First off, we got Thor, the God of Thunder. What he does is kind of in the title. Before he properly learned to control his powers, he used a semi-sentient hammer, Mjolnir, to harness them. While it says Thunder in the title, Thor could also use and summon lightning. Which can tie in well with my powers (I'll tell you at the end).

Then we got his adopted brother, Loki, the God of Mischief and Lies, who can use magic and can shape-shift. Now people often ask why we have Loki on our team, considering what happened in New York (a metropolis city) several years ago, and since he is the God of Mischief and Lies. But, that's the reason. After I had a conversation with Thor, he persuaded Odin, their father and king, to have Loki work for the Avengers as Community Service. A way to humble him, so to say. So, Odin allowed that, and we had to keep Loki on a tight leash, but he's proved himself. I mean, yes he's (metaphorically) stabbed us in the back a few times, but when you truly get to know Loki, you understand why he does things like that.

Now for me. Johanna Rogers, aka Night Mage. My story is more unusual in the fact that I am originally from this universe. But the multiverse is a different, complicated matter entirely (one that I don't really understand myself). But what I can tell you is that my powers are similar to Loki's, just at a slightly smaller scale. And well, I can do partial transformations. My go to form is a dragon species known as a Night Fury. Which is unusual in the fact that it's a fictional species. Once again, this goes back on the Multiverse stuff. But my full "origin story" is a chaotic mess, so I'm cutting this short.

But anyway, I should get back to causing chaos for the Empire. I'm within the neighborhood because my planet-hopping adventures led me here. Besides, my mere existence in this 'verse already caused chaos, why not add to the fun by taking down this Galactic Empire?

Hi little duck!

You are adorable and quite the gift to the Bad Batch. I love your enthusiasm and curiosity.

But I advise you to raise caution, duckling. Not everyone has the best intentions. The Bounty Hunter is right in saying that there is danger in the universe. It's not always a safe place.

However, there is still good in this universe, a light of hope in every darkness. And you are definitely a little beacon of light. Don't let the darkness of despair consume you, because hope, even if it is false hope, can pull you through.

That being said, if you ever need someone to talk to of the female variant that isn't one of the Bad Batch, I am open to listen and give advise the best I can.

Take care, little duck. ❤

@peacefulwizardfox

(P.s. I am calling you Little Duck/Duckling because you follow the Bad Batch around like a curious baby duck. It's cute)

I'm trying my best not to get too distracted but there's so much out there to see! Echo has been pretty strict on rules lately. I know he's worried about me but I'm not a baby! She pouts. I guess I should just be grateful that they even thought to take me with them... I cant imagine what would've happened to me if they left me on Kamino.