#vlad: “welcome. it's nice of you to join us.”

[justhereforsomethingnice]

“Great, welcome mr. Wayne.” Danny sighed when a man who introduced himself as Bruce Wayne entered the shop. “So happy you could make it. I’m Danny, I’ll be doing your reading today.” God, one ounce of energy less in his words and he wouldn’t be only dead on the inside anymore.

The man beamed at him. “Amazing to meet you Danny. Say, I’ve never seen you here before, are you new?” The man asked jovially.

Danny grimaced. “Yep, now please follow me.” He was going to get so nauseas from those damn fumes back there, he just knows it. With how shit had been going, he’s going to throw up that one sip of milkshake he managed before yesterdays disaster on those fancy ass shoes. And that man couldn’t stop smiling and touching every damn little trinket on his way to the back.

“And what is this,” Wayne asked holding up a shiny trinket, immediately dropping it and picking up the next one, “fascinating, and this? Is this a spell book, how peculiar.” Danny was going to add another shade to the collection here.

He finally reached the room. “Sit down over there please mr. Wayne. Now, what exactly did you want to achieve when coming here?” He asked. The only thing miss. Claire told him to actually do before the reading.

The man actually seemed to become bashful at that, a bit nervous. He wrung his hands before rubbing one of his hands over the opposite wrist. “I was actually hoping to talk to some resently deceased people. A friend of mine died and but was very fond of this shop you see.”

Danny held in the sigh. Great, it was most likely the woman with the pearls floating behind him. “Let me guess, lady, dark hair, nice pearly necklace.”

The man seemed caught of guard for just a second before becoming it seemed angry. Or just very very sad. “See here young man, I will -,”

“Yeah yeah, save it.” Was he being an ass? Yes. Did this man deserve it? Most likely not. Did he care? No. He just spend the entire night trying to find shelter for the rain just for it to either crumble, leak anyways or in one kinda memorable occasion, blow up. So no, he did not care that he hurt some Vlad’s 2.0 feelings. The woman eagerly began speaking so he just repeated what she said. “Great, so she wants you to not let the Matt hatter ruin Alice in wonderland for you?” Danny looked at the lady like she had gone crazy. “Really, that’s what you’re starting with? Anyways.” He sighed.

The man had become silent at that. “Also, we I ask Alfie?” He looked at the spirit lady who nodded enthusiastically. “Give you the book he wrote named ‘how to navigate social situations: a step by step guide’ and use it to finally have a good talk with her grandson.” Okay, so rich dude had family issues. None of his business. “And, in her words, ‘chance the time on the grandfather clock, this is just getting depressing’ whatever that means.” The man was just silently staring at him now.

Another ghost tapped the lady on the shoulder before he turned to Danny too. “And great, another one joined.” They linked hands. “So it’s a date now, great.” He grumbled more to himself. So it was two friends who died and not just one. Okay, he could deal with that. “He says that they will always love you no matter what.” So it was a lovers affair instead of just friends? “And that the name you’re looking for is Edward Colson? Sheesh, was this a murder or something.” The two were getting more exited and talking his ears off.

“One at a time please.” He glared to mr. Wayne’s left. The man glancing behind him, predictably seeing nothing. “Anyways, was that what you came for? Or do you need anything else?” The man seemed to have actual tears in his eyes.

“You can see my parents?” Danny snapped his eyes to the two who looked sadly at their apparently son. Well, that explained the fashion choice. Also, that was almost worse then a love affair murder case.

Danny just stared at the man and didn’t really know what to say. He was translating this guys dead moms words to him. Ancients, he was an asshole. Stupid, idiotic, moronic move Fenton. Great, how to cut this off as soon as possible. “Only for a while. The power in this room will fade in a bit.” The man was a totally different person now. Danny hesitated. “Do you want to say anything to them?”

He thinks he had much more tact just now than in the past 10 minutes. “I’m sorry.” The two ghost seemed to decent on the man. Cooing at him, telling him he was not at fault, that he couldn’t know, couldn’t have done anything, was only a child when it happened.

“Ah screw it.” Danny said before making just the tip of his finger invisible. That should contain the spirits becoming visible in the area, right? He was still debating wether this was a mistake or not while the spirits of Martha and Thomas Wayne became visible to their sons eyes. Ancients he needs Jazz.

I’m a Size Medium, Thanks.

Danny is irritated. No actually he is beyond irritated. He is annoyed, he is frustrated, he is…. He’s really fricking irritated and can’t be bothered to remember any more of Jazz’s SAT words.

He continues his glare out the window as he searches for his straw with his mouth.

He just- where is it- thinks it’s a stupid fricking-stupid ass milkshake-he shouldn’t have to basically-gah! Danny snaps his head down to find his suddenly missing straw, only to successfully poke it directly into his eye.

“Ow! Fricken-“ He groans, throwing his head back, and putting his hands to his face, “Mother-tucker, Holy Taming of A Shrew!” He pounds his free hand not cradling his eye on the table, trying not to make more of a scene. Of course, this utterly fails because it immediately tips over his milkshake glass with a clatter as it spills onto his pants, making him jump up with enough force to knock the table over and drop the milkshake glass the rest of the way to the floor.

Danny stares at it with blurry vision and a watery eye. He sighs, “At least-“

The glass shatters.

Danny sighs again, deeper. “Of course.”

He looks up at the restaurant around him. Noticing the many, many people staring at him.

Wonderful.

Danny grimaces, “Sorry, I so didn’t mean for that to happen, uh-“ Danny reaches to straighten the table, fumbling for a second before it stands upright, he steps away from it, “If there’s any way I can help or.. like fix it. I can pay for the cup..” a server comes over to him, “if you want..?”

The server’s dead eyes don’t waver as they silently place a wet floor sign over the spilled milkshake.

“Thanks.”

“Uh huh.”

The server walks away, leaving Danny to sigh all on his own. He leans over to grab his backpack from the booth, checking it over for milkshake before slinging it on his back, thankfully clean.

He makes it one step forward before he feels the floor go out from under him. Ah gravity. His greatest enemy. This is karma for all those times he’s ignored it, isn’t it?

The wind is knocked out of him when his back slams to the floor, cushioned by the dulcet sounds of his bag crunching against broken glass.

He looks up at the wet floor sign.

The man on the yellow plastic mocks him.

Danny sighs.

He curses his stupid luck.

He curses this stupid city.

Then he curses himself because he knows any of this stupid city’s curses end up affecting him anyways.

Danny gets to his feet, ignoring the feeling of milkshake on his hands and his… everywhere.

He trudges out of the diner without looking back. At least he’d already paid for it.

He grimaces at the milkshake handprint on the door, trying to wipe it away with his shirt and only succeeding in making it worse.

Danny catches the eyes of the server inside, staring at him, eyes progressively more annoyed.

Danny puts his hands up in surrender and backs away.

Directly into a person. Only his milkshake covered self prevents him from being hit with anything more than the man’s scathing glare.

He puts his hands back up and moves away to dodge everybody else on the sidewalk. Along with the occasional ghost. Visible only to him of course.

By the time he has managed to escape the sidewalks into an alley, he is certain there is a trail of slightly sticky businessmen behind him.

Danny crouches to swing his backpack down in front of him and take stock. Okay, he could put his sweatshirt on over it… but it would also get ruined… damn it.

Danny looks around, checking every inch of the alley for cameras and then backing himself into a corner just to be safe. The flicker of intangibility is barely noticeable except for the wet squelch of milkshake remnants dropping to the alley floor. Lovely.

And of course, the flash of every single Gotham ghost in the area becoming visible and almost tangible for a split second. Also… lovely. There’s a couple startled shouts on the street.

Maybe an alleyway was not the best place for that.

Danny slides his sweatshirt on over his shirt to at least pretend like he was covering a mess and then shimmies out of the alley while trying to make as little contact with ghosts as possible.

He’s almost completely certain he looks crazy as all get out if the stare he gets from a passerby means anything.

Of course… now he’s left glaring across the street again.

He can feel the Infini-Map burning a hole in his backpack. It said this was the next place a natural portal would open and get him back home.

It just didn’t say… when that portal would open.

But of course, it’ll be right in the middle of somebody’s store. Usually not an issue. Except again, this stupid city’s curses are attracted to his energy, so of course the store couldn’t be literally ANYTHING ELSE!

Danny glares at the stupid fricking sign and the stupid predictable pun and the stupid neon hand in the front window waving at him.

‘The Claire Witch Project: psychic, medium, and Claire-voyant’

Danny is on day three of simultaneously avoiding the entire building while remaining close enough he can be there when the portal forms.

He is dirty, tired, and running out of money. In short, Danny is starting to lose hope on this endeavor.

The worst part?

He has the perfect solution.

There’s a pathetic little piece of printer paper taped to the inside of the window.

‘Help wanted’

When he’d first gotten here, Danny had followed the infini-map all the way to this horrific city, seen the sign, and turned a quick 180. He’d rather die again thanks.

He’d smacked into two billboards just coming into the city, and there was literally no stars, why would he want to stay here till the portal opened when he could just find another?

Except.. Danny’s eye twitches dangerously as he thinks back on it- except there wasn’t another portal. This was it. For the foreseeable future, he either caught this portal or was stranded for whoever knows how much longer.

Danny sighs again and dreads his continued existence. He looks both ways on the street, takes a step forward, nearly gets run over, steps back, and turns for the nearest crosswalk.

Fine. He could follow rules if it meant increasing his chances of leaving.

He tries to hold in the sigh this time, he really does, he swears.

Not the one before he opens the shop door though, that sigh deserved freedom from his trials. It joins the myriad of whispy translucent shades lingering in the store. Because of course there was just enough spiritual energy in here for them to be visible to him.

“Hey there!” A girl in loose fitting colorful clothing appears from behind a corner, “I’m Claire! How can I help your life journey today?” He can see the way her bulky crystal hair accessories sway with her movements. What was he getting into here again?

Danny tries to ignore the incense shoving itself up his nose as he speaks, “Hey, I was…” He was really doing this huh? “Hoping that the help wanted position is still available?”

The girl looks him over as she moves to the back of the checkout counter. The clear observation makes him nervous, and he takes his hands out of his pockets to try and look marginally more… candidate-able.

“You have experience?”

“Sure d-“ He wants to throw up in his own mouth, ancients this is so cringe, just let him die, “Sure do!” He says through choked back vomit and false cheer, “I’m a…” -barf- “I’m a medium.”

“Oh don’t worry about that, you don’t need a uniform, I don’t need your size silly!”

Danny blinks. What? Also. What?

“Wait-I’m hired?”

Claire pauses from getting something from under the counter, “Didn’t I already say that?”

“Uh…” Danny’s eyes dart around the shop, “No?”

“Oh well, you are, you have the right vibes, don’t worry,” she slides a few papers onto the glass counter, and Danny is abruptly, horrifically reminded he has no legal documents to speak of here. He thinks. He hasn’t actually checked.

Crap.

“Of course, most of my clients pay in cash, so I’ll pay you in cash too just to make it easier, and any crystal sales I’ll just add to it. Sound good?”

“Sure?” Oh no, is this gonna be Danny’s first real job? “But I don’t know anything about crystals. I have a goth friend but she’s not into that stuff.”

Claire waves his comment away, “Oh no worries, I can leave a packet.”

Danny nods, “Thank- wait, sorry. Leave?”

Claire laughs, pulling out a bag from behind her counter, “Yes I leave for a trip in two days. Family things you know,”

Danny feels like his brain is being scrambled, “Oh, what, what happened? Is everything okay?”

Claire looks at him, blinking wide, “What? Why would anything have happened?”

“Because… you said, you were leaving for-“

“Just don’t want to get caught in a bad position, you know how it is.”

Some of the shades stir in the air, their misty movements twitching with agitation enough to draw his eye for a second.

“Right. Well I’m glad I came when I did then,” Danny says, because he still doesn’t want to be rude.

Claire smiles at him.

Danny pats his hands against his sides awkwardly, trying not to look up at the movement of the shades intertwined with incense smoke at the ceiling.

There’s a little jingle behind him, which he belatedly realizes is the door when Claire moves to greet them before he can even turn around.

“Ms. Jives! Wonderful to see you! How’s the goldfish?”

Ms. Jives turns out to be a slightly older woman, maybe early seventies with a cane but she looks good. The coffee brown hair is almost certainly a dye job but it frames her wrinkled face well.

“Oh Jim is lovely dear, much better this way, I bought him a new plant just the other day, he just loves it.”

“Good, here for your reading right?”

“I am! But you can finish up with your customer first if you need,” Ms. Jives says. Claire waves her concern away.

“No need, this is Danny, I just hired him, he has a similar mystical connection.”

“Oh that’s lovely,” Ms. Jives says as she passes by him, “Would you like to come with dear? Claire is going to do a reading for me.”

Danny grimaces, “Sure.”

In the end, by the time Ms. Jives makes it slowly to the back room, Danny is trying to think of where he’s gonna sleep tonight. He mostly zones out when Claire dims the lights and starts talking nonsense.

All he heard was “something something card, something something magician something reversed something something balance something something chihuahua.”

Ok, maybe he wasn’t listening. But he was trying to focus on not staring at the movement of the shades, and the incense was mega strong and Claire had some weird ass music playing. He’s almost certain she’s faking everything. Down to the atrociously bright bead earrings.

Danny sags when she finishes, all too happy to leave the weird little curtain covered room.

He stands in the front awkwardly while Ms. Jives pays, twiddling with the various crystals and trying to figure which ones are actually y’know.. mystical or whatever.

Answer? Surprisingly most of them. That he could tell, at least, but it’s not like he actually knows how to sense that out on purpose. He’s pretty sure a couple of the heart shaped rose quartzes are complete duds but what does he care.

He’s thoroughly bored by the time Claire calls him back over. Apparently to tell him that he’ll do a reading tomorrow.

“Tomorrow?!” Danny blurts, “Don’t you want to like- I don’t know, make sure I can- or like.. I don’t know, but tomorrow?”

Claire just smiles at him, “I believe you can handle it, trust me.”

‘Trust you? Lady, I just met you and you’ve been nothing but crazy the whole time!’ Danny wants to say, instead, he keeps his mouth shut and nods with what he’s sure is fear in his eyes.

Then she’s pressing something into his hands and when he looks down it’s a key. A key. There’s no way-

“So be here 9am sharp, Danny! You can open up and I’ll come in later!” Claire starts pushing him towards the door, “And Mr. Wayne should be waiting for you when you get here!”

Danny turns around to catch himself in the doorframe, “Mr who will be what now!? Wait, Ms. Claire, Ma’am- why-!” He stops to lower his volume and ask politely, “Why am I doing this? You don’t even know me,” Danny says, one leg still in the store.

Claire smiles, “Because the universe told me to silly! See you tomorrow! Here’s my number!” Then she slaps a sticky note to his chest with enough finality that Danny takes a step back. The door closes with a click and ring of the bell inside.

Danny stares at the door with his eye twitching for at least a minute.

What the hell did ‘the universe told me to’ even mean, you kook!?

Danny sighs and looks down at the sticky note, quickly inputting the number in his phone before something happens to it.

He’s barely hit save when he finally steps away from the shop front and…. is immediately drenched to the bone.

Because apparently it’d been pouring rain and he simply hadn’t noticed from under the awning.

He watches as blue ink slides off the sticky note in little sad face streaks.

Danny sighs.

[nectar-cellar]

pov: you're 2 hours late to count vlad's dinner party.

[dp-marvel94]

I am you (and you are me)

For Invisobang 2021. Art by @bibliophilea

On AO3 and Fanfiction.net

Summary: Set post Kindred Spirits. Something has been different since Danny came back from Vlad's and it started when the older half ghost had the tiny clone overshadow him. The half ghost remembers: His own screams. A pain in his inmost being, in his core. A tug back and forth. Being squeezed. A crash, a collision. And then... the blackness of death.

Danny comes back from the experience changed, with the memories of two lives stuffed in his head and new powers. The fire powers are pretty cool but shrinking, often involuntarily, makes him feel weak and vulnerable. All of it, the powers and memories, terrify him as he learns what they mean. And the thought of telling his loved ones...How can the half ghost hope that Jazz, Sam, and Tucker will understand and accept him now when he himself cannot?

Warnings and Tags: Self harm, Identity confusion, Self-Hatred, Ectoplasm and melting clones related gore, Clone Angst, Nightmares, Memory Issues, Involuntary Shrinking. Panic Attacks, Frostbite is Danny’s Icedad.  Evil Vlad Masters, Bad Parent Vlad Masters, Split Danny, Ghost Catcher, Hurt/Comfort, Eventual acceptance (by Danny and by his loved ones). Sibling Bonding, Friendship, Danny finally gets a hug.

Note: Welcome to my Invisobang fic! This is a semi-sequel to my story "Nothing and Everything." It's set directly after that story, though assuming an alternative ending. It is not necessary to read the older story to understand this one. All you need to know is, it deals with the aftermath of Danny being overshadowed by one of the clone's in Kindred Spirits and the emotional impact of the experience.

All that being said, big thanks to my amazing artist @bibliophilea for the amazing comic, and for beta reading! Thanks to @welcome-tothe-mystery-shack  for your comments and feedback on this story. And finally, a huge thanks to my dearest sister @nervousdragonrebelpie for looking over chapters and listening to me ramble about this story for the past few months. I wouldn’t have been able to finish this without you.

Preview Below:

Chapter 1:

“No! I’m a person. People have names! I have to have a name. I’m not….” A sob tried to break free from his throat.

A knock suddenly rattled the door. “Danny!” Mom called.

Both boy’s heads popped up, focusing on the door. They turned to face each other. “Don’t do this.” The real Danny begged.

“What?” The being asked.

“Every time you get close to the truth, you dream up a distraction.” His eyes widened in desperate panic. “Please don’t-”

Danny’s eyes popped open, a dream swirling in his mind. His heart raced, the sheets sticking to his sweaty body. His brow wrinkled, one shaking hand moving up to rub his aching head. Aching…. He still had that damn headache.

The boy closed his eyes, trying to push the pain away, to coax his heart rate down. He breathed. In and out. In and out. Slowly, so slowly, the throb in his head dimmed, his heart calming. But still, anxiety ate up his insides. 

Blearily, the boy opened his eyes to stare at the ceiling. Dissatisfied, he groaned and rolled onto his side. He clenched and unclenched his fists, balling up the fabric on his bed. His bed. Yes, this was his bed…. Sleeping in a bed was so nice and comfortable but at the same time... something about it felt…. off.

The boy pinched his eyes closed, trying to make sense of the feeling. His stomach flopped. Something was off. Something was different. After today, after he’d come back from Vlad’s, after the man kidnapped him, after the man clo-

Danny cut off the cursed word, his mind refusing. He buried his face in his pillow. Vlad’s. Something had happened, something had.. had changed at Vlad’s but he couldn’t... quite... remember.

It flashed in images. Being locked in a pod. Electrocution. His own screams. Pain. A pain in his inmost being, in his core…. On the bed, Danny’s core throbbed at the thought… A tug back and forth. Then being squeezed. A crash, a collision. And then... blackness.

He’d passed out. Danny knew that much. And he’d woken up at some point later but everything between that and when he had arrived home was a blur.

Confusion. His head swimming. Danielle.. sister… frowning in worry. The hiss of the pod being released. A sigh of relief. An ectoblast. Twisted metal and glass. Ectoplasm. Ectoplasm on his hands, on the floor. Oh god, oh god. He hadn’t meant to do that. He wasn’t... the others weren’t supposed to…. weren't supposed to...

Vlad... Master... Vlad... glaring in pure hatred. “Get behind me.” His ears ringing with a scream. The older halfa being knocked into his shelves. His knees wobbling. He fell and turned human. (Human... why did the fact that he could do that make him so happy?) But then horror. Vlad was still up and moving.

Then Sam and Tucker crashed through, hitting the older man. Locking Vlad (Master) in a pod. He needs... he needs to find Danielle. He needs to find his baby sister. But she’s gone. She’s gone.

His friends’ worried faces. “Danny, you’re not making any sense.” “Hey! Hey! Stay with us!” He wobbled…. where was Danielle?..... falling forward….. Sam and Tucker caught him.

At some point later, he’d woken up on his bed with worried friends and sister who he couldn’t adequately comfort. His head had been pounding and he couldn’t remember what happened to him… and what he did remember made little sense. Sam had checked his eyes; he didn’t have a concussion or any other injuries. With his head throbbing, he’d dismissed the confusion as being from the stress of the kidnapping and electrocution. His friends believed him, though anxiety was plain on their faces. But after a few minutes, his friends had said their goodbyes, leaving him to get some much needed sleep.

But now, the night after, Danny laid on his bed. His headache was gone, his mind clearer. He should feel better yet... his heart was sinking like a stone in his chest. That dream. That dream. That was familiar. So familiar. Like it had really happened. Like... it meant something. And yet…. Danny yawned, sudden tiredness overtaking him. He closed his eyes.

Maybe this was the ramblings of a sleep deprived brain. Yeah, maybe he was just tired. Maybe he’d wake up in the morning and everything would be okay. The boy pulled his covers more tightly around himself and fell asleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

The next morning, after quickly getting ready for school and rushing off, found Danny at his locker. The boy frowned, wracking his brain. What was his locker combination again? He spun the lock, landing on 25. That was the first number, right? Then….56. And finally….12? The lock clicked and he pulled the door open.

Danny sighed. Why was that so hard to remember? He’d had to open his locker just yesterday. He should remember… but why did that feel like a lifetime ago?

“Hey! Danny!” Tucker’s voice cut through his thoughts.

Danny gasped in surprise. In his chest, his core swelled and his body reflexively flickered invisible. A second later, he reappeared, rubbing his chest.

The next thing he knew, Sam was at his side. “What was that?”

“Yeah.” His technogeek friend took a step forward, voice quieting. “Your powers haven’t slipped up like that in months.”

Danny frowned, shaking his head. “I guess... I guess I’m still kinda shook up after….” He wrapped his arms around himself.

Sam’s face softened, seeming to understand. “Do you feel any better?” She asked kindly.

The halfa’s brow wrinkled. “Well, my headache’s gone.”

“You do look better.” The goth commented, her brow furrowing with worry. “You looked rough last night.”

“Yeah, you were really out of it too.” Tucker frowned. “You kept asking where someone called Danielle was? And for your sister?” Clear confusion rang out in his voice and just a hint of teasing…. “We kept telling you Jazz was at home, covering for us.” as if the idea that he was worried about his older sister, when she wasn’t even involved, was funny.

But something in the recollection made Danny shiver. He remembered worrying about Danielle. But…. sister... he hadn’t been talking about Jazz. He’d been asking about another girl, with blue eyes and-

“Then you passed out.” Sam continued. “And we took you home.”

For a too long moment, his friends looked at him questioningly. Finally, Danny bit his lip. “I think I remember that.”

The confirmation seemed to encourage his friends. “That’s good.” Said Tucker.

Danny wasn’t sure it was. But he had no more time to think on it before the bell rang and they were walking to their first class.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

During lunch period, Danny sat down at their familiar table, the same one as yesterday and every day since the start of freshman year. He placed down his tray and looked over the tables, waiting for Sam and Tucker to join him.

The boy’s brow furrowed. The cafeteria looked the same as every day. The same as yesterday when…. Danielle phasing through the table, a tiny green speck racing passed him…. At the lunch table, Danny’s core pulsed anxiously. Yes, that had happened but at the same time…. Looking back at the two chasing him. Laughing without sound at their fun game.

Danny shivered, feeling cold. He rubbed his chest, nervously.

“Danny?” Someone was waving a hand in front of his face. “Danny? You with us man?”

The halfa blinked and turned, meeting Tucker’s eyes. “Yeah. What’s up?”

“What’s with the spaciness?” Sam said bluntly. She stabbed at her salad. “You were like that all during English too.”

“Was I?” The boy questioned. He shook his head. “Sorry. Just... thinking about stuff.”

His friends gave him worried looks but didn’t question him. Frankly, it was to Danny’s relief. He couldn’t seem to put his thoughts in order. He couldn’t explain this... weird feeling. 

The friends chatted for most of the lunch period, Sam and Tucker dominating the conversation with a debate about the newest Doomed update.

All the while Danny idly rubbed at his chest with one hand. He picked at his cheese fries. Normally they were pretty good, but he wasn’t feeling it today. He shivered again, flinching as his fork fell through his intangible hand.

“Again?” Tucker questioned with a raised brow.

Danny didn’t respond, instead picking up his fork only for his core to flare and the utensil to fall through his fingers again. With an annoyed grumble, the boy rubbed his chest again.

“Do you think something’s up with your powers?” Sam quietly asked.

The halfa looked up, frowning. “No... I mean…”

The goth pointed. “Danny, you keep rubbing your chest.”

Danny looked down, brow furrowing. Below his palm, his core pulsed. There was something… strange about the rhythm and…. he adjusted the position, pressing just the smallest bit harder. Normally, it fit comfortably under his palm but now... “It’s... bigger?” He muttered.

“What?” Tucker asked.

Danny lowered his hand. “My core?” He shook his head. “No... I’m imagining it.” His core pulsed unhappily, even as he rubbed his forehead. “I’m just tired, I guess.”

Sam and Tucker again looked like they wanted to argue, but the bell rang and they split up, each hurrying to their next class.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The rest of the school day was surprisingly normal. Just his typical classes, without even a ghost fight to interrupt his day. Danny should have felt relieved for such a chill day after what happened last night but yet…. The boy tapped his pencil on his desk. He felt anxious. He must still be shook up, like he told his friends this morning. 

Danny bit his lip, shaking the writing instrument in his hand again. It went flying out of his grip and clattered onto the floor. The boy huffed as he bent down to grab it. His hand hadn’t even turned intangible this time.

With that, the boy straightened in his seat. He glanced at the clock. 20 more minutes left in class. Just 20 minutes. Then he could go home and take a nap. He rubbed his eyes. He was still tired after getting back so late. Maybe some sleep would help him feel better.

Soon enough, the bell rang. Danny stood and walked to his locker. This time, he remembered the combination without wracking his brain. He pulled out his books and turned to his friends, who were collecting their own belongings.

“I’ll see you guys tomorrow.” Danny said.

“Yeah, see you later.” Tucker replied.

“Call us if something comes up with the ghosts.” Sam frowned. “I’m grounded but…. I’ll sneak out if you need me.”

The technogeek groaned. “Don’t remind me. I’m grounded too.”

The halfa looked down guiltily. “Sorry.” He bit his lip. “You guys shouldn’t be grounded because you had to save my sorry butt.”

“It’s fine.” Sam comforted. “We weren’t not going to save you. We’re your friends.”

“Yeah.” Tucker agreed. “It’s just the price to pay for being superheroes.”

Danny half-smiled, though he didn’t much feel like it. He wasn’t much of a hero. Guilt still choked his heart. He hated getting his friends in trouble. But still…. “Thanks for having my back.”

“No problem.” Tucker confirmed.

Then down the hall, someone called his name. “Danny?”

The boy turned. It was his sister, Jazz. He frowned. Oh right, he hadn’t talked to her since he’d been half out of it last night.

The girl quickly approached. “There you are. Come on. I’m driving you home.”

Jazz didn’t give him a choice as she started leading him towards the entrance. Danny waved at his friends, watching their worried faces until he turned the corner. 

Less than two minutes later, the pair were seated in Jazz’s car. The girl didn’t start the vehicle, instead turning to face her brother. “Are you going to tell me what happened yesterday?”

“I... Uh…” Danny stuttered, trying to collect his thoughts.

“You disappeared during the middle of school. Sam and Tucker said some weird ghost girl showed up. You went off to fight some ghost and the next thing they knew, Vlad was carrying you away.”

The boy crossed his arms. “It sounds like you already know what happened.” He muttered.

Jazz pinned a serious look. “I know Vlad kidnapped you but…. what did he do to you?”

Danny paled. “I don’t know what you mean.”

“Something happened. You were unconscious when Sam and Tucker got back. And you were super out of it when you woke up. But you weren’t physically hurt. What did Vlad do to you?” His sister pushed.

Danny swallowed, his stomach flopping. “I... I don’t…. It’s fuzzy….” 

Jazz rose a brow, her tone suggesting she knew there was more to it. “Danny.”

The boy flinched. “I... he... Vlad electrocuted me?” He remembered. Being locked in a pod, electricity running through him. The creepy hologram of his mom. But... but... there was more.

His sister paled. “Oh... I’m so sorry.” Her voice softened and she didn’t say anything for a while, then… “Do you know why he did that?”

Danny stiffened, looking up. The reason sparked in his mind, with the image. Vlad hissing in front of him, boasting his plan. The man had explained but…. the words stayed just out of reach. Danny's face set in a pointed frown. He shook his head.

Jazz’s own frown deepened. “That little girl…. Sam and Tucker said she looked just like you in ghost form. What does she have to do with all this?”

The boy avoided her eyes, heart fluttering nervously. The little girl.... her face snapped into focus in his mind. Danielle, that was her name. But... there was another word. Started with an S or…. a C. She was like him; she was a clo-

Danny shook his head. No, that wasn’t right. Well…. part of it was right. Danielle had been there. She’d been helping Vlad. She helped the man hurt him; painful betrayal stabbed at him from the thought. But at the same time…

“She helped me. She helped me fight Vlad.” The half ghost said quietly, awed realization sparking as he remembered.

“But… who was she?” Jazz asked, equally quietly.

Just like that, the boy paled again. The word, the cursed word, formed in his mind without his permission. Clone. She was a clone of…. him?... No... that didn’t sound right... he was the same as her but... it had to be true. His frown deepened.

“Who was she?” His older sister asked again.

The boy shivered. “I... I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Danny.” Her voice softened. “You can tell me. It’s-”

“I... I can’t... I don’t wanna talk about it.” He focused on his hands in his lap, trying to keep them from shaking.

“Clearly, whatever happened is bothering you. You can tell me.”

“No. I-” Danny bit his lip, reaching for the door. He couldn’t stay in here with her, couldn’t deal with the questions he had no answers for or rather... questions he couldn’t bear to answer. The… the c word... he couldn’t say it, could barely think it. How could he explain how everything felt wrong, like he wasn’t actually-

“Wait.” Jazz cut off his thoughts. “You don’t have to talk until you’re ready. Just... let me drive you home.”

The boy lowered his hand and slumped back in his seat. “You... you promise? You won’t press?”

His sister’s brow furrowed. Her face was tight, like she didn’t want to agree; but after a long moment, she sighed. “Alright. I promise.”

Danny nodded. “Let’s go then.”

Jazz turned the car on, put it into drive, and pulled out of the parking lot. They drove home in silence. Once they arrived, the boy went straight up to his room. He rubbed his head, flopping down onto his bed. He needed... he needed a nap. Yeah…. That was it. He was still tired.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sister smiled down at him. “Look at this!” The black haired girl held up her crayon drawing. “This is me.” She pointed. “And Muscles. And Bones. And Daniel.” Her smile widened as she tapped at the last figure. “And this is you.”

The being tilted his head. He floated up, placing small hands on the green figure on the paper. He blinked owlishly up at the girl.

The corner of the girl's mouth turned down. She placed down the paper and offered him a crayon. “Come on. You try.”

The tiny being hovered forward, reaching out to touch the crayon. It was so big, almost half as tall as he was. He frowned, trying to understand.

“Make yourself a little bigger and you’ll be able to hold it.” She encouraged. “Come on. You can do it.”

The being scrunched his brow and he stretched. He was about the size of a toddler, maybe two and a half feet tall. He reached out, grabbing the crayon with his slightly larger hands.

“Great.” Sister said. She pushed a fresh piece of paper in front of him. “Now you draw. Like this.” She demonstrated, rubbing the crayon against the paper so color transferred onto it.

The being flopped down, sitting on the floor. Slowly, so slowly, he copied the girl. He traced his drawing instrument over the paper. He scribbled, creating a mess of lines and shapes without meaning or purpose.

Sister smiled proudly anyway. “You’re doing it. Good job, Tiny.”

He beamed, something in him sparking at the praise. He continued scribbling but the image changed into something more purposeful. A house took shape, stick figures. A large man and slimmer woman. A little girl and a little boy.

The little boy giggled at his drawing. His hands were chubbier than before. A toddler’s, instead of the miniaturized version of a teen’s. 

“Jazzy!” He looked up, showing off his drawing to the little redhead girl.

His older sister looked up. “That looks great, Danny!” She put her own crayons down, rubbing her sweaty forehead. “It’s so hot.”

The boy suddenly dropped his crayons and drawing. “Outside! Let’s go outside!”

“But it’s hot.” The girl repeated.

The boy was already running off. “Mommy! Mommy! Can we play in the sprinklers?! Please! Please!”

Mommy turned around from where she was making lunch. “After we eat, okay?”

“Okay!” The four year old beamed, already running up the stairs to get his swim trunks.

The next thing he knew, he was outside. Mommy set up the sprinkler. He and Jazzy ran around it, giggling. Daddy came outside with water balloons and Danny let out a happy scream. “Water balloons!”

The little boy grabbed one and threw it at his sister.

Danny blinked awake to bright light on his face. His nose wrinkled. It was still light out? Oh wait, he had been taking a nap. He sat up, yawning and rubbing his forehead. He’d been dreaming again, this time about…. He shivered, remembering. He’d been playing in the back yard with Jazz when he was four. And... he’d been with Danielle. She’d been showing him how to draw. 

The boy’s stomach flopped. That didn’t make sense. That hadn’t happened. Maybe... maybe he was thinking about her because Jazz had asked, earlier, when they’d been in the car but... that had felt like a memory.

Dread balled in his gut. He’d been small, smaller than her hand. And then he’d stretched and he was bigger, about the size of a toddler. Danny looked down at his hands, his human, properly sized hands. That, changing his size, wasn’t something he could do but…. In the dream, Danielle had called him Tiny. It didn’t make sense and yet….

He remembered. One of the other clones. The small green one. Danny shivered. That one, that one could shrink. That clone had overshadowed him.

The knowledge hit Danny like a ton of bricks. The tiny clone had overshadowed him. How... how didn’t he remember that until just now? How hadn’t he realized? Danny grimaced, a sickening feeling squeezing his insides. He’d been possessed. Someone else had been in his body, controlling his actions, messing with his mind. The boy wrapped his arms around himself. He felt violated at the thought. That was so wrong. Vlad had ordered one of his clones to overshadow him. And…. more memories of the experience pressed into his mind.

Danny had been semi-aware of the other presence. There had been a fight for control, another core so close to his and…. Memories, thoughts that weren’t his. Flashes of the tiny clone’s memories. And the feeling of tiny hands rifling through his own mind.

Danny pulled his knees to his chest. That must be why he’s felt so off. It was the aftereffects of being possessed. And that dream, the flashes of memory…. he must be remembering what he’d seen and felt from the tiny clone while it had been possessing him.

The boy sighed. But... the feeling would go away eventually, right? It would. He’d felt off after Sidney had overshadowed him as well. It had taken a bit to get used to being in his own body again. And Sidney was more experienced with overshadowing than his clone had been. The ghostly nerd knew how to push Danny’s spirit out of his body, instead of forcing both ghosts to cohabitate. That was why there were strange memories now, unlike last time.

But it didn’t matter. He’d get back to normal soon enough and his friends and sister would have nothing to worry about. Everything would be okay, right?

Danny stood up, rolling his shoulders to stretch. He had homework to do. He sat down at his desk, trying to ignore the way his stomach still flopped.

[mashiraostail]

Can I get Present Mic, Aizawa, Vlad King and Gang Orca when their S/O wakes up with a bad fever and they're a little loopy but they're shivering so bad because despite the fact they're burning up they feel super cold.

coincidentally i have been sick since yesterday night pretty rad i just slug over to my roommates like ‘leon...i need...water....’ and he’s like ‘no <3′  also I'm getting so soft for gang orca idk why sfslfdsal

Hizashi Yamada/Present Mic: It’s like the fatigue ran over you the second you opened your eyes and rolled over. You had barely been awake for 2 seconds but you felt like you’d just done a week's worth of patrols.  “Hey look who decided to join us.” Hizashi is already awake beside you holding his phone above his face, “you’re later than normal. Good morning.” He grins at you, but his grin slips away at the sound of your groan.  “Babe you’re shivering.” You hear his phone click off as he shuffles up, “want me to close the window?”  He inspects the flush on your cheeks, “you feel alright?” He reaches out and slides his hand over your forehead. You just groan again, flopping back into the pillows. “You’ve definitely got a fever.” He frowns cupping your cheeks, “wait here, I’m gonna get a thermometer, and some medicine.” His hands feel perfect and cooling on your cheeks, all you can do when he starts to pull away is whine.  “Zashi no-” You complain and so he goes back to you, letting you grip his wrists in your clammy palms, “your hands feel nice..”  if his hands felt this good then...you shrug them away and slump forward to bury your face in the crook of his neck, “you can’t leave me I’ll die.”  “Don’t say something like that!” He pats the back of your head, “it’s only a fever, probably a pretty high one. You’re so warm..” He wraps his arms around you and you warble. “No I feel like I’m gonna freeze to death.”  “Stop talking about dying!” He complains, but slumps back into the pillows, taking you with him. “Did you feel okay yesterday?” He slides his hands up the back of your shirt as you nod.  “It’s probably the flu.” He rubs flat palms in slow circles between your shoulder blades, “poor you.”  “poor me.” You agree with a sniffle and he chuckles a little, “well let me take care of you. I’ll be right back, you won’t even notice I’m gone.” He promises as you shuffle higher up his chest until you’re pressing your nose into his jaw.  “I’ll be right back. You sure got lucky getting sick on a Sunday like this.”  “You’ll stay with me all day?” You press your face further into his neck, trying to find a new cool patch of skin to lean on.  “I’ll stay with you all day.” 

Shouta Aizawa: Sweat. Cold sweat. That’s all you can think of when the sound of the front door opening wakes you up. You sit up and rub your face then down the whole glass of water on your bedside table. By the time your done Aizawa is cracking the bedroom door open.  “I didn’t wake you, did I?” He’s already starting to remove his hero costume.  You shake your head, technically he did but you had a feeling anything would have woken you up in your current state. “No...just..up.”   “Well then what are you doing up so late it’s almost 4 in the-” He squints at you, “you don’t look so good.” He’s quickly tying the drawstring to some sweatpants before sitting before you in bed.  “‘m...alright..how was..?” You trail off, “where were you? School?”  He snorts, “yeah extra 4 am classes. I was on patrol. Slow night.” He slicks your hair off your sweaty forehead, “you have a crazy fever.”  “Mhm..no..just..kinda cold in here.”  “That’s the opposite of a fever.” Shouta lets you fall forward onto his chest anyway, “did you feel alright when you went to bed?”  “A little achy.” You wrap your arms around his back, his skin was cold against you. His hands were freezing where one cupped the back of your neck, though despite your shivering the sensation was welcome. He presses a long kiss to your hairline, “you need medicine and some more water.”  “Just come to bed.” You moan turning your face into his chest, “I just need to sleep.”  “I don’t think so.” he disagrees, “come on, take some meds, drink a little water, and then I’ll get in bed with you.”  “I don’t wanna.” You grip him tighter as he moves to get up turning your nose into the shallow divot of his sternum between his pecs. “Stop whining.” His other hand pats the back of your head, “come on if you take medicine before you go back to sleep you’ll feel better when you wake up. If you don’t take any and then wake up feeling worse I won’t take care of you.”  “Cruel!” You nuzzle into him further and he sighs. “Okay I would but I’d say I told you so, and you’d feel worse. Come on.” He pries you off of him, “I won’t leave you again after I get back I swear.” 

Sekijiro Kan/ Vlad King: When you wake up all you can think about is just going back to sleep. Sekijiro is still passed out beside you, it’s probably pretty early. You stick you leg out from underneath the covers, hoping that will rectify the temperature issue you were having. It does not. You were melting and somehow also freezing.  Sekijiro looked pretty content, all things considered. You were sure he wouldn’t mind if you just..shuffled over..you press yourself into his back, face buried between his shoulder blades. This was helping worlds more than sticking your leg out did. You coil one arm around the much larger man, you were sure this all looked pretty comical. Your nuzzling and shifting must wake him up.  “Huh?” He’s reaching back, patting around your back and shoulders until hie finds your hair, “oh.” He settles back into place once he does,  “aren’t you sweet?” He yawns, “could’ve came around my other side, you woulda fit.” You just lean into him more. He turns over to face you, careful not to knock you away.  “What’s got you up so early?”  He doesn’t let you answer though, one look at you gives it away. “You’re pale. Not feeling well?” Your groan is more than sufficient.  “You’re nice and cool though..” You shuffle close to him again, now against his chest.  “Jeeze, you’re burning up..” He’s rubbing long strokes over your back, “shoulda got me up sooner..”  “‘s okay...” You sling an arm around his ribs, “you’re up now..”  “Yeah, I am..” He holds the back of your head with his other hand and lets you wallow for a moment before pulling you up towards him by your jaw, “you should take something for this fever. Once that’s cleared up you’ll feel much better.” He presses a kiss to you and you hum into it. “Will you be okay for a few minutes?”  You nod, turning into his lips for another kiss, which he obliges before getting up.  “I wonder where this came from all of a sudden.” He hands you two small pills and a glass of water. You take the pills quickly before beaconing him toward you again, he just sighs affectionately.  “Yeah okay, okay come on, get up here, right on my chest. That’s it.” He wraps two big arms around you, “I’ll stick around here today alright?” 

Kugo Sakamata/ Gang Orca You were already feeling pretty bad when you decided to call it an early night, but you’re hopeful it won’t be so bad when sleep finds you easily, though when you wake up a few hours later you’re feeling significantly less hopeful. You pat around the sheets for Kugo but he’s not there which isn’t exactly surprising, but it is unfortunate.  Normally you appreciated the cool of his satin sheets but right now they just made you shiver even more, all you really wanted was Kugo You manage to slide out of the bed and stumble down the hall in search of him, you wonder what time it is as you nudge open his offce door, sort of surprised you’d found it so easy in your weary state. Sure enough he’s there at his desk, tapping a pen against some papers.  When the door clicks open against you he turns over his shoulder.  “Hm?” He perks up at the sight of you, “I thought you were in bed?”  “Kugo..” You warble, rubbing your face, he turns in his chair completely.  “Oh, what’s the matter my love?” His voice is laced with affectionate sympathy at your bleary eyes. “Can’t sleep?” He asks, watching you lean dramatically on the doorframe.  “Mhmn..” You shake your head, pressing your cheek into the cool material. “You can’t?��� He tilts his head at you, “but you look so exhausted my dear.” He holds an arm out to you, “come here. Sit with me for a bit, maybe I can help.” You trudge over to him as soon as he extends an arm and clamber into his lap, though when you’re close enough to touch he’s taking your face in his hands.  “Oh dear..” He looks down at you, “feels like you’ve got quite a fever. You should have told me you didn’t feel well..”  “Hm...I’m alright..” You lean into him and he sighs as you continue, “what are you up to?”  “Just finishing some reports, honestly it’s putting me to sleep, maybe it’ll do the trick for you.” He slides his free hand into the back of your shirt, you’re more than grateful for his cool skin against yours, the sigh you let out at the contact makes it obvious to him.  “Oh, does that feel good?” He slides his hand up the small of your back, pulling you in closer with a chuckle, you just nod grip the back of his shirt.  “Close your eyes love, I’ll carry you to bed once I’m done here.”

[meliaaizawa]

HITOSHI SHINSO

Sho and Mei first encountering one good boi, Hitoshi Shinso... I made it shorter than I was anticipating. Will obviously write more about Shinso later though.

*Meiya’s POV*

As I got through teaching class 1B, I walked down the halls of U.A. High to get to the teachers lounge. I lay down my papers and notes taken from class and stacked them neatly on my desk. It was now one of my favorite times of the day... lunchtime. I was the only teacher in the lounge right now, until I looked up to see Vlad King walk in. “Nice work today with my students, CC. They are still so far from being heroes, but that’s what the next three years will be for. I already think your talk on different quirks will help them in developing them further,” he said to me as he approached his own desk to set his things down. “Thanks, Vlad. I’ve been reading up on all of their individual quirks. Your class looks like it’ll be a fun one to work with!” I said, continuing the conversation. As the two of us talked, more and more of the teachers started to enter the lounge. It was still only the beginning of the third week of school, so we were all still getting into the groove of our new schedules. After dropping off their stuff, most of the teachers ended up going to the cafeteria. I was now talking to Ectoplasm when I saw my husband walk in and set his stuff at his desk next to mine. “Yeah, that sounds good to me!” I said to Ectoplasm as we made plans for karaoke on Friday night. I then went back over towards where Shota was standing at his desk, looking though his notes.

“Hey there, Sho, you ready for lunch?” I asked him. Still looking at his notes as he put them on his desk, he nodded and said, “mmhmm.” I pulled out our lunch cooler and grabbed his arm. “C’mon then! I’m starved,” I said, pulling him towards the door of the lounge. I let go as we entered the hall of students. It was known by all the teachers that we were married, but we always tried to keep our relationship among the students more private. It wasn’t necessarily a secret marriage or anything, but it was only rational to make sure the knowledge of it didn’t spread to the extent that villains would have any kind of leverage over us. We walked together to the stairs and walked all the way up to the roof. We sat on the ground across from each other and I unpacked our bento boxes from our lunch cooler and we began to eat. “You know, my class seemed to really be interested in your lecture today... you did good,” Shota began. In between bites I replied, “thanks, Sho... though I don’t know why you said I did good when you slept through the whole thing.” He grinned. “I didn’t need to hear it to know you did good. The students' bragging was enough to show it,” he said. “I see why you didn’t actually expel any of them this year, though... there’s a lot of potential in that bunch,” I said. “I’m glad you’re able to see that too,” he said before asking, “do you have any counseling sessions this afternoon?”

Apart from being the quirks teacher, I am also the “quirk counselor,” which pretty much means that I meet with any students that may have questions or need a better understanding of their quirk in a one-on-one setting. I love it because I get to know the kids on a more personal basis that way. “Yeah, I do!! Just one session, though... and it’s with a first year student from General Studies, so it should be interesting,” I answered him. The remainder of our lunch break flew by. It was never long enough, but I always enjoyed getting to hang out with Sho in the same spot we hung out as kids. We both headed back downstairs. Shota had a free period, as All Might was teaching class 1A. I, however, gathered the things that I needed and headed to the room where I was to meet the student. I sat on the couch, reading though his profile when I noticed him standing in the doorway. “Oh! Hey there, you must be Hitoshi Shinso,” I said, getting up and welcoming him in. I taught the general studies students once in a while, so I had seen him before. He came in and went to sit in the seat across from the one I was sitting in. “Sweet hair, dude, we match!!” I said with a bright smile, pointing out my hair of a similar shade of purple. He looked at me, but didn’t seem too amused. "Thanks for meeting with me, Control C-Sensei,” he said. I smiled as I took a seat. “Please just call me CC.”

“So, Shinso... tell me a bit about your quirk,” I said, pulling out my pen to take notes. “Well... it’s called ‘brainwashing,’ and it allows me to control a person’s actions. In order for it to work, it needs to be activated, then a person must reply to my voice. I can then command them to do things and they'll obey it,” he explained. I looked at him wide-eyed. “That’s quite a powerful quirk you have there!! I noticed in your file that you applied to join the hero course... are you wanting to be a hero?” I asked. He nodded. “As you know, the practical portion of the entrance exam isn’t really suited for a quirk like mine... but yes, I want to be a hero,” he said, looking down at his hands. “If I could understand my quirk better, I could figure out how to actually use it heroically,” he said. I nodded. I could tell he wasn’t confident in his abilities and was having a hard time seeing his own potential. *He reminds me of Shota* I thought to myself. “I certainly understand that... I hope I can help you however I can,” I said. I always want my students to feel like they can tell me anything and trust me, so I always try to tell them about my own history in figuring through my own quirk.

“Have you ever heard of the villain called Conniver? It’s been years since he’s done anything, but he could copy people’s quirks and would use it against them... he is my father, and I have a quirk similar to his. I can copy the quirk of someone if they tell me a secret while I touch them. It was difficult growing up with people knowing I had a villain as a father. They assumed that I would use my quirk to become just like him, so I had a hard time figuring out how to use my quirk... heroically, like you said. Anyways, I decided when I was young that I would never use it in an evil way. I would never deceive anyone or trick them into giving me their quirk. I wanted to make sure people could truly trust me before copying their quirk. In short, I did my best to ignore the naysayers and focus on those I could trust... and that’s how I was able to grow,” I explained, realizing that I was ranting a bit. “Oh sorry!! I’m talking a lot, I don’t really know why I’m saying all of this!!” I said.

“I guess I’m trying to say... for a student who is wanting to be a hero but is stuck in General Studies... don’t give up! Focus on becoming a hero, and don’t listen to those trying to tell you otherwise. Even seemingly useless quirks can be used heroically, and I’m going to do my best to help you discover more about your quirk,” I said, looking at him. He was looking at me very attentively, as if he appreciated what I was saying. He didn't speak much, but I could tell his mind was busy at work... Just like Sho. I smiled. “I won’t say it will be easy, but if you trust me and work hard at it, I will do my best to help you,” I said, standing up and bowing. “I apologize that I talked nearly the whole time, but the bell is going to ring soon, so you should head off to your next class,” I said, heading towards the door. “Next week, we can start figuring out the details of your quirk,” I said. “Thank you again, CC,” he said, bowing politely before heading out into the hall towards his next class.

*Shota’s POV*

The Sports Festival... easily the biggest event during each year at U.A. Televised worldwide, and hundreds if not thousands of people in attendance... and somehow I ended up here this year... “Heya Eraser, my brotha!! Crazy couple of rounds so far huh??? I think you should try and pick up the slack on your commentary a bit!!” Mic said to me right after the cavalry battle ended. “I’d rather not. We both know I don’t want to be here. It’s because of my injuries that I can’t do anything else but sit here... I didn’t have a choice,” I said to my overly energetic friend. Mei was assigned to be on standby at the third-years competition this sports fest. I’m almost certain she was probably the one that suggested to the Principal that I sit with Mic today... I’ll have to get her back for it later. “Eraser, here are those files you asked me to pull,” I heard the voice of my colleague Vlad say. “Thanks, Vlad,” I said as he handed me the stack of them.

I studied through them, figuring out what to expect from the upcoming one-on-one battles. I came across the file for the General Studies course. *That’s why he sounded so familiar... it’s the student that Mei started counseling a couple weeks ago... Hitoshi Shinso.* I read through his file, including the notes that Mei took on him and his quirk. “Has been stereotyped by his peers as having a villain-type quirk.” *Reminds me of Mei...* I read through the rest of his file, interested in learning more about this aspiring hero that didn’t make it into the hero course. “Woahhhhh Shota!!!! You didn’t tell me you and Mei had a kid!!!!” Mic exclaimed from over my shoulder, looking at Shinso’s photo in the file. “Don’t be an idiot. The kid is 15, he’s much too old to be our child,” I replied to him, still looking down and not at him. “But look at him!! He has your scowl and Mei’s purple hair!!! You can’t possibly convince me that he’s not secretly your child,” Mic continued. “Just drop it, would you, Mic? It’s about time for the final event to begin,” I told him, not wanting to think too much about Mei and I having a child. It was a pipe dream.

*Meiya’s POV*

It was a long day at the sports fest, with a lot of cleanup afterward. We managed to get it all done though, so we would have the following day completely off. Shota was still suffering from his injuries that he got at the attack on the U.S.J., so when I was finished helping clean the arena of the second-years sports fest, I went to retrieve my sleeping husband from Recovery Girl. We went home, and I helped him put on fresh bandages after he got washed up. It was late, but we were both starving, so I made some food and Shota joined me at the table. “So how did the first-years do?? I am excited to watch the recap of it,” I said, as I didn’t see any of it since I was busy working the other. “It was quite a spectacle. There’s so much raw potential in this year’s hero course... oh... and that boy you have been so fascinated by participated,” he said as I then fed him a bite of food... his hands weren’t exactly operational at the moment. “Oh!! Shinso?? Good.. I told him he should participate in the sports fest! How did he do? What do you think about him? I think I’m so 'fascinated' by him because he reminds me of you back in the day,” I said. “Funny... he reminds me a bit of you. He did well, all things considered. Made it into the final round in fact,” Sho at replied. “He made it in the top sixteen?? Oh! That’s so great!” I said before taking another bite. “That’s probably just the confidence boost he needs,” I added. Shota nodded. “Yeah… In fact, I am interested in talking to him at some point. Perhaps I can show him a few things that’ll help him in his journey to become a hero,” he said to me.

I looked at him with raised eyebrows. “Did he really do THAT good at the Sports Fest? Enough to grab your attention?” I asked, a bit surprised at my husband’s interest in a first year General Studies student. “To tell you the truth… he didn’t do all that great. His first and only match in the finals was against Midoriya. He managed to activate his quirk, but Midoriya somehow broke through it,” he explained. “But yes, he has grabbed my attention. I think partly because I can see myself at that age in him. But also… it was something that Yamada mentioned... He was convinced that Shinso was our child or something,” Shota said, and even though I couldn’t see his face under his bandages, I could tell his eyes were sad. We had wanted our own kids for years, but couldn’t have any. Perhaps if we did actually have a son, he would’ve looked similar to young Shinso. I chuckled slightly. “Honestly, I can kind of see what he means. He has your soft sleepy eyes,” I said, reaching over and moving his long black bangs out of his eyes so I could look into them better. “And he has your hair,” Shota replied, lifting up his hand to stroke my long purple hair, only to remember that his entire arm was bandaged. I chuckled again and took his hand and kissed it, then just held it in my arms. “I think you would be an amazing mentor for him, Sho… You should come meet him. He’s a great kid,” I said, stroking his injured arm. “When’s your next session with him?” he asked. “It’s next Thursday right after lunch… Perhaps we could do that one together,” I said, smiling at him. He nodded and replied, “yeah.” 

[lindyloosims]

Johnny:

Living with the Vatores was an education. I had spent months holed up in a dark room coming to terms with the fact that I no longer had a pulse, that I could never sit in the sun again and that I could only drink blood from now on until fuck knows how long. Those were the cons, the pros were eternal life, looking forever like a guy in my twenties, super strength, heightened senses, ridiculous speed and as I got the hang of this vampire thing Lilith was going to teach me to hone my unique skill whenever it decided to present itself. Hers was mindreading, Caleb’s was the art of persuasion, knowing my luck mine would be talking to bats or some lame shit like that!

I was feeling better about the whole thing, seeing Clancy again brought back memories for me, happy and sad. He gave me a reason to fight on but at the same time he made me realise that I had to let Cassie go, there was no way I could ever bring her into this kind of life...so I gave up on ever getting to touch her again. Lilith and Caleb invited me downstairs for a chat, trying to get me to come out of my dark room.

LILITH: Johnny sweetie, Caleb and I would like a word.

They sat me down, Caleb was smirking and Lilith was giving me her usual doe eyed gaze. She had been so kind to me, there was no way I could ever repay her for what she and her brother had done for me. Finding me and taking me in, protecting me from Vladislaus Straud and his minions. I felt so stupid falling for that phone call, Vlad pretending to be a talent agent and luring me here, to the biggest vampire town around! Hindsight is a wonderful thing and what was done was done. As Lilith gave me that cute little fangy smile of hers, I felt at ease, despite Caleb’s grey eyes bearing down on me from across the room.

LILITH: Johnny? Honey, we want to run something by you if you don’t mind.

JOHNNY: Oh crap, you want me to leave, don’t you?

LILITH: What? N-no, where did you get that idea from? Gods!

JOHNNY: I just...I’ve been here a while now and...aren’t you sick of me? Haven’t I outstayed my welcome?

LILITH: Of course not sweet boy! We love having you here!

CALEB: Um, hello? You might, but I didn’t sign up for another dude in this house! No offence Zest, but I prefer not to get Vladislaus’s hackles up by harbouring a wanted man!

Caleb may have saved my life, but he really didn’t like having to compete for his sister’s attention. He was completely devoted to her, he had a special someone in his life but rarely mentioned them, he focused all of his time on Lilith.

LILITH: Ignore my knucklehead of a brother Johnny darling, he’s extremely self-entitled! What we wanted to ask you is very important, what you need to know is that you are under no obligations, whatever you decide is completely up to you, okay?

JOHNNY: S-sure.

LILITH: My brother and I founded a vampire society many years ago with like minded senior vampires of this town who were tired of Vladislaus and his dictatorship! He was a member in the beginning but we had to vote him out for trying to corrupt the more vulnerable among us. We thought he was seriously considering our way of life here but in actual fact he was just trying to tear us apart from the inside. That left us with only 11 in the group, it would be nice to round it up to a healthy 12 again, so...

LILITH: What we’re asking of you Johnny is simple, will you commit to us and join The Order of Osiris?

CALEB: All joking aside, we would be honoured if you would take that twelfth place Johnny.

LILITH: So, what do you say sweet pea?

LILITH: Will you join us?

Previous_Next

From The Beginning

[darks-ink]

Absurdism Chapter 11

Danny antagonizes Vlad, Valerie shows everyone why she is Amity’s best ghost hunter, and then promptly as A Regret.

Rating: Teen/K+ (a lil swearing, because teenagers, man) Warnings: - Genre: Family, Hurt/Comfort Additional Tags: Sibling Bonding, Family Bonding, Alternate Universe - Halfa Jazz AU, Jazz makes friends

[AO3] [FFN] [more Absurdism on Tumblr] First Chapter | Previous Chapter | Next Chapter

---

“Have you seen?” Jazz asked the moment she joined Phantom in their clearing.

“What, the bounty?” He shrugged, far too casual for her comfort. “Yeah, it’s fine.”

“Fine? It’s a million dollar bounty! The world’s best known ghost hunters are all coming to Amity, just to hunt you down! How can you not worry about that?!”

Phantom blew out a breath. “Chill, Jazz. They’re the world’s best known ghost hunters, not the best. They’re a bunch of phonies who couldn’t catch a ghost if it waved at them.”

“But—” Nerves curdled in her stomach. Why was he so dismissive?

“It’s nothing,” Phantom said, more comfortingly, like he’d finally caught onto her concern. “Really, Jazz, it’s fine. I got away from all of them when I was your age, and I could do it again now. Not that I would have to, because the bounty isn’t real.”

She blinked at him. “It’s not?”

“Nah. Or, well, in my universe it wasn’t, so I bet it’s not in this one either. Vlad set it up to lure me—you—us away from the Fenton Portal so he can steal it. And I guess I make a better target than you.” He shrugged.

“He’s probably still trying to get you out of the way,” Jazz pointed out, crossing her arms. “Since you ‘stole’ his mentorship position, and all that.”

Phantom made a face. “Ugh, yeah, probably. Really, though, I’ll be fine.”

Jazz shuffled her feet uncertainly, watching her glow flicker slightly. A reflection of her emotions, she now knew. “Are you sure? I mean, it just takes one slip-up…”

“I’m sure, Jazz.” He smiled at her. “I mean, really, the only reason why I got caught in my own universe was because I felt bad for Dad and let him catch me. And you obviously haven’t hurt his feelings like I did, so…”

She snorted, startled. “Oh my god, you let him catch you? How did you even survive your first year as a half-ghost?”

“Well, some might argue I didn’t.” Phantom winked, his grin growing more wide. “But for real, he found out that the bounty was a trap, and the ghost who put it out was going to target our family. Or, well. Jack’s family. I offered to free him from the trap if he freed me from the Fenton Weasel, and that’s pretty much how it went.” He shrugged at the end of it, like it wasn’t a big deal that their ghost-hating father caught and then released a ghost of their caliber.

“How can you act like that?” she asked, raising an eyebrow. “Seriously, Dad caught you and then let you go?”

“His family comes before ghosts,” Phantom pointed out, humor leaching out of his voice. “Always.”

The mood was clearly broken. Silence fell, strained and uncomfortable.

Jazz cleared her throat uncertainly. “Right, so, uh. What are we working on today?”

---

Now, Danny usually doesn’t go out looking for fights—not counting his patrols—but he figured he would make an exception this one time. Vlad was still in Amity somewhere, lurking.

Besides, he fought the elder half-ghost in his own universe. If he didn’t come to Vlad, the man would surely seek him out. Better to catch him off-guard and engage on his own terms, right?

Finding the older ghost was easy enough. Even though half-ghosts were harder to detect—thanks, ghost sense—Vlad wasn’t alone; he’d brought the three vulture ghosts along. And those? Those were easy to track down, as long as you were looking for them.

Danny glanced downwards, quickly making sure that they were high enough up that no one could overhear. Assured of this, he flew up to Vlad’s level, even though the other half-ghost hadn’t noticed him yet.

“Hey, Plasmius!” he yelled, drawing even with the four ghosts. “What the fuck are you doing in Amity?”

Vlad whirled around, his red eyes briefly blown wide open—startled. Danny had actually startled him.

The expression was quickly wiped away in favor for Vlad’s usual smooth blankness, of course, but Danny was counting it as a win anyway.

“Phantom, I presume?” Vlad hummed, as the vultures spread out behind him. An attempt at intimidation, or were they getting out of the way for a possible fight?

“Oh please, like you don’t know exactly who I am.” He rolled his eyes at Vlad. “Seriously, man, you’re not welcome here. Haven’t you caused enough trouble yet?”

“Me?” Vlad pressed a dainty hand against his chest, eyes wide and blinking innocently. “Why, Phantom, what are you accusing me off? I haven’t done a thing.”

Danny shot Vlad the flattest, most disbelieving look he could manage. “Uh huh. Sure, old man. Nothing about this bounty is sketchy at all, and it certainly has nothing to do with you. Now, for the last time. Leave this town, or I’ll make you.”

The vultures behind Vlad squawked, a dead giveaway that it was Vlad’s fault. Not that Danny had any doubt about that, but it was always nice to have proof.

He grinned at Vlad, knowing the other half-ghost hated that cocky smirk. “So, now that we’ve established that… Leave, Vlad. I’m not above fighting you.”

“What, all on your own?” Vlad quirked an eyebrow at Danny. “I didn’t know you fought without your dear… sister.” The last word, he said carefully, measured.

Danny snorted. “I’ve fought more without her than with her. But don’t you worry, I’ve got more than enough power to deal with you.”

“Big words for a ghost who hasn’t even met me before,” Vlad scoffed, flaring out his cape in a (weak) attempt at intimidation. His fists flared up with pink ectoplasm. “But if it is a fight you want so dearly, I suppose I give you that much.”

“I would prefer if you just left,” Danny bit back, firing off two quick but low-powered ecto-blasts towards Vlad, “but I’ll settle for kicking your ass.”

Vlad summoned a minimal shield, small and glass-like, reflecting the blasts. “Oh please. Bold words for a little ghost that can barely form an ecto-blast. It’s a miracle that Specter would even consider you a mentor, when you have so little to offer her.”

“You’re just jealous that she didn’t want you,” Danny countered, smirking at Vlad. His core thrummed eagerly, flooding him with energy. It had been far too long since he’d been in a serious ghost fight. “But don’t be jealous, Vladdie, because she wouldn’t have accepted your offer even if I hadn’t been around!”

He underlined the statement with another ecto-blast, bigger and more powerful than the previous two. Vlad swore, ducking underneath it—barely.

Vlad shot back a blast of pink ectoplasm in retaliation. “Don’t call me that!”

The blow petered out against a hastily formed shield, and Danny blinked innocently. “Call you what, Vladdie? Don’t you like it when people use your name?”

Vlad snarled, the ectoplasm whirling together into pink flames. “Who do you think you are, you little pest!”

Danny opened his mouth to snark back, but Vlad lunged at him and he discarded the attempt in favor of protecting himself. He dodged the first swipe, used a shield to block the second, and then blasted Vlad in the side to push him away.

“Why do you even care about Specter?” Vlad asked, once he’d recovered from the unexpected counterattack. “You say she’s your sister, but you can’t be. It must be something else.”

Oh, Vlad. For an expert of all things half-ghost, he could be incredibly oblivious. “Why can’t I be, hm? Is there some sort of limit on half-ghosts, or do you just feel threatened by the possibility that someone could’ve managed without your help and expertise?”

He could see Vlad’s brain grind to a halt at that. The man froze in mid-air, the ectoplasmic flames around his fist dying off.

“You… You can’t be,” Vlad mumbled. His voice was quiet, like he was just thinking out loud. Danny would feel bad about listening in but, hey, Vlad has done far worse. “It makes sense, but— surely I would’ve noticed? He acts like he knows me, and he’s close to Jasmine, but— no. Surely not?”

“You’re rambling, man,” Danny interrupted, leaning his chin on his hand and rattling the fingers against his cheek. “You wanna leave to have your crisis somewhere else, or are we still gonna fight?”

Vlad whirled around to him, his aura flaring brighter. “Would you shut your mouth, Daniel?!”

Immediately, Vlad snapped his mouth shut, but it was too late. His cheeks colored—an inhuman teal—and Danny realized that Vlad hadn’t even meant to say his actual name.

“You know, I usually ask people to call me Phantom or Danny, but I’ll give you a pass for this once.” Danny lounged backwards, his spine clicking as he stretched. “Seriously, though. Are you gonna leave, or what?”

A pink ecto-blast whizzed by him, and Danny raised an eyebrow. “Well, alright then. If that’s how you want to play this.”

The next blast, he intercepted with a shield. It lasted through several more shots from Vlad, before Danny suddenly dropped it, following it with an ecto-blast of his own. It caught Vlad right in the arm, breaking up the steady rhythm of firing.

In the newly made gap, Danny darted closer, angling low and bypassing Vlad entirely. Electricity crackled over his arms, and he discharged it right against Vlad’s unprotected back.

The older half-ghost was blown forward, tumbling heels over head, but he managed to straighten himself quickly. He snarled, baring his fangs, flames licking over his arms.

Danny rolled his eyes, looking as unimpressed as he felt. “You’re not that scary, man.”

He waited until Vlad opened his mouth to snark back. When he did, Danny launched a pointed icicle, swiftly followed by several more.

Vlad swore, throwing his ectoplasmic fire in front of him. Once the flames had faded, Danny could see that Vlad had gotten soaked, but he seemed unharmed.

“You’ve been underplaying your skill,” the other half-ghost commented, his voice strained. “You didn’t need Specter’s help for any of those fights of yours, did you? But why else would he train her…"

“Yo, fruitloop, I’m right here!” Danny shot another ecto-blast, but it was halfhearted, and Vlad easily shielded it. “And I think you know the answer to that last question already, don’t you?”

“It can’t be!” Vlad snapped back, aura flickering wildly. “You’re obviously experienced, and I can’t have missed— missed another for so long!”

Danny scoffed dismissively. “Clearly you can. Seriously, man, it’s been years. You’ve missed your shot by miles, and Jazz will never take you, because she knows she’ll always have her actual family. Give up, Vlad. Or learn to do better, and maybe I’ll let you help.”

Vlad snarled, vicious and animalistic. “I don’t need your pity, boy, nor your advice! I’ll get what I want sooner or later, and you’d be wise to join me before you pick the losing side.”

“I’m already with the winning side, Vlad.” Danny crossed his arms, staring Vlad down impassively. “You’re free to join us if you clean up your game, you know? But nobody wants this, Vlad. The sooner you realize that, the sooner you can find happiness yourself.”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” Vlad sneered, eyes narrowed into bright red slits. “You’re, what, sixteen? You have barely an ounce of the life experience I have. But, nevertheless, I am done here.”

Vlad caught the edge of his cape, bowing deeply. “Goodbye, Daniel. You know where to find me if you change your mind.”

And, with that, he swept the cape over himself, disappearing in a swirl of pink smoke.

Danny cast out his ghost sense, confirming that Vlad had actually left. Him, and those vultures too. Uh, whoops. He’d gotten so caught up with Vlad that he forgot about the minions.

Well, they couldn’t have gotten that far. He would just have to keep an eye out during patrol.

Actually… maybe he could take Jazz out with him. That would assure her that the bounty wasn’t dangerous to him, right?

Yeah, that sounded like a good plan.

---

“Wanna join me on patrol?” Phantom asked, completely out of the blue. Jazz jerked her head towards him, frowned.

“Why?”

He shrugged vaguely. “You’re worried about the ghost hunters, yeah? If you come along on patrol, you can see first-hand that they’re no danger to me. Besides, they won’t go after you—they’re only interested in the bounty.”

“Well…” She made a face. He was right, she supposed, but still… “Are they really only going to chase you, though? That seems…”

“Sketchy? Kinda shitty? Just overall a really awful thing to do? Yeah.” He shrugged, lounging in mid-air. “There’s a reason why they held off on coming here until now. They don’t care about the actual ghost hunting, they care about the money.”

“That… sucks.”

Phantom shrugged again. “It also means that they have very little experience dealing with actual ghosts, so. Not very threatening. Want to join me for patrol?”

“I guess. Are you that worried about ghosts?” She frowned at him. “I mean, won’t the ghost hunter’s presence scare off other ghosts?”

“It’s possible,” Phantom admitted, easily. “But Vlad tends to drag his vulture minions along with him, and he’s not above having those guys cause trouble just to lure us out. So I’m gonna go on patrol and find them, make sure they can’t cause a ruckus later.”

“Isn’t that exactly what he wants, though?” She sighed. “But, yeah, sure, I’ll join you on patrol. Give me a second to finish this bit of homework, and I’ll meet you outside.”

Phantom grinned, wide and bright, and saluted her. Then he was gone.

She rolled her eyes—he was definitely running head-first into a trap—but did as she’d said. Her homework was almost done anyway, and she had plenty of time for the rest later. For now, she had to make sure that Phantom wasn’t doing anything stupid.

And, yeah, in some way he was her older brother. Maybe she was a bit too worried about Phantom. He was, after all, both older and more experienced as a half-ghost. He was way stronger than she was, could beat her easily if they fought.

But he didn’t always make good decisions. And that? That wasn’t a Phantom thing. That was a Danny thing.

Besides, they both knew that Phantom wasn’t happy to be here. No matter how hard he tried to be cheery, to help to the best of his abilities… He missed his home. He wanted dearly to go home. It was clear, so clear.

So, Jazz was glad that he was staying around anyway. That he was helping her with all this, instead of looking for a way home. Sure, he said that there was no point in looking for portals back, but there must be other ways. And even if he didn’t know about them just yet, he could’ve done tons of research in the time he’d been here.

But, no. Instead he’d stuck around in Amity, helping her. Training her, mentoring her, teaching her.

With her homework swiftly finished, Jazz pushed herself away from her desk, out of her chair. She bit her lip, hesitating for just a second… Leaving with Phantom to patrol would be sneaking out, wouldn’t it? But as long as she returned before it was too late her parents wouldn’t miss her, and Danny definitely wouldn’t.

She easily shifted to her ghost form, turning invisible and intangible so she could sneak out unnoticed. From her room it was just a short flight to the rooftop where Phantom was waiting, and she dropped her invisibility almost immediately.

“All done?” Phantom asked, pushing himself to his feet. With a quick flash of light he returned to his usual ghost form—he must’ve shifted back to avoid ghost detectors.

“Yeah. Lead the way, Phantom.”

He nodded, pushing himself off of the rooftop. Jazz followed him, taking a moment to remember the first they’d met. When she could barely fly up to meet Phantom’s height, never mind follow his steady flight.

She still couldn’t match his grace in the air, but, well. Danny had always been aiming for space. It made sense that he was better at flight, at disregarding gravity, than she was.

They found the vulture ghosts faster than the ghost hunters found Phantom, which either said worrying things about the hunters, or great things about them.

Unfortunately they weren’t that much faster, and the cacophony from the human hunters distracted her and Phantom long enough for Vlad’s minions to get away from them.

“Just follow my lead,” Phantom told her, a grin on his face, before he turned a full 180 degrees and flew back over the ghost hunters chasing them—him—them. She scowled, but did as he asked.

The hunters, in four clearly-uncoordinated groups, got tangled up in each other when they tried to give chase. Only a single shot was fired in their direction, and it went so wide that Jazz was almost embarrassed for the hunter who had fired it.

With their tail thus thrown off, the two of them managed to track down one of the vultures.

“Must’ve split up,” Phantom mumbled under his breath. They were hidden from the ghost around the corner of a building, ready to chase it down. “I’ll come from the front and freeze it, you catch it in the Thermos.”

“Gotcha.” She nodded, pressing her feet against the wall so she could push herself off.

Phantom nodded back, and off they went. He shot straight at the vulture, legs immediately melting into his spectral tail, hands glowing blue. He didn’t even fire the ice beam from the distance, like she knew he could, but held off until he was practically touching the vulture before releasing the shot.

It was effective, though, she had to give him that. The ghost was frozen solid, and the Thermos sucked it up easily.

“One down, two to go,” Phantom said, rejoining her. “Let’s keep up the pace, before those suckers catch up again.”

They returned to their sweeping loops over Amity, both turning invisible when they passed the ghost hunters again. Jazz thought they had ghost detectors, but they either didn’t have them, or didn’t use them, because the hunters didn’t even notice them. Suckers.

The two of them used a similar tactic on the second vulture, once they had found him. This time, though, Phantom scared the vulture by flying at him from the front, while she caught it off-guard—and in the Thermos.

“Just one more.” She grinned at Phantom. “Are you sure you didn’t ask me along just to make this go faster?”

He laughed, holding up his hands. “Guilty as charged. But, really, do you still think those guys are a threat to me after this?”

“I guess you’re right,” she allowed. “Come on, let’s go catch that last vulture.”

Just then, both their ghost senses went off.

“Well, I guess that he’s making it easy,” Phantom said, twisting his head to look upwards. “Oh, yeah, there he is.”

Jazz followed his pointing finger, and indeed, there the third vulture ghost was. Way up high, and actively flying around.

“What are we waiting for?” She smirked at Phantom, Thermos already in her hand. “Let’s get him.”

He grinned at the challenge, and before she could move, he launched himself upwards. Jazz laughed, quickly flying after him, even if she couldn’t match his speed.

The vulture squawked when Phantom hit him, apparently forgoing ghostly tactics to just body-slam the vulture at top speed. Jazz worried for a moment about how she was supposed to catch him in a Thermos, but Phantom was already turning around, arms still wrapped around the ghost.

They leveled out with her, stopping abruptly, and Phantom released the ghost. Apparently the maneuver had disoriented the vulture, because he didn’t even try to fly away.

Jazz uncapped the Thermos, held it up, and captured the ghost in its vortex. Satisfied with a job well done, she capped the Thermos again, clicking it back on her belt.

“And that was the last of them,” she said, a satisfied hum to her core.

Phantom dusted his hands, grinning at her. “Yeah. Thanks for the help, it really made things easier for me.”

“Not that you needed the help,” she countered with a shake of her head. “Seriously, those ghost hunters are just sad. I know that people don’t like it when we protect the town, but we have to be better than that, right?”

“The Fentons aren’t that bad either,” Phantom pointed out with a shrug. “And there’s always Val.”

“There sure is,” a familiar voice answered, and Jazz’ eyes snapped upwards. Red, and a lot of it. The whine of some sort of technology, and a blinding flash of light.

Jazz clenched her eyes shut, slowly opening them when the light faded again.

Valerie stood on her hoverboard, a knock-off Thermos in her black-gloved hands. It was nigh impossible to read her expression thanks to her mask, but Jazz thought she was frowning down at the device.

Wait.

Where was Phantom?

She looked around, but there was no trace of him. It was like he… disappeared.

Oh.

“Did you just catch my brother?” she bit at Valerie, twisting back to look at her. “I thought you were alright with us!”

Valerie scoffed, shoving her Thermos in a holster on her thigh. “There were more important targets. It’s a thing called prioritizing.”

“What, and we suddenly pushed to the top of your priorities?” Jazz asked, but cold realization seeped in. “Oh, no, of course. It was the bounty, wasn’t it?”

“Oh please.” Valerie huffed, her tone of voice making it sound like she rolled her eyes. “I wouldn’t expect a ghost to understand what that money means to me, to my family.”

“There is no money!” Jazz snapped back, feeling her glow flare out, ectoplasm sparking around her fists. “It’s a trap, Huntress! Just let Phantom go. Don’t do this.”

“Or what?” Valerie bit back. “You’ll attack me? Not good for your status as protector, is it?”

“I’m serious! It’s a trap, alright, and you won’t get the money.” Jazz darted around to block Valerie’s path. “The bounty isn’t real, some ghost put it out because he wants Phantom out of the way, I swear!”

Valerie scoffed, pushing Jazz out of her way. “Yeah, I don’t believe you. Leave, Specter, or I’ll shoot you.”

“Fine.” Jazz moved aside, crossing her arms. “Go, then, prove me right. But don’t blame me if this comes back to bite you in the ass, Huntress.”

“Oh, don’t be dramatic,” Valerie murmured, shaking her head. Her hoverboard roared to life, and away Valerie went—with Phantom captured in a Thermos.

“Ugh,” Jazz sighed, immediately dropping her stern posture. “I can’t believe— Of course she would be out here too, hunting for the bounty.”

She knew she should go out after them, should free Phantom, but… there wasn’t all that much she could do. Valerie would probably release Phantom sooner or later herself, once she discovered that it really was a trap. And Phantom wouldn’t want her to follow, either. Would want her to keep her house, and the ghost Portal, safe.

So she reluctantly turned around, flying back home.

No ghost hunters bothered her.

---

Danny had some experience with getting captured with ghost hunting devices, but the Thermos always remained one of his least favorites. The Weasel, at least, allowed him to overhear the outside, to still feel like he existed. The Thermos was… was nothing. From the moment he went in to the moment he was released again, it was like no time had passed.

It wasn’t… uncomfortable, or something. It just… didn’t exist. As long as he was in the Thermos, he was completely and utterly unaware. It was like no time passed at all; he was just suddenly elsewhere, and also it was three hours later.

He tumbled back into awareness—literally—staring right into Valerie’s mask. It was creased heavily around her brows, a clear sign of her frowning at him. And glaring, probably, knowing Valerie.

They were inside a cage of sorts, the bars made out of pink ectoplasm. Ah, yes. Danny remembered this part.

“I hate your sister,” Valerie told him, leaning right into his face. “I want you to know that.”

“Duly noted.” He rolled his shoulder, grimacing at the sound of it crackling. “She warned you about the trap, huh?”

Valerie hissed, low, and Danny raised his hands. “Chill, it’s fine. Specter can be a bit of a know-it-all sometimes. She’s clever, but she’s not great at conveying that knowledge.”

“I don’t care,” Valerie growled, then took an audible breath. When she continued, her voice was calmer. “Look, I just… I know you and Specter aren’t actively causing trouble in the city, so you’re not, like, high on my shitlist or anything. But that bounty went out and… it seemed too good to be true, but I just… wanted it to be real.” She shrugged. “My family and I… we really could’ve used that money.”

“It’s fine, Red. I get it.” Danny caught himself halfway through lifting a comforting hand, freezing in place. Valerie probably wouldn’t be receptive to that sort of thing, not from him. “I know everyone thinks that ghosts don’t remember anything from their lives, but… I know I do. And I… I remember what being poor can do to someone. How much it sucks, and what kind of weird shit people might pull just for some money.”

Valerie cocked her head slightly, her mask crunching together slightly. “Like what?”

“What, is this a cross-examination now?” He rolled his eyes, huffed for dramatic effect. “I might have sold stuff from my parents’ shed to make some money, hoping that they had hoarded enough stuff that they wouldn’t notice.”

“That’s nowhere near what I just did,” Valerie pointed out, crossing her arms.

“Well, no, but it’s not like I had ghost hunting equipment or potentially dangerous ghosts to chase down.” Danny shrugged, loosely. “Seriously, it’s fine. Not the first time I’ve been caught, and you, at least, had a pretty valid reason to catch me. If I had to get captured for this bounty stuff, I’m glad that it was you and not one of those other hunters.”

She made a face. Or, well. He thought she did. “Are those… seriously the best money could buy? Because, uh, yikes. I had no idea ghost hunting, as a profession, looked like that.”

“Yeah, you made a poor career choice.” He grinned at her. “But, hey, you’ve got plenty of time left to change stuff around. Or to better the name of ghost hunting. Either or, really. Up to you.”

“You sound like a motivational speaker.” Valerie scoffed. “Seriously, I thought you were bad during battles, but this? This is worse.”

“Aw, Red, I didn’t know you cared.” He pressed a hand against his chest, blinking lovingly. It was just… too easy to fall back into his easy banter with Val. He knew he shouldn’t, but, well. Banter was better than fighting, yeah? “But, for real, I get it. Specter and I, we try our best, but we’re not perfect. We can’t catch every ghost the moment they look like they’re up to anything malicious, unfortunately. I’m sorry it happened to you.”

“I don’t think you are,” she said, shaking her head, but Danny recognized that tone. It was her “I’m starting to acknowledge that you’re actually kind of human-like but I refuse to accept it” tone.

And, yes, Valerie had a tone like that. It was rare, but the few times he’d heard it had been memorable enough to stick.

“Well, that’s up to you.” He reached out a hand towards the bars, but they didn’t shock him. Ah, yeah, just like last time. Not phase-proof. “You want me to apologize by phasing you out of this?”

“You can do that?” She jerked her head back towards him. “I thought— It looked like ectoplasmic energy, I figured it would zap you if you tried.”

He wrapped a hand around the bar, tugging it meaningfully. “Doesn’t look like it. Besides, isn’t that why you let me out of the Thermos again? Or did you just want to vent about my sister so badly that even I would do?”

“Oh, shut up,” she grunted. “Just let me out and we’ll ignore this ever happened.”

“Sure thing, Red. The closer you are to the bars, the shorter I’ll have to make you intangible, so…” He gestured vaguely. “I’m assuming you want that time to be as short as possible, anyway.”

She inched closer, keeping her head turning towards him the whole time. “Why do you keep calling me that, anyway?”

“What, Red?” He shrugged. “Specter and I needed a name to refer to you, and, well. You’re a ghost hunter, dressed almost entirely in red. So, the Red Huntress.”

Valerie stopped next to the bars—and him—and stared him down. “I would comment on your naming skills, but I feel like that’s a lost cause, since you’re two ghosts called Specter and Phantom.”

“Believe me, I’ve heard it before.” He offered her a hand. “The worst part is honestly that we didn’t even coordinate that. We didn’t know the other had become a ghost until we ran into each other.”

“So shitty names are a family trait?” Valerie asked as she took his hand. Hers was warm even through her gloves.

Danny paused, thinking of literally every single one of his parents’ inventions. He shrugged. “Kinda, yeah.”

“I… I really don’t know how to feel about that, Phantom.”

He laughed, and used the moment of distraction to turn the both of them intangible. He stepped backwards through the bars, tugging Valerie along with him. Released both the intangibility and her as soon as they were through.

“That’s fair,” he ended up saying with another shrug. “My family was… a lot.”

“At least Specter still is,” Valerie said. Then she froze, seemingly startled by the fact that she’d just said something comforting to a ghost.

“That, she is,” he agreed with a nod. “Speaking of, I should go check in with her. Tell her you didn’t re-kill me or anything. Will you be alright from here on out?”

Valerie scoffed. “I don’t need your help. Yes, Phantom, I’ll be fine. Go worry over your sister.”

“I will. Stay safe, Red.”

He pushed off before she could answer, darting upwards too fast to hear anything she might shout afterwards. After that, however, he lowered his speed for the flight back home. Or, well. Back to FentonWorks. His dad could deal with Vlad fine on his own, and Jazz was around in this universe, too.

Still, even a casual speed brought him to FentonWorks quickly, and he landed on the same rooftop that he’d started the patrol on. He only had to wait for a few moments before Jazz appeared next to him.

Danny opened his mouth to greet her, but suddenly a body was pressed against him, chilly arms wrapping around him.

“Hey, Jazz,” he said, voice soft, as he wrapped his own arms around her. “It’s fine, I’m alright.”

“I was worried,” she admitted quietly. “I… I knew you’d be okay, but I couldn’t stop worrying.”

“I’m sorry.” He ran his hand through her hair, as strange and gravity-defying as his own. “I didn’t realize you’d be so worried, or I would’ve stopped talking to Val sooner. I promise, I’m fine.”

She huffed a breath in his neck, then pulled away a little. “You were talking to Valerie?”

Hook, line, and sinker. “Yeah. Warming her up a little to, well. Ghosts in general, I think, but mostly to us. How’d things go here?”

“They went fine. I didn’t have to do anything.” She pulled away entirely, but still didn’t look quite settled. “Dad beat up Plasmius with some of the inventions, and Mom and Danny just kind of shouted encouragements at him. I didn’t even have to do anything.”

“Good, good. That’s pretty much what happened in my universe too.” He nodded, rolling his spine and grinning at Jazz’ disgusted face. “Well, not the encouraging part, but Dad defeated Vlad on his own. In my universe, the vultures had grabbed Mom and, uh, Jazz, and trapped them in the weapon vault.”

Jazz blinked at him for a moment. “We have a weapons vault?”

“Yeah? It’s got a circular door and a keypad?” He shrugged. “It’s also not phaseproof, so it’s kind of worthless against ghosts. Well, it isn’t phaseproof now. They improved it when too many weapons disappeared but, well. Not much point to it if they kept telling me the password.”

“That’s ridiculous. How did I not know that it existed? You should show me where it is, later, just in case.”

“Sure thing.” He yawned. “Sorry, it’s been a long day. Shouldn’t you head to bed soon?”

She heaved a deep sigh. “Yeah, I… Wait a minute. You talked with Valerie! Danny!” She jumped forward, suddenly, crowding him. “You need to tell me what you two talked about!”

“Woah, chill, Jazz.” He gently pushed her away again. “Now?”

“Yeah, now!” she snapped at him. “You tried to change the topic so I would forget! I need to know what you two talked about so I know how to approach her tomorrow!”

“Alright, alright, I get it.” He shook his head. “Alright, so, it started like this…”

[ladylynse]

Explorations: [FF | AO3] The invitation to join the quest—or hunt or whatever—in the Ghost Zone was only the start of it, but with Sam and Tucker by his side, Danny figured everything would be fine—especially when the ghosts were obligated to play nice. Of course, that doesn’t mean that the Ghost Zone itself is harmless….

For @whosvladagain, for winning one of my follower giveaway prizes. They asked for some friendship between the trio hanging out and exploring the Ghost Zone. This...was not supposed to be this long, so the other prizes will not be this long, but the story got away on me a bit. A preview is found below; you can find the full fic on one of the fanfic sites I’m on (linked at the top and bottom of this post for ease of reading). 

-|-

“Dude, what’s that supposed to be? It looks official.”

Danny followed Tucker’s finger and saw the faintly glowing envelope sticking out of his backpack. The empty hallway meant they could talk freely, but he just shrugged and yanked his backpack out of his locker. “I dunno. I haven’t opened it yet. I found it this morning, but—”

“But you were already late because of the Box Ghost,” Sam interrupted. “We know. We saw. So open it now.”

Danny pulled a face and closed his locker door instead. “What if this is something that just sucks us into the Ghost Zone? I haven’t been pranked in a while. I’m kinda due.”

Sam rolled her eyes and reached for the envelope, plucking it out of his still-open backpack. “It’s Friday. School’s over. We can take that risk.” She flipped the envelope over, her eyebrows climbing when she saw the wax seal on the back. “Fancy.” She slipped a finger into the corner and slid it along the flap, breaking the seal at its centre. Nothing bad happened.

Nothing bad happened when she pulled out the parchment and unfolded it, either.

“What is it?” Danny asked, leaning over to look when Sam didn’t immediately answer.

“It’s…a challenge,” she said.

“A what? What kind of challenge?”

“This isn’t another thing like Pariah Dark, is it? Vlad did not just trick us into something major, did he?” Danny asked. He squinted at the writing—it wasn’t the easiest to read—and then looked to see if there was a signature at the bottom.

There wasn’t.

“I think this is from Dora and Aragon,” Sam said. “Listen, it….” She trailed off, glanced around to make sure the coast was still clear, and then read, “If you wish to find, you must first seek, but the path ahead isn’t for the mild or meek. Come to the castle of the dragon king—”

“Aragon’s not really the king anymore,” Tucker interrupted. “If he ever even was. Didn’t we sort that out when you got kidnapped?”

“—to receive the details for your questing.”

“Is that a challenge or a summons?” Danny asked. “It kinda sounds like a summons.”

“How should I know?” Sam said. “It’s your letter.”

Danny reached out and flipped the envelope back over. “Actually, it’s not addressed to any of us.”

Tucker snorted. “It was in your locker. Even the ghosts know which locker is yours. But I’d put my money on challenge, too. It said if you wish to find, right? As in, if you don’t wish to find, you get to ignore this.”

“Yeah, because that’s worked so well for Danny in the past,” Sam said dryly.

“It just…doesn’t sound like something I’m allowed to refuse is all, even with that,” Danny said. “Which I guess means I should get this over with, since for once I don’t actually have homework. You guys can cover for me if I’m not back by tomorrow, right? I’m usually with you for most of the weekend anyway.”

“Danny, we’re coming with you.” Sam looked at him like she expected him to argue, and even he knew the tightness in her jaw meant she’d have none of it. “If you want someone to cover for you, talk to Jazz. She does it all the time anyway.”

Danny opened his mouth.

“And if you try to say it might be dangerous, that’s why we’re not letting you go by yourself.”

He closed his mouth.

He didn’t really want to argue with that, anyway.

XXXXXX

No one in the Fenton household was home when they got there, so it was easy enough to leave a note for Jazz and steal the Spectre Speeder. Danny sometimes wondered what his parents thought when—if—they noticed its absence. Maybe Jazz always managed to come up with something if they brought it up. Or maybe they always thought the other was responsible and just never asked. He could be that lucky, right?

They took the Spectre Speeder as far as they could—Dora’s kingdom might not be as stuck in time as her brother’s, but some things hadn’t changed—and went the rest of the way on foot.

There were a surprising number of ghosts gathered in the courtyard when they finally arrived, and Danny had the distinct feeling that they were late to whatever this was.

“So you made it after all, whelp,” Skulker muttered to him. “And I see you’ve brought your teammates. You did not choose the hunter girl?”

“Uh. No?”

Skulker laughed. “You will make easy prey.”

That would have been more terrifying coming from someone other than Skulker, but Danny still exchanged glances with Sam and Tucker. Teammates. Did that mean this quest thing was a game? There hadn’t been any official time on the letter—he could have turned up at any time or not at all—so how could this be—?

“Billy Phantom,” a voice drawled behind him. “Did you remember to take a number for your team?”

Danny turned to find Amorpho standing behind him, looking as much himself as he ever had, though Danny had no idea if that was what Amorpho really looked like. “A number?” he repeated.

“I didn’t think so.” Amorpho reached into the breast pocket of his trench coat and pulled out a clipboard that, had he not been a ghost, would have never fit in there. “You and your friends will be Team 43. You get to start when your number is called.”

“Start what?” Sam asked.

“The Holiday Hunt.”

Tucker blinked. “But it’s not Christmas.”

“And the Holiday Hunt won’t coincide with your Christmas unless that happens to be the holiday chosen by the draw.”

“Is this like the truce?” Danny asked. Amorpho had no reason to lie to him, and he’d never heard of this before, so it couldn’t hurt to ask. “This isn’t an annual thing, is it?”

“Princess Dorathea is set on reviving an old tradition,” Amorpho said, and Danny frowned upon realizing Amorpho had no trouble remembering her name. Maybe he just called him Billy on purpose? “The Holiday Hunt hasn’t been held in centuries. But yes, the Truce rules apply.”

“So what holiday is today?”

“Beltane,” Amorpho said, in a tone that made Danny not want to admit he hadn’t heard of it.

“Um.” Tucker held up one finger. “What exactly are we supposed to be hunting?”

Sam looked like she intended to track Dora down and put a stop to the tradition of the Holiday Hunt again, but she contented herself with balling her hands into fists until she had more information. Danny edged slightly away, just in case she didn’t like Amorpho’s answer.

“You’ll find out when your number comes up,” Amorpho said. “If you can figure it out.” He consulted the clipboard again. “You are content with a team of three? You’ll be at a disadvantage.”

“That explains why Skulker asked about Valerie,” Tucker muttered.

“Who else would we work with?” Sam demanded. “You? Skulker? No thanks.”

“Skulker’s on his own team with Ember, Technus, and Youngblood. If you’ll notice, his team was just dispatched.” Amorpho sniffed. “I, like Dora and the Ghost Writer, do not play.”

Danny narrowed his eyes. “Are you really involved in this? Or are you just trying to sow chaos? And isn’t the Ghost Writer locked up?”

“The Truce rules are in effect,” Amorpho repeated, “and helping with the Holiday Hunt has been deemed community service. Are you sure you want me to mark you down as a three-person team?”

“Yes,” Danny and Sam said, but Tucker surprised them with the opposite response.

“What?” he asked when they looked at him. “We don’t know where we’re going. We don’t even have the map. And if we get lost, I’m definitely missing supper, and Mom’s making her special meatloaf.”

“I brought the map,” Sam said. “That’s not the point.”

“Yeah, missing my mom’s meatloaf was the point.”

“That’s not—!”

“Who would you team up with us, if we said we wanted a fourth?” Danny asked. “Who’s not already in a group? Dani’s not here, is she?”

“Dani is already on a team,” Amorpho said. “Your fourth would be someone who is a little less…popular.”

“Dani’s popular?” He hadn’t even known how many of the ghosts knew about her. He wasn’t sure how strong her ties to the Ghost Zone were. To his knowledge, Vlad had never developed something to reliably create portals. Even the Fenton Bazooka just spit out unstable portals, and no ghost would voluntarily use that as a travel method. “Wait, never mind. That doesn’t matter. She’s here? I can talk to her?”

“Her team was among the first to set out. You are welcome to try to find her at the post-Hunt party if you all return.”

“If we—?” Danny broke off, glancing uneasily at the others. “You know what? Yeah, we’ll take that fourth.”

-|-

Keep reading on FF or the AO3. (I’m sorry, but this fic is really too long to be in a single tumblr post; it’s about 9.5 K.) Alternatively, see more fics.

[randomguywithwords]

Thanks For The Assist: Chapter 3 (Itsuka X Neito Story)

AO3 Link: Here

Chapters: 1, 2 

Chapter 3: First Meetings

–––––––––

A fresh start. 

A lot of people like to say that, do they not, usually on their first day at a new school, a new job, whatever. These new people didn’t know who you were, after all. It bestowed a rare opportunity to change yourself in a way that people who did know you would find strange. 

In other words, taking off one mask and donning another. 

How many masks had he worn in middle school alone? One for his teachers, one for his classmates, one for friends he didn’t consider friends. He was sure the feeling was mutual. Perhaps the shape of the masks were different for each one to cater to what they wanted to see, but they shared the same colour – the colour of the background. Like a chameleon, he fit in. For four years, all he did was fit in. 

He hated nearly everything about that life he had lived in supplication. He had donated his old uniforms to his school in the same week he had graduated. It had no place in his wardrobe. 

The new uniform was unexpectedly comfortable despite the formality and prestige of it all. It was cliche, but he felt a tad prideful by simply wearing it. Everyone who saw it knew he was: a student of U.A, the grandest hero school in Japan boasting standards as high as the hill on which it was built. 

Was this uniform going to be donated as well when the three years were up? Another three years spent in silence, in the background, while the main characters paraded themselves onstage?

He didn’t want history to repeat. It could not repeat. 

He looked at himself a last time in the mirror, before he left his room. Try not to think about it.

————

He slid open the classroom door to see two students standing up, mid-conversation. One of them was sporting a recognisable orange ponytail. His lips formed a tiny smile. Guess I won that toss. 

She turned around to see who had entered, and her face lit up as well. She smiled and waved, while the green-haired girl that she was talking to looked to see who he was. 

He plopped his bag on a random desk and walked up to them with a curt greeting. She stuck her hand out for a high five, which he took. 

“Nice, guess we are classmates.” Kendo said. 

“You guys know each other?” The other girl’s eyes flickered between the two.  

“Ah, sorry. Tokage, Monoma. Monoma, Tokage. We met during the entrance exam.” 

“Pleased to meet you.” Monoma offered his hand. 

Tokage didn’t seem to move an inch, and he was about to be act affronted when he saw Tokage’s hand detach from her arm and shake his. He took a step back as the girl giggled. 

“Setsuna Tokage. Sorry, just a habit of mine when meeting new people.” Her hand floated in the air, waving, before flying back to reattach itself to her. 

Kendo was grinning as she glanced at Neito with a knowing look. 

“I see.” Monoma gave a grin of his own as the familiarity of his quirk registering hers flowed through his hands. He felt a strange airy sensation as his left hand popped off his body and gave a wave back. 

“What the hell?” Setsuna scrambled back, pressing up against the wall. Itsuka barked out a laugh. “You have a similar quirk?” 

Monoma reattached his limb, which took more effort than he thought it would. “Nah, my quirk copies others.”

“It got me the first time too,” Kendo said. 

“That’s sick,” Setsuna gaped. 

The door slid open again, and the three turned to see an imposing figure in the doorway wearing a crimson suit. 

“Only three of you?” He counted the number of people in the room. “That’s disappointing.” He strode to the centre of the room while the trio looked at each other with wide eyes, none of them willing to speak to the stranger. Luckily, as though he had read their minds, the man introduced himself. 

“I’m Vlad King, your homeroom teacher. What are your names?” 

Itsuka spoke up first. “I’m Itsuka Kendo, sensei.”

“Setsuna Tokage.” 

Vlad King appraised her with a look as he heard her name. “Recommendations student, huh? I look forward to seeing what you’ll do later.”

Itsuka and Neito looked at her incredulously, but Setsuna only returned a sheepish grin. “Wasn’t sure how to bring it up.”

“And you, young man?”

“Neito Monoma, sir.” 

Vlad King gave a gruff nod. “Take your seats first. I don’t mind you guys talking. We’ll start when everyone is here.”

As Monoma took his place, a thought crossed his mind about the exchange between Tokage and the teacher. What did he mean, later?

––––––

Later turned out to be a test, on the very first day of school. Brilliant.

At least Vlad King was nice enough to allow them to attend the opening ceremony, which according to Tokage, the other hero class skipped because their homeroom teacher didn’t think it was “rational”. 

The ceremony was nice. Principal Nezu had given a speech to welcome the newcomers as well as the returning seniors. He introduced the teachers for the various subjects aside from heroics, aside from Aizawa-sensei whom Monoma presumed was Class 1A’s homeroom teacher. But the main event was heralded with a familiar booming laugh that sent the school into a craze, as All Might himself was announced to be joining the school as a heroics teacher. 

Monoma should have felt more enthusiasm or described it as such, but he somewhat expected it, given how Kendo told him All Might had sent the welcome letter. Furthermore, he had no wish to be a part of the group of people acting like monkeys. It seemed that U.A was just like any other school when it came to the maturity of its students. So much for prestige. 

Another reason he was narrating this with less energy than he should have, when the number one hero was teaching him, was what came after the welcome ceremony. The Quirk Apprehension Test. 

In short, Monoma performed like a fish flopping on land. Not that he wasn’t trying. Itsuka gladly let him borrow her quirk for the Softball Throw and Grip Strength stations, which he appreciated, but a lot of his classmates’ quirks just didn’t seem appropriate for the other six, or they were quirks he couldn’t use, or too complex to use, like Tokage’s. 

As he watched her split herself up and fly across the gym – a swarm of green, disproportionately sized bees – he knew he had no chance to replicate that much skill with her quirk. Detaching his hand earlier was a party trick that demanded enough concentration. It was no wonder she was admitted on recommendations.

Hence, he found himself at the mercy of his frail, untrained body, which was partially his fault anyway. He was heaving for air by the time the last station – the Long Distance Run, concluded. Meanwhile, he saw how a lot of his classmates seemed somewhat unfazed. They looked tired, but not as much as him. Seeing this, he struggled to maintain his composure so as to not have himself pegged as the weak, scrawny kid on the very first day. 

Even though Vlad King concealed the results of the test, Neito could tell he was at the bottom for most of them. His classmates probably came to the same conclusion too. Great start. Thankfully, the first day of school was finished with that test, aside from a last piece of instruction to pick up their curriculum. 

But it wasn’t over for Neito, even as the school day ended with the students packing their bags in class before leaving. He was packing his when he looked up to see Itsuka. 

“Hey Monoma, you wanna come with us? We’re heading to the station.” Itsuka gestured to a group of classmates. How had she made so many friends? Neito had only talked to a couple throughout the day, and they were still basically acquaintances.

“Uh, you guys go ahead, I have somewhere to be, sorry.” Neito rubbed his hair, evading eye contact with Kendo. 

She seemed to take it well, or so it looked. He couldn’t decipher if she was disappointed, or indifferent, or actually amiable about it. Why would she be disappointed, she’s made other friends. You’re not that important.

“No problem, see you tomorrow!” She smiled gave a wave which Neito returned, and the group departed, leaving him with a bitterness inside. He wished he didn’t have to meet Nezu. 

Alone in the classroom, he turned off the lights and closed the door behind him. To Nezu’s we go.

––––––

“Ah, Mr Monoma, come in. Take a seat.” Nezu sipped on another cup of tea. Neito made himself comfortable on the leather seat in front of his desk. 

“I don’t want to hold you back. This meeting should take roughly ten minutes. Let’s start immediately.”

With Neito’s nod, Nezu began, “If I might inquire, what are your motivations in aspiring to be a hero?” 

“Um...same as everyone else. Helping others, keeping the peace, stuff like that.”

Nezu’s eye contact did not waver throughout Monoma’s answer. He wondered what the principal was thinking. He soon found out.

With the bluntness and force of a hammer, Nezu replied, “I see. I understand that this is our first time meeting in person, so it’s only natural that the lack of built rapport would affect your answer. If you would wish to tell me your full answer in the future, I would be very grateful. Thank you, nonetheless.”

Monoma shuddered in his seat, his ears heating up. Though Nezu didn’t seem like he meant to shame him. 

“Moving on, I trust that you are a mature young man, able to take my following comment with the apt amount of gracefulness.”

In a chirpy voice, Nezu delivered a sentence that rung like a death knell. “You did not, initially, pass our entrance exam.”

Two seconds passed, and in those two seconds a tidal wave of emotions and thoughts tore through Neito’s mind. Was he going to be expelled, and all of this was some sick joke? That wasn’t possible, right? It was illogical. What merit was there in humiliating him? 

“I – I see.” A bead of sweat rolled down his forehead. Then he continued, when Nezu seemed to look at him with some expectancy. Was this a test? An interview to judge his worth as a U.A student? “But I’m here, so I – I assume you have a reason for that?” 

Nezu hummed, and Monoma wondered whether there was a scratch of approval in his voice. “Officially, and practically, students are given a score on their combat and rescue ability. Defeating the machines nets you points, but so does helping your opponents, like your peer Ms Kendo demonstrated in the fight.”

“That’s all well and good, but I suspect that you have criticised this grading system, in your mind at least, for its shallow and superficial awarding of points. And you would be correct. What’s to stop a candidate from stealing points from other candidates, or even intentionally harming others?” 

Monoma thought that was a rhetorical question, until a few seconds passed in silence that he realised Nezu was waiting for an answer. “Um, that would be a hero-like behaviour expected from all of us.”

With a nod, the principal continued, “Exactly. And that is the main criteria. Every action performed by each candidate has to be asked, ‘Was that what a hero would do?’ So now I turn to you to ask, Mr Monoma, were yours?” 

Heat rose to Monoma’s ears, a concoction of embarrassment and anger. So this is a discipline session now? 

No, he wants something else. He wants me to fight for my spot. 

“No, maybe not, but it’s as you said,” Neito said, straightening up in his chair. There was a glimmer in Nezu’s beady eyes as he did so, “My quirk’s unorthodox, so I have to do what I can. And perhaps it isn’t fitting to take my peers’ points, but if you were watching us all, through surveillance I assume, then wouldn’t you have spotted instances where I stole points? That means you could have simply denied me the points and awarded them to the other candidates anyway.”

Nezu grinned. “That is correct.”

“But I didn’t make the cut, with or without the stolen points, because you saw something else in me. If I didn’t pass the entrance exam, I passed your own examination to get in.”

“Hmm, a bold statement, Mr Monoma,” Nezu said, causing Neito to falter, “But I admire your audacity. You are partially correct. I’ve said in your letter that I saw an intelligence inside you that I felt had potential to be furthered in this school. You might not be at the standard now, but with my tutelage, you will reach it one day.”

“I’m sorry, your tutelage?”

“That’s correct.” Nezu passed him a piece of paper. “Just because I’m a principal doesn’t mean I’m not a teacher. I was just discouraged from doing so because students were...intimidated by my style. I hope you will think differently.”

“Of course.” Monoma did a quick scan of the contents before looking back up.

“It’s a new schedule, and an additional curriculum of my choosing. Think of it as supplementary lessons to make up for the gap between you and your peers, who have all passed the entrance exam. You’ve a lot to learn, Mr Monoma.” Nezu finished his tea and stared at him, eyes flashing. 

Neito swallowed. “I’ll do my best, sir.” 

“Oh, call me sensei from now on. That will be all, Mr Monoma, you may leave.”

Neito stood up and bowed. As he walked away, a question came to him. He turned back. 

“Sensei, am I allowed to disclose this to my classmates?”

“That will be at your discretion, I would not be affected by either outcome.”

Monoma nodded and left. 

–––––––

I am way too braindead to write a note or anything here. My A/N is on AO3. Hope you liked this chapter. I’m heading back to work zzz

[spinwrites]

an evening in autumn

Danny Phantom fanfic. Summary: Now in their late teens, Dani and Valerie go on a date.

-

On a chilly autumn night, Dani dragged her companion by the wrist through the streets of downtown. They left the club and its heart-thumping music behind, and when they ducked into a dark narrow alley, Dani transformed. It lit up the graffiti splayed across the brick walls and the litter scattered around the trash cans, but she grinned, pulling her partner into a bridal carry and taking off into the sky.

“You haven’t gotten rid of the habit?” Valerie asked, tossing her hair to face the wind.

“Of flying like this? Nope!”

The dark-haired woman snorted. “I meant hiding when you transform.”

Glowing green eyes flickered towards her. “I know halfas aren’t a secret now, but I can’t do anything about it,” Dani said, turning her gaze back towards her destination, “so I still wanna keep my choice on when and where I reveal mine.”

Valerie hummed in understanding and craned her neck, trying to follow her line of sight. Whatever Dani had her eyes on, it was at a distance her human sight could not catch. The ghost girl’s grip under her knees and shoulders were secure, so she kept her arm around Dani’s neck loose. The city lights sped past them below, the air kissing her bare skin.

“Where are we going? You know I’ve got class tomorrow morning. I can’t stay up late.”

The halfa shot her a lopsided smile. “I got it, Miss Studious. Trust me.”

Of all the places Dani would have brought her to, Valerie wasn’t expecting them to return to the college campus, much less fly towards her own dorm. Dani refused to tell her what she was up to, instead buzzing with a sort of excited energy that reminded Valerie of a boy she had once dated, once he had come out of his shell. She pushed the memories away.

When they drew nearer to the dorm’s rooftop, Valerie immediately spotted the set up in the center. A coffee table with unlit candles, and a small blue couch piled with cushions. A bouquet of flowers lay on the center of the table, next to chips, two empty glasses and a bottle. She gaped.

“Are those from the student lounge?”

Green tinted Dani’s cheeks as she set her down next to the table and couch. “Nobody’s gonna miss some furniture for a couple hours.” Still floating in the air, she dashed towards the candles and lit them up, one by one, with a little green flame at the tip of her index finger.

“Wow,” Valerie said, joining the halfa as she sunk into the couch with a bounce. “This is… when did you even have the time to do this?”

“When you were busy in the bathroom,” Dani said, transforming back. Without her spectral glow, the candle flame glowed brighter, spilling a warm hue onto the furniture. She picked up the bouquet and pressed it into Valerie’s hands. The flowers were pretty, but she didn’t recognize them, and they were haphazardly wrapped together in mesh paper and tape. Dani saw her looking, and she rubbed her neck with a hand. “I picked them from the outskirts because I thought they looked nice. I don’t really know anything about flower arrangement—”

“No, no,” Valerie said, her smile growing, “this is amazing.”

Dani beamed.

They popped open the bottle, which turned out to be apple cider (I’m broke as hell, Dani told her, though she froze over the exterior of it to cool it down). Pouring it into the glasses, they talked into the night. About college, which Dani couldn’t stop asking questions on. About the stars they could see in the sky, whose stories behind their constellations Valerie listened to, as the halfa elaborated with a lot of gesturing and a faint glow to the freckles on her cheek.

When there was a lull in conversation, Dani pulled out a packet of what looked like green powder and dumped it into her own cider.

“What,” Valerie said as the halfa downed it in a gulp.

Dani burst out laughing. “You know catnip? But like, for ghosts.” She rubbed the side of the glass to her face and closed her eyes. “Oh man, so good.”

Valerie blinked in surprise when she opened bright green eyes instead of blue. “Do I want to know where you got it from?”

“No, but hey, what do you think of Danielle Ferron?”

“What?”

“Too lame. Danielle Fabianski? Ugh, that’s sketchy. Danielle… Ferrufino!”

“Where is this coming from?” Valerie laughed. Dani poured more of the catnip – ghost nip? – into her glass, swirling the cider in it furiously.

“Okay, that’s probably enough.” Valerie made a grab for the packet.

“Don’t tell me what to do,” Dani whined, holding it out of reach. “Tell me what you think of Dani Ferrari.”

“God-awful.”

They went back and forth, but as the night drew on, Valerie could tell Dani was no longer very coherent. She was also glowing and floating an inch above the couch, despite being in human form.

Valerie reached out and snagged at the girl’s wrist. “I think it’s time to call it a night.”

“No.” Dani straightened and wobbled in the air. “Maybe. I’ll— I’ll float you back.”

They set their things down, though Valerie held on to the bouquet just as Dani turned them intangible. The halfa was aware enough to drift them into the right room, and they popped back to tangibility.

“Dani?”

Valerie spun around. Her roommate was sitting at her desk with an open book, teal eyes wide in surprise. Valerie had completely forgotten about her. She looked back at Dani, who was staring at Jazz Fenton with brows furrowed in confusion and something else.

Oh boy.

“Aren’t you supposed to be in a different state? Wait, never mind. I’m outta here.” Dani took a step towards the window, but she stumbled.

Jazz stood up. “Are you okay?”

“Maybe you should sit down,” Valerie said quickly, pulling the halfa to her bed.

Dani sat, blinking slowly. Jazz glanced between them, at the flowers in Valerie’s hold and her other hand on Dani’s wrist. Her eyebrows rose. Then she turned to the halfa. “Are you high on ghost nip?”

“No.”

“Right. Look, you can lay down and take some time for the effects to wear off. Danny wasn’t very stable as well when he was exposed to it-”

“I don’t want you or your brother’s help.”

“Dani, just lie down,” Valerie murmured.

The halfa groaned, then she flopped onto her back. She wouldn’t face Jazz’s direction.

Jazz’s shoulders slumped. “I have to go wash up. I’ll see you around.” Then she turned and left the room, the door drifting closed behind her with a quiet thud.

Valerie sat down next to her date. Dani stared at the ceiling, bright green eyes far away. The glow to her freckles had faded, along with her enthusiasm she had held throughout the night.

“You wanna tell me what’s going on between you and the Fentons?”

“It’s stupid.”

“It’s because of Danny, isn’t it? About him revealing his identity in front of the world?”

Dani’s gaze slid to her, watching her. “How’d you guess?”

“He revealed my identity too. As Red Huntress. In front of my dad. But what’s this got to do with the rest of his family?”

“It’s just— Danny never realized how much of a thing I had going for me, y’know? After I left Amity, I had a job. Helped out a nice old man with his café, and I made friends with all the customers. Then stupid Danny went to international TV and told everyone who he was.

“People kept thinking I’m related to him, especially if Dani Phantom shows up nearby. They think I’m like him, brave or… or heroic, or something.”

Valerie stayed quiet.

“All my life, he’s had what I want. A family, Vlad’s approval, and— I dunno, I just—” Dani took a shuddering breath. “I don’t feel like my own person, or like I’m in control of anything. I dunno. I tried staying in Amity for a bit but I guess seeing the Fentons just brought back some memories.”

“And you’ve been holding this in since the Disasteroid?”

“It’s dumb.”

“It’s not.” Valerie frowned. “Tell me these things, girl. I’ll listen. And I get it.”

“Really?”

“Why do you think I left Amity Park? It’s not just ‘cause of college. After Danny saved the world, people hated the Red Huntress. I’m not saying he shouldn’t have done any of what he did, because the guy tries his best, but.” Valerie shrugged. “Sometimes we just… get left behind. Are you crying?”

“No.” Dani sniffled. Valerie patted her arm.

“Sorry I ruined our date. It was supposed to be fun but then I just had to eat that powder.”

“Don’t be. It was fun.” Valerie held up the flowers. “And sweet. And Jazz Fenton can stop eavesdropping outside the door.”

A guilty-looking Jazz poked her head in. She plodded over, her hands behind her back. “Sorry.”

Dani sat up and rubbed her eyes. “It’s okay.”

“Would you… would you ever want to come back? For a visit? Maybe we could talk to Danny, or our parents. I know my brother’s been asking after you, but none of us ever heard any news.”

A part of Dani wanted to return, Valerie could tell. So did she.

The halfa shook her head. “Maybe someday.”

Sitting down on the other side of the bed, Jazz smiled in the gentle way she saved for her little brother. “Okay, but you’re still welcome in this dorm anytime. Don’t let me stop you from picking up Valerie for midnight escapades.”

“Hey!” Valerie laughed. Dani cracked a smile.

One day, they would return to Amity Park. But today, they would simply enjoy the present.

-

Written: 25 Sept 2019 | Edited: 4 May 2020 | Phandom Bingo 2019: Vengeful Babes, post-reveal, dual obsession space AU, ghost nip, Jazz’s college

[makeste]

BnHA Chapter 216: You’re a Good Man, Shinsou Hitoshi

Previously on BnHA: Deku calmed his emotions and activated Blackwhip a second time, this time On Purpose, and for a moment it looked like he was going to completely curb stomp poor Shinsou. But then he crumpled in pain and the quirk vanished, and he realized he wasn’t physically strong enough to use that quirk just yet. So instead he chased after Shinsou using good ol’ full cowl. Meanwhile Ochako captured Monoma, who taunted her about having one last ace up his sleeve. This turned out to be a Twin Impact shot he’d been saving to hit Deku with, and it worked pretty nicely, but unfortunately our boy Shinsou didn’t have enough experience yet to take full advantage of the resulting opening. Meanwhile Ochako went to bail out Mina and Mineta and took out not one but two more opponents singlehandedly like the fucking ninja she is. Mina took out the third with a raging uppercut, leaving Deku to wrangle Shinsou, thus securing 1-A’s total victory. Now all that remains to be seen is what kind of excuse Deku will come up with for his sudden new quirk, and whether or not Shinsou will be accepted into the hero course. We’re all rooting for you, kid.

Today on BnHA: The 5th set wraps up with a 4-0 victory for Team A, which also gives class A the overall victory over class B, having won 3 of the 5 matches. As 1-A celebrates, Shinsou broods. He was able to piece together that the exercise was a test for his potential transfer, but he feels like he didn’t accomplish enough. The teachers gather the two teams for the post-game analysis and are all “what the fuck, Midoriya.” Deku is all “I don’t know either,” and for some reason everyone just buys that and moves on with their lives. Deku credits Ochako and Shinsou with helping to save him, but Shinsou says he just did it to stop his team from losing. Aizawa chokes some sense into him and says that just because he’s not a perfect 100% self-sacrificing martyr all the time doesn’t mean he’s not worthy of being a hero. Everyone else chimes in and says that Shinsou did really good, and Vlad says that although they still need to make it official, it’s more than likely that Shinsou will be joining the hero course next year. Having settled all that, Aizawa asks Monoma if he can do him a favor and come with him to see Eri the next day.

(As always, all comments not marked with an ETA are my mostly-unspoiled reactions from my first readthrough of this chapter. I’m caught up with the manga now at chapter 225, so any ETAs will reflect that.)

so we’re opening with Shinsou’s perspective on those last few moments against Deku

wow

you’re telling me Izuku was spinning around over and over again in mid-air? he wasn’t just twisting the binding cloth around?? he himself was literally twirling at high speed? that’s what this panel was depicting?? the author of this series is drunk

ahhhhhh my poor exhausted lavender son

welcome to shounen manga, friend. we only go forwards not back

ahhhhh fff dammit Shinsou

YOU BETTER NOT START CRYING OR I’M GONNA LOSE IT

and now we’re belatedly getting the hero names of the four class B kids waaaaaay after the fact

Emily??

(ETA: Exorcism of Emily Rose?? that’s what Viz’s translator speculated, anyway. idk I don’t watch horror movies so I don’t know what else it could be.)

I like the name “Mines” for Shouda though! his quirk kinda is like a landmine I guess. also this poor kid has seen better days Mina what did you do to him

anyways so poor Vlad is being forced to announce class 1-A’s perfect 4-0 victory for the second time in a row

haha check out Mina’s kung fu pose

and Ochako’s peace sign. MVPs. I stan some motherfucking legends here I tell you what

oh lol it was Midnight that was doing the commentary since Vlad went with Aizawa and All Might

I’m glad the kids’ petitioning paid off

so in the end class 1-A once again proved themselves against the unfortunate class 1-B who had all of the cool quirks but none of the luck

Midnight’s making the official announcement and everyone is cheering!

poor class B

it’s not your fault, Manga. at least your team actually won, mainly thanks to you

ahhhh we’re cutting back to Shinsou and his face is hidden and he’s tugging at his scarf and hesitantly addressing Vlad and Aizawa

SHINSOU STOP IT

SOMEONE GIVE HIM A HUG!! AND STOP LEAVING HIM IN SUSPENSE!!!

he says this was also supposed to be his transfer exam. so he knew??

lol Vlad is asking Aizawa if he told him, but Shinsou says he basically just put two and two together even though he wasn’t 100% sure

“not to mention, I was the only one who participated in two matches” yeah that was certainly a big clue

lmao Vlad looks so impressed

just how low are your standards dude

and now Aizawa is changing the topic and says it’s time for the teachers’ critiques! OH BOY THIS OUGHTA BE GOOD

Deku’s critique basically should just consist of “what the actual fuck Midoriya”

and like I said in the previous recap, Shinsou should get credit for his performance in the first battle as well as his save in this battle which showed he has the true spirit of a hero!

LOOOOOOOOOOOL

I WANT TO SHAKE HORIKOSHI’S GODDAMN HAND

so Aizawa’s asking what the principle is behind Deku’s new move since it’s so radically different from his established “super strength” quirk

and Deku’s just standing there nervously

Tokoyami and Kuroiro are bonding over their mutual admiration of how goth the new quirk is

hmmmm how you wanna play this Deku

so basically just be all “fuck if I know, this quirk only manifested for the first time eight months ago and it keeps surprising me with weird new shit. petition to rename it ‘mystery quirk’”

sidestepping the question like a pro there Deku

so he says his power suddenly started overflowing and he couldn’t suppress it and it scared him, but that thanks to Shinsou and Ochako’s help it turned out all right

he says that if Shinsou hadn’t knocked him out he’s not sure what would have happened

and he’s turning to Shinsou now and explaining that he wasn’t bluffing earlier, and he’s thanking him

what the fuck Shinsou

were you?? fooled me then

YESSSSSSSS GIVE OCHAKO HER PROPS

SHE WAS A FUCKING BADASS. NOW TALK ABOUT THE PART WHERE SHE’S RESPONSIBLE FOR CAPTURING 3 OF THE 5 ENEMY TEAM MEMBERS

noooo goddammit Mina not now!!

MINA ARE YOU JEALOUS NO ONE HAS GIVEN YOU CREDIT YET. WE WERE GETTING TO THAT, BE PATIENT

oh sheesh lmao

and now she’s nervously twiddling her fingers and smiling hesitantly and saying she’d rather do that than not do anything and regret it later

oh my gosh

SO PROUD OF MY LITTLE BABY GIRL. YES!!

and holy shit but I want to take that picture of him smiling almost imperceptibly and fucking frame it

look at Ochako managing to completely deflect the attention away from Deku somehow. not only was she the MVP of the battle, but she just keeps saving his ass even afterward

holy shit

DEKU’S FACE ALSO BEING BEET RED THOUGH. HE MUST LOOK LIKE A GODDAMN RADISH

anyway, so Shinsou says he just did what Ochako asked him to do

yeah, but you did it despite them being on the opposing team though!

exactly. you knew it was the right course of action and you didn’t hesitate

SHINSOU STOP MAKING THESE SAD FACES!!!

FOR FUCK’S SAKE I CAN’T TAKE THIS??

AIZAWA OH MY GOD YES

PLEASE REASSURE YOUR DEPRESSED PURPLE SON AND TELL HIM THAT HE DIDN’T DO ANYTHING WRONG AND HE’S A GOOD HERO

sdlfhaslkdfj

holy --

lmao at Kaminari immediately breaking into a chant. methinks the mangaka is too self-aware

and well then, since Best Dad Aizawa Shouta has officially entered the ranks of parents who occasionally discipline their children via shocking comedic violence (consider also: All Might decking Deku at the beach a mere chapter before Mitsuki’s infamous introduction), maybe we can finally put that debate to rest. I think it’s pretty clear when Horikoshi is intentionally portraying abuse and when he’s just being over the top because this is a fictional story in a fictional world where not three pages ago there was a character with a literal comic book for a head

oh snap Aizawa

in other words, it’s okay to be a little selfish. sometimes selfish is even needed. because he’s absolutely right, if you don’t take care of yourself as well you’ll fuck yourself over before long and then you won’t be able to save anyone

and also, at the end of the day, if you save everyone successfully and complete the mission, does it really make sense to stand around and argue whether or not your intentions were pure enough?

anyways needless to say I’m really digging this “nobody’s perfect” speech right here you guys

(ETA: oh hey it’s Aizawa’s Mysterious Cloudy Friend, Shirakumo! probably. hey Shirakumo. what’s your fucking deal goddammit)

this is basically Aizawa’s version of All Might’s speech from chapter 120. I always love when the series metas about what it means to be a hero and what separates the great ones from everyone else. and we saw firsthand in Bakugou’s match just a few chapters ago the difference it makes when a hero is focused on both winning and rescuing

now Deku is complimenting Shinsou on all of his strategic moves like dropping those pipes down on him and trying to lead him back to where everyone else was to regain his advantage

oh my god you guys Deku is so passionate and generous with his praise, this is exactly the kind of thing Shinsou needed to hear though

kinda getting that “a true hero doesn’t just save people, they save people’s hearts” vibe thing here on top of everything else

oh my god Deku

what the fuck are you talking about, if anything you lean into this too much and you need to relax a little and take some of Aizawa’s advice to heart

ahhhhhhhhHHHHHH

YESSSSSSSSSSS THIS IS WHAT I’VE BEEN WAITING FOR. YOU DID IT SHINSOU I’M SO PROUD OF YOU

oh my god. the one hand clutching his scarf and the other one in a clenched fist. and that face. oh shit here come the feels

and I desperately need to know if this means next year as in January/next term, or next year as in when they move on to year 2

(ETA: Viz’s translation indicates it’ll happen in their second year of school.)

OH FOR FUCK’S SAKE

GODDAMMIT HORIKOSHI I WAS SO LOOKING FORWARD TO THIS CHAPTER TO FIND OUT, AND THEN YOU GO AND PULL THIS SHIT. UNBELIEVABLE

(ETA: I love that both classes so clearly want him though. again, they’ve all collectively adopted him and I love it

also, class 1-A still has a traitor in their midst, so depending on when and how that all goes down, they may just end up having a vacancy, just saying...)

oh my god

Mina this is why I want you to run for President. and Aizawa, she absolutely is right and he should be punished

loooool Monoma is trying!

hang in there buddy

so getting back to that, I’m guessing what happened there was that he did take One for All the quirk, but not any of the stockpiled power within Izuku? because to get that it has to be willed to you by the previous owner. so basically he was trying to activate it, and it probably was working, but his version of the quirk was at OFA Prime levels. basically starting from scratch with no additional power stored up other than his own. and we all agree this is actually very fortunate for him and he’d be getting carted off to Recovery Girl right now if things had gone differently

does that not bother him, by the way? like, Ochako just figured he was “bluffing”, but Monoma knows he was actually trying to activate the quirk and nothing was happening. I wonder what he made of that. it seems like maybe he’s too caught up in the loss to class A to really think much on it just yet

(ETA: so apparently he knows enough about how his quirk works to have already figured this out, lol.)

whoa oh shit and I just read the last three panels and a ton of interesting stuff happened so quickly lol

okay let’s break this down and then we’ll end the recap

(1) Deku is so fucking pure. middle of a battle and being attacked, and his only concern is that the quirk is gonna be too much for Monoma and badly injure him

(ETA: and can I just say, the other students could have used a little more of that concern though. the teachers too for that matter.)

(2) so I take this to mean Horikoshi is going to explain what happened, but for now I’m assuming my speculation is more or less near the mark. he definitely did take OFA because you could see the telltale red flashing pulsing shit happening with his skin. so it has nothing to do with Deku originally being quirkless; it’s the way that OFA as a quirk works

(3) Deku is super fucking lucky that no one started questioning what happened with his quirk again, what with Monoma bringing the subject back up

and lastly, (4) OH SHIT. is he gonna have Monoma copy Eri’s quirk to see if he can control it? lol we only just established how lucky he is to be alive after taking Deku’s quirk. what are you trying to do to this poor kid

though I am glad to see Aizawa being a logical dad who cares about his baby girl and is constantly thinking of ways in which to possibly help her out. ah well, hope nothing goes wrong there

and that’s it! on to the next chapter to hopefully see Bakugou and All Might grill Deku about WHAT THE FUCK JUST HAPPENED lol

[fortheheavenssake]

MM Anon 3

MM Anon 3

Oct. 1

MM ANON … 🎼” back to black”🎼…… uncomfortably reunion …… “ AND THE CROWDS WENT…… home”… “blend in with the POC”🤣🤣🤣🤣…… Pressed for time. …… PR with blinkers… don’t Sue the messenger …… Harry on camping…… background colour …… “ bloody African Queen ‘ don’t think so”…… “ returning after their triumphant tour “…… OMG’ it’s definitely her

——————

Oct. 2

MM ANON, This vacuous tart is in need of serious therapy ‘ she’s trying to intimidate the British press who employ Rottweilers as journalists and have brought down whole governments. They string antagonists up by their Gonads and bury pieces of flotsam like nutmeg alive. Not only is this virus on a hiding to nothing,she has underestimated the established reading matter of middle England ‘THE DAILY MAIL. ………… ‘popcorn darlings ‘ popcorn !!!!!!!!!!!

———————

MM Anon - HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!

Oct. 2

MM ANON …… Dear Darlings ‘ today is my birthday 🎼 happy birthday to me🎼…………🎂🎂🎂🎂🎂🎂🎂🎂 2nd Oct. 1944. ……… “ a day that live in ignominy” 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

—————-

Oct. 2

MM ANON …… Thank you dear Skippy and all your faithful helpers ………… your blog is a joy and a privilege to post on …… GBTQAOGC👑👑👑👑👑 🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧

You are so welcome! We are honoured to have you join us! You are loved!🙏🏻❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

—————

Oct. 2

MM ANON …… A TM visit?…… a pitiful cry for help …… “tears of a Crown”…… “ Philip’ stop swearing!!”…… ink block carnage … a scathing edi-TORY-al……”A Sunday surprise “…… “well,well,well’ fe-MAIL- empowerment”…… Fleet St. circling the wagons …… 🎼 “ Homeward bound, I guess ………” 🎼j…… … ace card archificial …… “SA’ well that was a dud Megs”…… leap-Frog to Calipornia 🤫🤫🤫

—————

Oct. 3

MM ANON …… rogue withdrawal …… a petulant rattle slays fleet st. …… royal analysis paralysis ……… “ settlement now!!!! ……TM lawyers up…… tabloid utopia …… “ This is a bloody tape diversion old thing “…………“A spitting Halloween 🎃 “……… “ remember ‘remember, the 5th of Nov.” …… “ Philip ‘ this year you give the Queen speech”…… 🎆🎇😱🇬🇧💩⚖️⚖️⚖️…… GBTQ.

——————

Oct. 3

MM ANON , UNDER THE RADAR!!!!!!!! The Queen probably has information and physical evidence appertaining to “It” regarding her “ lost” years. During the summer PW spent a week at MI6 at Vauxhall. ( being briefed?) what on? Suddenly this week there’s a story of a certain acquisition of a “tape” the next day , via H. she sues the MOS regarding a letter. (Smoke And Mirrors) The hinges are falling off that locked door on her past ………………………!!!!!!!! Allegedly.

——————

Oct. 4

MM ANON …… Meanwhile at CH…… A Family meeting’ o dear!!…… “ One is apoplectic with disappointment “… (two red faces)…… “ this isn’t a game of happy f%#@k families!!!”…… an atmospheric cut…… legs and tails …… They Aga successful …… in the brown Windsor soup……a green beret chum…… nutmeg begs…… happy Harry …… SS documentary’s doom.

——————-

Oct. 4

MM ANON …… Smoke and Mirrors divert us from the elephant in the doom!!!, nothing to do with nutmegs bawling in the bathroom over being picked on by those nasty hacks 🤣🤣🤣 or hacked phones (it’s a daily mine field for the high profiled) abysmal failure on behalf of their security. It’s the tape darlings ‘ murkmegs very sore-did past. Popcorn’POPCORN 🍿 🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿

—————-

Oct. 5

MM ANON …… chocolate sundae …… don’t give up your day job …… single exit west …… a SMALL diversion … “ is he mine?” …… home alone ………… “ I fear for them Philip” …… Duty calls …… 🎼” you wore out your welcome with random precision “🎼……… “ we must talk Harry”……… jack and Jill went up the hill ……… “ it’s all on This memory stick.

—————

Oct. 5

Does this mean PiersM is a friend of Her Majesty (👑) or a friend of MM?

So many players, so much darkness in this schtick. My brain is fried. Thank you Skippy🐼

——————-

Oct. 6

MM ANON … the Queen …… “ one can’t choose ones family “…… “ Philip loves me doing Melania” …… “I rather liked Donald “ …… “ l frightening Vlad…… “ on our day together she never stopped yapping “ … “Harry ‘ we all make mistakes “… “ the little one, she’s a fireball “ …… “Camilla says she’s illiterate “ … “ what sort of name was that!!!!!”…” What!! Christmas ‘she’ll be lucky “ … “LG ‘ that’s why it’s called the Queens speech ‘ so f#@ck them!!”

————-

Oct. 7

MM ANON …… “MORGAN ‘ a suitable case for treatment” …… sue- da - nam?

————-

Oct. 7

MM ANON … Calapornia Dreem-in…… “ To be ‘ or Not to be…” …… “ I made a bit of a boob”……… “ the real Mc- COY darlings “…… “ artistic lie- sense …… “ not my best work”

—————

Oct. 7

MM ANON …… This is only my opinion on the validity of the alleged article. AN OPINION!! like skippy suggested in all posts , re disclaimer ……… what would be verified in this situation is “ face recognition tech.” ANYBODY?????? 👃🏾👁👄👂

————-

Oct. 7

MM ANON … lets move on!!!!…… fab unfore-tunate…… pre tour panic… …a fleet-ing vengeance …… “ don’t take this personally”…… “ you have TWO choices”…… “ get your bloody head out the sand”…… “it’s crumbling around your feet”……… “ baby ‘ what baby?”…… “we’re gonna need a bigger Bank”…… 🎼” if I was a rich man”🎼

——————

Oct. 8

MM ANON … ABANDON YOURSELF TO GOD AS YOU UNDERSTAND GOD ,GIVE OF YOURSELF SELFLESSLY AND JOIN US ,WE SHALL BE WITH YOU IN THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE SPIRIT AND YOU WILL SURELY MEET SOME OF US AS YOU TRUDGE THE PATH OF HAPPY DESTINY ‘ MAY GOD BLESS YOU AND KEEP YOU UNTIL THEN. thanks to all contributors. MM anon.

—————

Oct. 8

MM ANON … fab two ‘ future Queen……future king …… also rans …… three weddings and a refusal …… Archie-bargy …… a dog with no name …… silent screaming past…… 🎼” there may be trouble ahead “🎼…… “ if I tell you ‘ I’d have to…… “…… everyone is scarfing …… (another private flight)…… Branson island … Mail on payday… … “ please boo the buggers”

Thank you😊❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

—————-

Oct. 8

MM ANON …… This is only my opinion on the validity of the alleged article. AN OPINION!! like skippy suggested in all posts , re disclaimer ……… what would be verified in this situation is “ face recognition tech.” ANYBODY?????? 👃🏾👁👄👂

—————

Oct. 9

MM ANON …… “ sorry, not today thank you “…… never EVER explain …… “what happens in house, stays in-house”. ……a special briefing …… another cover-up?…… … glowing anticipation …… special forces …… “unprecedented care”…… a very tired PR …… public appearance nerves …… “we’ll pay you handsomely”…… “she’ll do it or suffer the consequences”

—————-

Oct. 10

MM ANON ……corespondents under the radar …… “MA to MM”…… 🎼” gimme a ticket for an aeroplane”🎼…… “ my baby wrote me a letter” “ I’ve seen the contents of several”…… ‘ thank you LG.”…… “were in need of another f#@ing hole”…… Sheeran a common problem ……” drag her along ‘ your joking”… not seen’ not heard, GOOD!!!!…… Christmas 🧣 scarfs …… 🎼Back in the USA”🎼…… “friends thou hast and their adoption tried ”…(very trying!!!)

——————-

Oct. 10

MM ANON, for Mr Skippy, “ take away my difficulties that victory over them may bear wittiness of thy love ,thy power and thy way of life “ …… GOD BLESS YOU BOTH. 💜💜💜💜🧡🧡🧡🧡

—————

Oct. 11

MM ANON … aggressive tabloid PR…… desperate image…… manipulate a student …… public fear…… ((loving wife and mother))…… 🎼” Money, get away”🎼…… a fence for Harry …… “ how do I milk this”…… most dangerous tour…… “ I guess I never got the memo”…… the natives are getting restless …… nutmegs public anticipation …… Scrambled eggs!!

—————

Oct. 12

MM ANON … Sunday sensation??……… LG will give the word…… lots of dirty dirt…… 🎼” love me or leave me”🎼…… when the going gets tough ……”…… “ not another chicken dinner”…… “ is She nice”…… “ I think you should know something”. …… “ Fair is foul,and foul is fair”…… WOW!! ace down the line!!…… “advantage MOS”… location,location vexation.

—————-

Oct. 13

MM ANON … “ THE MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK …… 🎼”Sparkles spangles, see how they shine, sing-a-linga “🎼…… Tom the Bomb… “A woman of sub-stance🤣”…… maybe ‘ sex lies and video tape … 🎼” when you come to the end of a lollipop”🎼… ……” A kid for two farthings” …… “ you know how to whistle don’t you Harry”…… “an obvious cuckold…… “…… home to roost”

————-

Oct. 13

MM ANON, Tom Bowers , Britain’s most feared biographer is going to write a “TELL ALL” Tome on the evasive one , will we expect 🎼sparkles spangles, your heart will sing , jing-jing-a-ling a 🎼…… OMG, the anticipation for this one is EPIC , 🎼 yachting, hotting, see how she lays ,toss-a-lotta🎼 This author flays his victims alive ‘ WE WAIT IN APOPLECTIC SUSPENSE 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣PLEASE TOM DO TELL “EVERYTHING!, emails,sexts And video tapes. 🎼”Sparkles spangles and deeds”🎼

—————-

Pakistan Tour 14-18

Oct. 14

MM ANON …… Pakistani perfection ……”will anything ever happen?” …… “ she’s a disease” …… HMTQ is feeling the strain ……… oh’ oh , the green eyed monster …… “MA has all the answers” …… ( and the evidence)………” if I had a penny ……… “…………” she got to show, to much gossip!!” ……… “ Harry, Dear heart, pull your head out of the sand” …… “it’s Kismet old thing,kismet!! “

————

Oct. 15

MM ANON ……A sense of humour ‘ tuk tuk …… 🎼nobody does it better 🎼……… REAL ROYALTY …… ‘after the Lord Mayor show came the dustcart …… Charlotte the “NEW”future people’s Princess 👸 …… Little Louie people’s Prince 🤴 ……… “, it’s nutmeg crumble for desert marm,…… “ that’s the bloody way to do it!!!”…… “ what’s that other silly tart doing?”…… “it’s a mystery Philip”

————

Oct. 16

MM ANON …… On the banks of Huntspill River …… a pretty Sum-erset …… O dear ‘ how not to be princely …… 🎼” everybody’s doing the loco- emotion”🎼……… In the real steps of his mother…… “Protocol, dignity and humour “…… Their successes drove her apoplectic …… LIZARDS 🦎 ……” please George ‘ don’t do that”🦎🦎🦎…… … Nanny doesn’t like🦎🦎🦎…… “I miss the children”…… ROYAL AIR FORCE ONE. …… MI6 and the visit??…… “ de visit was spectacular ‘ de-brief was better”. ……” Thanks M.”

————

Oct. 16

MM ANON… nutmegs agenda ‘ write his nauseating tome, push in front, psychologically undermine him , feed his anger and resentment for W&K! , Don’t get near the public ( fears of rejection), continue emotional blackmail, put pressure and endorse his lack of self esteem ,psychotropic drugs?, cry and keep asking him why people hate you ‘, convince him the BRF are against both of them …… question his grasp on reality. This is her agenda ‘ allegedly. Speculation of course.

——————

Oct. 16

MM ANON … after one year of marriage the boys a total wreck , mounting the Dias in Africa all disoriented ,and blubbering at child works , he’s in a psychotic purgatory that she continues to perpetuate. How does Harry dump the faux bump and find true happiness????? Britain is waiting for the inevitable divorce and the English rose Harry will one day meet. It’s Kismet LG ,pure Kismet!! “ Cry God for Harry’………… “.

—————

Oct. 16

MM ANON …Harry’s split second mishap…… A choreographed comforter. …… 🎼” 19th nervous breakdown” 🎼…… a plethora of past lovers … 🎼” we have no secrets”🎼🤣🤣…… The announcement,an unstable Stable. …… 🎼” I’m not in love, so don’t forget it” 🎼……… fixan a vixen. ……… nutmeg on Toast……… MA” is he mine? Yup!! ……” accolades on the return”.

—————

Oct. 17

MM ANON …… Thank you for the wonderful and ingenious humour LH. 🧡🧡🧡🧡🧡🧡🧡🧡🧡🧡🧡🧡🧡🧡🧡🧡

—————-

Oct. 18

MM ANON …… “Festering,yes”💸💸💸💸”it’s a struggle” 💸💸💸💸……… comment section ‘ #@&*#¥……… “ I was flying “…… 🎼” Never cried when granny died 🎼”……soon,wonderful weekend with the children …… FaceTime mummy’🦎🦎🦎🦎……… “ Kate , ones so proud”…… “ you’re a stalwart William “ …… “ you’re very pretty dressed as a Unicorn 🦄 “…… $h!t !! She’s gone nuclear!, …… well’ that Doc was a load of boll***.…… “shhhh’ I heard that too!!”… gossip darlings ‘ gossip!!… “ all that glitters,”

—————

Oct. 18

MM ANON, OMG , Harry’s festering, nutmegs struggling, Archificial is having an identity problem. ( “ I wanna know who’s my dad’) ……… “ is it mine”, nutmeg gazing towards a distant horizon, someone with a all knowing smirk gazing back from distant horizon ‘. And there both going to try and flog this p!$$poor Documentary to the savvy Brits. Are they both off their f#@ing trolly , who TF wants to see them whining about how they struggle on 20 million a year , not those trying to pay a mortgage.

—————-

Oct. 18

MM ANON , “ not many people asked if I was alright”, well I wasn’t alright…… , Ahhhhhh , what a shame nutmeg,perhaps if you didn’t fake your pregnancy people would have warmed to you ‘ ( NO , DONT THINK SO ). So nutmeg plays the poor me card , poor me, poor me pour me a drink. ………… I wonder what the RPO conversation is when she’s not being obnoxiously present. , she apparently treats everyone like 💩💩💩💩. I have news nutmeg, Britain doesn’t give a $h!t.

——————-

October. 19

MM ANON …… “ O no , not another f%#ing beautiful Sunday “…… All together, a ROYAL reunion 🦄🦎👸🤴… “ she’s not invited, again🧣“……” O Philip, do lets watch this documentary 🤣🤣“ …… “Really, old thing, really ?”…… “ bloody hell , Charlottes a better actress “……… “ Mummy!! I’ve lost my 🦎” ……” What next LG , the Caribbean and North America with the children?”…… “ Mmmm , Marm that would work ,next year’ someone will be jealous!!” …… “ “what’s that ol’ thing , I’m reading skippy Philip”.

—————-

Oct 19

MM ANON , “THEY DON’T MAKE IT EASY”, I’M OKAY, can’t wait for the trawling that the whiner is going to be subjected to. The comments section of the DE&DM and MOS is 95% negative, and aggressively anti Megain. The Mocumentary will only draw more humiliation and subtle sarcasm from the tabloids. Juxtaposition this with the shining success W&K received on their return from Pakistan and you have the pulse of National opinion. The big takeaway is “Nutmeg is hated”.

——————-

[vgckwb]

ML: Are They Worthy? Chapter 37: Operation: Hero Love!

Before he went home, Vlad stopped by Master Fu’s place. “What is it?” he asked.

“I believe they’re ready to know” Vlad said.

Master Fu looked at him. Beyyo nodded. “Very well” he said. Vlad left.

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Ziggy asked.

“If the holder of the wolf miraculous and the kwami of doubt are ready to reveal it to them, then I don’t see that much of a problem” Master Fu said.

Ziggy looked at him. “You know, as guardian, you have some level of authority over him. You seem to be letting him boss you around.”

“That is true, but you could tell the level of conviction he had” Master Fu said. “If I had said no, he still would have done it anyway.”

“I guess that’s true” Ziggy said.

“It is wise to learn to pick your battles” Master Fu said. “Otherwise, you’ll end up losing whatever power you have.”

“I see” Ziggy said.

The next day at school, there was a noticeable distance between Adrien and Marinette. Both of them wanted to say something, but neither knew what to say. Marinette knew that anything she said wouldn’t speed up Adrien’s answer and Adrien wants to say ‘yes’ but needed to talk with Ladybug.

Once it was time for a break, Vlad pulled Nino and Alya aside. Beyyo left to take care of something else. “Alya. Nino. I need your help” Vlad said.

“With what?” Alya said.

“Isn’t obvious?” Vlad asked. “Marinette and Adrien.”

“Oh” Alya said.

“I have a plan that will get them together tonight. However, that’s going to be time consuming. So I’m going to need you to set up the rest of the evening. Plus, you know them better” Vlad said. “Can you do that?”

“Sure sure” Nino said. “But, what makes you so sure that they’ll even talk to each other, let alone go on this date?”

Vlad put a hand of each of their shoulders. “That… is a story for another time. And worst case scenario, it doesn’t work, and you guys can use the date. Deal?”

Nino and Alya looked at each other, smiled, and said “Deal!”

Meanwhile, Beyyo had gathered Tikki and Plagg. “What’s this about?” Tikki asked.

“Yeah, I was just about to take a nice nap, you know” Plagg said.

“My user and I are working on telling Ladybug and Cat Noir who they are to each other” Beyyo said. Both of the other kwamis were stunned silent. Beyyo continued “I just needed to see if both of you were on board for it.”

“Well, I’m on board” Plagg said. “I’m sick of him not doing anything when it comes to women. Besides, I told him yesterday not to visit Ladybug, but he didn’t listen.”

“Is that true?” Tikki asked.

“Of course” Plagg said.

Tikki glared at him. She then broke the glare and said, “Well, I have some concerns. Do you think Ladybug would be able to handle it?”

Beyyo smiled “We wouldn’t be doing this if we thought she couldn’t.”

Tikki now glared at him. “Very well. But if things go wrong, I’m taking it out on you.”

“By all means” Beyyo said. The three went back to their owners. Tikki and Plagg hid, while Beyyo conversed with Vlad before hiding. “I got their OK” he said “Although, if things go wrong, TIkki’s going to beat me up.”

“Well, let’s hope this goes without a hitch,” Vlad said. “I got Alya and Nino to plan the night. Things are going well so far.” Vlad then got a text message. “‘Party at Chloe’s tomorrow night! Don’t tell anyone if you got this message.’ Huh? Good thing it’s not tonight.”

“Yeah, that’s lucky” Beyyo said.

“It looks like our plans are coming together nicely, huh?” Vlad said. The bell rang. “Hide Beyyo.”

After school, before Adrien left, Vlad caught him. “Adrien!” He pulled him aside. “I can get Ladybug to talk to you. Tonight at 6 at the Place des Vosges.”

“Really? But how?” Adrien asked.

“You leave that to me” Vlad said.

“Well, thanks” Adrien said. He had a confused look on his face, but as he kept walking, it turned to a smile.

Marinette and Vlad walked up to each other and Marinette asked “What was that about?”

Vlad smiled. “I got Adrien to agree to meet with you so he can give you his answer. Tonight at 6 at the Place des Vosges. Can you make it?”

“Of course” Marinette said. “But, how did you get him to do it?”

“Well, we’re friends. I have ways of being persuasive” Vlad said. “Anyway, seeya.” Vlad took off.

Marinette grabbed Alya and asked “Hey Alya, can you come and talk with me?”

Alya noticed her friend’s nervousness, but she also knew that blowing her off was for her in the end. So she said “Sorry girl. I promised Nino we would do something this afternoon.” Marinette looked disappointed. “Relax girl. You got this! You’ve already confessed to him. That’s the biggest hurdle.”

Marinette smiled. “Thanks Alya.” Alya left with Nino, and Marinette went off by herself.

“What are you going to do?” TIkki asked.

“Well, I’m going to meet Adrien tonight” Marinette said. “But I need something to take my mind off of it until then. So, maybe we can head over to Kagami’s and see what her mother has?”

“Whatever you want, Marinette” Tikki said.

“Tikki! Spots on!” Marinette called, transforming into Ladybug. She then left for Kagami’s.

“Really? Thank you SO much!” Alya said on the phone. She hung up. “Alright, I found a nice little bistro that had tables available. Their online ranking is about 3 ½ stars, so it should be good.”

“And done” Nino said, dripping the last of the cookie dough on the baking pan. “Now we just gotta put it in, and we’ll have a nice gift for the two of them as well.”

“Now all we gotta do is find out where Andre is going to be tonight” Alya said.

“It’s so nice of you to do this all for your friends” Trixx said.

“Indeed. I believe it’s, how you say, radical” Wayzz said. Nino and Alya rolled their eyes. “By the way, can we get a helping of that cookie dough?” 

“Yeah. Can we? Please?!” Trixx joined in.

“OK you two, but save some for us” Alya said. The two kwamis began to chow down. Nino was writing something down. “And what are you doing?”

“I’m writing them a note” Nino said. “To send with the cookies. Wanna say something?”

Alya looked at her boyfriend. “Sure” she said. She took the pen and began writing.

Ladybug arrived at the Tsurugi household and rang the bell. Tomoe answered. “Hello?”

“Hi ma’m. It’s Ladybug” she said.

“Come on in” Tomoe said. Ladybug entered.

Ladybug heard a song playing. “...Frustration is getting bigger! Bang! Bang Bang! Pull my Devil Trigger…”

“Um, what’s that?” Ladybug asked.

“Oh , that? My daughter recently convinced me to let her play video games. She’s been enamored with that one since she got it” Tomoe said.

“I see” Ladybug said. “Anyway, my friend told me you have stuff for me?”

“Yes” Tomoe said. She grabbed some of the artifacts. “Here.” She gave them to Ladybug. “They might not be much, but it’s what I’ve got.”

Ladybug took them. “Really. Any little bit helps. I’ll take them to the guardian.”

“There’s a guardian in Paris?” Tomoe said. “I thought they were all wiped out.”

“Well, mostly” Ladybug said, sadly. “But there is one. And he thanks you for these.”

Tomoe smiled. “When you see him, please give him my gratitude.”

“Will do” Ladybug said. She left with the artifacts.

Alya got an alert on her phone while Nino was taking the cookies out of the oven. “Woah!” she said.

“What is it?” Nino asked.

“Look where Andre is going to be tonight” Alya said, sharing her phone with him.

Nino looked. “Woah!”

Trixx and Wayzz were sitting on top of the fridge. “So, how do you think Vlad is managing to get them both there?” Trixx asked.

“Well, this is just a guess, but I think he’s using his secret” Wayzz said, tapping the front of his face.

“Ohhhhhhhhhh. That makes sense” Trixx said. “Wait, do you think that that means…?”

“I do” Wayzz said.

“Woah!” Trixx replied.

“What are you two talking about?” Alya asked.

“Nothing!” Trixx said. Alya was curious.

“Wayzz. Come on bro. What’s up?” Nino asked.

“We’re just talking kwami stuff” Wayzz answered.

Nino sighed. “Well, whatever. We’ll figure it out eventually.”

“Especially from you Trixx. You’re pretty bad at lying” Alya said.

Trixx pouted “I’m the kwami of illusion. I’m better at lying with images than words.”

“Alright, I’m sorry” Alya said.

Marinette arrived at Master Fu’s with the artifacts. “Master Fu! These are some artifacts that someone gave to me regarding kwamis and stuff” Marinette said, setting them down.

“Thanks Marinette” Master Fu said.

“She also told me to tell you thanks for being a guardian” Marinette said.

“I see” Master Fu said. “She’s very welcome.”

“Anyway, can you look through this by yourself? I’ve got an important meeting tonight, and I have to get ready.”

“Of course” Master Fu said.

“Great. Seeya!” Marinette ran out the door.

Ziggy popped out and said “You don’t even need my power to tell how she’s feeling.”

“That’s what makes her a good Ladybug” Master Fu said. “She projects an earnest truth wherever she goes. That way, people can know what she’s like and trust her right away.”

“Of course” Ziggy said.

Marinette finished preparing herself. “Tikki, how do I look?”

“You look great!” TIkki said. “And Alya’s right. You don’t have anything to be so nervous about.”

“Thanks Tikki” Marinette said. “I just hope it goes right.” She headed downstairs. “I’m meeting someone. Be back tonight.”

“Very well” Sabine said.

“Take care now,” Tom said.

“I will. Bye momon. By papa” Marinette said. She left her building.

Adiren was walking down stairs. “Where are you going?” Gabriel asked.

Adrien turned to meet his father. “I’m meeting someone in the Place des Vosges. It’s kind of important.”

Gabriel nodded his head. “Very well. You know the rules. Just be back by midnight.”

Adrien smiled. “Thanks father!” He ran out the door. He continued running until he found a place to hide. “Plagg! Claws out!” He transformed into Cat Noir.

Marinette was in the Place des Vosges, looking around for any sign of Adrien. Cat Noir lept into the area and started to look for Ladybug. That’s when he saw Marinette. “Marinette?” he said.

“Cat Noir?!” Marinette said. “What are you doing here?”

“I’m supposed to meet Ladybug here” Cat Noir said.

“Oh” Marinette said. “Well, what if she doesn't show?”

“That’s impossible. Judgement Wolf said she’d be here” Cat Noir said. “Well, what about you. What are you doing here?”

Marinette was confused, but answered honestly. “I’m supposed to be meeting this guy I like. My friend Vlad said he’d be here.” Cat Noir looked equally confused.

“Allow me to explain” Vlad said, coming out of the woodwork. He walked up to Marinette, put his arm around her shoulder and said “Marinette. Meet Adrien.” He then did the same to Cat Noir. “Cat Noir. Meet Ladybug.”

Marinette can Cat Noir stared at each other blankly for a few seconds. Cat Noir then said “Plagg! Claws in!” Turning back into Adrien.

“Adrien?” Marinette said. Tikki then appeared in front of her.

“Ladybug?” Adrien replied.

“I don’t understand” Marinette said.

“It’s simple” Vlad said. “You two are Paris’s premiere superhero duo.”

“So, I was in love with you this whole time?” Adrien said. “Just my luck. The girl of my dreams was a lot closer than I realized, and I didn’t notice.”

“You were, in love with me?” Marinette said.

“Well, yeah...As Ladybug…” Adrien said.

“Oh” Marinette said. “If I had known, I might have said yes to you all those times.”

Adrien smiled. “It’s OK Marinette. This gives me a chance to say yes to you.”

“You mean?!” Marinette said.

“Of course” Adrien said. “I’d like to go out with you.” He gave her a hug. Marinette started blushing uncontrollably. She eventually gave him a hug back.

“Good” Vlad said. “Your first date is tonight.”

“Tonight?!” Marinette said.

“But, I haven’t prepared anything” Adrien said.

“Relax. I got Nino and Alya to help out” Vlad said. “They also sent you these cookies and a card.” He handed the cookies to Marinette.

“Wait, do THEY know?” Marinette asked. “You know... About...” she gestured to Tikki and Plagg.

“Of course not. I was very careful about that” Vlad said. Marnette sighed.

Adrien took the card and opened it. Marinette looked on. “Hey dude. I assume if you’re you’re reading this, you’ve at least agreed to go out. Congratulations dude and dudette! I knew you’d get there eventually. Well, as soon as I figured it out. You two make a good couple. I hope things go well for you tonight and for the rest of time. -Nino.”

“Hey girl. You finally did it! You finally got Adrien to go out with you. I am so proud of you! And Adrien, if you break her heart, I will beat you up. But I know you won’t. You’re such a good person, and I know that you’ll cherish her forever. -Alya.”

“We have such good friends” Adrien said.

“Anyway, you have reservations at a restaurant at 7” Vlad said. “Here’s the address.”

Marinette read the address. “That’s not too far from here. Ready?”

“For you? Always” Adrien said. The two walked hand in hand, sharing the cookies along the way.

Vlad watched on. “Well, my work here is done.”

“I gotta say, that went well” Beyyo said.

Marinette and Adrien arrived at the bistro. They asked about their table, and the waiter lead them there and took their order. The two were sitting opposite of each other. “I’ve gotta say, this isn’t exactly how I imagined our first date would go” Marinette said.

“Me either. But I’m glad we have friends like Alya, Nino, and Vlad to push us” Adrien said. “Otherwise, we probably wouldn’t be having this date at all. We’d still be caught up in out own little fantasies.”

“Yeah. You’re right” Marinette said. She took a sip of her water. “So, might I ask, what made you fall in love with Ladybug?”

Adrien smiled. “I fell in love almost instantly. It was during the second Stoneheart fight. They way you were concerned. The way you saved everybody. The way you challenged Hawk Moth when he tried to spin things. You were amazing.”

Marinette blushed. “Thanks” she said. “To tell the truth, after I had failed to capture the Akuma the first time, I almost considered giving up on being Ladybug.”

This took Adrien by surprise. “What made you change your mind?”

Marinette smiled. “Alya was in trouble. I needed to help.”

Adrien smiled. “That’s so like you.” He paused for a moment. “So, when did you fall in love with me?”

Marinette was shocked. She then answered. “It was when you gave me that umbrella and apologized to me. I could see just how sweet you were then. After I got mad and wrote you off you talked to me anyway. You were still nice to me. I admire how you always make people feel at ease.”

“I see” Adrien said. “Well, Nino was the one who encouraged me to talk to you after that.”

“It sounds like our friends were setting us up before they even knew it” Marinette said.

“You’re right” Adrien chuckled.

The two continued their date and talked about all of the trouble they seemed to cause themselves because of this secret. Evillistrator. Horrificator. Simon Says. Santa Claws. Riposte. Glaciator. Gorizilla. Zombizou. Frozer. Style Queen. Backwarder. Weredad. Homewrecker. Despite the amount of embarrassment that caused for them, they had fun anyway.

“I’m having a lot of fun tonight” Adrien said.

“Me too” Marinette said.

“Do you think this is how we felt during the Oblivio attack?” Adrien asked.

“Oh no” Marinette said. She started banging her head on the table.

“What’s wrong?” Adrien asked.

“I just realized that when we kiss, it’ll be our THIRD kiss” Marinette said. “Once to break you from Dark Cupid’s spell, and the Oblivio kiss.”

Adrien laughed. “Well at least it won’t be our fourth” he said, reminding her of the incident at the wax museum. Marinette groaned. “Don’t worry Marinette. When we kiss, it’ll be one we know and cherish for all time. Promise.”

Marinette stopped banging her head on the table. “Thanks.”

They finished their dinner and Adrien footed the bill. He smiled, looking at Marinette. “What?” she said.

“Nothing” Adrien said. “I just love you.” Marinette blushed.

They then got an alert on their phones. Marinette got one from Alya, and Adrien got one from Nino. Despite this, they said the same thing, and Marinette and Adrien knew it. “The night’s not over yet!” with a picture of Andre’s in front of the Eiffel Tower.

“Well, shall we?” Adrien said.

“We shall” Marinette replied. The two headed out of the restaurant and to Andre’s.

Once they got there, Andre got a good look at the two of them and said “Oh my! Such love! Such passion! I can only assume you’re coming here for sweethearts ice cream as a couple!”

Marinette and Adrine looked at each other. Marinette said. “We are.”

“My! How wonderful!” Andre said. He got out his ice cream scoop. “Peach pink like his lips, and mint like his eyes. Don’t think Andre can’t see through your lies.” He handed Marinette her ice cream.

“Yeah. Sorry about that. I was just a little upset and embarrassed” Marinette said.

“It’s alright, cause in the end, I really cherish you AND your boyfriend!” Andre said.

“Thanks” Marinette said.

“Woah. Was that about me?” Adrien asked.

“Yes! And now for you” Andre said. “Strawberry with black chocolate chip! Blackberries for her hair! And blueberry ice cream, just like her sky-blue stare!”

“Thanks” Adrien said.

Andre looked a little confused. “I can see the blackberry and blueberry, but the strawberry puzzles me. I know it to be true, but is there something I don’t see?”

Marinette froze. Adrien answered. “It resembles how I fell in love with her. I usually refer to her as our Everyday Ladybug. She’s so kind and helpful that I couldn’t help but fall in love with her.”

“Ah! How wonderfully delightful!” Andre said.

The couple went to enjoy their ice cream. The fed some to their kwamis. Adrien stopped eating his for a little bit. “Is something wrong?” Marinette asked.

“No” Adrien said. “For once, everything is right.” He looked at his new girlfriend. “And it’s all because of you.” Marinette smiled.

They finished their ice cream and started heading out. Adrien stopped Marinette and said. “I had a wonderful night.”

“Me too” Marinette replied.

“Wanna make it even more wonderful?” Adrien said. Marinette knew what was about to happen. Their faces grew closer. Their eyes closed. Their lips locked.

Tikki and Plagg were watching from the sidelines. “Isn’t this sweet?” Tikki said. She looked at Plagg. “Are you crying?”

“No!’ Plagg said. Tikki giggled.

An onlooker recognized Adrien and snapped a photo of the kiss. Pretty soon,it was all over the internet. When Alya and Nino saw it, they both smiled and Alya said “Way to go!” The rest of the class saw it and had a similar reaction, except for Lila, who was seething. She expected Hawk Moth to Akumatize her.

But he didn’t. Instead, Gabriel saw the picture and smiled. “Nathalie. Find whoever took that photo.”

“What are you going to do?” Nathalie asked.

“I don’t know. I’ll think of something” Gabriel said.

“Are you happy for Adrien?” Nathalie asked.

Gabriel said. “Of course Nathalie. I’m over the moon.”

“Very well, sir” Nathalie said.

When Tom and Sabine saw the photo, the collectively went “Awwwwww!”

Tom then said “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”

Sabine answered “Make a cake with that picture on it for their next date?”

“You know it!” Tom said.

Luka was playing his guitar when he got the photo. He laughed to himself and started playing an upbeat melody. “This is how you feel now.”

Kagami was just got done practice when she saw the photo. She smiled smugly and said “I’m glad it’s to her. I won’t lose next time.”

Master Fu saw the photo and said “Well done Ladybug. Cat Noir.”

The kiss ended. “Wow” Marinette said.

“Wow” Adrien said. “Shall I take you home?” Marinette took Adrien’s hand and they walked to Marinette’s.

When they got there, Tom and Sabine gave the two a big hug. “What’s this about?” Sabine held up her phone and showed them the picture. “Oh no.” Marinette said.

“Cheer up Marinette” Adrien said. “It’s a lovely photo.”

“It is” Sabine said.

“I’m so happy for you two,” Tom said, wiping a tear out of his eye.

Adrien and Marinette walked upstairs to Marinette’s room. “How about one just for us?” Adrien asked. They shared another kiss. “Goodnight” Adrien said, leaving.

“Goodnight” Marinette said back, moments after the door was closed.

Adrien staggered home after midnight. His dad was there waiting for him. “I can explain,” he said.

“You don’t have to” Gabriel said, smiling.

Adiren smiled back. “Thanks father!”

[rainosa]

Phanniemay 2018 - DNA

I remember a long time ago reading a fic that was like “Dani can’t be a clone, she’s a girl, that’s not how cloning works” and turned it into a story where Dani actually ended up being essentially a test tube baby of Danny and Sam, but I wanted to see where that might go in our post trans Danny world

I haven’t written fanfiction in a long time, so I might be rusty, but I don’t have the resources to do an art piece every day so here we are :/

“So, who is Dani actually?”

“What?” Danny spins into a direct and questioning look from Sam, heart leaping into his throat at the surety in her voice. She hasn’t waited even two minutes after Dani’s departure before asking (if Danny squints, he thinks he can still see her flying away in the distance), so that tells him two things: one, whatever he tells her, she’s willing to keep it between them if he needs to, and two, she’s absolutely sure she’s right, and no amount of beating around the bush will take her off the scent of this one. Whatever secret it is that she’s set her sights on, she must have determined that it’s something he needs to talk to someone about. And, well, if he’s being honest, he probably should confide in someone about this one.

Sam folds her arms and shifts her weight with confidence, “C’mon Danny, spill. I know she’s not your cousin.”

“And how would you know that?” he decides to dodge anyway.

She gives him an empathetic half-smirk, “Well for one thing, the likelihood of another portal opening up to create another half-ghost, who just happens to be related to you and looks exactly like you is about a bazillion times too ridiculous to actually happen. Also, I asked Jazz if you guys have any cousins. Guess what her answer was.”

Danny shrugs, “Well, damn. Guess the jig is up.”

“To be fair, it wasn’t a very good jig in the first place,” Sam softly chuckles. She bumps against his shoulder, “So, mind telling me the real deal?”

He nods, but he can feel himself tensing up, and he can tell that she can tell he’s tensing up. With a gentle hand on his arm, she steers them into the house and onto the stairs, seeking out the privacy of his room. Once he’s sitting on his own bed with the door closed, he can feel a bit of a weight off his shoulders. Sam knows him well. She’ll know how this kind of thing might impact him, and she’ll know what to do. He can talk to her.

After checking to make sure both the window and the door are locked, Sam takes a seat in the desk chair across from him, “Okay, gimme the bad stuff. Who’ve we gotta punch?”

“Pfft,” he half-heartedly breathes, “It’s just Vlad again. No one we don’t already need to punch.”

“Disappointing,” she nods, “but not unexpected. To what do we owe him the pleasure?”

A long and tired sigh slips out as Danny rubs at the back of his neck, “Vlad...is trying to clone me.”

Sam blinks. Danny decides to forge ahead.

“Apparently he’s been doing it for a while, as sort of a back-up plan for when I refused to join him. It’s not a plan that’s worked up until now because...well, because the clones kept coming out not fully formed. Most of them were so unstable that they just kind of...melted, after coming out of the lab. Some of them...God, Sam, I couldn’t even describe some of them to you, they were so hard to look at.I shut the place down as best I could but Dani - I couldn’t. I can’t. She’s her own person. She’s the most stable of Vlad’s clones, and the only one that can think for herself, and she deserves to live a real life. So, I called her my cousin just so she could....I dunno, feel some of that? God, I don’t know. It’s just all a lot. It’s crazy and overwhelming and unimaginable, and I don’t have the time to deal with a lot of it right now, so I let Dani go. I’m just - I don’t know, it’s a lot.”

Sam’s already beside him on the bed, pulling him into a one-armed hug, and he ducks his head into her shoulder. He can feel his breathing has sped up, but as she carefully smoothes out the wrinkles on the back of his shirt with a soothing hand, he starts to calm himself, and slowly it stops being a struggle to take in air. Tears that had been waiting at the corners of his eyes recede, just as Sam speaks up.

“I’m so sorry all that happened to you Danny,” she comforts, starting to run a hand through his hair, “That’s awful, and no one should have to see that or deal with that, especially you.”

Danny nods, “Thanks Sa-”

“But -” she interrupts, “I’m like 200% sure that’s not how cloning works.”

Danny blinks in surprise, and pulls away, “What?”

“Cloning,” Sam repeats, turning to face him properly, “It needs to copy your DNA directly, and no matter how much tampering is done to it, science still can’t change certain things. Exhibit A: the whole entire sex of the DNA. People can’t just change a whole ass chromosome, Danny. Dani can’t be your clone, because it’s physically impossible.”

“Wait what?” Danny sits straight up, “No, I know that you can’t change the sex of DNA, but Dani is still like super obviously my clone. I mean, take two seconds to look at the both of us.”

Sam shrugs, “Hey, I’m not saying you don’t share a resemblance, but the fact remains: your DNA is male, and hers isn’t. Whatever Vlad did, it’s not-”

“No, wait - no, oh my god, what the fuck, how has this not come up before,” Danny starts blabbering excitedly, an embarrassed blush coming to his face.

“Danny, I don’t know what you think denial is gonna do for you here -” Sam attempts again, only to be interrupted by Danny reaching out and taking her by the wrists.”

“No Sam, shut up, oh my god, you’re wrong, that’s all wrong, the whole thing is wrong, trust me. Oh my god I can’t believe this. How have I never mentioned it? How did you never pick up on it? This is both the best and the most unbelievable thing to ever happen to me,” he rambles. Really? There’s no way that this whole time she didn’t know. But god damn, if she really didn’t know, then his personal self-confidence was about to take a trip to the moon.

Sam shakes him until he’s making eye contact with her again, “Danny! What is it? What am I missing here?”

He can tell his cheeks are bright red right now as he grins from ear to ear, “Well ok, I mean, it’s just…”

“You really thought I was a cis guy this whole time?”

Sam’s jaw drops, “What?! Oh my god!”

Danny pulls away from her again in a fit of giggles, “I can’t believe you didn’t know! I thought I wasn’t ‘passing’! This is like, the first time I’ve got to come out in reverse!”

“Oh my god! Oh my god!” Sam puts her head in her hands, laughter shaking her whole body now, “Ahh I can’t believe myself!”

“This is I think the most affirming thing anyone has ever done for me and you didn’t even -”

“And I didn’t even mean to do it ahhhh I know!!” Sam yells quietly, both hands covering her entire face, “How did I not know this?!”

“I guess when you moved here I figured you just knew?? I mean look at you, I figured you could spot a trans guy, you’re all social injustice incarnate over here,” Danny chuckles.

“I am! I am! The thing is I am! I’m just also super oblivious I guess!” Sam swivels to look Danny in the face as she stage-whispers to him, hands still shielding either side of her face.

“And then -” Danny’s sentences start falling apart as laughter takes over, “-oh my god, Sam - and then I guess it just coincidentally hasn’t come up - coincidentally!”

“I can’t believe this,” Sam flops backwards onto the bed, “I don’t know if I should say sorry or you’re welcome?”

“I don’t know either!” Danny dissolves into giggles and flops back with her.

“Well, okay, let’s try this,” she shifts so she can see Danny again, “Sorry for being a dumb fuck.”

“Pfft, Sam -” Danny starts, but she holds out a finger to stop him.

“And you’re welcome for the confidence boost. But also, sorry for derailing the talk about clones like that. I didn’t want you to feel like that wasn’t important.”

“Ah - hmm. Right,” Danny sobers a bit, suddenly remembering how they reached this topic.

Sam drops back down to the bed, and for a moment, neither of them say anything.

“Actually, you know what, thanks,” Danny twists his head awkwardly to look back at Sam, “It might not have been on topic, but hey, it certainly did help me feel better. So don’t feel bad about it. It was nice.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

Sam huffs, “Okay good, because I have no idea how to deal with clone feelings, I did not have a plan.”

Danny smacks her in the face with a pillow.

[haloburns]

let's share some wips!

i have a lot of writing that is underwraps for spoiler reasons or i'm just not ready to share it yet, but i'm going to break down the list of all my danny phantom wips, both for the au and not! under the cut because it's. really. long.

send me an ask with the number/name of a work and i'll share some stuff about it if i can/have stuff!

for "the world is having more fun than me (tonight)"

invisobang!! - it's next babes! i'm so excited for this one, holy shit. it's already 70k+ and i'm not done

double shot of summer phun fic! - post sin francisco, the specter squad goes to the beach to just hang out and have fun (no progress, just the idea. was it a bad idea to enter another phandom event when i'm swamped with one already? probably!)

heaven's grief brings hell's reign - immediately post invisobang, the fallout and consequences of that fic. one shot, mostly completed. probably gonna end up being rated M/E based on the way it started going last time i worked on it

by all means, i'm getting mad (but that don't mean i don't feel sorry for you) - also post invisobang, dealing with some of the consequences of that. this one is going to be fun

date fic - danny and mateo go on their first real date to the pier where the squad kinda solidified as a friend group. very cute, very sweet, i'm so fucking excited to get to this one.

sin francisco!! - man i so wanted to finish this in june, but trying to get out these last four works before invisobang took up all of my time. so i'll get to it when it's over! it's gonna be so good. funny, angsty, a little bit hot. plus a visit from the charmed ones, which i'm always partial to

with every sin i still wanna be holy - dan goes to therapy. that's the gist of the fic, basically. dan realizes that he wants to be better, do better, make amends all of that. but he's still a little bastard at heart

the weight of living - dan joins danny at college (junior year)! literally no one wanted this! but clockwork decided it was for the best for his rehabilitation and danny can't say no (although he tried). shenanigans ensue.

an unplanned number of junior and senior year antics - exactly what it sounds like. i haven't gotten that far, yet. maybe i'll use the next fic phight for it...

anything you say can and will be held against you (so only say my name) - a very smutty piece that's purely self-indulgent. it's already mostly written. i just need to finish it and figure out where in the timeline i want it.

so shall it be - the beginning of the end... emrys accidentally makes a wish to help his friends as things begin to fall apart

once more with feeling - the result of emrys' wish: a musical episode fic! things keep going down hill for our heroes, and nothing is resolved nicely by curtain fall

where do we go from here? - the fallout. heartbreaking. still makes me sob a little, all 800 words of it. these three fics came from a fucking joke in one of the servers i'm in and it's fucking angsty and i... it hurts my heart, babes. it really does.

hey there, shadow - an angsty, smutty fic with slight dub/con themes. it's uh. it's a fic, that's for sure. and i'm so excited to get to this point, fuck

my wish for you - danny makes an ill-advised wish to try and make a mistake better. it doesn't work as planned, and things get worse.

kneel to the crown - :risedanno: this is the culmination of everything. it's a romcom style fic, with its angsty, rated-E bits, and it's gonna be a bigun. like probably bigger than my invisobang when all's said and done. it's gonna be great.

ghost king danny welcomes mom home - exactly what's on the tin. i started this with phic phight but realized it needed more attention than i could give it during phight to pull off the style i wanted

you better promise me i'll be back in time - a phic phight relic! started for phight, but not finished yet because i needed time to plot out how it worked and how it fit into the au. but back to the future au with vlad redemption arc. very excited for this

another date fic (apparently) - this one is more of a series of oneshots of small dates. the arcade, the bookstore (ooh, danny taking mateo the bookshop tony took him to just to make out with him in the back... new idea), skateboard date (because at SOME FUCKING POINT i'm going to work in that danny knows how to fucking skateboard. eventually. or maybe i should just bite the dust and make it a hoverboard date), going bowling or skating, seeeing a movie outdoors (double feature with the last starfighter and space balls), and then going to the planetarium.

christmas fic! - that's it. that's as far as i got.

friend dates with the specter squad - supposed to be for valentine's day, but i fucking suck at making shit on time. mimic fic to "such a big big world (and only the tools to deal with a tiny portion of it)" where danny goes out with each of his friends to do a thing with them. supposed to take place early in the series before danny and mateo get together so their "friend" date mimics a romantic date.

the haunt - sam opens that underage club she mentioned early in the au. no i haven't forgotten, i just haven't had time 😭

not for the au!

and they were history project partners UFS version - literally exactly what it says. there were UFS hints here and there, but i wanted to change it and seaprate it from the au and make it its own fic with a UFS ending (thanks red 💖)

danny grave fic or j13 origin fic - sent this in an ask to floral during phic phight i think. based on the song "johnny" by american murder song

danny stripper identity reveal gray ghost - right there on the tin babes. this was a server idea, and i want to write it so bad. i love gray ghost so much, after phic phight i wanted to write more of them anyway

dp as told like syfy's alice - okay this one is a fucking doozy. it's based on a post by dreamwraith, actually, about the fallout from reign storm and the weird ambiguity of who was supposed to be king after. i have the character list written out. it's either everlasting trio or pitch pearl, but i think i'm leaning in the pitch pearl direction...

a forced reveal fic that floral and i batted around in my early days in the fandom - paulina brings blood blossoms to class and danny's reaction causes him to reveal himself. it's got a great start, i just didn't have the energy to continue it in the midst of the au work i'd been doing

perfect - an angsty fic based on the song perfect by simple plan. i have a fic already titled after this song, but i want a truly angsty one where danny's reveal to his parents doesn't go so well...

pitch pearl tuck everlasting au - ALSO sent this to floral during phic phight and FUCK am i so excited to work on it. dark ages raised immortal phantom, plucky and naive danny, a tragic lovestory... i need invisobang to be over so i can work on this NOW

primeval crossover - british tv show from the same era as DP, deals with anomalies in time that bring them dinosaurs. the anomalies are actually portals in this au and the villain from primeval is the big bad danny was chasing that landed him and team phantom in london surrounded by men in black pointing guns at them. probably gonna be everlasting trio.

TUE but it happens bc danny says fuck - mostly crack but kinda wanna write it...

ghost light stripper au - danny is a stripper in this one and the specter squad takes mateo out for his birthday

in the shadow of your heart - my ghost light atlantis au 💖 it's already started and been posted, but i had to stop working on it for invisobang. i can't wait to get to work on it again

[applepiry]

Hibiki’s Second Day

Ry: Wow, so this... ended up being longer than I intended. I don’t really know Class B very well but wanted them all to interact and hope this ended up decently (ouo);; Originally I was going to have Aizawa be his mentor but something about the new decision mentoring Hibiki just seems more... right? 

Content Warnings: Bullying?, Panic Attack, Swearing

Word Count:  3580

Notes: Anything in “Quoted Bold Text” is Hibiki’s phone program that he uses! 

Next Morning

Hibiki and Recovery Girl had left together early in the morning, Hibiki having been up at 5 when she was. It had become a habit in the last few weeks to wake up and have breakfast with her. 

“Today you’ll be meeting with Class B.. Tell me, what did you think of Class A?” she wondered as they traveled by taxi. 

“They’re all… very hyper,” Hibiki said, choosing his words carefully. 

Recovery Girl laughed, “That they are!” 

“That boy, Bakugou… what’s his deal?” Hibiki wondered.

“Hm, he wants to be #1. He’s very ambitious.” she said, thinking about it for a moment.

“He’s insane…” Hibiki muttered, sighing as he thought about the interaction from yesterday. It had been kind of terrifying, honestly. 

Recovery Girl laughed again. “Glad to see you’re making friends, Hibiki.”

Once they were at UA, Hibiki parted ways with her to go sit in his homeroom class, really just wanting to take a nap before classes started. Finding his class and seat without seeing a single person, he was glad as he sat down, yawning loudly. He faced the window, crossing his arms on his desk before laying his head down on them and closing his eyes. 

“Hey, are you okay…?” he heard a familiar voice through his sleep. 

Hibiki’s eyes fluttered open, his golden eyes resting upon lavender ones. Ah, it was the boy Shinsou. Hibiki slowly sat up, stretching a bit and yawning again.

“Yeah, I just never get enough sleep,” Hibiki answered, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. It must’ve been getting closer to class time. He was glad he could stay in Class C, these kids weren’t half as crazy and loud as Class A.

“Ah, I know that feeling,” Shinsou replied as he sat down in his own seat.

Hibiki looked around, noticing they were the only ones there. “Um, so… what’s your quirk?” he wondered.

Shinsou instantly tensed, looking away for a moment before looking back, “Oh.. it’s… called.. Brainwashing…” he said, his hands tensing into fists. 

“Brainwashing, hm? That’s a cool quirk,” Hibiki said honestly, “You can just get villains to do whatever you want. How nice,” he said, stretching a bit. Hibiki wished his quirk could control people so they’d leave him the hell alone whenever he wanted.

Shinsou blinked, a bit taken back. He had never heard such a quick, natural and positive response to his quirk before. The only person who had really talked so nicely about his quirk was Midoriya, and he had only just met him a few weeks ago. 

“Y-You really think so…?” he wondered, staring down at his hands in thought.

Hibiki was expecting the reaction, it had been too obvious that Shinsou hated his quirk. Now that he was thinking about it, he remembered watching Shinsou’s match with Midoriya. He had been shocked when Midoriya had broken out of the hold. 

“I do,” he replied, “Too bad the entry test focuses on brute strength,” he added, knowing this only because of Recovery Girl, “You’d be in Class A for sure.”

Shinsou’s face went bright red, looking down and away, obviously embarrassed. “Oh, hey, where did you go yesterday…?” he wondered. “You never came back after lunch…”

Wow, he had noticed? Hibiki felt a little flattered.

“Ah, I am being forced to train with Classes A and B,” he said, frowning at the memory of yesterday. He really did not like Bakugou. 

“Forced?” Shinsou wondered, “But isn’t that good to train with them? They’re the best in the school, after all. If you want to be a… Oh.” he said, stopping when he remembered the statement that Hibiki declared to Class C yesterday. 

Hibiki nodded, “I actually have no intention of being a.. Hero, really. I just want to save lives,” he told Shinsou, feeling an odd calm around him. He leaned out of his desk and a bit closer to Shinsou, “I didn’t say yesterday, because I have to keep it a secret but… I can use my quirk to heal others,” he told him.

Shinsou’s eyes widened and he was a bit taken back, but he recovered a lot quicker than most. “Wow, that’s.. Pretty cool…” he said, seriously wondering why this kid wasn’t in the heroes course, even if he didn’t want to be a hero. 

At that moment, students started to come in and chatter, so the two looked away from each other and stared towards the front. Hibiki waved to a few of the students who said hello to him, but he never said anything as Snipe came in and started homeroom.

General studies and normal PE class went by quickly, Hibiki was grateful these students seemed to be rather normal compared to Class A. A few of the girls tried to get into his personal space a few times, and Hibiki did his best to be polite. After all, Doctors have to have good bedside manner, and a lot of that is faking, Hibiki assumed. All he really wanted to do was run away, but that was hard to do when you’re stuck in a classroom. 

Finally, lunch rolled around and he quickly found Shinsou, not wanting to be alone.

“H-Hey,” he said nervously as he went up to Shinsou, “Can we eat lunch together?” he wondered. 

Shinsou was a bit taken back, but nodded, “Sure..” he said, the two of them getting their lunch before going and finding an empty table in the very back.

Shinsou was a great friend for Hibiki to have, the two of them having vocal based quirks and not wanting to really be in the spotlight. The two of them chatted very minimally, and Shinsou never pushed him on anything and really didn’t even ask questions. They ended up finding out they had some interests in common, like cats, music and manga. When the bell rang, Shinsou looked at Hibiki’s tense body and knew he was nervous.

“Class B… aren’t too bad. I’ve had to deal with them a bit. One of the blond ones is really loud, though… Mo.. something..?” he said, frowning a bit. He didn’t remember the boy's name. 

Hibiki blinked at the advice, but nodded, “Thanks for that, Shinsou,” he said, the two standing and heading out together. Hibiki was glad he had made a friend who was so similar to him. “See ya later,” he said before taking off towards the Hero Course gyms. 

Getting to the changing area he had been directed to, he walked in to see all the boy’s from Class B changing into their costumes. 

“Erm, s-sorry…” he said, obviously he was late.

“Oh you must be that new boy Vlad-sensei was telling us about!” a tall boy with silver hair said, grinning widely at him. 

“Yeah…” he said as he walked in and closed the door behind him, going to his locker and taking out his neck equipment.

“What’s your name? I heard you met with Class A yesterday! Your quirk must be really interesting to be training with us all!” the silver haired boy continued. He must’ve been friends with someone from Class A.

“Shimizu…” Hibiki had pulled out his phone, to use it instead of talking. Hibiki chose to change quickly into his normal gym clothing, again only using his neck and face mask. 

“I’m Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu!” he said excitedly, not caring about the device, or not noticing.

Hibiki was thrown off by his name. Who did that to their child?

“Nice to meet you…” the phone said for Hibiki.

Suddenly a blond boy was in front of him with a grin that made Hibiki want to run.

“And how is Class A?! Surely you will see our class is superior!” he said, laughing almost maniacally. Hibiki learned this was Neito Monoma, the blond Shinsou had warned him about.

“Did your sensei tell you why I’m training with you all, even though I belong to Class C?” 

“What kind of program is that?” a boy said, who Hibiki later learned was Yosetsu Awase, who could weld things together.

“Monoma, leave the poor guy alone,” Sen Kaibara said, a boy Hibiki found interesting as he could spin any part of his body.

“No, he didn’t say…” a boy with a green mohawk and pincers said, Togaru Kamakiri. He seemed to be the only one actually listening, besides Tetsutetsu. 

“Nah he didn’t mention!” Tetsutetsu said, tilting his head in curiosity.

“I’m sure he’ll explain later, then,” the program said, Hibiki shrugging a bit. He got up and headed to the door without anything further. Tetsutetsu followed him, trying to make friends with him. Hibiki didn’t really mind him, he supposed, so he just nodded and hummed in response as the pair walked into the arena. It was different from the one from yesterday, this one resembling a city. 

“Welcome to Ground Beta,” A tall man that Hibiki knew was Vlad King, the class B teacher.  

“As most of you should be aware by now, we have another student joining us. He is focusing on being a healer, but Principal Nezu feels it’s necessary for him to learn to fight. And he’ll be working with all of you from now on. He’ll be on and off with us, as he also is going to help out Class A.” he explained to his students. 

Wow, he’s not going to make me explain everything? That’s nice. Hibiki thought to himself.

A girl with bright orange hair raised her hand.

“Yes, Kendo?” Vlad said, looking at her.

“May we introduce ourselves, sensei?” she asked, smiling. 

Vlad nodded, “That is appropriate,” he said. 

One by one, starting with Itsuka Kendo, they all introduced themselves, Tetsutetsu mentioning he had greeted Hibiki earlier, but still did again with a lot of enthusiasm. They were definitely a lot different from Class A, and Hibiki was pretty sure he liked them a bit better. Most of them were calmer. He was interested to meet Pony, who was from America and spoke English with her a few times during class. Manga was probably the most interesting, and considering their quirks, they had a lot in common. Now, Monoma was definitely the most annoying, asking him questions about Class A all the time. But, Hibiki never answered in the way he wanted him to, opting for vague answers.

They did not train the same way Class A did, and in fact, the fact they all worked in pairs, together, and worked in scenarios that would go against their own quirk. Vlad King gave a long critique analysis for each student, and didn’t make Hibiki do anything he didn’t want to do. Actually, he didn’t ask him to fight at all. All he wanted from him today was for him to observe. 

It wasn’t until Tetsutetsu asked him what his quirk was that anybody even thought about asking or being curious. The steel man’s question prompted everyone to listen to Hibiki, suddenly curious.

“Ah- Don’t feel like we’re pressuring you!” Kendo said, looking a bit concerned when Hibiki started to dig through his pocket. He had been using his amplifier until now, but since this was kind of a long speech about his quirk, he decided the machine was best. 

“No, it’s okay…” he started, then switched to the phone. “It is called Holy Voice, When I sing, depending on what I sing, I can do various things. I can heal people, cause people to see illusions and shatter, disintegrate, destabilize or stabilize living and nonliving objects.” Once he was done, he put the phone away, giving everyone a slight smile from behind the mask. 

“Ah, you smiled!” Tetsutetsu said, grinning.

Hibiki blinked, his face flushing. He had really hoped they wouldn’t have noticed. 

“Yeah, you haven’t done that like at all this class,” Awase said with a laugh.

“How would you even know?” Yanagi said, making an odd face. “Have you been watching him?” she said, a bit horrified.

“W-What?! No! Fuck off!” he said defensively.

Vlad got the kids attention back, and began going over what they all needed to work on as teams. Hibki was a bit surprised, he hadn’t been needed at all today, and hadn’t been even asked to fight.

The bell dinged, signaling the end of the class. Hibiki was shocked at how quickly the rest of the time had gone by. The teacher kept him back, asking him how he was adjusting to the school. It was odd to have a teacher be so caring outright. Of course, the second he went into the locker room, Monoma was in front of him, once again asking about Class A.

“Who was better to train with!?” he wondered loudly. 

“Well, I didn’t really train with you guys,” Hibiki answered honestly having pulled out his phone. “I actually used my quirk during their training.” He began to change back into his uniform.

“It’s because Vlad-sensei didn’t want to make you uncomfortable on your first day,” Shoda, the Vice Class Rep informed him. 

“That was thoughtful,” Hibiki replied quietly.

“See, we are the superior class after all! None of us needed healing!” Monoma said, laughing as he walked away. 

“Ignore him, the guy is always like that,” Tetsutetsu said with a grin as he led Hibiki out of the changing room, heading back towards classes. 

“Oh, I will,” Hibiki muttered, mostly to himself. He would avoid him like the plague if he could.

“So, what did you think of our class?” Kaibara asked. Hibiki had observed this boy during training, able to spin any part of his body at amazing speed. He and Tetsutetsu had been the two who had saved him from Monoma.

“You are very different from Class A,” the phone stated after Hibiki typed into it. 

“Hahaha! In a good way, right?!” Tetsutetsu laughed out.

“Ah, well, that’s not what I meant, yaknow?” Kaibara laughed.

“Yes, aside from Monoma, you are all much more level-headed... and All of you are better at utilizing and controlling your quirks,” Hibiki looked up, looking around to see if anyone from class A was around. He didn’t mean it in a bad way, but it seemed like Class B took training more… seriously? He wondered what all had happened to Class A that they didn’t take their studies seriously, or if they were just all too cocky to train properly. Perhaps they had other things on their minds, but Hibiki didn’t care enough to really think about it any further.

“Well thanks for that!” Kendo said, suddenly appearing from behind Tetsutetsu.

Hibiki blinked, surprised but gave her a small smile, “Just being honest.” 

“Can’t wait to see you more!” Tetsutetsu told him, slapping Hibiki on the back.

“Yeah, it’ll be interesting to see you fight…” Kendo added, smiling at him. Hibiki wondered for a moment if she was getting sick, noting her cheeks were a bit red.

He waved goodbye as they separated for their next class, having ended up exchanging numbers with the three of them. Meeting them had definitely been different, and they didn’t exhaust him in the way that Class A did. Tetsutetsu reminded him of Kirishima, just without Bakugou hanging around. Ah, that's what was so good about today. He hadn’t seen that angry blonde all day. Yawning as he walked down the hall to his next class, he didn’t notice as he ran into the person he least wanted to see. 

“Didn’t I tell you to stay away from me, you fucking extra?!” Bakugou roared, his quirk going off in his hand as he swung for Hibiki. 

Ah, I jinxed myself…. Hibiki thought, his lip twitching in annoyance, his eyes closing for a moment as he spun around Bakugou with two swift foot movements, Bakugou’s hit landing into the wall. 

He didn’t want to do this, but Bakugou left him no choice. Opening his mouth, instead of his usual opera, he began singing a heavy rock song, his voice similar to that of what he used on Midoriya. Bakugou staggered for a moment before he collapsed to his knees, covering his ears with his hands, growling. Everyone had stopped in their tracks, both from shock at the fight and from the effect of hearing Hibiki’s loud voice so suddenly. Hibiki stopped as soon as Bakugou was on his knees, straightening up and clearing his throat.

 Hibiki pulled out the phone from his pocket and typed into it, “I didn’t want to do that, just know that.” Taking a deep breath, he then turned and walked off.

He could hear Bakugou yelling but it was evident his friends and perhaps a teacher had stopped him from coming after Hibiki. He knew he was likely going to get into trouble, and would probably be pulled out of class as soon as it began. 

He was right, of course. 

“Shimizu, Principal Nezu would like to see you,” Power Loader told him right after he had done roll call, having gotten a phone call right as he had been about to start class. 

“Yes, sir,” the phone spoke as Hibiki stood, gathering his things and heading out. He briefly wondered if Bakugou would be there, but he pushed the thought aside as he went down the halls and to the office. 

Standing outside the office for a moment, he hummed to himself before knocking. 

“Come in,” Principal Nezu replied quickly.

Coming in, he didn’t look around as he closed the door behind him. Slowly, he raised his head and took notice of those in the room. Principal Nezu was at his desk, Aizawa-sensei was on one of the couches and across from him was Recovery Girl. Swallowing a lump in his throat, he made his way to sit beside Recovery Girl, but made sure he stayed at the farthest end. 

“Do you know why you are here?” Principal Nezu asked.

“Because I used my quirk in the hallway,” Hibiki replied quickly.

“Well, that and there is another reason too,” Nezu questioned him in a way that implied Hibiki knew what he meant. 

“I do not know the other reason,” Hibiki answered honestly.

“What part of your quirk did you use on Bakugou?” Aizawa asked, surprising Hibiki as he hadn’t expected him to speak.

“Oh, the destabilization…” Hibiki said quietly, “S-Shit, did I hurt him….?” he wondered, his fingers grasping at his pant legs and squeezing. 

“He started getting a terrible headache right after class started and came into my office. I healed him and noticed his body was unstable, specifically his head, as if he’d been through a seizure,” Recovery Girl spoke up, explaining what was going on.

Hibiki’s eyes went wide, gripping his pants tighter, “I shouldn’t have walked off. I should have restabilized him first. I’m sorry,” he had forgotten that yesterday, he had healed Midoriya after the slight destabilization he had given him. 

“We’re telling you this because you need to be aware of the effects of your quirk on others. Remember that you can seriously hurt them,” Recovery Girl told him, her tone warning but soft.

“We also wanted to ask you if you are certain you don’t wish to be in Class A?” Principal Nezu asked suddenly. At least for Hibiki, it was sudden. 

“You have a lot of potential to be a great hero if you apply yourself,” Aizawa spoke up again, Hibiki looking over and locking gazes with him. “You need a lot more training with every aspect of your quirk and that will require more than just sitting in on P.E classes,” he continued. 

“We think that there’s a mentor that will work really well for you,” Principal Nezu added with a smile.

Hibiki held up his hands to stop them from talking and shook his head rapidly, “I don’t want to be in Class A- no offense Sensei- a-and I… don’t want to use anything other than healing… I can’t believe I hurt him like that….” he stuttered out, his nerves getting the best of him. He was beginning to have a panic attack, he could feel it coming. Sure, Bakugou had come after him first, but he had sworn never to use his quirk to that extent. He had used a near metal song right out of the bat, a horrible, irresponsible decision on his part.

“Hibiki, it’s okay, we’re not trying to pressure you into anything. We just want to make sure you know how to control every aspect of your quirk,” Recovery Girl tried to sooth Hibiki, gently rubbing his back as he sat there, shaking a bit.

Slowly, he took deep breaths and nodded a bit as a reply. Once he was fully calmed down, he decided to speak. 

“I.. don’t mind a mentor, though… I think…?” he finally said, brows furring. He wasn’t really sure what they had in mind, but he knew Aizawa’s quirk wasn’t necessarily a good match for him. However, he knew Aizawa was on the scrawnier side yet still had kept up alongside other big-shot heroes in terms of numbers. Perhaps that was their plan? To beef him up a bit?

“Oh good! Mic, would you come in?” Nezu said towards the door.

Hibiki looked over, shocked when he saw Present Mic.

“WHAT’S UP?!” Mic shouted happily as he walked in, the door closing behind him. “Is this the little dude?!” his voice was so loud, it made Hibiki freeze. His little sister had been the same way, and his father who had been an energetic man as well, so it made a small smile creep onto his face. 

“Yeah… I am,” Hibiki said looking up at Mic. He was getting excited to begin this training.