#teensy power: poison level 1

[ducklettaroundsandwiches]

Ducklett Around Sandwiches Volume One:

1. Sweet-Spicy Noodle Burger

Ingredients:

Yellow bell pepper X1.

Noodles X1.

Ham X1.

Apple X1.

Basil X1.

Cheese X1.

Whipped cream X1.

Ketchup X1.

Wasabi X1.

Mustard X1.

Effects:

Encounter Power: Ice Level 1.

Raid Power: Electric Level 1.

Item Drop Power: Ground Level 1.

2. Sweetheart Ham-Noodle Burger.

Ingredients:

Noodles X4.

Avocado X1.

Hamburger X1.

Peanut butter X3.

Marmalade X1.

Effects:

Egg Power Level 1.

Encounter Power: Ground Level 1.

Humongo Power: Rock Level 1.

3. Peanut Butter Salad Sandwich

Ingredients:

Lettuce X4.

Red onion X2.

Vinegar X2.

Pepper X1.

Peanut butter X1.

Effects:

Encounter Power: Grass Level 1.

Egg Power Level 1.

Catching Power: Ghost Level 1.

4. Spicy Butter Sandwich (red)

Ingredients:

Red Bell Pepper X3.

Jalapeño X3.

Butter X4.

Effects:

Egg Power Level 1.

Raid Power: Fairy Level 1.

Item Drop Power: Grass Level 1.

5. Potato-Radish Sandwich

Ingredients:

Potato tortilla X6.

Horseradish X4.

Effects:

Raid Power: Fighting Level 1.

Catching Power: Rock Level 1.

Teensy Power: Poison Level 1.

6. Creamy Bacon Sandwich (I had so many attempts at this that I eventually gave up, so have the best results I could get)

Ingredients:

Bacon X6.

Mayonnaise X3.

Yoghurt X1.

Effects:

Teensy Power: Rock Level 1.

Encounter Power: Fighting Level 1.

Raid Power: Normal Level 1.

[whythinktoomuch]

After seeing the world in Detective Pikachu I’ve been dying for someone to dive into a supergirl pokeverse fic and honestly you’re the perfect person do it with your particular brand of fun writing style (read: you’re funny af). So I hope you’ll give it a go at some point. 🙏🏻 And that pokemon AU you already wrote is fuking perfect with Kara having a ditto as hers. My mind is reeling from possibilities of whose pokemon is who ajshdkfkfl

I got this ask so, so long ago, but I kinda put it on the backburner while life happened. Then I got another, more recent anon about a Supergirl/Pokemon crossover, so might as well tackle this now… 

All right, so this is just me going more in-depth on a ficlet I’ve already written, so if you need context or a refresher, I suggest that you read that first (: 

Kara: Ditto (Pikachu & Pidgeot) 

When Kara first lands on Earth, she refuses to get a starter. They didn’t have pokemon on Krypton, so 1) the idea takes some getting used to, and 2) she’s still pretty reluctant to commit to assimilation. Plus, she’s seen a typical starter. All it would take is one wrong step for Kara to accidentally punt Alex’s teeny-tiny growlithe into the very yellow sun that gave her the ability to do so. 

Then one day, Kara comes across a wild rattata that’s pretty insistent on getting in her path. And after one too many missteps where Kara’s forced to hover so as not to step on the pokemon, she gets frustrated enough to uproot a tree—a small one, sure, but a tree nonetheless—as if to demonstrate that she’s a force to be reckoned with. 

The rattata blinks at her, melts into a purple blob, then rapidly sprouts up into a large onix. It uproots an even bigger tree. Then Kara—who’s had to practice for months on end how to be gentle—reaches out and touches the onix without any forethought or worry. When it responds with a small nod instead of recoiling in pain, it’s the first time Kara feels like a human.  

They decide on pikachu for Kara Danvers because it’s disarmingly small and packs a powerful wallop. Pidgeot is decided for Supergirl because it’s the only pokemon that could have flown as quickly as she when Alex’s plane was falling from the sky. 

Lena: Persian 

Lena has collected many pokemon over the years because she’s a practical, resourceful woman. Poison types for developing antidotes and vaccines, electric types for conducting (hah!) experiments & such, and a kadabra to telekinetically handle dangerous chemicals, etc. Her main, however, is a very old persian that’s pretty much useless in all things but taking naps in the morning, afternoon, and setting sun in the corner of her L-Corp office. 

But the persian was originally her birth mother’s main, and now it’s the only thing Lena has left of her late mother besides her first name. And though Lillian let her keep the persian, Lena was also forced to get a “proper” starter—a nidoran—so she’s got a pretty hardy nidorina for battle purposes as well. 

Alex: Arcanine & Sam: Ninetales 

I originally gave Alex an arcanine because I just really adored the image of Alex riding one into battle, but okay, let’s get a bit deeper than that, lmao. And to go deeper, I need to draw some parallels. 

Arcanine and Ninetales are both fire pokemon, yes, but even more importantly, they’re both pokemon that are only evolved through a firestone. That is to say, they don’t just evolve by leveling up like most other pokemon do, it has to be a conscious, thoughtful, active decision. And as an older sister & single mother respectively, Alex and Sam would both make that decision without question.

They would both opt for having stronger pokemon, even if it means losing some of the more nuanced developments along the way. That, in contrast to the un-evolved pikachu (another pokemon that requires an evolution stone) that Kara’s ditto presents as? Really speaks to Alex’s need to protect her sister as loudly as possible. 

And some honorable mentions: 

James isn’t really one to battle—preferring gentle, yet emphatic words & political efforts rather than fists—but when he does, his onix is quite formidable. When he becomes the Guardian, his onix evolves alongside him into a steelix. 

Winn’s main is more for companionship than anything else, so his cubone is perfectly suited for sitting on shoulders rather than battling. 

Like Lena, Lex also took on a nidoran as his starter, but his is evolved all the way to a nidoking—a status symbol of sorts, because it shows that he could afford a moonstone. (Lena could afford one as well, obvi, but she’s a teensy bit less flashy and is perfectly happy with her nidorina)

J’onn doesn’t have a main, or so he says, but he always seems to have the exact right pokemon he needs, perfectly suited for whatever problem that might have arisen…. which is weird because trainers are technically only allowed to carry six at a time. Surely, he can’t be switching out his pokemon that often that quickly, right? Then one day, Kara catches him off guard at the DEO, and manages to see a flash of—oh my god, J’onn. Is that a mew!?

[gccdnews]

Did you see JESSICA DREW from MARVEL walking around Limbo? The CISFEMALE looks like ALICIA VIKANDER, and is NINETY SEVEN years old. I’ve heard she can be VIRTUOUS & WITTY but also COCKSURE & REACTIVE. When I think of them I think of HELPING THE INNOCENT BY HOSPITALIZING THE GUILTY, RAISING SPIDER-BABY, THE GREATEST QUIPS OF ALL TIME BITCHCAKES. They’ve been here WITHOUT their memories as an PI & FIGHTER at BAKER STREET INVESTIGATIONS & UNDERGROUND FIGHT CLUB for SIX MONTHS. I heard they’re seeking a sanctum.

// whew. jess has a history™. it's long af and spans nearly a century so im not gonna go into crazy detail, but it's still lengthy. and i'm also gonna modify just a bit to fit in with the mcu for plotting reasons and stuff. if you don’t really care about her full history then there’s some bullet points toward the bottom.

she was born in england in 1924 and brought as a small child to the transia (it's a small, fictional slavic country) where her father was conducting research. unfortunately due to her being a small child, she contracted uranium poisoning from her father's work and had to be placed in a cryogenic chamber and treated with radiation and a highly experimental serum derived from the blood/genes of various species of spider.

she spent decades in stasis, educated subliminally with special tapes. when she was finally awakened she had only aged into her early teens, but she'd developed superhuman abilities.

grew up, moved away, met a dude, fell in love, then accidentally killed him with her powers. so yeah that kinda torments her still to this day. well, when she still remembered it anyway.

got recruited into hydra who she was led to believe were the good guys, had her memories suppressed, was told the high evolutionary basically a "god" figure, idek evolved her from a spider into a human woman, had an agent pretend to fall in love with her, etc etc. basically got gaslit and brainwashed into becoming a high ranking member until she was put out on a field assignment and told to assassinate nick fury. during the mission he told her what hydra really was and she dropped their asses.

got her memories back from mordred the mystic, then lived in a shitty apartment in london for a while. ended up breaking into a convenience store across the street at one point to get some food, but got noticed by shield agent jerry hunt who pretty much hounded her until she dyed her hair and created a secret identity to hide from him

did the hero thing for a while, moved to l.a., dated jerry, became a bounty hunter, moved to san francisco, became a p.i., superhero'd some more, met carol danvers 😍

went on a mission to finally take down longtime archenemy morgan le fay, and did so, but not before some morgan did some magic shit and separated her soul from her body ?? so she goes to the sorcerer magnus and has him cast a spell to make everyone who ever met her forget she existed.

not long later she was found and revived by two hero pals, breaking the spell, but she was left comatose. dr strange gets involved, abra cadabra, jess ain't a cadava'. but she is however, powerless.

continued working as a p.i. until an encounter with the new spider-woman mattie franklin somehow restored her powers, which came back slowly and were very unstable. meets jessica jones, accidentally zaps tf out of her, then works with her to save the new spider-woman.

eventually struck a deal with hydra to spy within shield so she could get her powers back but the skrull queen veranke was behind it and manipulating her so she could learn to perfectly impersonate jessica. jess ended up held captive for two years aboard a skrull spaceship while veranke took her place.

she and the rest of the captives got saved but because of the havoc veranke wreaked, she didn't exactly receive a warm welcome back.

spent some time rebuilding her reputation until she was invited to join the avengers (for avengers 1 in the mcu, let's say). they did some good work and she eventually fell for clint/hawkeye. they dated a while but things went sideways when he cheated on her (but obvs that's subject to change depending on who picks him up, just leaving that in for now bc it seems kinda noteworthy).

skipping comic spider-verse stuff bc how does that work with the rp, idek.

left the avengers after that and mostly stayed out of their business so she wasn't around for ultron or civil war and instead got back to her roots with some good ol fashioned p.i. work. may have crossed paths with the defenders and other street level heroes during this period.  

then of course, came the snap. jess was one of the ones that vanished. using this instead of her death during secret wars in the comics. when everyone came back she joined all the others to fight thanos and damn right she was part of that moment with all the female heroes like she should have fucking been irl.

when things settled down after y'know, dying, she realized that she wanted to be a mother and raise a child, and almost never got that chance. instead of waiting, she got herself artificially inseminated. which was good too tbh because like, look at her luck with men and imagine getting stuck in one of those relationships she'd been in so far. way better off doing it on her own smh

got invited to an alpha flight maternity ward by her captain marvel but when she went there it ended up getting overrun by skrulls and being super fucking pregnant she called carol for help, but the maternity ward was apparently in a black hole?? bc ofc it was lol. so jess protected all the women there, had an emergency c-section to give birth to her son gerry, then popped right off the table to finish kicking skrull ass. carol got there just in time for jess to collapse into her arms after the fight. headcanon — there was always a crush there but this was the moment jess fell hard.

had a liiittle teensy falling out with carol tho so she ended up kissing roger gocking/porcupine right in front of her during a battle that ended up repairing their friendship. then she went on to have a party announcing she and roger were dating but lbr she did most of this sub/consciously hoping to get a rise out of carol. but her spider-baby ended up crawling out a window and roger was the one to find and save him and there were some actual feelings there too, so. complicated. she kind of distanced herself from everything else to focus on p.i. work and raising her son.

not much later, jess realized her radiation immunity was gone and her powers were killing her, so she had roger take gerry to an upstate farm in case her condition could potentially harm her son, then set out on the search for a cure. that search of course, leading her to limbo city, nevada.

upon her arrival however, her memories quickly started to fade and by the time she woke up the next morning she had no specific recollection of memories. just innate and instinctive knowledge like her emotions toward people she was familiar with, emotional trauma that manifests mostly in her dreams, maternal instincts/yearning, her abilities both physical and learned, her interests and likes/dislikes, etc. things that come naturally to her, for the most part.

interestingly though, the town’s magic seems to have cured her??

gonna say she speaks english, romanian, german, hungarian, symkarian, russian, bulgarian, polish and spanish fluently, and knows a bit about a number of other languages.

incredibly intelligent, she is after all the daughter of a genius, raised among scientists conducting research, and her knowledge/intelligence was only maximized by her stasis education tapes.

exudes a high concentration of pheromones that can attract or repulse people, to put it simply. and ignore the original heteronormative connotations bc women aren't typically the ones she wants to repulse, and men arent always the ones she wants to attract. it's difficult to control but she learned over the years. even now without her memories she has innate control over it, but if she manages to work up a sweat (which isn't all that easy for her tbh) or misses a shower or two, well… it's gonna kick in.

she probably can't do it anymore in limbo because she can't remember how, but with her pheromones she learned to control them so well she was able to elicit fear, anxiety, attraction, hatred, pleasure, etc. and even used them to convince the hulk to make her a sandwich once.

fucking loves butter. she's been known to eat the stuff straight up. and a lot of it. lucky thing she has a spider-metabolism.

hc: she loves making puns, especially spider related ones. she also likes to annoy her spider-friends by spider-throwing the word spider in front of everything though it's obviously a joke, unlike in her cartoon where im pretty sure she was dead serious lol

hates rats. so much. she will tear down a whole skrull army but if one shapeshifts into a rat it's over okay, she already lost.

allergic to flerkens. which is great for visiting her bestie/crush, and her pet flerken chewie.

still has her suit but hasn’t worn it yet in limbo. she found it under her bed a couple days after “waking up” in limbo but put it right back because she figured it was probably some weird sex thing and maybe wasn’t even hers so, gross, yknow?

[roadmains]

Handy note pandaria

Quest Requirements: Defeating Steven Lisbane (and turning in his quest) Location: Wild Shore, near the path from Booty Bay *Unique Skin: Moonstalker uses the No Saddle Red Riding Tiger skin. Pet 3: Emeralda (Jade Tiger, Health 640/Power 86/Speed 86, Jade Claw, Jadeskin, Devour) Pet 2: Nanners (Tiny Ape, Health 532/Power 96/Speed 96, Smash, Banana Barrage, Barrel Toss) Pet 1: Moonstalker* (Darkmoon, Health 532/Power 96/Speed 96, Claw, Pounce, Prowl) Quest Requirements: Defeating Eric Davidson (and turning in his quest) Location: Near the road north east of Grom'Gol Base Camp. Pet 3: Blackfang (Dusk Spiderling?, Health 436/Power 75/Speed 75, Strike, Sticky Web, Leech Life) Pet 2: Webwinder (Forest Spiderling?, Health 474/Power 67/Speed 75, Strike, Sticky Web, Poison Spit) Pet 1: Darkwidow (Widow Spiderling, Health 474/Power 75/Speed 67, Poison Spit, Brittle Webbing, Spiderling Swarm) Quest Requirements: Defeating Lindsay (and turning in her quest) Location: Next to the statue in the center of Raven Hill Cemetery. *Unique Skin: Flufftail uses the Spring Rabbit skin. Pet 3: Flufftail* (Rabbit, Health 367/Power 53/Speed 48, Scratch, Burrow, Flurry) Pet 2: Dipsy (Rabbit, Health 355/Power 51/Speed 51, Scratch, Adrenaline Rush, Flurry) Pet 1: Flipsy (Rabbit, Health 367/Power 48/Speed 53, Scratch, Dodge, Stampede) Quest Requirements: Defeating Old Macdonald (and turning in his quest) *Unique Skin: Foe Reaper 800 uses the Harvest Golem Stage 2 skin. Pet 3: Clucks (Westfall Chicken, Health 244/Power 32/Speed 48, Peck, Squawk, Flock) Pet 2: Foe Reaper 800* (Tiny Harvester, Health 260/Power 32/Speed 29, Metal Fist, Overtune, Demolish) Pet 1: Teensy (Mouse, Health 253/Power 31/Speed 31, Scratch, Flurry, Survival) Quest Requirements: Defeating Julia Stevens (and turning in her quest) Location: Main road, just over the bridge from Elwynn Forest. Note: Unsure if her pets are specific kinds of snakes (with/without unique skins) or just generic snakes. Pet 2: Slither (Snake, Health 202/Power 20/Speed 20, Bite, Hiss, Vicious Fang) Pet 1: Fangs (Snake, Health 202/Power 20/Speed 20, Bite, Poison Fang, Counterstrike) Location: North corner of Maclure Vineyards. Defeating each trainer (and turning in their quest) rewards you with XP?, cash, and a Sack of Pet Supplies. This will allow you to start upon the questline. Upon leveling a pet up to level 3, you will be automatically given a quest to talk to Audrey Burnhep. All dailies still grant pet experience, though.Įastern Kingdoms (Alliance) 1st-Tier Trainers Other Tamer dailies will only reward you with gold. Note: Only the Grand Master and Pandaria dailies will reward the Sack of Pet Supplies. Tier 12 - Defeat the 4 Pandaren Spirit Tamers. (Unlocks dailies for the Pandaria Tamers.) Tier 11 - Defeat the Zen Master Pet Tamer. (Unlocks dailies for the Cataclysm zone Tamers.) Tier 9 - Defeat the Cataclysm Grand Master. Tier 8 - Defeat 3 Tamers in Cataclysm zones. (Unlocks dailies for the Northrend Tamers.) Tier 7 - Defeat the Northrend Grand Master. (Unlocks dailies for the Outland Tamers.) Tier 5 - Defeat the Outland Grand Master. (Unlocks dailies for the Tamers from the second tier.) Tier 3 - Defeat the Grand Master of EK and Kalimdor. Tier 2 - Defeat 5 Tamers on EK and 5 Tamers on Kalimdor. Tier 1 - The initial questline in EK and Kalimdor are faction specific.It shows the location of all Tamer dailies on your world map and marks off each one as you complete them. A huge thank you to Imthedci for testing and recording the information below! The original thread can be found here.īattle Pet Daily Tamer is a handy addon to have. This is a continuous WIP since details may change at any time.

[chronicbatfictioner]

JayTim Week 2018

Day 2: Enemies to Friends to Lovers // Supernatural AU Chapter 1 - Chapter 2 - Chapter 3

He watched longingly as the two familiar figures a few buildings away flitted and played with each other, the intimacy of the touches belying the punches and kicks thrown a little too precise, a little too lethal for those not knowing what they do. The two figures knew their games well, as a caught kick melted into a coy embrace; a dodged punch swiveled into a childish nip; a headlock that ended in a kiss.

He wondered if his own person of interest, not the one below, but the one from his own world; would show the same kind of familiarity with him. Oh how his body ached with want and need as he watched the young Red Robin and Red Hood frolicked--

Heh, He wanted to cringe at his brain's choice of word. But that's what the two were actually doing. Frolicking.

Playing.

As if they were not on the roof of a 10-plus-storey building, crossing and leaping to another building either by means of their own strength, or aided by a grapnel gun. The wind carried a little tittering - Red Robin's laughter. And he couldn't even remember the last time he had heard his Red Robin laughed.

He sighed as the portal crackled behind him. Time for subtlety is up. He has decided that he wants. that... display of affection he had seen. From his researches, this world's Red Hood had faced generally the same fates as he had. The only difference... maybe, he'd told his Red Robin of his wants and needs. He wondered how. He wondered if he could just ask this person from another dimension - how is it so easy for him to get the other boy to succumb. To give.

Just before he stepped into the portal that would take him back to his own world, his eyes had caught his double pulling out something from his pocket and give it to Red Robin. The latter opened it and put it in his mouth. Food. Something edible. And they exchanged a chaste kiss.

A lightbulb switched on in his head.

"I don't understand." Tim said to his Teen Titans colleagues.

"Tim, buddy, when your boyfriend sends you massive cakes like this that's not poisoned or otherwise deadly, there's really only one thing you can do." Conner commented as he shoveled another spoonful of triple-layered-chocolate cake.

"Eat it!" Bart chimed. "Buddy, if you're not gonna eat it. I will take your part." he added, eyeing Tim's plate with interest that should not be healthy. Tim really feared for Bart's blood sugar level. A Flash kid with diabetes really isn't as funny as it sounded.

"He's not my boyfriend! But back off, Bart! I'm gonna--" Tim said, scooping a tiny teensy weensy bit of a corner of the cake. As it passed his lips, he closed his eyes and bit the inside of his lip, preventing what he knew would be a very satisfied and obscene moan from escaping. Cassie had missed the warning signs and she was still blushing from her own moan. "God this is good..." he murmured.

"I'm all happy with this. I don't know why you wouldn't be." Cassie demanded. "It's not like he's fattening you for slaughter - yesterdays sorbet cake was purely natural sugars and fruits and dear goddesses-- them goddesses would have lined up for them, too."

"...provided a certain Kid Flash didn't devour them all beforehand." Miguel commented, poking at Kid Flash who was waiting for whoever did not finish their cake.

"Hey, I have fast metabolism. The instant I gain weight, you all would've been as big as a blimp."

"I just want to know why Jason Todd is sending all these cookies and cakes and breads and..." Tim peered into a box, "I think they're candied fruits. --Are you sure they're not poisoned, Kon?"

"Mrmph..." Conner replied around a mouthful of chocolate. Tim rolled his eyes.

"You're hopeless." he grumbled. "Raven?"

"Timothy, please, I sensed no malice in these... confectioneries. Whatever Jason Todd's intention, malice is not it." Raven replied. "Have you asked Nightwing of opinion on this... predicament?"

"I called him yesterday and he laughed for like, four minutes straight, before he hung up." Tim sulked, licking the spoon of the chocolate fudge. "...and he hasn't called me back since."

"Trouble in New York?" Cassie asked. "Or is he just busy laughing at you?"

"I. Don't. Know." Tim pouted. "I just..." he sighed. "Fine, I'll call somebody else." he said, placing his plate on the counter. "You eat my cake, Bart - or anybody else, you die."

"Creepy." Garfield commented. "Somebody please knock some sense to that boy, tell him he's being totally seduced to the dark-chocolate-fudge side by the Red Hood."

"And I thought girls are the ones who'd get seduced by chocolate." Conner commented. Garfield and Miguel shot him a withering glare. "What?"

"My dear Kryptonian friend, you still have a lot to learn of love and lust, and the ladies in general." Miguel crooned.

"I can understand Timothy's apprehension, though." Raven commented. "The Red Hood had tried to murder him, correct?"

"Murdered and bludgeoned. Can't even remember how many times now." Conner quipped.

"Three times, Tim said." Garfield replied. "And then he just stopped after the Bat returned. Stopped cold. Regret? Change of mind? Change of modus? What is he after? Why did he change? Is the world round? Are we ready for the cliffhanger to be resolved by the next episode? Stay tuned, for the next episode of the Batboys Drama! --oh wait, Batboys By the Bay! Sounds more catchy, don't you think?" 

Conner, Cassie, Raven, and Miguel sighed at the overly dramatic recital, while Bart glared at Garfield unflinchingly. "Bart, don't encourage him." Cassie sighed.

"But I want to know." Bart said plaintively.

"Me, I just want to see the Red Hood in an apron." Conner smirked.

"Conner, you have super powers." Miguel pointed out. "He has got to be near. At least in the city. These things are fresh." he patted Conner's shoulder. "Go find him!"

Conner glared at him. "You crazy, right? This is the guy who owns like, a whole crate-full of Kryptonite, tried to kill Batman, and you wanted me to stalk him."

"Yes."

"Hell, no."

"Why not?"

"Did you miss the part where I'm half Kryptonian and am very allergic to Kryptonite or the part where the Red Hood is known to own a massively large batch of Kryptonite?"

"Seriously, dude? You're scared?"

"Yes I am."

"You're gonna let your buddy be-- Holy mother, I cannot believe I say this revolting English word - wooed by the Red Hood?" Miguel gasped in mock horror.

"Yes. No. Wait, that's not fair. Tim is not a child and I'm not his dad. Shouldn't Batman be the one worrying about this?" Conner protested.

"Are we not his friends? Teammates?" Miguel argued.

"How about you go find him and I'll wait here with krazy glue to glue you back together when-or-if you return. I can promise you I can glue you back together, no matter how many pieces he's shattering you into."

"How about you two stop bickering? I think Tim just left the building." Cassie interjected as she looked out the window of the tower. "In civvies. Should we call Batman, now?"

"Please don't," Raven sighed. "As Conner said, he is not a child. He is quite capable of defending himself. He will be fine."

Note: Sorry, I tried to make this one a oneshot, but the muse ran a few miles with the idea and this one ends up as a multi-chaptered. I’ll link Chapter 2 here. 

[secretagentspydetectiveninja]

The Misadventures of Prince Kim - chapter 56

(It’s past midnight here in the UK therefore it’s officially the weekend therefore I’m allowed to post a new chapter lol)

Teensy bit spoilery for season 2? Nothing important though

Also on AO3 as always, though it’s so long it’ll probably take you like 12 years to read through from the beginning if you like reading about Kim being an idiot

The summer holidays began a few days later. Sabrina, unable to return to her own war-torn country out of safety concerns, stayed with Chloé instead. Marinette took her new pet cat with her on the long journey to Cheng, eagerly waiting to reunite with Adrien again. Kim, Max and Alix all went by ocean liner to the northern port before heading off in separate directions.

Travelling alone felt unusual for Kim now. Of course, being a prince, there were plenty of attendants leading the way and showing him where to go, porters carrying his luggage, everything he needed. But taking an aeroplane on his own felt oddly lonely. He was used to travelling with his friends these days.

Once he landed at the airport in Nubia he was taken by limousine to the Rolling Hills Palace, as it was known, being on top of a hill by the side of the Nile. It was just as grand and spectacular as the palaces belonging to Max and Alix – was everywhere in this part of the world so extravagant? The walls were painted white to keep the inside cool, as usual, which Kim was thankful for. Having been at school up north for so long, he had practically forgotten what true heat felt like.

Queen Sol was waiting to greet him at the entrance. “Prince Kim! It’s so good to see you again! Come in, come in, you must be tired from your long journey.”

“Um, I’m alright,” he said, before wanting to smack himself in the head. He was talking to a queen here! He should say something formal and polite!

Queen Sol, however, did not seem to care. She simply smiled at him and said, “I should have known. Someone used to athletic activity wouldn’t be tired out by a simple plane and car ride, would they?” She laughed all of a sudden. “By the way, your reply to my letter was hilarious! Much more amusing than any other reply I received! You needn’t have sent the apology, though that was kind of you.”

Kim blushed, not daring to say anything. She really hadn’t minded his stupid letter?

“Anyway, please do follow me, I’ll take you to your quarters directly.”

She led him inside the palace. He followed her down several pretty-looking corridors before arriving in his allocated room. The porters carried his luggage in, then were instructed to leave for a moment.

“I know you have only just arrived and would probably want a tour of the place above all else,” Sol said, sounding more serious all of a sudden, “but there is something I must first discuss with you that cannot wait. Your application to join the International Alliance.”

Oh yes, that thing. Kim gulped. He had kind of forgotten about it, too busy fretting about the crocodile he was going to have to meet at some point.

“You’ve already filled out all the paperwork during your last holidays, which is excellent,” she continued. “It has been sent here and is being processed as we speak. Once that’s all sorted, the decision will be put to a vote amongst all the leaders or ambassadors of each country in the International Alliance.”

A vote? Oh boy…

Sol seemed to sense his unease, putting a hand on his shoulder and looking down at him with a smile. “It’ll be alright. The results will be in on 1st September, which I know is when you will start your final school year, so I’ll make sure to let you know by telephone or letter what the outcome is. I’m sure it’ll be positive.”

“Thanks,” he said, aware that he hadn’t said much at all so far. Thinking about serious things like this was making him nervous, though.

“Your TV interview in the spring did wonders for your international popularity levels. As long as you continue to impress other leaders like this, I see no reason why you shouldn’t get an overwhelming majority in the vote. Lê Chiến will be part of the International Alliance before you know it!”

As long as he continued to impress other leaders? Well, considering his reputation of being annoying and reckless, there was no way that was going to last. Being charismatic on TV was one thing. Being charismatic in person was entirely another! This already wasn’t boding well…

“Have faith in yourself,” Queen Sol was saying now, almost like she could read his thoughts. “Your friends will support you. I’ll support you too. You’re very young, so even if you do make mistakes, no one will think worse of you for it. However, that being said…”

She paused for a moment, seemingly trying to figure out how to phrase whatever she was about to say next.

“Though you may be young, I don’t believe it’s right to hide from you the seriousness of your situation. You deserve to know the truth. And the truth is that your life may be in danger.”

Kim knew that already. And he really, really did not feel like being reminded of it.

“It is through no fault of your own. The simple fact is that you are heir to the throne of your country, and Emperor Gabriel is looking for any excuse to start a war and take over. You need to be careful. I’m not saying it’s certain that he could send assassins, but it is seeming likely at this point. Part of the reason I invited you here for the holidays is so that I can protect you from that, if he were cruel enough to do such a thing.”

She didn’t know. She didn’t know about the poisoned chocolates. True, hardly anyone knew about that, but still. The way she was talking, as if sending assassins was a nightmare come true, something to be protected against at all costs…

Kim was surprised to feel his eyes burning. But no – he couldn’t cry here, in front of a queen, in front of the leader of the entire International Alliance! He had to act like a grown-up prince now, not some little kid who cried at the thought of death! He looked down at the floor and willed himself to grow a backbone already.

“Are you alright?” Queen Sol asked, her grip on his shoulder tightening. “I’m sorry I brought up such a serious topic the moment you arrived. I thought it would be best to get it out of the way as soon as possible so that you could enjoy the rest of your holiday here without interruption.”

“I’m fine,” Kim tried to say, but his voice cracked a little.

“Are you worried about assassination attempts? It’s an understandable fear, don’t worry, you have every right to be afraid. You will be safe here though, I assure you. No one should ever have to go through having someone else out to kill them.”

But he had gone through that! It really had happened. Emperor Gabriel was actually, seriously, trying to kill him. A total stranger truly wanted him dead. And the proof was in the chocolate.

Queen Sol was silent for a few seconds, before bending down a little and looking right at his face in concern. “You… you already know all this, don’t you?”

He just nodded, knowing that if he spoke then he would start crying for real.

“You already know. Is it because… you’ve already been through this? Has there been an attempt on your life?”

He nodded again. He really wasn’t supposed to tell anyone about that, but right now he didn’t care. As much as he didn’t want to admit it, he was scared. Being here in this unfamiliar kingdom, his friends far away, it made all his problems seem a thousand times bigger.

Death… war… it wasn’t even just a personal issue. If he died, the Agreste Empire would attack his kingdom. His life was the one thing keeping millions of people safe. There was so much more at stake here than just the life of some idiot 17-year-old.

“So someone has already tried to assassinate you and you survived it…”

Kim wiped a tear off his face. Sol’s voice had gone softer now, and it was reminding him oddly of his grandmother, of all people. He hadn’t seen his grandmother in so long now… and he might never get to again…

“Oh, you poor boy, come here…”

The next thing he knew, he had been wrapped in a hug. Something about it was… different. It wasn’t like he didn’t get hugs these days, after all, he had his close friends at school. But Queen Sol was one of the few people he knew who were taller than him, and there was the fact that this wasn’t a friendship hug – it was a protective hug.

The kind of hug his grandmother used to give him…

The tears were rolling before he could stop them. He didn’t feel like a prince, the important heir to the throne of a country – he just felt like a scared little kid! He didn’t want to die. It was too soon. He was too young, it couldn’t end like this. But there was a very real chance that it would, and Queen Sol knew it.

“Everything is going to be okay,” she said, her voice soothing, yet firm. “I swear it. You don’t deserve to be put into this cruel, cruel situation. Every single member of the International Alliance will do our best to keep you safe. Please know that there are far more people on your side than against you. And if you ever need anything, anything at all, you can ask me. I will provide it.”

She was just so nice. The queen of a rich, powerful country, in charge of some of the most influential nations in the world, who could do anything she wanted. And here she was personally taking care of some fugitive kid from a distant country who she hardly even knew.

Somehow, her kind words were enough to calm him down a little. At least enough to stop crying. He still didn’t trust himself to speak, instead just letting himself be hugged by the nicest queen in the world and reminding himself that if he survived one assassination attempt, then surely he could survive more. Maybe. It was at least a thought to hold onto.

After what felt like a few minutes, Sol stepped back and put both hands on his shoulders, frowning at him. “You are very brave, Kim. You’ve done very well to get this far. Now, you don’t need to give me details, but please tell me – do you have any way of protecting yourself from assassins while at school? If not, something can be arranged.”

“I’ve already got someone,” he said quietly. Princess Alya had been doing an excellent job so far. He trusted her a lot.

“I’m glad to hear that. You really are doing a very good job, alright? None of the things happening to you are your fault. You’re going to go far, I can just tell.”

His mood was lifting ever so slightly. Sol just knew exactly what to say to make him feel better, didn’t she?

“Anyway,” she said, smiling again now, “I think that’s enough of all this. While you’re here I want you to forget all about anything stressful, and just have a good time. I’ll be arranging some fun activities for your stay. You’ll also get to meet Penny and Jagged once they return from their tour in Atlantica soon, and you’ll be able to meet up with your friends at the wedding. I hope these few months will be fun for you!”

Kim allowed himself to smile a little too. “Thanks.”

“You are very welcome. I’ll leave you alone now so you can make yourself at home – do let the porters know if you need a hand unpacking. I’ll send someone to fetch you for dinner, after which you can have a tour of the palace. Is that alright?”

“Yes, thank you.”

She chuckled a little. “You really are an interesting person, you know? So polite right now, like you were at the conference meeting back in the winter. So very different to how you were during your lacrosse match.”

The lacrosse match! Kim had completely forgotten that Queen Sol had been there watching that trainwreck. How embarrassing.

“For the record, I’m not usually as gloomy and serious as I was just now,” she said. “Feel free to treat me as a ‘cool aunty’ or something. That’s what your friend Alix does.”

Yeah, well Alix was crazy and everyone knew it. Still, it would probably be nice to see the more humorous side of Sol. If she could watch that ill-fated lacrosse match without thinking worse of Kim for it, then she had to be a cool person.

“I guess I’ll do that too then,” Kim said. “Thanks, Your Majesty.”

“If you really want to call me that then I won’t stop you, but it does sound a bit overly formal. Feel free to call me Sol, or Aunt Sol, or whatever you want, really. Within reason, of course. Oh, and just one more thing before I go!” She grinned suddenly, looking far less royal. “Is it true you love challenges and dares?”

Oh shoot, even she knew about that? “Um… yeah…”

“Then I certainly have some great ideas about fun challenges to plan for you this summer. You’re going to have a great time. I must be off and get that sorted right away!”

With that, she turned and left. Kim couldn’t help but believe her – if Queen Sol said things were going to be okay, and that he would have fun this summer, then she must be right.

He hadn’t seen his family in so long, almost two whole years now… but Sol kind of reminded him of them. Maybe with her around, he wouldn’t feel quite so homesick.

Somewhere further to the west, Max was just arriving back home at his own palace. He hadn’t been here since the winter holidays, considering he spent the spring over with Alix. But oddly enough, he didn’t really miss the place that much. And though he had missed his family as always, he wasn’t thinking about that right now. He had something else on his mind. A certain little metal friend that he needed to find.

The press had other ideas, of course. As soon as he arrived there were plenty of reporters loitering around the entrance, eagerly jumping up with their cameras, microphones and notepads when they saw the limo pulling up. Well, it wasn’t like Max hadn’t been expecting it. He never usually stayed away from home for so long, and everyone would want to know about it.

“I will answer a few questions, but then I need to go rest,” he said to them all from beside his numerous bodyguards, on the inner side of the protective fence. It was a lie – he certainly wasn’t going to go rest when he had something much more interesting to be doing. But there was no way anyone would leave him alone otherwise.

“Your Highness, are you aware that as of recently you have the highest approval rating of any prince in history that this country has had?” was the first question asked to him.

“Yes, I read it in a newspaper on the journey here,” he replied, trying to still sound humble despite how proud he felt about it. His sudden rise in popularity was almost certainly thanks to Kim’s interview back in the spring, that was for certain.

And if the journalists were asking about that, then there was no doubt what the next questions would be about…

“Is it true that the reason you did not return home during the spring holidays is because you were spending time with Prince Kim? It has already been noted that you partook in a dance with him at the Peace Ball last year, and took him on a city tour, and you seem very close with him indeed – can we get an official statement on that?”

Oh, stupid nosy reporters. Max had known they were going to ask him about his “friendship” with Kim at some point, he had just hoped it wouldn’t be literally the moment he arrived. It seemed personal privacy was the price to pay of being royalty. And how was he meant to answer? Simply saying “no comment” would do nothing to stop speculation, in fact it would be more likely to have the opposite effect. But he still didn’t want people prying into his and Kim’s relationship!

Taking a deep breath, he said, “Prince Kim hasn’t been home for almost 2 years. The least I could do is keep him company. And as for an ‘official statement’, I think you all know perfectly well I wouldn’t just broadcast my personal life to the entire country whether there was anything significant about it or not. So there really is no point asking.”

There, hopefully that might have placated them a bit. Even if it sounded slightly sarcastic. He looked over the reporters to see that they were all looking rather unhappy, and unhappy reporters were always a bad thing – unhappy reviews and articles led to an unhappy populace. And his approval rating had just gone up to historical levels as well! He couldn’t let that fall!

But how to keep the reporters happy? They wanted a story, and he certainly was not about to open the floodgates to interviews about how he and Kim got together by admitting that it was true. Lying wouldn’t feel right either, even if that was the most sensible decision. No one would fall for it anyway. And he could only avoid the question entirely by giving the reporters something else to write about, some sensational new story that would distract them from this. But what?

Well, there was one thing. But it would probably be a stupid idea to say it right now. A stupid, bad, reckless idea, one that had a very high chance of backfiring, one that was not thought out anywhere near well enough to do on anything other than the spur of the moment.

It was a very Kim idea.

Trying not to sound nervous, Max leaned over the fence railing and said, “However, I know you all want a news story that people will actually be interested in, so there is one thing I’ll finally admit.”

The reporters looked up again, a similar kind of impatient enthusiasm in their eyes as Alya often had when looking for a scoop. Max allowed the thought of Alya, fantastic friend and spymaster supreme, to calm his mind somewhat before wiping his sweaty palms on the side of his shirt and dropping what would surely be the ultimate news story of the year.

“The rumours are true. I’m gay. That is all. Goodbye.”

He barely even heard the triumphant gasps of the reporters, having turned around and headed into the palace the second he had finished speaking. He didn’t even want to think about what he had just done. But striding through the palace, heading towards the basement levels to do what he had been planning to from the start, of course he couldn’t help thinking about it.

It wasn’t like anyone would be particularly surprised. Really, it had been a matter of time. His approval rating was ridiculously high too, so the chances of the commoners for some reason being upset at this were very low indeed. He didn’t really have anything to worry about at all, not even his accepting family, nor the leaders of neighbouring countries who had already chosen the decidedly not straight Queen Sol as head of the International Alliance.

Yet it had still been nerve-wracking. Coming out to an entire country! It was no simple feat.

Be proud of yourself, he thought, walking even faster. Maybe it was best to distract his mind from this for a while, at least until tomorrow morning when this would inevitably be all over the news.

He made his way down to the basements, the areas of the palace that had been dungeons hundreds of years ago. When he was younger he had used one of these rooms as a tech lab back when he had first gained an interest in electronics. He hadn’t been there for a quite a while, nowadays doing all his work back up in his room. But there was something he needed to fetch.

He went all the way to the back of the room where there was a table with a huge, dusty sheet draped over it. Pulling off the sheet, he picked up the little metal figure that had been underneath.

Ah, yes – slightly dusty, but other than that, good as new. Max pressed the power button on it and watched as it whirred into life. Yes, yes, it still seemed to be working, simple as it was. Excellent! Now to take this upstairs and work on it for the next two months. He had promised Kim that he would, after all, and he needed something to put some effort into – not to mention that right now, he needed something to distract his mind from the news story that was undoubtedly being broadcast to every station in the country at this very moment.

And what better distraction was there than making an automaton?

“Good to see you again, Markov,” he said to the little robot in his hands. “Time to give you an upgrade.”