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sturchling · 4 years

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aft hawkmoth is defeated, paris banned any outside superheroes from entering bc lb and cn said that they had asked the superheroes (e.g justice league, up to u) for help, but all they got was a message saying that they should not be faking this for attention. soon, said superheroes try to come into paris to help aft hawkmoth was alr defeated and theyre arent allowed in. lb and cn show up and the superheroes insult then abit bc they arent allowed in so paris and lb and cn go off at them

Here you go!! Hope you like the story! Let me know what you think!

Ladybug and Chat Noir were very worried when they first became heroes. They had no experience as heroes, nor any idea how to track down Hawkmoth. They knew that people could request aid from the Justice League for their cities if something was wrong. Of course, it was mainly used to ask for just humanitarian help, typically after some kind of natural disaster. But Ladybug and Chat Noir didn’t know what else to do. So, they sent in a request, asking for their help. They never received a response to their initial request. As time went by, they kept trying to reach out to the Justice League. After their fifth message, they received a response, but not the one they were hoping for. When the two young heroes saw a message from the Justice League help line, they felt excited. They thought they would finally get some help and maybe this nightmare would be over soon. But the message didn’t say that help was on the way. Instead all it said was:

This help line is for real emergencies only. You two should not be clogging the line with these ridiculous jokes. This is not the kind of thing to fake to get attention. Please do not contact this help line again. -Justice League Assistance Requests

Ladybug and Chat Noir were disheartened. They had truly hoped that these heroes would help them. How could they think this is fake? It is true that there is no apparent damage, but Ladybug had explained that was only due to her powers.

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Ladybug and Chat Noir did not listen to the message and kept sending messages that became more and more desperate as the akumas grew stronger. Eventually though, it became too dangerous to keep asking for help. Ladybug and Chat Noir both realized that if the Justice League came to Paris, they ran the risk of the League becoming akumatized. If any member of the League became akumatized, it would be disastrous. Ladybug realized that they couldn’t risk the heroes coming to Paris anymore. So, her and Chat Noir went to the mayor. After that day, foreign superheroes were banned from entering Paris.

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After three years of fighting, Ladybug and Chat Noir had finally defeated Hawkmoth. His capture was international news. Paris was finally telling the full story. The mayor finally told the world all about Hawkmoth and his reign of terror. The world was shocked that they hadn’t known what was happening. None were more shocked than Bruce Wayne. He remembered those messages from all those years ago in Paris. Those kids had been telling the truth? He could hardly believe it; their messages had seemed so ridiculous that they had to be fake. Magic jewelry that is powered by tiny gods did not sound real at all. Batman knew it was time for damage control. He called a meeting with the other founding members of the league and went straight to the Watchtower.

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When Bruce arrived, he saw that most of the other members were already present. Several of them were confused and were asking Bruce why they were there. Bruce just played the news clip from this morning. Several of the other leaguers were shocked. Green Lantern spoke up, “These kids again? They were actually telling the truth?” Bruce turned to him, “Yes it appears they were. This is going to look bad on us, that we didn’t help. Whether we believed them or not, it is important that we go to Paris now. Offer our apologies for not helping sooner and help them re-build. I imagine there is a lot left damaged after fighting such a powerful foe.” Bruce had clearly already forgotten that in the original messages Ladybug had said she could fix all the damage. Shows how much he actually listened to the original requests. With that settled, the different members prepared to leave for Paris. They tried using the zeta tube they had set up, but they got an error message saying the tube in Paris was too damaged. The leaguers assumed it had been damaged in one of the fights and decided to zeta to a different location in France and then fly the rest of the way to Paris. They had no idea about the cold greeting they would soon receive.

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Marinette had been at home for the day when the news was announced. She may not have revealed her identity to the public, but she did tell her parents finally about her being Ladybug. They were so proud, and had agreed that Marinette deserved the day off from school, considering she had just saved Paris. Marinette was just planning on spending a relaxing day at home when she got a message. She had set up a website with a way to message Ladybug back when Hawkmoth was still active. This was so citizens could inform her of akuma attacks quicker. She wasn’t expecting to get a message on it today, but around noon, there was a new message. This message came from the mayor’s office. It read:

Ladybug, we have spotted different members of the Justice League approaching the city. Since the ban on superheroes is still in effect, we will turn them away. However, we would feel more comfortable doing so if you and Chat Noir were there to help. Please hurry to the Western border of the city.

Marinette was shocked. The Justice League was coming now? Why the sudden interest in Paris? Regardless, she quickly pulled out her phone and called Adrien, who was also staying home for obvious reasons. They had revealed their identities to each other after the final battle, and were ecstatic to find out they had been that close to each other all along. The rest of the miraculous team also revealed their identities, and everyone was shocked to see that Ladybug and Chat Noir were Marinette and Adrien. Adrien picked up quickly, “Marinette? What’s up?” “Can you talk privately right now?” Adrien knew that meant that Marinette needed to talk about superhero stuff, so he made sure the door to his room was locked and then said, “Yeah, I’m good. What’s up?” Marinette replied quickly, “We have guests coming to the city. Apparently, someone spotted members of the Justice League heading this way and are worried they will try to enter the city. The mayor asked both of us to be there to help when they turn them all away. He asked us to meet at the western border of the city as quick as we can.” Adrien was shocked. Why was the League coming? They hadn’t cared before. “I’ll be right there milady. Let the rest of the team know, we may need the back up. See you soon.” With that, he hung up and transformed. Marinette quickly sent a message in the group chat for they had set up for the members of the miraculous team, telling everyone to meet at the western border quickly. She then transformed as well and went to join Chat. He quickly rushed to the border of the city where he saw the police force, the mayor, and Ladybug all waiting. He joined them and watched for the Justice League. They didn’t have to wait long before the Justice League members appeared on the horizon. Officer Raincomprix used a megaphone and ordered all of the heroes to land before they entered the city. Chat Noir got ready to face the Justice League and tell them to get lost.

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When the leaguers arrived, they were expecting the citizens of Paris to be glad to see them. But instead, they were glared at and ordered to stop at the border of the city. The leaguers were confused, this is a very different reception than they were expecting. They stopped and Batman stepped forward, “We heard about your defeat of Hawkmoth and have come to offer our help in rebuilding your city.” Then a younger girl in a ladybug themed outfit and a boy in a cat outfit stepped forward. Batman recognized them as the kids from the videos, what were their names again? Oh right, Ladybug and Chat Noir. Behind them he saw other kids in similar outfits, however he didn’t remember seeing any of them in the videos sent to the league. He was expecting them to thank him and the other heroes for the help, even if they were still upset from the earlier rejection. But that was not what happened at all. The two kids were very calm, but he could tell they were still angry. The girl called Ladybug took the lead, “Your help is not wanted, or even needed. The city is perfectly fine. Regardless, you are not welcome in Paris. None of you are. Foreign superheroes are banned in Paris. Only the miraculous team is allowed to reside in this city.” The Justice League were shocked, to say the least. Batman tried to argue with them, “The city can’t possibly already be prepared. Fights like what was discussed on the news cause massive amounts of damage. They couldn’t possibly be fixed overnight. And how could you ban superheroes?” Chat Noir rolled his eyes, “Shows how much you actually listened to our original request for help. We told you back then that the reason there was no damage to speak of is because Ladybug is able to reverse all damage caused by the akumas and other miraculous. In other words, the damage from the final fight was fixed immediately. And we banned heroes after you all refused to give us any aid. We needed to make sure that you didn’t just storm in later and try to take over or get akumatized. That would have been disastrous. You can’t just suddenly decide to come and help after ignoring us for three years.”

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Superman stepped forward at this point, “We didn’t mean to ignore the situation. But you have to admit it sounds pretty far-fetched. Magical jewelry that is powered by ancient gods and evil butterflies possessing people doesn’t sound reasonable.” Ladybug got angry hearing that, “Why doesn’t it? You have several magic users in the Justice League, like Zatanna. You even have Dr. Fate who is a sorcerer that inhabits a magic helmet and possesses people who wear the helmet. That isn’t much different from the miraculous. Are you all seriously so close-minded that you didn’t even consider the possibility?”

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That comment made several of the leaguers angry. They didn’t want to admit that they were in the wrong, but Ladybug was right. They had several magic users, and the Helmet of Fate is pretty similar to a miraculous. But these kids couldn’t possibly know what they are doing. The Justice League needed to step in and help get things back to normal. They were sure that they could get the city to listen. Batman turned to the mayor and said, “That ban is hardly necessary anymore. It wasn’t even necessary in the first place. These second-rate heroes just convinced you of it because their pride was hurt. Don’t you think it is time to lift it? I am sure we could help get your city back on track quicker than these children playing at heroes.” Ladybug and Chat Noir’s blood was boiling after hearing that. How dare Batman act all high and mighty and talk above them like he was superior. He had spent the last three years ignoring the problem and now wants to suddenly come in and take over. This is exactly why they put the ban in place. The mayor seemed just as angry as Ladybug and Chat Noir, “Sir, like Ladybug and Chat Noir said, you are not welcome here. They have done a fantastic job in not only dealing with Hawkmoth, but also helping the citizens return to normal.” Batman was furious, they were still going to deny them entry? The Flash stepped forward now, “Surely, with the focus being on Hawkmoth, crime rates have risen. That isn’t the fault of these kids, they wouldn’t know how to juggle dealing with Hawkmoth and also petty crime. But we can help you get that handled.” Mayor Bourgeois shook his head, “Actually, they handled both responsibilities well. Even though we told them not to worry about petty crime, and that the local police would handle it, they still patrolled every night to help. Crime rates are at an all time low here. Now I am not going to tell you again. You are not welcome here. Leave at once.”

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The Justice League couldn’t believe it, Batman exploded, “You would seriously leave the security of your city in the hands of these wannabe heroes?” Green Lantern added, “Yeah, they are just little kids with some fancy jewelry playing pretend. You need real heroes!” The mayor and police were furious. How dare these people belittle their heroes. The mayor was now yelling as well, “Do not speak about them so rudely. They are more heroic than you seem to be. Now get out of my city.”

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The Justice League still refused to leave. They hurled insults at the young heroes and demanded to be let in to the city. They even tried to force their way past the blockade of police officers. Ladybug turned around and gestured to Pegasus. The leaguers did not see any of this, they just heard someone call “Voyage!” They saw a giant blue portal open and then swallowed them up. When the light faded, they saw that they were in the middle of a field somewhere. Batman used his GPS and saw that they had been moved all the way to a corn field in the middle of Nebraska. He was furious, how dare they force him away through a teleport. Paris needed more competent heroes than a bunch of children playing pretend.

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Over the next several weeks, the league continued to try and enter the city. None of their attempts worked though. They tried just flying through, entering covertly as their civilian identities, and a bunch of other plans. Somehow, the leaguers kept getting teleported right back out of the city, in increasingly strange locations. Eventually, the leaguers just decided to abandon Paris completely. They would not help Paris with any situation. Their plan was to watch the city fall to pieces and not offer any help unless they lifted that ridiculous ban. But that never happened. It irritated Batman and the others to no end that those second-rate heroes were doing a good job and that the ban wasn’t lifted. So, the leaguers resumed their attempts to break into the city. They did not count on the young heroes putting their actions in the public eye.

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Ladybug and Chat Noir were still furious at how the leaguers behaved. They had thought that the Justice League was full of good and kind people, but the members they had met were certainly not good and kind. They were forceful and insulting. And even once they were told that they were not welcome in Paris, they kept trying to come into the city anyway. Poor Pegasus was exhausted from constantly having to teleport them away. Ladybug knew they had to do something or those leaguers would keep coming back. So, they made a video. This video told the whole world that the Justice League had ignored their calls for help all those years ago and had left young heroes to fend for themselves. It also talked about how the league had shown up after the fact and tried to bully their way into the city they had previously ignored, despite the fact they were told about the superhero ban. The video ended by talking about how they were fed up with the league members having no respect for the laws of Paris and still trying to sneak into the city. The miraculous team posted the video online and sent it to all the major news networks they could get a hold of. The public was outraged when they saw the video. The heroes they trusted were trying to break the laws in Paris? The video and public outcry seem to have worked. It had been several weeks since the video was posted, and no leaguer had tried to break into the city since. The miraculous team was ecstatic; they didn’t have to keep forcing the heroes out of the city. At last, the miraculous team and all of Paris could finally enjoy peace.

#ml fic #ml fanfic #ml salt #maribat #miraculous ladybug #miraculous ladybug x dc #miraculous fanfic #miraculous salt fanfic #miraculoustalesofladybugandcatnoir #miraculous salt #hawkmoth defeated

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colehasapen · 3 years

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(ONE SHOT) There are things that we can have, but can't keep DC

A03

Hal isn’t on Earth when Barry dies. He’d been in deep space, running a mission for the Guardians that needed him to go completely radio-silent for a month and a half. It had been an absolutely miserable time, but he’d managed, telling himself that with every day that passed he was closer and closer to being able to go back to Earth, that soon he’d be able to sleep in his own bed and hold his boyfriend close. He doesn’t even know until he’s returned to the Watchtower, and goes looking for him.

He’d been confused, at first, when he’d noticed the strange looks the heroes he passed sent him, the way they parted as he’d passed. He’d been confused until John and Diana had pulled him aside and broke the news to him as gently as possible.

Barry was dead.

Barry had died while Hal was in space, not even a week after he had gone radio silent. He’d died saving the world, over a month ago, and Hal hadn’t been there. He’d had a hero’s funeral, there was talk of setting up a statue in memorial in Central City. He died while Hal was in space; Hal had spent the month telling himself that soon he’d be able to see him again, soon he’d be able to touch and hold him again.

Barry was gone.

Hal can’t remember what the last thing he had said to Barry was. He couldn’t remember if he had told Barry that he loved him, if he had said something deep and meaningful or something light and sarcastic. He knows they had had dinner before he’d left, he knows that Barry had smiled at him and kissed him goodbye, Hal knows that he had laughed and told Barry that he’d see him soon, but he can’t remember the conversation they’d had in full. He feels like he should, that he should remember the last moment he’d seen the man he loves in perfect clarity, because it’s what Barry - the amazingly kind and gentle man he’d fallen in love with, who loved Hal despite all the things he’d fucked up in his life - deserves.

Hal’s legs had given out on him, the green energy of his ring sputtering out and dying with his will as it had all sunk in. He’d dropped like a stone, numb with horror and eyes wide and unseeing, and it was only John’s strong arms looping around his shoulders and pulling him into a tight hug that had stopped him from hitting the unforgiving floor. He’d probably been in shock, because he hadn’t cried, hadn’t screamed or shouted or gotten angry, he’d just gone numb and silent, staring at the wall blankly as John had held him. He’d gone quiet, he hadn’t uttered a word, and simply let John herd him towards the zeta beams and take him back to Coast City, back to the apartment Hal rarely stayed in, because he was usually in space, or at Barry’s small house outside of Central City.

He knows now what was in their eyes - pity. Pity because they all had some idea of the relationship between Green Lantern and Flash. It wasn’t like he and Barry hid the fact that they were a couple. They ate together, took missions together, watched each other’s backs and hovered over each other in the medbay; honestly, it was pretty obvious, even if there were a lot of people who wondered just how the mild mannered Flash and hot headed Green Lantern managed to get along long enough to begin a relationship in the first place.

But not a lot of people knew them as Hal and Barry. Didn’t know them beyond the masks they wore.

It doesn’t matter anymore, though, because Barry is dead.

Barry is dead, and Hal is alone.

Hal shuts himself away; he locks himself in his apartment, takes a leave from the League and the Corps, and stays huddled away in a darkened room, mind racing through regrets and memories. He wouldn’t even be able to go out if he wanted to, not as Green Lantern, because he hadn’t been able to light his ring since he’d learned, barely made it flicker despite it being a full charge, so John and Guy pick up his slack. Sometimes, he feels something other than the numbness of loss when he sees them on the news, doing his job for him, but even that isn’t enough to make Hal will himself to move again. Alan comes by, sometimes, but it doesn’t change anything, only makes him remember to eat because the older Lantern is always bringing food and has mastered that look that makes Hal listen to what he’s saying.

He’s worrying them, he knows, worrying his fellow Leaguers too, but Hal’s never handled loss well, even since he was that kid staring at the flaming wreck of his father’s plane. He obsesses, the therapist had told his mother, back when they were still trying to pry into his head to pull out his thoughts so that he’d stop dreaming of flying someday, because his mom didn’t want to lose anyone else to the fires of a crashed plane but Hal was too stubborn to listen. Back then, Hal had been standing outside of the door, listening listening to his mom cry and beg the psychologists to fix him, to make him normal; he’d been quiet and numb then too, because even back then, even at eight, he’d known that while his mom loved him, he was too much like his dad and that was all she could see in his eyes.

Hal had shut down back then, and he shuts down now too.

The what-ifs are loud, an ever-present shouting in his mind that he can’t block out. He wonders what could have happened if he had been there, if he’d been on Earth when Barry had run so fast that his body had burned up. Could he have stopped it? Could his ring have saved Barry?

They haunt him almost as much as Barry does.

When the door to his apartment opens, Hal barely looks up from where he sits on the lumpy old couch, staring out the window and watching the cars zoom past. He’s used to it at this point, the comings and goings of his fellow Lanterns, so he just keeps staring, hoping that whoever came to watch him stew in his depression would leave him to it. That is, until his visitor speaks up.

“Uncle Hal.” Hal jerks, head snapping up and around at the young, wrecked voice. Wally looks horrible, and Hal isn’t surprised - though he does feel guilty that he had forgotten about the speedster that had once run at Barry’s side. Wally had been Iris and Barry’s son in all but blood, and then, after Zoom had killed Iris, he’d only had Barry.

Barry, and Hal, who hadn’t let Barry out of his sight if he could help it.

But Hal had forgotten - so caught up in himself that he forgot about the boy Barry had been raising. God - Wally wasn’t even twenty yet, and he’d lost both of the closest things to actual parents that weren’t pieces of rotting shit he’d ever had, and now he was stuck with Hal of all people.

“Wally.” He croaks, stumbling to his feet with all the grace of a newborn colt. Wally is pale, almost gray, with dark circles under dull eyes; he looks like he hadn’t slept since Barry’s death. “Shit, kid - I -” Hal stutters slightly, guilt burning in his gut, “- I’m sorry.” For not being here. For not helping Barry. For not being on Earth. For not being there for him in the aftermath.

Wally’s smile is shaky, and almost heartbreaking to look at, “It’s okay.” The kid says, shrugging. He steps forward, wrapping his arms around Hal’s torso, and folds himself against the Lantern, pressing his forehead against Hal’s collarbone. “Nightwing told me you were planet-side.” The words aren’t even accusing, but God knows Hal deserved that and more. They just sound tired, a soul-deep exhaustion out of place in such a young man.

Hal lets out a shaky breath, holding the young man close. Shit, he’s horrible - leaving Wally on his own, and not even having the balls to tell him that he’d come back. “I’m sorry.” Hal says again, uselessly. “How’re you holding up?”

Wally lets out a shuddering sigh, “I’m holding.” He says, bitter amusement in his voice. “Jay’s been - he’s been running patrols.”

“Yeah.” Hal sighs. Alan had told him, during one of his earlier visits; at the time, it had angered Hal, knowing that someone other than Barry was protecting Central, but now he’s come to terms with it. Barry may be dead, but crime wouldn’t have stopped, no matter how much the twin cities adored the Flash.

“I -” Wally’s voice cuts off. He goes quiet, hesitates, and pulls back, fiddling with the heavy golden ring on his finger.

His Flash ring.

Green eyes flash, harden, then Wally meets his eyes head-on. “Jay can’t do it all.” Wally says, “He’s retired. But -” he grows hesitant, “- but the world needs a Flash.” He finishes quietly. “And it needs to be me.” Wally ducks his head again, and Hal’s heart thunders in his chest. “I - I just - I’m not him. It feels wrong.”

It was inevitable, Hal knows, that Wally would become the Flash. Barry had always told him that his sidekick had always had potential, had the goodness inside of him needed to be a hero, that he would make an amazing Flash.

But he’d always hoped that Barry would be here to see it happen.

“You’re not Barry.” Hal finds himself saying, then he winces. Way to go, Jordan, just fuck it up all over again. He scrambles to recover, “But you can’t get your confidence from him.” Wally looks at him with sad green eyes, and Hal reaches forward, placing a hand on the kid’s shoulder. “You’ve got to find it in yourself, Wally. You’re the Flash now, and that name means something to people.” Hal lets out a slow breath, forcing himself away from the foggy cloud of numbness he had fallen into. “I know it’s going to be hard, it’s going to be a heavy weight to carry, a heavy legacy.” He thinks of Abin Sur, and the expectations that had come with being his replacement. “Barry - he was - he was the best. Not just as a hero, but as a human being . That’s a lot to live up to.” Wally nods, but Hal isn’t done yet. “But you know what kid? You’re gonna do it. You know why I know?”

“...No.” Wally whispers, voice thick, and Hal moves his hand to gently press against the kid’s cheek, like Barry’s had.

“Because Barry believed in you.” Hal says with a surety that he hasn’t felt since the moment Diana had told him what had happened. “He knew you’d be great. Always said that you’d be better than him, and I believe him.”

“What if I can’t be?” Wally’s voice shakes miserably, eyes shiny with tears, “I’m not Barry.”

“There’s not going to be another Barry, kid.” Hal’s words tear past his throat, shredding his heart with them, “He’s dead. You’re not Barry, because you’re you.”

Barry’s dead. He’s dead and gone, and Hal wasn’t there for him. He’d promised that he’d be there for him, once, and had planned to keep that promise; but, well, everyone had always told him he had commitment issues, hadn’t they? That he broke promises as easily as breathing.

May as well live up to that.

#cole writes #dcu #dc comics #halbarry #hal jordan #wally west #green lantern #the flash #flash family #justice league #barry allen #barry allen/hal jordan #hal jordan/barry allen

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soulmate-game · 4 years

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“Alright, so tonight is going to be fairly standard. Arkham is silent, and there’s no solid leads on what any of the free rogues might be up to. Harley is sick and Ivy is stuck at home taking care of her, so they aren’t going to be up to anything on either side of the law for a few days. Catwoman is the only person we’d have to look out for right now, but her kleptomania has taken her out of the city for a change,” Barbara was typing away at the large Batcomputer keyboard as she brought all of the Gotham vigilantes up to speed on what to expect for patrol that night. “So, Red Hood and Black Bat will take the Narrows and surrounding area patrol route like usual. Nightwing and Batgirl, Upper east side and fashion district patrol route. Red Robin, you’re taking the route that passes city hall and through Old Gotham and Diamond District, and if you don’t throw a fit maybe you can take Robin with you. Batman, crime alley and Newtown patrol. Robin or no Robin, pick your poison,” the redhead offered, finally spinning her wheelchair around to look at everyone. “We’ll be pretty spread out tonight, but like I said, there’s nothing. No whispers of anything planned on the dark web, no news from any of the rogues, Blackgate and Arkham are, dare I say, peaceful right now. But if you see anything, I’ll redirect you guys so you can get backup ASAP.”

This was a rare night. Usually there was at least a plot or red flag to investigate, but not that night. For some reason, it seemed like Gotham had gotten a dose of sanity that it had been desperately missing.

“Actually,” Alfred took that moment to walk in, a slight pep to his step that seemed to catch everyone’s attention. “I do have news. Batman, you of course know that I have been keeping a close eye on Paris’s situation as per your orders, yes?”

Bruce, who had already been inching towards the batmobile none too subtly, suddenly stood stock still and slowly turned to look at his father figure. He could feel the eyes of his many children honing in on him, silent questions behind those orbs.

“Of course, I remember,” he confirmed cautiously. “You haven’t had an update for me in years.”

Years? Tim furrowed his eyebrows. That meant this had to be something that stretched very far back, because everything that Batman tried to keep secret from him since he became Robin had already been outed. Right? Well, he supposed there was always the possibility that Bruce could have snuck something by, but not a large one. Between him and Oracle, any new secrets he tried to squirrel away were unearthed pretty swiftly. So, most likely this was something Bruce had asked Alfred to keep an eye on at least back when Jason was still Robin. Maybe even further back than that.

“Yes, well you wouldn’t have appreciated any prior updates, sir,” Alfred said pointedly, raising an eyebrow. He always would be the one to understand Bruce Wayne and Batman the best out of all of them. “But this is a big one. I used our inside contact to check up on the Paris situation like I do every month, and this came up,” Alfred pulled out a remote from his pocket and clicked it at the computer, triggering it to bring up an article that likely had been hidden and only accessible via that remote signal. If Barbara had had any reason to check for hidden files she would have found it easily, but Alfred was good at never giving any hints as to when he was hiding something.

But what was on the computer was far more interesting than the all-too-familiar, cryptid ways of Alfred Pennyworth.

Because it was a news article from an online Paris newspaper. It was still in untranslated French, but nobody in that room had any trouble reading it. It was dated to have been published two weeks earlier.

On the cover picture for the article was a man that everybody also recognized, being high-profile and extremely influential in the fashion industry. Most of them had even met the man at least once, the aging Gabriel Agreste. In his early seventies, it was odd to see the man being herded into a police vehicle. He didn’t seem all that threatening, though he still struck an oddly intimidating figure with his cold glare and straight back. Being herded behind him was a woman of around Bruce’s own age, with long brown hair in several elaborate braids. Her dark, almost muddy green eyes bore into the camera and a snarl was on her face. Lila Rossi, the model that had been employed under Agreste for quite some years now and had turned into a sort of reality TV celebrity after she got too old to be hired for as many modeling gigs. She was known as highly untrustworthy, a lie monger and the most infamous gossip in the celebrity world. The headline for the article was;

“THE PARISIAN NIGHTMARE FINALLY OVER! AFTER THIRTY YEARS OF TORMENT, THE HAWKMOTHS OF PAST AND PRESENT HAVE BEEN ARRESTED.”

Underneath that title picture was another, this one detailing the Parisian heroes to stop Hawkmoth, who had been replaced years ago by his female counterpart Monarch, a play on the Monarch Butterfly. The Heroes, on the other hand, had remained mostly the same after the infamous confusion of the early years of Hawkmoth’s reign of terror, where Ladybug had temporarily started adding hero after hero to the team before mysteriously and suddenly retiring almost all of them.

On the right was Ladybug, who stood proud with her arms crossed and a somber gaze directed towards the two unmasked villains. On the left was Chat Noir, in a weird black leather costume that was like a bizzare yet fashionable meld of DiscoWing and the classic Batman uniform. Minus a cape or cowl, of course. Standing behind them, all fanned out, were the last four members of their team. Viperion, in a dark teal snake-themed costume. Ryuuko, standing next to him in a black and red ensemble with her elemental symbol proudly on her chest. Bunnyx, in her bright baby blue and white, and lastly the imperious Stinger behind them in her black outfit with gold accents.

As everyone but Alfred and Bruce read the article and examined the photos as quickly as they could, the eldest vigilante in the room slowly removed his cowl. His eyes were wide, disbelieving as they stared only at the two pictures on the screen and didn’t pay any heed to the article itself.

“Thirty years,” Jason remarked, turning to face Bruce angrily. “Paris has been under attack by magical madmen for thirty years, and you never told us? We knew nothing about this, and this has been going on since before us. Since before you, even,” he waved a hand at the screen angrily. “You know that they have been under attack since before Batman was even a thing, and you never said anything? We could have helped! The league could have—“

“Been a liability,” Bruce interrupted, but it was the uncharacteristic softness to his tone that ultimately shut Jason up and attracted everyone else’s rapid attention. “The league knows. The founding members, anyway. It was something I briefed them on back when we first founded the League, but we were careful to keep any mention of it off of any electronic system. The magic behind the attacks stopped any word of the terrorism from getting out through normal means. We pretended to put the JLE in Paris, when really they are centered miles out of city limits and never set foot inside Paris’s boundaries.”

“Why?” Dick asked, his own mask off so that he could glare into Bruce’s eyes without it obscuring his expression at all. He wasn’t explosively angry like Jason, but it was clear that Dick wasn’t happy either. “They all look to be your age, Bruce. Which means they’ve been fighting HawkMoth since they were teenagers, on their own, since before there was any Justice League or very many other established heroes at all to provide backup. And I get that HawkMoth and Monarch seem to have controlled or fed off negative emotions and a lot of us would have been liabilities, but there are Leaguers who have extreme control over their emotions. You could have gone. Or J’onn, you could have even sent Tim. Anybody to help even a little.”

“Paris isn’t my city, it’s Ladybug’s city. The League and most metahuman heroes stay out of Gotham because I asked them too, but I am not the first to have the idea that keeping other heroes out of a volatile city can be beneficial for damage control. Ladybug herself told me not to allow any interference in the situation,” Bruce braced himself against the back of one of their metal debriefing chairs, leaning forward so it could take most of his weight. That, and the way he never looked away from the photos displayed on the computer, tipped off everyone else that Bruce might not have stayed uninvolved willingly. That he had a deeper connection to the whole Paris mess than just keeping a shrewd eye on a possible issue.

“You know Ladybug?” Tim decides to speak up, leaning back against the desk that housed the batcomputer keyboard. His voice was decidedly softer than that of his elder brothers’.

Bruce nodded, still in an odd partial trance. “We met when I was on a trip to Paris, before I became Batman. It was twenty-three years ago, I was eighteen and found out the hard way about the situation that the rest of the world was somehow oblivious to. I was able to meet Ladybug during one of her patrols, and confronted her. Even after I became Batman two years later, she refused any help. It wasn’t until about a year before I adopted Dick that I finally decided I couldn’t keep worrying about a situation and people that I wasn’t being allowed to help, so I told Alfred to use the sources that Ladybug had given me back when we first met to check in on the situation every month or two. I know that it was not the best decision, making Alfred do what I couldn’t bring myself to, but by the time I adopted Dick I had mostly forgotten about it. I was too worried about trying to figure out how to raise a kid and then deal with raising a vigilante kid after that, for the first time.”

Silence reigned for a while. This was, essentially, news that Bruce had been waiting to hear for over twenty years. An outcome that he had been barred from being a part of. Talk about bittersweet, especially when Bruce seemed so passionate about wanting to have helped. Probably too guilty about not being allowed to.

In the end, it was Damian who made the connection between this news and his father’s foreign mood and behavior first. Or at least, he was the first to vocalize it. Cass probably noticed it sooner.

“You have feelings for Ladybug,” Damian somehow managed to make the declaration sound like a reprimand. “I admit, she is likely much better of a suitor for you than that mangy cat, but I hardly think that trying to start courting her again after so long apart is reasonable. She could have changed from—“

“I know, Damian,” Bruce’s knuckles were white from how tightly he was gripping the chair. “Trust me, I have spent more than enough hours contemplating calling her again to catch up, but I knew it was best to stay away. I had grown busy with Batman and the League anyway, and adding the time difference on there was no way any relationship between us would have been feasible.”

“So you cut yourself off from even being her friend. Which, might I remind you, I heavily advised against,” Alfred finally cut back into the conversation, hands clasped behind his back. “The two of you had maintained a perfectly stable long distance friendship for over five years, and I still consider the day you cut her off to be one of your stupidest mistakes, master Bruce. On an unrelated note, I received a call from the designer that you always commission your more high-fashion suits from, sir. She is coming to Gotham for a time, and I gave her an invitation to come visit for dinner tomorrow. I hope you don’t mind.” With that said, Alfred turned on his heel and walked away.

“That man never raises his voice, but somehow still makes you feel like absolute shit when he gets mad,” Stephanie mused aloud when the butler had left, earning silent nods from everyone else.

“How are you still alive, Father?” Damian asked, raising an eyebrow over one vibrant green eye. “If you cut off Ladybug only to continue to commission the person that I assume is her civilian identity on a regular basis, how has that idiocy not blended into the rest of your life?”

“It has,” Jason added in, always up for a game of Rag on Bruce. “He’s just always had this annoying ability of surviving even the shittiest situations he ends up in. It’s like he has plot armor or something.”

Bruce only grunted, pulling his cowl back on. “Patrol. Robin, you’re with Red Robin today. Don’t kill each other.”

“Oh no, I want to live to see the girl you’ve apparently been crushing on since you were a teenager,” Tim said as he ambled over to his motorcycle. “Seeing THAT reunion is gonna be way better than picking another fight with Demon Spawn.”

“Tt.”

—*—*—*—*—*

“Your tie won’t get any straighter,” Barbara teased Bruce, watching as he fiddled with the tie around his throat for the millionth time in just the past ten minutes. Alfred had made sure that he couldn’t escape this, even going so far as benching Batman for the night.

And to make matters worse, it was still far too early for patrol so all the Wayne kids were present. Stephanie had other obligations to see to, unfortunately, but other than her even Jason had come over to the manor to see the fallout.

“Master Bruce, she is here,” Alfred’s voice cut through the almost palpable nerves emanating from the usually stoic or charismatic man. Batman was nowhere to be seen at the moment, but neither was Playboy Billionaire Brucie Wayne. No, this was Bruce Wayne, as genuine as anybody could see him. And more nervous than his kids had ever witnessed.

The door was opened, and in stepped someone that defied any of the Batkid’s preconceptions. They were expecting someone suave, sophisticated, with hard-earned muscle trying to hide under her skin. Like a Wonder Woman type of person, bursting with strength except for when they made an effort to disguise it. But that was not what they got. No suave, sophisticated bachelorette of a businesswoman and reputable fashion designer. No goddess-masquerading-as-a-human. Not even a femme fatale like Selina Kyle or most of Batman’s exes.

But there was a distinct observation that the kids made the moment they saw her.

Black hair, so dark that it seemed to reflect blue in the light, and clear blue eyes that were dark, vibrant, and seemed to glow with intelligence and humor, with just the slightest gray tones that hid in them grim experiences and disillusion.

She had a smile that was eerily similar to Dick’s when she laid eyes on the family and let it spread across her face. It was like the warmth of the sun, and instantly made the impersonal foyer feel cozy and welcoming. But the sharpness in her eyes as she scanned over all the people gathered, more than she expected if her eyebrow raise was any indication, was just like Tim. Too much like Tim.

She came to a stop a few feet away from the Wayne clan, and rested one hand on her waist as she popped her hip out. Jason’s attitude.

Her hair was up in a simple but elegant bun, with a braid curling around the base of it. She was small, about five foot four if their estimates were correct, and the sleek sleeves of her midnight blue dress simultaneously emphasized and disguised the lithe, corded muscle mass that seemed to flow smoothly down her arms. Not a brawler’s muscle, but an acrobat or gymnast’s. The delicate silver embroidery along the sleeves and trim of her dress, and curling around her waist like a belt of thread, was in actuality a string of bats in various flight poses interspersed with silver swirls and tiny ladybugs. Her own playful personality, it seemed, something innocent and daring and subtle all at once that didn’t quite fit any of the kids, it was solely hers.

“I am Marinette Dupain-Cheng,” the woman finally introduced herself, holding out her hand even as her radiant smile stayed firmly in place. When her eyes found Bruce again, they stayed there. “An old friend of your father’s. And by the way, Bruce. If you ever cut contact with me again without ever explaining yourself, I will not stay twiddling my thumbs in some other city again. I will hunt you down and get you to tell me what exactly possessed you to freeze me out, and only if it is some really good reasoning will I let you off without giving you a remedial lesson in the importance of dodging.”

Damian’s fire.

Dick looked over at Bruce, then at Marinette. She caught his eye, nodded and winked, and looked back to her old friend.

“But I do have to say, this looks suspiciously like a family we might have had if you had ever gotten up the courage to ask me out all those years ago instead of not realizing that I never specifically forbade you from visiting Paris, only heroes in general. You’re lucky I’m patient. I spent thirty years waiting to get back the Butterfly Miraculous and lock those two up for good, but making me wait twenty years to finally confess to you is a bit much, don’t you think? And adopting kids with only blue eyes and black hair is a bit on the nose, even for you.”

Scratch that, Damian’s loyalty.

Bruce really had adopted kids that reminded him of Marinette in some way, and the way he would grin or smile at Damian when he was displaying his usually subtle but steady loyalty, or the way that Bruce had almost unending tolerance for Damian’s stubbornness, it all started to make sense.

Bruce had tried building a family around the one he imagined he could have had with Marinette.

“Mari—“

“Nope. You’ve made me wait this long, you don’t even get a hug until after dinner. Then we can catch up, and you’ll take me out to dinner in a few days,” suddenly what was happening seemed to creep up on the woman, and she fidgeted. Sheepishness rose to her face, and she winced at her own words. But damn, she had imagined this day for so long, she couldn’t help but get assertive! “I mean, if you want to. I get it if you lost interest in dating me, but—“

“How about I set up a private dinner on the top of Wayne enterprises, day after tomorrow. We can even do a patrol afterwards if you’re up to it.”

His sons all facepalmed, some inwardly and some outwardly. Barbara groaned and Cass pinched the bridge of her nose. But, to their astonishment, Marinette’s smile just came back full force.

“Aww, you know I can’t resist the offer of a patrol. But just one, I want to enjoy some time off now that I’m not perpetually on-call as Paris’s main hero.”

Bruce finally grinned back, his eyes soft for the first time in a while that wasn’t directed at his kids. In way that they had never been soft towards Selina or most of his past flings.

“Just one patrol, then.”

“Sounds like a date.”

First attempt to upload this goofed and deleted the first part, so here is attempt number two! Again, Brucinette has been invading my dreams.

Apparently there is a part 2 now.

#mlb x dc #ml x dc #brucinette #aged up marinette

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tired-college-student-writing · 4 years

Text

#WaynesAngel

The Maribat AU by @ozmav and @maribat-archive is all I can think about atm, so enjoy more of this

Summary- After Grayson posts a video on the wrong twitter, Damian feels like he should lose his social media privileges, and possibly his hand.

Part 1

Part 4

Part 5 (HERE)

This was a impusle write as I was trapped in a car for over 50 hours in three days. Please do not ask for another chapter.

_________________________________________

Wayne’s Angel @FashionInGotham

Why is it weird that I’ve never met a Bat before? It’s not like Damian or the Waynes have ever seen Ladybug or Chat Noir or the Miraculous Team in Paris, and they’ve been in Paris a lot more than I’ve been in Gotham #confusion #AMERICAEXPLAIN

Jason Todd Lives @BestTodd

@FashionInGotham Whomst the Fuck is Ladybug and Chat Noir?? Also, Miraculous Team Sounds like some magical girl anime Cass watches

Call me Cass @CainYouBelieve

@FashionInGotham @BestTodd 🖕🏼

Wayne’s Angel @FashionInGotham

@FashionInGotham @BestTodd @CainYouBelieve They’re the Paris superheroes, they showed up almost five years ago to fight the little bitch of a villain, Hawkmoth and his stupid peacock assistant, Mayra.

Dick Grayson @AFlyingGrayson

@FashionInGotham @BestTodd @CainYouBelieve @ FashionInGotham WHAT?! Paris has heroes??

Wayne’s Angel @FasionInGotham

@FashionInGotham @BestTodd @CainYouBelieve @ FashionInGotham @AFlyingGrayson Oh yeah, I forgot that the mayor was trying to keep it a secret from the rest of the world #MyB But yeah Ladybug and Chat Noir have been there the longest but there’s also Abeille, Viperion, Ryuko, Pegasus, King Monkey, Bunnyx, and Badulf

Chloe raised an eyebrow at her friend as she saw the tweet thread that was quickly going viral, “You realize my dad is going to flip about this.”

“He deserves it,” Adrian pipped up from where he was painstakingly painting Kagami’s nails a deep burgundy.

The other teen heroes hummed in agreement as Chloe huffed.

“Well Yeah, but I was hoping to do it with a little extra flair than a twitter thread.”

Alix snorted as she finished up Kim’s banana yellow toes, drawing a crude smiley face on his big toe with bright blue, “She’s dating the youngest kid of the most influential family in the world and has like 100 million followers. Plus she called Hawkmoth a little bitch and it already has 90k likes. I call that flair.”

It was a surprise when Nathanial had had his freak out during his second battle, against a Crimson Peacock event no less, and had called her Lady Marinette in front of the other temporary heroes, but had lead to many nights like the one they were having now. Onesies of each other’s heroes’ identities donned as they lounged around Chloe’s room, simply enjoying each other’s company after a long patrol. Chloe and Adrian had demanded they have a spa night, which is why everyone was either giving or receiving mani-pedis while they waited for their face masks to finish. It was nice, to have so much support outside of the masks, especially as they entered their final year in Lychee.

Marinette rolled her eyes, “It’s only 98 million, Alix, and plus I figured four months after I made this account was long enough to make the slip up seem genuine. We need to catch Hawkmoth soon, or else this entire mess will get a lot more complex.”

They all frowned as they realized the truth behind her words. They were all facing hard decisions if they couldn’t pin the man down, not like they hadn’t already sacrificed so much to continue the battle. Max had already turned down graduating early and a full ride to MIT, citing his desire to graduate with his friends before moving across the globe. Luka had been invited to tour with Jagged, only to politely decline, telling the pouting rockstar that he wanted to do some soul finding first. Kim had given up a summer training camp with the French Olympic team. Alix had given up going on an expedition with her dad and brother, missing out on the chance to explore the dunes of Egypt. Marinette had turned down three internships at this point, one from Audrey Bourgeois, One from Raven Baxter, and lastly and most devastatingly, one from Edna Mode.

They needed to end this, before the overwhelming feeling of their futures slipping right between their fingers got them akumatized.

Tim Drake Offical @TJDrake

Seeing the demon spawn panic when he realized @FasionInGotham isn’t any safer from maniacs in Paris then she is in Gotham is strangely endearing and vaguely terrifying #whyismyfamilylikethis

Duke of Hazard @DoneWithTheRich

@TJDrake Like you and Barb aren’t frantically searching for anything you can find on the Miraculous Team and these weird-ass butterfly dude.

Call me Cass @CainYouBelieve

@TJDrake @DoneWithTheRich Bugout.com, It’s in French but informative.

Tim Drake Offical @TJDrake

@TJDrake @DoneWithTheRich @CainYouBelieve How did you find this before Barbs and me????

Call me Cass @CainYouBelieve

@TJDrake @DoneWithTheRich @CainYouBelieve @TJDrake Alfred.

The news swept up the story in an instant and suddenly the whole world was demanding to know what the Parisian Mayor had been thinking and why the Justice League hadn’t been involved.

It wasn’t long until the entire Miraculous Team was seated in front of the Louvre. Countless new agencies from around the world were present, eager to hear the story of the sickeningly young-looking heroes, but the one video that received the most views was the shaky camera videos that were uploaded to Marinette’s Twitter, as they shortened the two-hour-long Press conference into manageable clips that highlighted the most important points.

Wayne’s Angel @FasionInGotham

Full Lineup, Damn. Haven’t seen that since the last time we had a Scarlet Moth incident. For those who need context, this is like seeing the entire founding Justice League together to us Parisians.

The clip attached showed A panning shot as they introduced all of the heroes. Ladybug and Chat Noir sat in the center of the long table flanked by Vipirion, plucking his lyre absentmindedly, Abeille, glaring down her nose at the reporters, a beaming King Monkey waving excitedly, and an eerie serious Bunnyx sitting as still as a statue to their right, on their left was fierce-looking Ryuko looking ready to slice anyone who got too close, the calculating Pegasus, mumbling under his breath, and lastly the timid Badulf, struggling to keep his red bangs out of his eyes.

Wayne’s Angel @FasionInGotham

LMAO RYUKO #DRAGONQUEENSLAY

Don’t question Paris’ Heroes like that, they’re feisty.

The clip showed a British reporter demanding to know why the heroes hadn’t contacted the Justice League previously to gain their assistance in taking down the dangerous threat that was Hawkmoth.

You could Ladybug’s eye twitch at the condescending question, but before she could answer Ryuko leaned forward to the mic situated in front of her with a glint in her eyes.

“I apologize for my English,” She started, “I am not as versed in the language as some of my teammates. To answer your question on why we haven’t had the League’s help is because Green Lantern is a fuck.”

Silence filled the gathering before Chat, King Money and Bunnyx burst into giggles, the rest of the heroes struggling to keep a straight face. The media was staring at them dumbfounded until Ladybug finally leaned forward.

“I’m sorry for the outburst,” She started, lips still trying to twitch upwards, “But as Ryuko said we did ask for help. About five months into our heroship Chat and I received an answer from the League after trying for three months to contact them. The ‘help’ came in the form of Green Lantern coming and assessing the situation. Unfortunately for us, Hawkmoth is smart and when the neon green monstrosity of a hero flew in he laid low instead of attacking when a Leaguer was present. Without an attack and no physical damage present as one of my powers allows me to restore all damage done to Paris or its citizens, He decided we were powered children that were trying to get in the spotlight.”

“Getting lectured on wasting the League’s time and resources before he flew off really put a damper on us asking again,” Chat added in, toxic green eyes narrowed and laser-focused on the reporter, “So we handled it ourselves, gaining our own allies as we needed them. But please continue telling us how the League could have helped sooner if only we had asked for help.”

Clip after clip, ten of them total were uploaded into the thread. Explaining the worst battle the heroes had ever faced, the strength of their enemy, what the villain and his assistance could and would do, the worst attacks, the easiest wins, the ways that Ladybug and Chat chose their allies, but the last two clips seemed to get the largest reaction out of the audience, both at the press conference and the internet.

Wayne’s Angel @FashionInGotham

Not gonna lie, seeing my tormentors get put on blast by all of the Heroes is very vindictive #IsthatMean? #MaybeSo

“You’ve seemed to have shifted your support away from one local blog, to another over any official news agency,” One of the nicer reporters at the events said, “Is there a particular reason? And why the sudden shift two years ago?”

Chat’s face was strangely pinched, “Oh you mean why we switched from giving exclusives to the LadyBlog to BugOut? It’s quite simple. We go to the news sources we trust to take the information we are willing to give without worrying about ratings as their top priority. We tried going to Nadja Chamack at first, the local news anchor that we all hold a great deal of respect for, but the producers threatened her to get a ��highly-rated’ interview. It led to her asking questions Ladybug and I thought were counterproductive to the reason we were invited to the interview and was trying to turn us into celebrities instead of allowing us to do the jobs we needed to. It was a similar reason we stopped going to Alya Cesaire, the Ladyblog editor.”

Ladybug took over here, “Miss Cesaire has the ability to be a very good journalist, but as her blog grew in popularity, so did her need for highly viewed content, this caused her to not only start posting more rumors and speculation than anything we’ve ever said but also to stop fact-checking with us things she heard. Even after talking to her about removing the content that was blatantly untrue and was told no due to the high ratings it had received we realized that we simply couldn’t work with her anymore.”

Abeille piped up in a low regal voice that was dripping with venom, “It really didn’t help that when we started interviewing with Aurora Beaureal from BugOut, shortly after my introduction, Miss Cesaire began a smear campaign against her, claiming she was faking her sources and videos publicly on her blog. Luckily we were able to shut that down quickly enough but it didn’t stop Miss. Cesaire from running into battle to distract us, and frankly, harass us for answers even after we told her no. It’s lead to more than one incident where she, other civilians, and even ourselves have been hurt.”

“Either way,” Chat took over again, “We want to support local news sources but only when they are willing to listen to our boundaries and work with us instead of trying to push issues.”

“Does that mean that info we found on the Ladyblog is not to be believed?” Another reporter called out.

“I would take anything after the first post about Lila Rossi with a grain of salt,” Ladybug said, only for King Monkey to snort and lean towards the mic.

“Yeah and if Lila Rossi is mentioned at all in the post just assume everything in that post is fake. Miss. Rossi is a known liar and problem for us.”

“Can you give us an example?”

Ladybug sighed before explaining, “The first time I heard of Miss. Rossi was an interview on the Ladyblog of her claiming to be my best friend. Now I very much value the secrecy I and my team have created for ourselves because it protects our friends and families, but even a lie about knowing me in such a public setting is dangerous because Hawkmoth and Mayra have proven that they aren’t above underhanded tactics to try and get the upper hand in our fights. I went looking for the girl to explain why she can’t say such things for her own safety, only to find her telling a boy that she possessed the Fox Miraculous in a public park. I will admit I called her out in a way that wasn’t very nice but either claim was enough to put her in danger, but both were painting a target on her back and it scared me that someone would do something to impress a boy. After that, she was akumatized for the first time and since then it has gotten even worse despite me apologizing the second I cured the Akuma. Some of her lies are enough to count as Slander if any of the celebrities she lied about knowing saw the posts, but no amount of persuasion seems to get her to stop.”

Wayne’s Angel @FasioninGotham

Watching their powers without the looming threat of an Akuma/Amok is a blessing. They look so cool! #Love #Miraculous

The clip started with the heroes standing in front of the table, grouped differently than before. Off to one side King Monkey, Viperion and Bunnyx stood, Viperion holding a microphone.

“While we would love to an demonstrate our powers as requested,” He explained, “Our powers are not really good for demonstrations. Mine is known as Second Chance.”

He raised his hand and pulled the slider across his bracelet as he named it, a flash of pale teal light admitting from it, “When activated like I just did, it allows me to return to the point of activation at any time before I detransform in fifteen minutes as many times as I wish with only myself remembering the previous changes I have made.”

Without even acknowledging the startled whispers from the crowd, he handed the microphone to King Monkey, who offered a cheeky smile.

“So my power is called Uproar. It allows me to create a toy-like object that when it comes into contact with someone causes all of their abilities to malfunction.”

He goes to pull his staff from where it was strapped to his back only for Vipirion to stop him. A silent exchange passed between the pair before the taller hero nodded and handed the microphone off to Bunnyx.

“Viperion and I have a similar reason for our powers being hard to show off, only his is a little more versatile,” She started in a voice devoid of any emotion, swinging her pocket watch slightly, “I have the power Burrow. It allows me, and anyone I chose to take with me, access to a pocket dimension where I can travel to any point in time or space that I chose, past, present, or future. While you might see me fight during any battle I can make it to, my power is a last-ditch effort, as I would have to travel back in time to change the past if I do this assume the future is unsavable.”

The hush that falls over the crowd was quickly broken by Ryuko tapping her group’s microphone to draw attention to the opposite side of the stage where she stood with Abeille, Badulf, Pegasus, Chat, and Ladybug.

“I believe it’s best to not dwell on any one of our powers,” She told them, “Our powers are scary and knowing that they can be taken from us at any time and used for nefarious purposes keep all of us up at night, but we ask you to trust us to use them only for good.”

She waited a moment for the crowd o calm down before giving her own explanation, “My ability is known as the Three Dragons, the Water Dragon, the Wind Dragon, and the Lightning Dragon.”

She handed off the microphone to Pegasus, before calling forth the Wind Dragon and bursting into a group of clouds that swiftly blew around the stage before traveling over to the Louvre Pyramid and watching as the heroine reformed at the top, offering a small wave before the call for Water Dragon could be heard and a large dome of water formed over the entire courtyard.

Before she could call for her last form the snake hero grabbed the microphone, “Lightning Dragon is a bad idea, Ryuko.”

The heroine didn’t even question him, instead, vaulting off of the pyramid, the crowed gasped only for her to effortlessly land next to Bunnyx in a crouch, brushing herself off as she rose and turned her gaze to the horse miraculous user, who quickly explained his power before calling forth Voyage.

His cry caused blue light to circle his arm and he sent it towards the top of the still-present water dome, with a controlled flick of his arm.

The heroes didn’t even blink as the crowd filled with cries as the Eiffel Tower fell through the portal, Ladybug’s yoyo whipping out to direct it’s decent, the entire courtyard shaking as the 10k ton structure landed.

“I’m up next!” Chat called out with a large grin, while the reporters didn’t seem to know if they should pay attention to the moved monument or the hero. His explanation was short since they were many videos of him using it but that didn’t stop the international reporters from screaming as Cataclysm swirled around his hand eating away at the Eiffel Tower, leaving a pile of rust in the crater

“Is-Is this much property damage necessary?”

Abeille shrugged, “No, but once we get to Ladybug, it’ll make more sense. Either way my turn.”

An unpleasant chill went up the world’s spine as she demonstrated how she could freeze all voluntary movement of her target on Chat Noir, who was still as a statue the second her stinger touched him.

Ladybug quickly took the mic and began explaining her powers. The world watched in amazement at her pulling a red and black spotted camera from thin air before she launched it into the air with a cheer of “Miraculous Ladybug!”

Suddenly a glowing swarm of ladybugs formed and tore through the air, covering Chat Noir, releasing from Venom, before healing the crater and rust from nearby, dissolving the water dome in the same instance.

If there hadn’t been so many people present the world wouldn’t have believed that so much damage was just repaired in the span of ten seconds, but staring at the unimpressed Parisians around them the world finally seemed to grasp the reality of the situation.

These children were past what one would even expect from metas, from aliens and superhumans like they had seen around the world already. These were heroes that were harnessing the very forces that made up the universe and fighting them at the same time. Bunnyx wasn’t exaggerating when she mentioned that sometimes there would be apocalyptic endings to their fights.

Instead of letting the knowledge stew Badulf step forwarded, twisting the microphone as he explained his power of illusions for the reporters.

With a short tune on his flute suddenly the group of heroes was gone, All that remained was a Sign thanking them all for coming. Even after the illusion faded the heroes were nowhere to be found, having used the final demonstration as the perfect cover to sneak away so that no one could follow them.

Wayne’s Angel @FasionInGotham

I must say I was not expecting such an outpour of love for all of Our heroes but damn am I pleased by it. Ladybug is our big name but the others are honestly way underloved in Paris, especially Chat who’s been there since the beginning. #MiraculousTeam

Quick Poll Who’s your favorite, everyone? Mine’s Chat Noir

Ryuko (19%)

Abeille (12%)

Ladybug (14%)

Bunnyx (8%)

Viperion (12%)

Chat Noir (15%)

Pegasus (5%)

King Monkey (5%)

Badulf (10%)

Call me Cass @CainYouBelieve

@FashionInGotham I like Badulf, he’s the newest correct?

Wayne’s Angel @FashionInGotham

@FashionInGotham @CainYouBelieve Yup! He’s only been around for four months, but he’s a pretty great fox!

Tim Drake Official @TJDrake

Fun Fact: I just heard Alfred swear for the first time while watching the press conference and it was to call Hawkmoth and Mayra an arsehole FLOB and his fucking Slag.

Never been more terrified,

Based on the faces around me neither has any of the other Waynes #AlfredisTerrifying

Wayne’s Angel @FashionInGotham

Why am I the go to person for everything Mircualous Team? BugOut.com is a great source if you want more info.

Still Queen Bee @BuzzBuzz

@FashionInGotham Probably cause you're most famous Parsian? Or cause you were a miraculous user once?

Jason Todd Lives@BestTodd

@FashionInGotham @BuzzBuzz IM SORRY?? DID YOU JUST SAY MARIGOLD HAD ONE OF THOSE MAGIC FUCKING GEMS???

Wayne's Angel @FasionInGotham

@FashionInGotham @BuzzBuzz @BestTodd That didn't come up in the conference did it? A few of the old users of miraculous got outed as heros so LB doesn't call on them anymore, but keeps tabs on them since HM and Mayra will try and emotionally malipulate them into getting akumatized. A few of us bonded over it.

Still Queen Bee @BuzzBuzz

@FashionInGotham @BuzzBuzz @BestTodd @FashionInGotham Its common knowledge in Paris, Mari, me and our other friend @NotaModel all had miraculous at one point, but HawkBitch found out so we can't ever use a miraculous again sadly. I had the Bee, Mari had the Mouse and Ari had the Snake

Dick Grayson @AFlyingGrayson

Why is Damian staring at a wall and not responding? What broke him? #Help???

Dick Grayson @AFlyingGrayson

@AFlyingGrayson Nevermind #HecouldnthaveanormalGF? #HolyShitMari

Wayne's Angel @FasionInGotham

So I can no longer say I've never seen a Bat before, just saw Signal and Red Robin, I think???

Gonna be real tho, I was expecting to see them in Gotham, NOT PARIS #wtf #Whyaretheyhere????

Marinette had barely sent the tweet before her phone was ringing.

"Are you being serious?" Adrian asked, in lieu of a greeting, "At least two of the Batfam is here?"

"Yeah," She whispered a bit numbly, eyes still focused on the roof she had watched them disappear from mere moments ago. It was far enough away that if she had been a normal human she wouldn't have heard them, but she wasn't a normal human, "Hey Adrian, Don't tell the team what I'm about to say, okay?"

"Are you okay, bugaboo?"

"Questionable," She didn't even bother rebuking the nickname, "I think I might be dating a Bat."

______________________________________

Taglist: @kceedraws @northernbluetongue @starry-bi-sky @mysteriouslyswimmingfan-blo-blog @lexysama @vincentvangoose @theatreandcomicfreak @vinerlover @calvin1394 @interobanginyourmom @imanerddealwith @aarushi-03 @rikku052 @fantasticfourintraining @clumsy-owl-4178 @two-faced-biatch @celestiacq @vgirl-10123 @peculiarlylostdreamer @tinybrie @treebrosha @sam-spectra @zalladane @teresarosiadeviluke2112 @7-sage-7 @blue-peach14 @nataladriana9 @worlds-tiniest-spook-pastry @xxmadamjinxx @unabashedlyswimmingtimemachine @i-identify-as-a-mango @chloe-bourgeois-is-big-gay @vixen-uchiha @face-of-lazyness @lunar-wolf-warrior @derpingrainbow @drama-queen-supreme @vivilakitty @mystery-5-5 @synnesstra @ijustwannabecanadian @sharksharkbb @lysslovsanime @zazzlejazzle @corabeth11 @ur-average-reader @virgil-is-a-cutie @paradoxal-occurance @dur55 @this-is-vander @cowardlygaydinosaur @phantomneow12 @numbuh-7-knd @slytherinhquinn @celerystick045 @silvergold-swirl @dzcile @lordsmeldingtonthethird @asabella1224 @miraculous-simmer7 @god-is-dead-and-so-am-i @kuhakuanon @st0rmy-w1th1n @littleredrobinhoodlum @todaylillypads @screechingflapbiscuitpeach @a-complete-fool @urbanpineapplefarmer @woodland-queer @miraculousl4dybug @teresarosiadeviluke2112 @imanerddealwith @seraphichana @literalfantrash @zebrabaker @captainmac6

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ihatetaxes99 · 3 years

Text

Well, hello all once again. Considering that the last time I discussed BNHA, it was in an overwhelmingly negative context, I've decided it would be a good plan to actually talk about an aspect of the series that makes me really happy and one that I constantly eagerly await new content for. And yes, it's none other than the good old League of Villains.

So, since I have nothing better to do, I've decided to discuss each and every Leaguer in order of my favourite to least favourite (although I at the very least appreciate all of them.) Keep in mind that the rejected Vanguard Action Squad members who were either written out of the story during the Training Camp arc or shortly afterwards will not appear on my list (Although Muscular and Moonfish and hopefully Mustard do seem to be making a return), nor will I discuss the additional members that came with the formation for the PLF, because although I really like Re-Destro in particular, none of them really give me enough to work with and I'd be writing like two sentences for someone like Geten, which would just be a slap in the face to people who do care about his character. Also, Doctor Garaki and All for One also won't appear. Basically just the core members who have been present with the League from the Training Camp up until the War will be featured.

Anyway, I've wasted enough time, let us proceed without any further ado.

Tenko Shimura [Tomura Shigaraki] - Yes, it really shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone to see good old Shig ranked at the very top of my list. Yes, as I have said before, Tomura tends to flip between being my favourite and second favourite overall character, but the reason I have listed him as the best League member is simply put, his development. My God, it is absolutely sublime. I legitimately adore it. When we first saw Tomura emerge from the underbelly of society during the USJ arc, he was a pampered, whimpering brat, a manchild who threw tantrums after he lost and essentially threatened to kill everyone, ranging from random children to his butler. I mean, can that even be compared to the same person who took command of an army, broke past his potential and meticulously pulled apart every threat he's stared down? Here's some food for thought, Shigaraki has never lost to another villain. He emerged the clear victor when facing Chisaki and the Meta Liberation Army and in the long term, proved to usurp Stain's legacy and make it his own. The growth is just amazing and Shigaraki is genuinely a more interesting character to follow than our door mat of a protagonist. I have very rarely seen an antagonist start out as exceptionally weak, essentially being a comedy villain of the week, and slowly growing in power, intellect and ferocity. Just a fantastic character overall.

Atsuhiro Sako [Mister Compress] - Alrighty, now we get down to the interesting stuff! Mister Compress is, without a doubt, my favourite Boku No Hero Academia character, he holds the top spot more consistently than Shig does. But why is that? After all, Sako had done essentially nothing from the Training Camp up until his reveal. Well, you see, I am of the belief that a character need not be particularly deep as long as they have an engrossing personality. And Mister has that in spades. I am a huge fan of characters who know how to articulate themselves well, so of course Atsuhiro's constant metaphors and showman persona appealed to me instantly. But not just that, his design (and no, I'm not just talking about how hot we now know him to be) is just brilliant. The top hat, the masks that change to reflect his general emotion at the time, his bolo tie, he has a fucking badass prosthetic for Christ's sake. And remember, as the great Joseph Joestar proved, prosthetic hands in fiction are kickass. I just love him, even as a character who never contributed all that much overall, and I certainly hope for his return in some capacity following the shocking twist of him actually doing something during the war.

Jin Bubaigawara [Twice] - Rest in peace my friend, rest in peace indeed. But really, what can be said about good old Jin? Well, he was fantastic, easily one of the best in the League. A truly sympathetic figure within the group, someone who we the audience could truly feel sad for. Out of everybody, Twice likely went through the worst of the trauma and at the end of the day, he just wanted to fit in somewhere, anywhere. He wanted friendships. And friendships he found in Mister and Toga, and to a lesser extent, Dabi, and a boss he truly respected could be found in Shigaraki. I was, as many others were, completely torn by Jin's death. This was the first major death of the war, and as we soon found out, unfortunately one of the only few overall (sorry, I know I promised to be positive, the war arc just really went to shit after chapter 294, which by the way was so far the last really good chapter to me.) Alas, the death made sense; Twice's arc was complete, he had overcome his fears and finally found a place of belonging. If any villain were to die, it made sense that he was the one. Truly a legendary character, one of the greats.

Himiko Toga - Ah, yes, the blood-soaked minx that has proven herself a constant thorn in the side of UA, whether they know it or not. Her whereabouts are currently unknown (maybe she's doing something involving Mister? Please, Hori?), but from what she has featured in, I have certainly loved her every appearance. Initially a typical psychotic "yandere UwU" girl, she's certainly evolved over time. Her proactive nature was revealed during the License Exam arc, In the Overhaul arc, we saw her care for others, during the MLA skirmish, we saw her backstory and motives made a little clearer and finally, during the war, she was pushed to her breaking point, in a rare example of a character from Oceaniz' War arc video who actually belonged in the tier he assigned them to. Yes, Ms. Toga has been one of those characters who has been given so much screen time due to her popularity that it has definitely benefited her in the long run, at the expense of characters like Mister and Spinner. She's not my favourite Leaguer, but still a brilliant character in her own right.

Shuichi Iguchi [Spinner] - Well, nearing the end of the list, we approach the first character that I am leaning more towards just liking as opposed to really liking. Spinner for the longest time, did fuck all. Actually, he's still basically done fuck all. Mostly a self-admitted aimless Stain fanboy who provides running commentary. But, remember what I said about a good personality making up for a weak presence? Well, Iguchi is not quite as strong as Sako in that regard, but the little lizard boy has certainly grown on me. We've seen him grow into the moral centre of the League, being the only other member aside from Mister Compress to presumably have a body count of zero, and as I mentioned above, has even admitted to himself and Shigaraki that he's a hollow fanatic of Stain, that he leapt on the bandwagon because he thought it would give him purpose in his meandering life. And ultimately, it did, as Shuichi has evolved to becoming one of the most positive members of the team. I mean, for God's sake, he even pleads with All for One to rescue Compress and Toga before they fled the battlefield, that alone skyrocketed my respect for him as a character.

Touya Todoroki [Dabi] - Well… Here we are… The only League of Villains member that I would generally say I dislike. And that's not to say I don't see the merits to him, I'm just not huge on it. Dabi is the League's edgy boi, he dresses up in a way that only a blind person would approve of, is too cool for anybody else and is essentially a big bundle of daddy issues. Now, the recently-released Chapter 301 absolutely tanked my respect for him as a character, with him being portrayed as an awkward, foul-tempered brat, but I never have held him in the highest regard. The whole bad boy shtick just isn't my thing, Dabi is a shining example of the opposite of my belief about a character; I really dislike his personality, but he contributes enough to the overall plot that I wouldn't quite consider him a bad character. I don't know, he's a weird one, and not one I've ever been fond of. Different strokes for different folks, I guess. I mean, when even pre-Overhaul arc Shigaraki calls you out on being a rude piece of shit, you know there's a problem somewhere.

Well, those are my collected thoughts on the members of the League of Villains. Maybe I'll do another one of these sometime, talking about the Vanguard members, maybe combined in a double feature with All for One and Garaki. Another time, perhaps. Another time…

Moral of the story, the villains are the best BNHA characters, fight me on this.

#bnha #bnha manga #boku no hero spoilers #league of villains #tomurashigaraki #atsuhiro sako #jin bubaigawara #twice #mister compress #himiko toga #shuichi iguchi #spinner #dabi #touya #rankings #I mean it I will fight you on the grounds of thr villaina being the best #tenko shimura #For the record Mustard is the best member of the Vanguard Action Squad #and Re-Destro is the best MLA member

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hadestownmodern · 4 years

Text

Baseball

Yes, hello. I’m so sorry. I’m disowning myself now.

The doc for this fic is titled “Get it, Eurydice. Home run” and that’s all you need to know.

(thanks for reading every single damn revision to this doc and supporting my wildin’ @dilforpheus you’re the true MVP)

-D ----------------

“I got you a present.” Eurydice’s eyes are glimmering with something that hits Orpheus’s heart head-on. It’s a shimmer that matches the curve of her lips, sly and inviting.

“Wh-what is it? Why did you get me a present? It’s not my birthday,”

“Just.” She plops a paper grocery bag on the table, and at first he wonders when she’d had time to go to the store without him. He pulls the bag toward him by its handles and pauses; she’s taken the time to draw little white circles-baseballs-all over it. “Open it.”

The draw of her voice-soft and deep, quiet and enticing, is enough to stop his questioning; Eurydice has sat herself on the corner of the counter, legs open and dangling over the edge. She tilts her head, watching him pull the white linen from the bag and unfurl it. His mouth opens slightly-confusion, she can tell by the way his fingers rub the fabric, his eyes wandering along it before meeting hers.

“There’s more-open the rest.” She implores, leaning forward and resting on one hand.

Orpheus nods, still lingering in a state of bewilderment, and pulls another white garment from the bag. That unfolding doesn’t help much either-Eurydice shakes her head as she watches him hold the baseball jersey up, examining it with careful consideration before deciding to crack the code herself.

“Persephone was showing me pictures from when you did little league-she said you liked it back then. I figured it’d be fun to try your hand at it again.”

She hops from the counter and runs to the drawer of the little desk that sits in the corner of their living space, rifling through papers until she grins wildly. She crosses the distance back to him with the wind on her feet, practically skipping before putting the paper in his hand, running her arm along his bicep.

“I’m on a team?”

“You’re on a team!” She repeats his words with bubbling excitement, kissing his shoulder. “Once or twice a week, depending on if there’s a game. Nothing serious, just fun! You’re always taking so much on for us, this is something just for you.” Eurydice watches on in adoration as he reads the paper again, lips moving along to the words he’s reading. One corner of his mouth turns up but the smile resides mostly in his eyes, light in color and shining in exuberance as he scoops her into a hug, lifting her feet from the ground.

“Thank you, ‘Rydice-this is so cool!”

“Go try it on!” Eurydice insists, slipping from his arms to push her husband to the bathroom. Her mouth drops when he comes out, long legs adjusting to walking in pants fit right around them. She is speechless as he brushes his hands down his shirt.

“Do you think this fits right?” He asks, turning his legs and looking down at them curiously. Eurydice can hear his voice, but is unable to make out the words as her eyes fixate on the shape of his legs in the tighter-fitting pants. It isn’t until Orpheus turns around that Eurydice jumps from the counter, crossing her arms and looking him up and down with wide eyes and a smirk on her lips.

“I don’t know,” she replies, shrugging her shoulders. “Turn around again?”

He obliges, oblivious to the way she tilts her head, bites her bottom lip.

He likes to wear his pants looser-with suspenders holding them up around his thinner waist. These pants hug his long legs, lift his butt and define its shape. And although she finds herself missing the shape of his suspenders over his shoulders-the easy pull they give her-she comes to the swift conclusion that she’ll manage without them.

She doesn’t realize that Orpheus is talking until she looks up momentarily to see him staring back at her, turning his legs again.

“So?” He asks, bouncing from one foot to the other. Eurydice takes a breath, nods and brings her hands boldly to his butt, drawing the distance between them closed with a powerful sort of haste.

“They’re perfect.”

Eurydice cranes her neck to reach the space just on the corner of his jaw, letting out a sigh before kissing it lightly. She uses her hands to keep him close to her, squeezing, unused to the feeling of tight fitting linen-unguarding-showing him off.

She paints the canvas of his stubble with a line of breathy kisses, feels his hands on her back, holding her. Her tongue brushes along the space between his lips, and a soft whimper leaves his body. She smiles, pushing herself against him until his back hits the counter, small hands working fervently to untuck his shirt.

“Why the fuck do you have to wear a belt?” It’s more of a curse to herself as she struggles to get her hands underneath his shirt, a gasp of a sentence as Orpheus takes the opportunity of her fumbling to bring his attention to her neck, the skin that makes her shiver whenever she feels his feather-light kisses. His hands find their space right at her lower back, where he can feel the weakness in her knees as she moves forward on her toes, tilting her head in a silent plea for him to continue. She’s found her way under his shirt, made her way about running her small hands along memorized territory with the well-practiced brush of her nails. Orpheus’s involuntary squeak is enough for Eurydice to begin working on his belt; she’s not used to this. Usually, there are only suspenders; those which she can pull demandingly, satisfyingly. This new state of fashion causes frustration. Eurydice nearly buckles under Orpheus’s wandering hands, losing concentration fast. Just as the belt comes apart with a satisfying tug of leather through linen a tiny, innocent whimper comes from the other room.

“Damnit,” she whispers against his lips as she regrettably lets him go, runs a hand through her hair as she runs to retrieve their crying baby.

…

The first game goes about as well as it could with a grouping of adults with little to no skill; Orpheus’s team is comprised of a few men from the bar, a bassist from the band, and a couple of business men from downtown looking for a way to let off steam. They were all little leaguers, most of which played more games than Orpheus ever would. He was happy, though, chatting animatedly with his team. He does more socializing than playing, although there were moments where he’d find his sense of rapid, consuming focus.

Orpheus is good at catching the ball-that much can be said. His hand-eye coordination, well practiced from years of guitar playing, has come in handy although the skills themselves are quite different. Other than that achievement, however, there is not much else going for him. He is clumsy and stumbling when running to get the ball, awkward and fumbling when attempting to bat. Eurydice is proud of him nevertheless, her overwhelming attraction to his uniform and his soft, boyish smile completely blinding her to his lack of skill.

When the first game is over, Eurydice hauls herself over to where the teams are high-fiving, waits impatiently for him at the gate with Melody in tow. He kisses Eurydice with his hand on the small of her back, and Melody reaches her chubby hands up to him. He takes her, greets her with his sing-song voice and glimmering eyes, holds her face up to his and squishes her cheeks as he covers them in kisses.

“So?” He widens his eyes slightly in question, lifting his shoulders and looking out at the baseball diamond. He waits anxiously for her opinion, his wife, as she looks over his sweaty complexion. He takes his hat off, runs his fingers through his hair and tousles it so that it falls in all directions.

“So,” Eurydice responds, biting her lip and holding her hands out for their daughter. “Stay here. I’ll be right back.”

He gives Melody back to her, confused as he watches her walk away again. Eurydice finds her way to Persephone, who is sitting contentedly on a bench, watching Junie play on the playground. She waves as Eurydice approaches, pats the space next to her on the bench.

“Where’s the baseball superstar?” She teases, clapping affectionately at Junie as she twirls around in the grass. Eurydice bites her lower lip, rocking back and forth on her heels.

“I was hoping you could do me a favor…”

“Oh?”

“Yeah. Just. I have to pee and I don’t want to take her into this bathroom-can you watch her a sec?”

Persephone does not believe her younger counterpart for a second, but nods her head and holds out her hands anyway. Challenging, she looks at Eurydice through lowered eyelids.

“You have five minutes.”

“Five??”

“Five.” She is firm as Junie scrambles over to her on her little legs, leans forward and kisses Melody’s head affectionately. Eurydice pouts-only slight;y-but just enough for Persephone to catch. “Pout at me and you don’t get anything.”

“Fine.” Eurydice turns on her heel and makes her way back to the gate, walking as fast as she believes can be considered normal. The sight she sees there has her rolling her eyes again, slowing her pace slightly as she throws her arms into the sky.

“Are you kidding me, Orpheus?” He husband turns to wave at her, the grin on his face endearing and innocent. He has a snowcone in his hand-a rainbow one, to be exact-and he holds it out to her excitedly.

“Look what they gave us!” Eurydice is able to make herself seem much taller in stature when she’s upset; she crosses her arms over her chest before gesturing wildly to his snowcone, then looking up at him with disappointment.

“Do you think this is the time for a snowcone? I asked you to wait here, took our daughter away, and you really thought it’d be the best time for some fucking flavored ice.”

“I...what?”

Eurydice groans, takes two wide steps to close the distance between them. She lifts herself up on her toes, using his shoulders as support as she whispers in his ear.

“I don’t give a damn about your snowcone. Come on, we have four minutes.” Boldly, Eurydice knocks the snowcone from Orpheus’s hand and pulls him, the stark comparison of such a small girl pulling this lanky, beanpole of a man behind her humorous if not for the look of undisturbed focus behind her dark eyes. She brings him to the first spot she can find, instructs him to duck his head down before pulling his arm hard, his body bumping into hers clumsily.

“Sorry,” he squeaks, breathless as her hands have already found the hem of his pants.

“Don’t apologize,” Eurydice hisses, taking hold of his hands and pressing them hard on her waist. “Just fuck me.”

Orpheus feels his head begin to spin, the breath knocked out of his body by Eurydice’s fingers dropping under the waistband of his underwear. She moves hastily, clumsily, knowing the time limit as a challenge. She grins at his inability to control himself, his knees buckling and his soft tenor calling her name. He’s in just enough of a cognizant state to attempt a reciprocation, thankful for the ease of access her leggings allow. She sighs, tipping her head back; his name on her lips, attempting to be quiet and discreet, is a sound sweeter to his ears than any of the music he has played, and Orpheus can’t help his own sweet, lopsided smile.

There is a ringing that joins them, then, and Eurydice grabs hold of Orpheus’s cheeks as he begins to pull away from her.

“Fuck it,” she implores, kissing the corner of his mouth. “Let it ring.”

They do; Eurydice turns her attention to him fully, a sequence of unbuttoning and kissing bare skin in a trail down his chest. The ringing stops momentarily, then starts back up again at full volume, just as her lips have come to his hips. She looks up at him, letting out a deeply frustrated sigh before holding up a finger to her lips.

“Yes, Seph?”

Eurydice can barely hear anything save the sound of her whimpering baby; it’s her mama cry, she knows it by the way the tears cause a slight hiccup in her voice. Shit, she swears as she picks herself up from the ground, biting hard on her lip.

“I’ll be there soon,” it’s all she can manage to say before she hangs the phone up, pulls up her leggings, and smooths her hair back down again.

…

They’re sitting in the sun on the night of his fourth game-the team is coming along fantastically, gaining confidence in their abilities and actually racking up some points on the scoreboard. It’s an exciting ritual, attending baseball games once a week, but Eurydice has let herself become fully committed to being as supportive as possible, and that means the outward groan from Persephone when she, Junie, and Hades meet her at the apartment to go to the game.

“You really have to be like this…” It’s half question, half statement. Persephone very outwardly rolls her eyes, looking Eurydice up and down. She’s dressed in Orpheus’s second jersey, one that fits slightly loose and falls to her mid-thigh. She’s paired it with high socks and white sneakers, leaving a fair expanse of her legs exposed. Eurydice grins, turns and looks over her shoulder to see Persephone shake her head, a bemused smile lighting her teasing features. Orpheus’s name is on the back of her jersey, and Eurydice shrugs her shoulders before holding up a finger.

“Mock me all you want, but you won’t be saying anything once you see the baby.” Eurydice turns and moves to the nursery, the sight of her tiny body in the dress-like jersey sauntering around the apartment a sight that has Persephone chuckling to herself. Eurydice emerges with Melody on her hip, cooing as the tiny, chunky baby blinks her sleepy eyes at her mother. She’s in a big red tutu with a matching bow, large on her tiny head of poofy brown hair. Her legs are covered by leg warmers with big baseballs on them, white socks that are a mock-up of Eurydice’s sneakers. Eurydice holds her out to Persephone while covering her with tiny kisses on her chubby cheeks; gesturing to the onesie that reads Daddy’s #1 fan.

“You do know that this is an adult league, right? It’s essentially hometown recreation for bored adults with nothing to do, not for wives who want to lust over their husbands from the stands. Their husbands who-arguably-can’t actually play baseball for shit.”

“He’s getting better!” Eurydice argues, face reddening as she brings Melody back to her chest.

“Eurydice, seriously….I’m allowed to say it because I raised him, that boy doesn’t have an athletic bone in his body.”

“We’ll have to agree to disagree, then.” The younger woman smirks, grabbing her keys from the counter and ushering her family from the apartment, pointedly speaking to her young daughter in a soft, sing-song voice. “Right, Mel? Seph doesn’t know what she’s talking about. Your daddy’s perfectly athletic.”

“Junie, go see daddy for a minute,” Persephone urges, waiting for her own daughter to skip ahead before tossing a round foil packet at her younger counterpart. Eurydice ducks before the condom can hit her, laughing.

……

They find a seat in the first row of the stands-not a challenging feat, considering the nature of a recreational adult league playing in the park in the time between toddler little league and preteen boys competing for college-scouting clout. Eurydice scans the mass of players until she sees him; her husband, dressed in the white jersey and pants that fit him just right, leans over the dugout. He smiles at another player’s joke as he bends down to fix his shoes, running a hand through his already sweaty hair. Eurydice finds herself grinning wildly, unable to look away, lost in the way Orpheus’s lanky body seems to move so fluidly.

Persephone, on the other hand, laughs at her son. Orpheus can barely tie his own shoes, fumbling with the laces for a moment before swiftly finishing the job. He follows the team in their warm-up jog and it takes everything within her as the woman who raised him to suppress her laughter as he jogs by, waving and smiling at them. His run is less than graceful, a sort of stumbling movement resembling the last gazelle in a herd who is more than likely to be picked off by the beast chasing them. But he is happy, almost confident in these movements. From beside her, Eurydice cheers loudly, clearly love-blind to her husband’s own awkward stumbling.

She finds it endearing, Eurydice, as her eyes follow her lankily built man. He talks animatedly to the man running beside him, and as he passes their seat he slows down, running a hand along the wired fence as his eyes widen.

“You can do it, daddy!” Eurydice holds Melody on her leg, which she’s propped up on the bleacher in front of her as a stool. His jersey slides up her thigh just enough to expose most of her skin. A short pair of spandex is her only cover, and even then Persephone had taunted her; are you even wearing pants right now? Orpheus smiles as he passes them, waving excitedly at Melody. Then his eyes widen and his face grows red. He turns his head long after he’s run by them, looking at Eurydice with the unhidden drop of his jaw, without words. She waves again, with a grin craftily hiding its mischief to the unaware crowd. Persephone, however, sees right through the young mom’s game. She puts her hand on her shoulder, guides her back to her seat.

“So, I had a question,” Eurydice holds Melody close to her chest as they wait for the game to begin, opening her shirt in response to her slight whimpering and waiting patiently for her to latch on.

“What?”

“Can you watch Melody for a little bit after the game? I have some errands to run, and,”

“Don’t even,” Persephone looks at Eurydice underneath narrowed eyes, shaking her head slightly. “Do you think I was born yesterday? You want me to watch your baby-your very attached to your hip baby-so you can go off and be a dirty milf. How do you know I don’t have plans later?”

“Because Hades has a meeting tonight downtown-I do pay attention, you know. Also, how the fuck do you know that’s what I’m trying to do? Maybe I just need a minute to get the house clean.”

Persephone laughs, a full and very loud chuckle.

“Eurydice, come on. You’re not even wearing a bra!”

From her place on the bleachers Junie instinctively turns to her mother, then to Eurydice, looking at her with wide, curious eyes. Her long ringlet curls bounce as she tilts her head slightly, hops between her feet in antsiness.

“Mama, what’s a milf? Why is ‘Rydice dirty?”

“Don’t listen to your mom, Junie-she and Eurydice shouldn’t be allowed to sit next to each other anymore.” Hades shoots them both a pointed look, gesturing with his eyes between them and the highly intelligent four year old who worships the ground they walk on. Both stifle a round of guilty giggles before Persephone ushers her daughter to Hades-I brought your coloring-and sits back down next to Eurydice.

“It’s easier for Melody if I don’t wear a bra”

“Yeah, and it’s easier for you to be trashy.”

“I’m not watching her.”

“Please, Seph. I didn’t come here full tits out for nothing.”

“Nope. Not doing it.” Persephone crosses her arms over her chest indignantly, unmoving in her stance. The game begins, and Orpheus’s team is up to bat first. He stands waiting for his turn. The man next to him, who is slated to bat before him, picks a bat from the grass and begins his practice swings. Orpheus, watching carefully, walks over to the bin of bats and chooses one for himself, stepping a safe distance away before beginning to swing.

He’s not the most graceful; Persephone snorts as she watches him fumble with his grip, turn the opposite leg out. His shoulders are both tense and far too loose-at one moment, it seems as though he may have actually got the hang of the posture. But the moment Orpheus moves, any semblance of grace he’d had is thrown out the window. When it is his turn he stands behind the plate, shuffling his feet on the sand and looking up with careful concentration at the pitcher. His helmet seems to dwarf his head although he is the rightful size to wear it. His lips part slightly, his tongue touching the roof of his mouth as he waits for the ball.

He hears it hit the catcher’s glove before he can even react. Strike. Orpheus takes a breath, fidgets and sets himself up again, wiggling his body.

“I bet he doesn’t hit.”

“Seph!” Eurydice hisses just as Orpheus swings far too late, overestimating the strength needed and stumbling forward two steps. Persephone merely shrugs, points back to the diamond. Orpheus has caught her eye, is smiling at her from his place up at bat. He mouths a soft i love you, and that’s when he strikes out.

Eurydice claps for him anyway, watching as he walks, seemingly unbothered, back to the dugout. He still has an innocent sort of smile on as his wife turns to Persephone, who wears a tongue-in-cheek expression as she taps her own white Louboutin sneakers against the bleachers.

“I bet he doesn’t hit it once.”

“He will! He can-he’s getting so much better than that first game.”

“You want to make me an offer, then?” Persephone raises an eyebrow, eyes sparking with the mere idea of a bet. Eurydice sits up in her seat, shifting Melody’s weight so she can burp her, leaving the three buttons of Orpheus’s jersey undone as they had been unashamedly.

“An offer?”

“Yeah-a bet. If he hits the ball once, I’ll watch Melody for you.”

“You sure you want it that easy?” Eurydice speaks confidently for her husband, although her confidence is slightly shattered when she looks over to find him on the infield with the same slightly open-mouthed gaze he uses when humming a new tune. With Persephone’s eyes on her, and his enthusiastic wave when he sees her staring, she straightens her posture

“One time,” Persephone repeats, looking on at the game in progress. “That’s all you need for me to watch her.”.

“Fine. It’s a bet.” Eurydice nods in agreement before turning her attention back to the game, keeping a silent pseudo-prayer in her heart. Just one time, Orpheus, that’s all you need.

…

The game is nearly over, and Eurydice is not even close to victory in this bet. She stands now, right in front of the fence, a raucous voice cheering Orpheus on. Persephone sits behind her, bored with the game but bemused by her own heckling.

“He won’t hit it, and neither will you!” She teases while braiding Junie’s long, untamed curls into neat french plaits.

“You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Have you seen your husband?”

“Yeah, that’s why I’m asking you to take my daughter!”

“It’s the eighth inning, Eurydice, it’s not happening and it’s probably better that way!”

“Shut up, Seph, let me have this!” Eurydice whirls her attention back to the fence, where Orpheus is up to bat once more. He looks up at her spot at the fence, smiles his boyish, consuming sort of smile before focusing on the task at hand. The first ball makes it straight into the glove without so much as a hit. Orpheus winces.

“It’s ok, babe, you can do it!” Eurydice cheers, the only voice within the vicinity of the park with such an ample amount of unstrained volume. Her husband straightens himself up, nods and refocuses, the hint of a smile peeking through the visage of concentration. As soon as the ball hits Orpheus’s bat with a smack-as he jolts and runs to first base excitedly. Eurydice jumps too, cheering and dancing with Melody, giving a wildly grinning Orpheus a thumbs up before wheeling around to stare deftly, with a fair amount of cheek, at Persephone.

“I’ll make sure she’s fed before we go, then.” She can feel the surge of confidence course through her body, the way her husband running the bases fills her with instant anticipation and an overridingly pompous sort of posture. There’s one more inning to go-one agonizing inning. Orpheus does not hit the ball again, but it doesn’t matter. Eurydice does not sit-can’t bring herself to sit. Instead, she paces aimlessly in front of the fence-up and down the bleachers-singing quietly to Melody.

Mama won the bet-mama won the bet-you get to stay with Seph-y-’cause mama won the bet! Over and over she sings this verse, a tune that has Persephone groaning in annoyance and rolling her eyes endearingly. The young mother, in her husband’s jersey and knee-high socks, bounces around with her baby until the end of the game. And then, with a smirk on her face, Eurydice reaches her hand out to Persephone.

“Good game,” she mocks before covering Melody in kisses, touching their foreheads together before handing her to Persephone. “I’ll come and get you soon, sweet girl.” She promises as she runs to meet Orpheus at the gate.

He’s blindsided as Eurydice runs to him, dodges the crowd of players leaving the dugout and jumps eagerly into his arms. She wraps her legs around his waist, nearly knocking him over. He laughs and holds her there as she holds the back of his neck with gentle hands, pushes her lips against his fervently and needily, sighing at the contact.

“Where’s the fry?” He asks, and Eurydice can only let out a breathless sort of laughter as she holds him tighter, resting her head on his chest as she thinks about the bet she’d just won.

“Seph has her. She’s going to watch her for a little while.”

Orpheus, typically oblivious, can easily decipher Eurydice’s intent as she unwravels herself from his arms only to press herself against him, her hands on his chest, busy with dusting his bicep with slow, careful kisses. He finds himself nervously clamoring for her hand, backing up.

“We’re in public, ‘Rydice.”

“Ok, so let’s go somewhere private.”

She grins wickedly, with the corner of her lip but mostly with her wild eyes, dark and searching. Eurydice pulls his hand, feels him follow behind her as she ducks into the corner of the dugout.

“Here?” Orpheus squeaks, looking around cautiously. Eurydice doesn’t seem to care-she’s already put her hands back on him, tossing his baseball cap to the floor and running her fingers through his hair, then down his cheeks. Her lips find his jawline, her hands to his belt. She loops her thumbs through it and pulls his body flush to hers, where a groan of satisfaction escapes him as he dips his head to her chest and his hands to her exposed thighs, Where she’s left three buttons undone on this jersey she’s been crafty-purposeful. Orpheus takes his time here, nuzzling himself into the space of her neck with both lips and tongue. He feels her breath hitch as he sucks on the skin underneath her collarbone, leaves a trail of this reddened skin down to her exposed breasts and lets his fingers find their way to the hem of her tiny spandex shorts.

Eurydice makes quick work of his belt this time, hasty and newly skilled, tossing it to the sand as her eager hands move back to the defined shape of his butt. She moves her lower body against him skillfully, smiling in satisfaction at his soft, cracking, contented sighs. Eurydice leans up, words on the tip of her tongue just waiting to be whispered, when she makes out the tiny figure standing silently at the entrance of the dugout.

“‘’Rydice? Ophie?”

“Bug!” Eurydice pulls back from Orpheus swiftly, both hands pulling her shirt closed as Orpheus clamors for a moment of composure. “What do you need, sweetheart? Where’s your mama?”

“Mama asked me to come and ask where baby’s blanket is.”

“Oh…” Eurydice pauses for a moment before shaking her head, sighing. “Tell your mama it’s in the big pocket of her bag.”

Junie nods, still standing in the doorway, looking between Orpheus and Eurydice in curiosity. She walks slowly up to Eurydice, stands on her toes with one hand out, and touches the space of her neck that she can see. It’s riddled with red marks, in an uneven trail that has Junie staring with her eyes scrunched.

“‘Rydice, do you have chicken pox?”

Orpheus sputters. Eurydice’s hand flies to her neck, attempting to cover a large enough expanse of the skin there to erase whatever the tiny girl in her cream-colored romper and long french braids has already seen.

“No, honey, I don’t have chicken pox.”

“Are you hurt?”

Eurydice shakes her head, unable to help the smile over the very blatant, unfiltered curiosity. Orpheus is still at a loss for words, busing himself with finding his belt and keeping his eyes as far away from Junie as possible. Eurydice is about to do the same when she hears a familiar voice calling for the girl, switching between her name and her nickname.

“There you are, honeybee. Did you get the,” Persephone stops in her tracks and takes in the scene before her; Orpheus has frozen in the middle of tucking his shirt back in, looking down at the ground sheepishly. His wife has one hand on her neck, the other moving to give her a cautious sort of wave and a nod. There is a moment of silence, suspended in the air of the older of the women deciphering what has happened. She then grabs Junie’s hand and looks between the guilty parties teasingly, rolling her eyes.

“The dugout? Really? Are we in high school?”

“Oh come on, Seph,”

“Oh, I’m sorry, I can’t hear you over the sound of me taking my poor four year old daughter home from this teen-whose-parents-are-home makeout session.”

“Hey, I still won the bet!”

“Use a condom, please. Melody’s cute but you do not need another one right now.”

Persephone is about to turn on her heels when her head dips, her eyes narrowing at the haphazard conglomeration of redness along her neck. She lets a sly smile take over, placing her hand on Eurydice’s shoulder lovingly, yet pointedly.

“Lipstick and concealer,” She gestures to Eurydice’s neck with an all-knowing gaze. “Y,know, before you show up in my class tomorrow looking like he tried to take your whole neck right off.”

Eurydice nods, bites her lip and lets herself be playfully scolded as Persephone gathers Junie’s hand in hers, taking one last glance at the young couple, now back in each other’s arms, to signify that the conversation is over.

“Oh, also? You’re paying for Junie’s therapy.”

#hadestown #hadestownmodern #orphydice #orpheus #eurydice #young orphydice #I'm sorry #i'll be writing soft simple demeter to cleanse myself now #danielle writes #this is what happens when you let me see Hadestown twice in one weekend #and I become full fuckin form seeing Reeve Carney from the third row #I #deserve hell now #he is the only valid man in this world

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schweeeppess · 5 years

Text

"We shouldn't be doing this."

He was mad. Pissed. Extremely vexed.

But nobody cared, continuing to talk among themselves.

Gritting his teeth, Wally stood, ignoring Barry's protests to his left, and yelled, "Will you jackasses fucking listen!? Shut up and hear me out, because I have a very solid opinion about what's going on here."

The Justice League, Titans included beside their old mentors though they were silent, all quieted as they looked to the second Flash. Wally's eyes flicked from League member to League member, and his voice went cool as ice when next he spoke.

"Where is Batman," he hissed.

Clark--no, Superman--frowned from his seat that was to the left of the head of the table.

"He'd be too biased to give a sound opinion, so we didn't notify him of this meeting," Clark answered.

Beside him, still seated, Barry whispered, "Wally, don't--"

He was too late.

"You idiot! You goddamn moron! He has every right to be here! Every single right!" Wally shouted, throwing an arm out to gesture at the subject of the meeting, kneeling in the center of the room, gagged, League-grade cuffs securing him to the ground by a chain.

Blood dripped from his lips into the pearl white floor from his mouth, and Wally's gut twisted.

"That's his son!" Wally finally yelled. "The Red Hood is a known son of Batman's!"

Jason stirred a little in his chains, lifting his head for acidic green eyes to meet deep woodsy green.

I'm sorry, Wally thought to him, despite knowing Jason wasn't telepathic.

Everything was just so wrong in the scenario and Wally had no idea which fault to pick at.

"...which is why Batman would be too biased. Red Hood is his son and that would cloud his judgement."

Wally sneered, turning back to face Superman who was now standing, and jabbed a finger at him. "Oh now that is rich. Tell me, Clark; if we put Jon on trial and didn't tell you, how would things play out?"

Superman's face darkened. "Don't bring him into this."

"Why not?" Wally lifted both arms, then, over his head. "Because he's your son and you know damn well you'd move heaven and earth to attend his trial? How is this any different!"

"Batman--"

"Wouldn't even need to vote!" Wally interrpted, slamming a palm on the table. "Just let him attend!"

It went silent after his last point before there were scattered murmurs. The other Titans stood up too, looking to Wally, then Jason, then Clark, and Donna said, "We agree. Batman and his sons should be present."

Barry was next to stand, and Wally exhaled in relief.

"I have to side with the Titans, Clark. Batman should be here."

Diana rose. "As do I. I also think the accused should have a defense willing to fight for him, because as it stands we are deciding his fate without proper trial."

Superman frowned a little and opened his mouth to say something before the doors to the room slammed open and a bolt of fear struck Wally's chest when he saw who it was.

Nightwing stood in the doorway, and he looked livid.

"What is this?" he seethed in quite the accurate chilling Batgrowl, stalking into the room. Behind him trailed Red Robin, Orphan, and Robin.

Each looked beyond furious.

Superman seemed surprised at their arrival, but Wally had known the Bats would find out about the trial. It was why he'd petitioned for Batman at the very least to be invited. The repercussions would be ones the entire Justice League would suffer.

As he recovered, Superman said, "What are you doing here?"

Nightwing tensed, each muscle straining, and his jaw twitched.

"Answer me," he snapped. "What. Is. This."

"The Justice League arrested Red Hood," Wally spoke up. "This is his trial."

Glancing at the other Titans, Wally added, "We were actally in the middle of an argument."

Nightwing stood behind his father's empty seat on the opposite end of the table from Superman, expression dark. His siblings flanked the table, all spread out, but Wally wasn't concerned. He, Barry, Diana, and the Titans didn't have to be.

"And what was the argument about?"

"Your attendance," Lilith piped up. "Superman and the rest seated were against you being here."

This did not sit well with Nightwing.

His lip curled into a snarl and he said, "Clark?"

Superman twitched but responded levelly.

"It's true."

Jason wasn't looking at anyone anymore--he hardly seemed aware of what was going on around him, actually--and Wally moved to his side, crouching and putting a hand on his back.

"Hood?"

"Back away, West," Robin's sharp tone snapped.

"Robin," Nightwing growled. "Behave."

"He needs to remove himself from Red Hood's immediate vicinity, else I will remove him myself, Nightwing. My warning was me behaving," Robin answered, folding his arms over his chest.

Nightwing shook his head but didn't comment.

Wally looked to Robin and said, "I'm just gettig him out."

Superman and the other seated League members seemed to want to protest, but weren't willing to test any of the already irate Bats.

Barry was by Wally's side in a heartbeat and took a glove off to press his palm to the scanner on the cuffs to unlock them while Wally zipped to the med-bay for gauze and bandages before racing back.

The locks clicked on Jason's bonds before falling off, and the abrupt loss of weight seemed to surprise Jason into attentiveness.

He jolted a little, looking around for the first time since his family had entered, and sighed when he saw them.

The gag was already tossed on the ground, so Wally and Barry each stood and helped Jason to his feet.

"You okay?" Barry checked, an arm of Jason's over his shoulder.

Jason shrugged, head lolling. "D'nno," he slurred a little. "S'pes really did a number'n me. M'head hurts."

Superman sighed when Nightwing further tensed at Jason's words. "I didn't want to fight you or your team, Jason. If you would have come willingly, nobody would have been hurt."

Jason sighed, closing his eyes. "Wan' nap," he mumbled.

Red Robin and Orphan were replacing Wally and Barry instantly, and each Flash blinked in surprise.

They looked to each other and shrugged.

Bats. Who knows?

"We should still hold his trial," Oliver spoke up. "He needs to face the consequences for his crimes."

"There isn't going to be a trial," Nightwing declared with finality hard in his tone.

Wally glanced at the other Titans, and they all met his gaze back. Simultaneously they all started to leave the room.

"Where are you going?" Arthur asked.

Garth stopped to face his king and replied, "Batman is your leader. Nightwing is ours. He has deemed Red Hood's trial void, therefore we no longer have business here, my lord."

Then he resumed his exit, walking out right behind Lilith.

...

Tim walked with Jason toward a wall for him to lean on as silence fell upon the room before Superman shattered it.

"Despite what your Titans seem to think, Nightwing, just because you say something doesn't mean it goes. Not here. Not with us."

Dick crossed his arms. "There will be no trial," he repeated. Tim almost felt bad for Clark, but he was to busy being livid at the situation and worried for Jason.

"Nightwing."

"If you want Jason," Dick growled, straightening and looking like a bow ready to snap, "you'll have to take us out."

The League members fell silent. Barry took a step back, raising his hands.

"I was never for it, Nightwing."

Dick nodded. "I know, Barry." His eyes slid to the others who were silent, and Dick said, "I was talking to those of you who want your justice. If you think you can win against us, we can settle this here and now."

"Nightwing..." Clark's voice held warning in it clearer than water.

It upset Tim even more.

"Shut up, Clark," Dick snapped. "Put up or shut up."

Clark, Oliver, Hawkman, Hawkgirl, and Arthur all looked to each other. The seated stood and faced the Bats.

Tim rested Jason against the wall.

"Don'," Jason muttered.

"We have to," Cass whispered back. "This won't happen again."

Tim agreed with her silently and they moved to flank their brother. Damian stood directly to Dick's right, arms folded over his chest, and Tim took his own spot with Cass.

They kept Jason behind them, putting themselves between him and the League.

Hal shook his head and sighed, standing to leave as Barry disappeared behind the door, Black Canary, Martian Manhunter, and Cyborg following.

"We don't need to fight," Arthur said in a last-ditch effort of diplomacy.

"Yes," Tim replied, cracking his knuckles. "We do."

First to attack was Damian.

He launched himself at Oliver silently, ducking an arrow and slicing another in half when they were sent his way.

Cass moved a second after Tim did, her taking on Aquaman as Tim attacked Hawkman and Hawkgirl.

Dick and Clark were the last ones to leap into the fray. But when they did, there was no holding back.

Instantly there was a notable difference between the two opposing sides. The Bats fought together with fluidity, like a well-oiled machine, united. The Leaguers were fighting seperately.

In the end it was over embarrassingly fast.

Arthur and Oliver were unconscious, each sporting superficial cuts and bruises, Hawkman and Hawkgirl were restrained with the chain attached to the cuffs that Jason had been wearing, and Superman was incapacitated with a rock of kryptonite at his chest.

Tim held his ribs, grimacing at the sharp pain. Dick was bleeding from a cut in his lip and one on the side of his neck, and it looked like he'd dislocated a wrist, but he easily reset it. Damian shook his head, holding his arm, but seemed otherwise unscathed. Cassandra's hood had slipped off her head and she was already sporting a bruise on her cheek, but she seemed least injured of them.

"You couldn't go through us," Dick said. "So we're leaving with our brother. You come for him and take him without us knowing again, you will be sorry, and we will come for him."

Cass walked over to where Jason was apparently unconscious with Dick, and they each took an arm over their shoulders and supported Jason.

Tim wrapped an arm over Damian's shoulder, hugging him close, and he glared at the incapacitated Leaguers as they left.

"Let us go," Clark called.

"Oliver and Arthur will when they wake up," Cass hissed. "We are leaving. You are staying. That is it."

And they did. Broken, bruised, and bloody, but heads held high and the win theirs.

"You don't mess with the Bat."

@belovedbratwonder, @an-all-write-life, @loserforbatfam, @kurawastaken, @softpotato-preciouspotato, @redtruthed, @frenchmurdock

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themetaisawesome · 5 years

Text

“Aunt Kate”

Description: Kate Kane is home alone on her night off when an old friend knocks on her door to ask for a big favor in a small package.

Rating: F for fluffy

Note: This isn’t really aligned with any canon. I basically made a little fanon for it out of various pieces from multiple sources.

June 20th is my best friend Sam’s ( @thefingerfuckingfemalefury ) birthday, so to celebrate I wrote her this little fic. Sadly, my mind slipped on the date today and this is coming out late.

Happy birthday, Sam! Hope you had a good one!

“I’m sorry, what?” Kate Kane asked.

Selina Wayne nee Kyle stood in the doorway, holding little Helena in her arm and a diaper bag over her shoulder. “It’ll just be for one night. I’ll be back tomorrow morning to pick her up. Mid-afternoon at the latest.”

Kate opened her mouth to say something, but Selina quickly interjected again. “And before you say anything, I am not breaking my promise with Bruce. This isn’t a heist or a jailbreak. I’m just helping out some friends with… an unusual problem.”

“Does Bruce know what you’re doing?” Kate asked with a tone that made it clear she doubted he knew anything about this. Selina’s hesitation in responding confirmed her suspicion.

“What’s a little secret every now and then between a husband and wife?” she finally replied.

“Who are these “friends” you’re helping out tonight?”

Selina shrugged as casually as she could with a baby in one arm and a bag on the other. “The Sirens are back together for one night only.”

“I thought you hated Poison Ivy.”

“Hate is a strong word. Pam barely makes the top ten in number of attempts on my life. Besides, it’s really hard to say no to Harley. Even over the phone. That girl has too much power.”

That much was true. Even most of Arkham’s past and present finest had something resembling a soft spot for Harley.

“Selina, let’s start at the beginning. Where did I fall on your list of options to handle this?” Kate asked.

Selina started at the very top of that list. “Bruce is out of town on a company retreat that he couldn’t get out of, and Alfred is still on very strong painkillers after the Condiment King debacle last week. He’s in no shape to be looking after a child, no matter his protests to the contrary.”

“What about Dick?”

“Unavailable. He claimed the Titans were running some vital operation, but I could hear Mar’i making a ruckus in the background.”

“Dick couldn’t lie to save his life. Did you try Barbara?”

“With the Birds on some mission that is so secret that if I continued to ask questions Barbara said she’d hack into every piece of technology I own until the day I die.”

“What about Cass?”

“She’s on patrol duty with Damian, Duke, and Harper tonight.”

“Right. Stephanie?”

“With her mom out of town.”

“Tim?”

“On the moon with his Young Justice friends.”

“How about Batwing?”

“Luke is at the retreat with Bruce and Lucius.”

“How about…” Kate struggled to come up with a name for a second, as they had already run though so many of their mutual masked colleagues. “I don’t know, what about Lian Harper? I hear she babysits superkids.”

“I do not have time to fly out to Star City, hand my baby over to a 12 year old I’ve never met, and then fly out to D-... where I need to be tonight.”

Kate frowned. “You’re seriously not even going to tell me where Harley and Ivy are asking you to meet them?”

Selina was speechless just long enough to incriminate herself before she put on an awkward smile. “What’s a few little secrets between old friends like you and I?”

“Selina,” Kate said as she massaged the area around a newly made scar on her forehead, “aside from everyone else being unavailable, what made you think I could handle something like this in the first place? I don’t know the first thing about-”

“You’re great with kids! You became a mom before I did!”

“I didn’t meet Jamie until she 8, and I haven’t been in the prolonged company of a baby since I was one with my sister.”

“That’s still more experience than I have. There’s really not that much difference between a 1 and 8 year old. Besides, you’ll have Maggie and Jamie to-”

“No I won’t. Mags is in Metropolis visiting a friend until Sunday, and Jamie is at a sleepover.”

“Please, Kate,” Selina pleaded. “I know this is last minute, but that’s only because I just got the call myself. I need someone to look after Helena.”

“Have you considered that this is a job for Superman?”

“Tried. Mrs. Lane-Kent has him occupied tonight. And before you say anything, the other Leaguers I managed to get a hold of are busy.”

Kate went through the list of Bats and friends in her head one more time. Gordon and Leslie didn’t know Selina as well Kate knew her, even if she had been married to Bruce for the past two years. Kate knew Victoria was away at a conference, Bette was still in West Point, Basil was in Hollywood, and Azrael was not to be trusted with anyone’s children. Ever.

“What about Jason?” Kate asked, realizing she had someone failed to mention him earlier.

Selina’s expression suddenly turned serious. “He is not allowed to look after my child alone. Not after last time.”

Kate never did find out all the details of that particular incident. Superheroes had a way of keeping secrets for a variety of reasons, many of which seemed needlessly dramatic. The sum total of Kate’s second hand knowledge of the incident was that Jason Todd recently had sole supervision over Helena Wayne and at least four other children of various Justice League members and associates over the span of 9 hours. The period ended with at least six explosions, the foiling of a Satanic ritual, the loss of a teddy bear’s eye, and 36.4 million dollars of damage to public property. Jason Todd made more enemies that night than he ever had as Robin or Red Hood.

“Fair enough,” Kate replied. Then, she realized something. “Hey, wait a minute. I come after all of the sidekicks when you need someone to watch Helena?”

Selina blinked. “Kate, I’ve been trying to convince you for the past five minutes straight, and now you’re offended that I didn’t come to you sooner?”

“...fair point, but still, on principle, I should’ve been asked first after Bruce and Alfred. I was the first one to the hospital when you gave birth. I even bought a “cool gay aunt” shirt.”

“And a cool gay aunt would leap at the chance to babysit!”

“Not without help!”

Selina opened her mouth to speak again, but paused before a word escaped her lips. She took a breath, and then placed her free hand on Kate’s shoulder, the diaper bag at her shoulder swinging slightly. The gaze she used on Kate, with those big, beautiful eyes of hers, gave away exactly how she was going to get Kate to do this for her. “Please, Kate. I need you.” Even after all this time, after all the hijinks and misadventures that she had caused, Catwoman could still use that sensual voice of hers to get anything she wanted. Though, the little routine they had together was hampered this time by the presence of her toddler.

“That’s funnier when you do it in front of Bruce,” Kate pointed out, recalling all the times Selina flirted with her to get a reaction out of the grump who she would one day marry, “less funny when you do it in front of your child.”

“I still have some time before she can really understand what’s going on around her. I’m not corrupting her yet.”

Kate sighed. “Fine. Hand her over.”

Selina’s smile grew twice as wide. She turned her child in her arms to face her, planting a series of kisses that only a mother could give. “Alright, Helena,” she cooed, using a motherly tone that Kate didn’t think Selina could use unironically, “you be good for Aunt Katie while mommy’s gone!” She handed both baby and bag to Kate, adding, “I wrote down everything you need to know on a notepad in the bag. Don’t worry, Aunt Katie, you’ll be great.”

“You owe me for this. And don’t call me Katie in front of your kid.”

With the sudden closing of the door, Kate Kane was left alone with the youngest of the Bat children. Helena, being a one year old, looked at her aunt with a confused expression, as one year olds are wont to do. It was something that Kate could sympathize with, as this wasn’t how she envisioned spending the little amount of free time that a life of superheroics allowed her.

After an unbearable amount of silence between the two, Kate asked, “I guess you wanna watch something like Spongebob, huh?”

Helena blew a raspberry in response.

This is going to be a long night, Kate thought.

#my fanfiction #thefingerfuckingfemalefury #Kate Kane #Helena Wayne #Selina Kyle #dc

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darthkvznblogs · 4 years

Text

Of Darkness and the Light, ch. 19, “Calm Before the Storm” is up!

After her victory over Doctor Fate, Raven prepares to go into the belly of the beast - a captured Klarion is taking her to confront the Light, though not before she catches up with Nightwing and reassures the poor vigilante that, this time, it’s not him sending a friend to their potential doom. Also, Constantine is secretly a softie.

Of Darkness and the Light is a Raven-centric Teen Titans x Young Justice fic, following her journey back into the world of superheroics, years after the Titans disbanded. It’s got some past BBRae, flirting with Jason Todd’s Red X, and Raven as Rachel Roth being the proprietor of a tea shop in Seattle called the White Raven. It’s fun! Just…try to get past the first few cringey chapters. This fic is, uh, kinda old. Available on FF!

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11263671/19/Of-Darkness-and-the-Light

An excerpt for the chapter after the cut (minus my masterful italics, because Tumblr hates me):

The Helm of Fate’s empty eye slits glared at me as I watched over Giovanni Zatara’s near-comatose form.

It took a toll, of course, wearing that thing for so long. His body nearly shut down, following our duel, just from having to exist again all of a sudden. Dick mentioned, wracked by the old guilt of his old team having put the man in that unbearable position in the first place, that Nabu had only let Zatanna interact with her father once every year - and even then, the Helm stayed on.

I’m pretty sure even I had spoken more with my Father, back in the day, than Zatanna had been allowed to in the past eight years.

The young woman in question sat, having cried herself to sleep, next to the old man. I felt like an intruder, even watching from the window outside, but someone had to keep watch over Zatara; for all anyone knew, Nabu might’ve cursed the man into seeking the Helm out once he woke up. On the flip side, and as much as it pained me to admit it, the world needed Doctor Fate, and I didn’t trust Zatanna not to banish the Lord of Order’s spirit from the Helm, as justifiable as that course of action might be.

“You know, love…” -a telltale, smarmy british voice said, approaching behind me, “...by defeating ol’ Bucket Lord, you’ve technically become this Earth’s brand new Sorcerer Supreme.”

“Thanks, Constantine, but I’m not currently job hunting.” -I said, sarcastic. I turned to face the infamous Hellblazer, who looked...pretty much the way I remembered; an exhausted-looking thirty-something man with straw-colored hair, a scruffy beard, a tattered trench coat, and a poorly tied red tie around his neck, more reminiscent of a noose that had somehow found its way around his neck than a conscious fashion choice. He absolutely reeked of tobacco, alcohol, and sulfur. “I don’t suppose you’re up to the task?”

He snorted. “Let’s just say my work ethic leaves a bit to be desired.” -he said, reclining on the wall beside the window. He gazed, somewhat softly, at Zatanna’s sleeping form. “How’s she holding up?”

“Considering her father basically just rose from the dead, I’d say she’s doing very well.” -I said.

Constantine shook his head, disgusted. “Bloody pseudo-deities. Couldn’t give less of a crap about humanity, even their hosts, but don’t get them started on their oh-so-grand plans for us all.”

I chuckled. “They certainly do that.” -I said. I nodded at the sleeping witch. “You guys close?”

He shrugged, but his emotions betrayed him a little. They were definitely close. “We have a bit of a past. Sort of an on and off present. Not too sure about a future, though.”

“You don’t seem like her type.” -I noted.

He smirked. “You might say that. Friends with the acrobat ex, right, lass?”

I snorted. “If it helps, I’m not sure tween crushes and a New Year’s kiss count for much. Besides, Nightwing’s something of a serial flirt. Aside from Starfire, I don’t think he’s had any serious relationships.”

“Man after me own heart, then.” -he said, amused. “Haven’t met the bloke, but no worries; I don’t mind their shared history. I don’t get the luxury of looking back, much - not a pleasant view - so I tend not to dwell on others’ pasts, either. Yours included.”

I hummed. This rang true, of course; Constantine had not been amongst Earth’s magical protectors whom converged upon my arrival - too young back then, perhaps, or, more likely, not too interested. When we did meet, days after Trigon’s destruction, it was more of a professional courtesy than anything else. He celebrated my patricide, and offered to check me for any residual demonic influence. I think the second opinion helped, with some of the Leaguers - Constantine may have been an infamous, vice-ridden jackass, but he did not mess around when it came to matters of the underworld.

“It’s appreciated.” -I said. “Is Klarion ready?”

He nodded. “That, he is. It’s a mad gambit, yours - and the rest of the League’s. I haven’t dabbled much in this Apokolips nonsense, but it frankly sounds beyond what you lot can handle.”

“Well, you’re always welcome to help.” -I said.

He snorted. “Ask around; I’m more burden than I’m worth, little bird.”

I pointed back inside the room. “I doubt she’d agree.”

He stared at Zatanna, still peacefully asleep. “I hope you’re right.”

#raven #nightwing #Rachel Roth #dick grayson #john constantine #constantine #Klarion the Witch Boy #zatanna #Teen Titans #Young Justice #fanfiction #fanfic #CrossOver #justice league

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youngjusticeslut · 5 years

Text

Love, Actually

Fandom: Young Justice Links: FF.net // AO3 Characters: Roy Will Harper, Kaldur’ahm, Artemis Crock, Lian Harper, Cassie Sandsmark, Tim Drake, Dick Grayson, Barbara Gordon, Jaime Reyes, Bart Allen, M’gann M’orzz, Conner Kent, Virgil Hawking, Traci Thurston, Violet Harper, Brion Markov, Forager Ships: Wonderbird, Karen/Mal, Dick/Barbara, Bluepulse, Supermartian, Briolet Summary: Everyone spends Valentine's day differently. A quick glimpse into the lives of many different couples, and some singles. Rating: T Word Count: 4793 Disclaimer: I don’t own any of these characters. Happy Valentine’s Day everyone <3

“I trust that the shipment of military goods has reached its destination without alarm?” Kaldur asked, looking over his notes. He’d reached the bottom of his list, now it was just the smaller matters that needed addressing.

“More or less,” Captain Marvel answered. “There were a few distractions.”

“But the end result remains the same,” Martian Manhunter assured. “The shipment is settled and on route to those who need it.”

“Excellent,” Wonder Woman announced. “Is there anything else, Aquaman?”

Kaldur glanced down his list again. In his pocket, his phone continued to vibrate. It had been going off without pause since the start of the meeting. He knew it wasn’t urgent, for if it was, an alert would have sounded off at the Watchtower. Curiosity was starting to get the better of him, however.

The remainder of the list could wait for another time.

“No, we have covered everything. Meeting adjourned,” he declared, nodding to Wonder Woman’s hologram. She nodded back, then vanished. He stayed behind, taking the time to say goodbye to each and every leaguer. Kaldur always made sure that he was the last person in the room after these meetings. It gave him a sense of peace, knowing everyone was headed off to other things. Only once the room had cleared did he bother to fish out his phone.

Sixteen new messages lit up Kaldur’s screen. The vast majority of them were the same, wishing him a happy Valentine’s Day. He hummed to himself, reading each one. Some even contained pictures. His favorite was of Lian and Will, faces pressed close to the camera, both covered in frosting. Kaldur smiled, almost wanting to call Will and find out the whole story, but a quick glance at the time told him that Will would be at Bowhunter for the next few hours; the conversation would have to wait.

In all truth, Kaldur had forgotten that it was Valentine’s day. Between managing the League and continuing to maintain his secrets, he did not have much time to devote to personal matters. Twirling his phone in his hands, his mind began to wander to someone who did. Someone who had far too much time on her hands, especially today. He unlocked his phone for the second time and found her number, dialing and pressing the speaker to his ear.

“ Hello? ”

“Tell me you are not where I think you are.”

A sigh. “ No such luck. ”

Kaldur frowned. “Is this going to become a yearly occurrence?”

“ Did you call to check in, or lecture me? ”

“The former, admittedly. Are you alright?”

“ Never better .” Her voice said otherwise. Kaldur gripped the phone tight in his hand, debating on whether or not to say something. On one hand, it wasn’t his place. It was absolutely none of his business what she did with her time. On the other hand, she was his friend, and she was hurting.

“Do you wish for company?”

“ You don’t have to. ”

Kaldur almost smiled. If she had said no, it would have meant she wanted to be alone. But she hadn’t said no. “Two minutes, Tigress.”

Artemis said goodbye and hung up the call, putting the phone back in her pocket. Letting out a deep breath, she stared back up at Wally’s hologram.

“Will and I were up half the night baking cupcakes for Lian’s Valentine’s day party. A bunch of toddlers hyped up on sugar sounds like a terrible idea to me, but I’m not the one dealing with the repercussions,” she said, setting a cupcake down at the foot of the hologram. “Double chocolate with heart-shaped sprinkles. You can tell that I made this one, because it looks like shit.”

Artemis hadn’t meant to make coming to the Grotto a yearly thing. Her first Valentine’s day without Wally, she’d been lonely and needed to see his face. She hadn’t wanted anyone to see her pore over pictures or videos, so she sought the private intimacy of the Grotto. Admittedly, she’d felt better after talking to his hologram. Artemis had promised herself that she didn’t need to do it this year, that she had plenty going on in her life and she didn’t need to come.

Yet here she was.

It was increasingly pathetic, but the moment Lian was at daycare, Will was at work and Halo was at school, she’d felt the loneliness tugging at her heart. Ten minutes hadn’t passed before Artemis had put on her shoes and headed for the nearest Zeta. Pathetic, but it helped. Nobody would have known if she’d just kept her big mouth shut the previous year and hadn’t admitted the truth to Kaldur. But now he knew, and now he was on his way.

Artemis felt his presence before she saw him. It was amazing how connected they both were after working so closely undercover. She turned, cocking her head to the side in a hello. “You rang?”

Kaldur nodded, resting a hand on her shoulder. “Do I get a cupcake?”

“No, I just brought one. But we have more at home.”

“I know,” Kaldur said, lifting his eyes to stare at the hologram of his fallen friend. He wasn’t able to look for more than a couple seconds before he had to glance away. “Will told me I could come over.”

Artemis nodded and then crossed her arms. “I’m fine, Kal. Really.”

“I know.”

“And I should get going. I’m going to be late for work,” Artemis groaned, gently shrugging away from Kaldur’s hand and fixing her ponytail. “Some Valentine’s Day, huh?”

“Indeed. If you need me-”

“I know,” Artemis finished for him, shooting him a grin. “I promise I’m okay. Walk me out?”

“I think I will take a few more minutes.” Kaldur’s feet moved of their own accord until he found himself in front of Tula’s hologram.

Artemis watched him and thought it best not to get into it; if she did, she really would be late to work. She left the Grotto, pulling out her phone again. Speaking of Valentine’s day, there was a certain bat she needed to check on.

If ur late 2 training again and leave me w/the lovebirds, you’ll be missing ur namesake by nightfall

Dick couldn’t help but laugh as he read Artemis’ text. “Think I should take that challenge?” he asked his girlfriend, showing her the text. Barbara’s eyes glanced across the screen before she shook her head.

“Too risky. Your namesake is far too useful,” she growled, pulling him closer. Dick smirked, leaning down to kiss his girlfriend. Their first Valentine’s day together was off to an excellent start. He had snuck into her apartment late the previous night, but Barbara was happy to have him. From the moment his eyes had opened she was all over him, and for once Dick had nowhere to be, so he was more than happy to oblige.

Dick pulled back from the kiss, leaning against Barbara’s chest. “Happy Valentine’s day.”

“So the Boy Wonder remembered this year.”

“Hey, technically we weren’t together last year,” Dick reminded, pushing his bangs away from his face.

Barbara pushed herself up against her pillows, raising her brow. “Didn’t stop you from coming over.”

“I love it when you banter with me,” he mused, tucking some hair behind his girlfriend’s ear. “It’s the best kind of foreplay.”

“Round two already? You’ve got a lot of energy this morning,” Barbara teased, pulling him down for another kiss.

Dick kissed her back, nipping at her bottom lip. “Well, what can I say? It’s not the holiday of love every morning.” He backed up, cracking his neck with a satisfying pop. Barbara watched as he clambered off the bed, looking for his discarded jeans.

“If you pull out a jewelry box from your pants pocket, I may actually kill you.”

“Not even ten am and my life has been threatened twice. Business as usual,” Dick sighed as he indeed slid a black rectangle out of his jeans pocket. “Just let me be a good boyfriend.”

“A cliche boyfriend,” Barbara groaned, trying to get comfortable against the pillows. But even she couldn’t hide the interest in her voice. Try as she might to deny it, she wanted the present.

Just as Dick was about to hand it over, he held it out of reach. “I mean if you don’t want it.”

“You already bought it.”

“I could return it.”

“Grayson, give me the box,” Barbara demanded. “Is it ugly?”

“Yes, Bruce picked it out.” Barbara rolled her eyes and snatched the box from him. Dick got dressed as she opened the clasp; he tried not to smirk when her face lit up. “Did I do good?”

“Oh Grayson, you did good ,” Barbara said, snapping the sapphire bracelet closed on her wrist. “I’m not a jewelry girl, but this… this I can do.”

“Good,” Dick grinned, pecking her lips before he put his shirt on. “I have to get going, but how do you feel about dinner tonight? We can hit the town, somewhere nice.”

Barbara nodded, picking up her phone. She smiled as she engaged with the plethora of Valentine’s day messages, her heart melting when she saw a picture of Karen and Mal’s infant daughter dressed up in a onesie covered with hearts. “Eight PM?”

“It’s a date.” Dick waved before he darted out of the room. “Say hi to Karen for me!” he called back.

Karen and Mal had been awake since four that morning, but nobody would have been able to guess. Little Lydia had woken them up for her breakfast, and since then they’d been constantly on the move. Karen did her research while her daughter ate, and Mal started on the laundry. Laundry tumbled into the dishes, which tumbled into vacuuming the living room and cleaning up the cat’s litter box, so it was easy to see why they were still awake.

After Lydia’s second feeding, Karen had the brilliant idea to do a little bit of a photoshoot with their new daughter. Mal had been all for it and immediately got out his camera, and that’s when the real fun began.

“Oh, she is so going to hate us for this when she’s older,” Karen said as she looked through the photos they’d taken. “I can’t believe you talked me into dressing her up like Cupid.”

“She looks adorable, though.” Mal looked to Lydia, who sucked contently on her pacifier in Karen’s arms. “We’re her parents, we’re allowed to embarrass her like this.”

“I’ll agree to that,” Karen agreed, standing up. “I’m getting hungry, you want something?”

“I could eat. Let me take the baby, I’ll make pancakes.”

Karen raised a brow but then smiled in relief. “I would appreciate it. Dr. Fischer really needs this report by six tomorrow and I’ve fallen behind.” Mal took Lydia in his arms and gave her soft head a kiss before placed her in the baby carrier on his chest. Will had given it to him as a present, and admittedly Mal thought he would never use it. Now he wore the thing pretty much all day.

“Let’s make your Mama some breakfast so she can work. Sound good?” Mal cooed to their daughter as he walked into the kitchen. Pancakes sounded like the perfect easy breakfast to make for the both of them. It was Valentine’s day, he could make them heart-shaped. Between baby and work, he hadn’t had much time to prepare anything special for Karen, so letting her work and making her breakfast was the least he could do.

Lydia fell asleep somewhere between mixing the batter and pouring hearts out on the griddle. Mal was glad for that, because these rare moments of peace and quiet were ones to be savored. Their daughter had a pair of lungs on her, and more often than not, their house was a place of natural chaos. “Pancakes will be ready in a minute. You want blueberries or chocolate chips?”

“Be crazy, do both,” Karen called back.

Mal laughed before doing as she asked. Their ideas of crazy had certainly changed since becoming parents, but he wouldn’t have it any other way. When Karen could smell the pancakes, she left her work and started to set the table for breakfast.

“I have a question,” Mal announced.

“Shoot.”

“Should we be getting married?”

Karen snorted, pouring herself and Mal some coffee. “Do you want to get married?”

“I’m not in a rush,” Mal admitted, flipping the last pancake on a plate before turning off the stove. “I just thought it might be weird, both of us parents and not married.”

“It’s 2019, Mal. We don’t need to be married to have a baby. Besides, our lives are so busy right now, why get married?”

“You’re right,” Mal admitted. “You always are.”

Karen pecked his cheek as he joined her at the table. “And don’t you forget it. Leave the wedding stuff to Conner and M’gann.”

“Sounds good to me. Oh, and Karen?”

“Hm?”

Mal pulled her in for a deeper kiss. “Happy Valentine’s day.”

“You know, when you said you had a fun idea for Valentine’s day, this isn’t exactly what I had in mind,” Conner admitted over their mind link. In front of him were a plethora of different wedding pamphlets and brochures, detailing everything from tablecloths to DJs. Figures that on the one day they both had free, they had to spend it planning the wedding. M’gann shot him a sympathetic look, taking his hand.

“I know, but if you want to get married this summer, then we have to do the boring stuff.” She pecked him quickly on the cheek. “We have to pick a venue, that’s most important. .”

“Watchtower.”

“Conner.”

“What’s wrong with here?”

“We live here.”

Conner chuckled before shrugging. “So? It’s beautiful here. Picture it, we could get married among the apple trees.” M’gann did picture it, and it was beautiful. It wasn’t what she’d originally imagined, but it would definitely save them money on a venue. And they didn’t have to worry about secrecy or a cap on wedding guests.

“I like it.” M’gann crossed off an item from her very long to-do list. “We’ll have the wedding here, great idea, Conner.”

“I have those from time to time,” he tried to joke, picking up another pamphlet. “Do tablecloth colors really matter?”

“In theory they don’t,” M’gann said, feeling a little mind-boggled herself. They’d been at this for the better part of the morning, and it was edging closer and closer to lunch. “Hey, I think I’m starting to have a good idea too.”

“What’s that?”

“Let’s stop and go out for lunch. We can go to that Chinese place you like,” M’gann suggested. “It’s Valentine’s day, let’s go out and have some fun.”

Conner smiled but gestured to the table. “What about all this?”

“It’ll still be here when we come back,” M’gann said, standing up and tugging on his hand. “It’ll be the perfect excuse to skip out on training the Outsiders,” she added with a bit of a wicked glint in her eyes. “Dick can’t say anything if we have to make decisions today.”

“You’re amazing. Let me get my jacket and we can go.”

“I’ll be by the door,” M’gann said, sliding into her boots before grabbing her phone. If she remembered correctly, the team had gone out last night. Argentina, or something. Bart and Jaime had managed to convince everyone to go salsa dancing for a ‘pre-Valentine’s day bash’. M’gann loved her team, and she was willing to turn a blind eye at some of the pictures they’d accidentally sent to the group chat she was a part of. Back in the good old days, her team had gotten up to some trouble, and she wasn’t about to start acting pious now.

In the interest of worrying for your well-beings, I’m going to suggest plenty of Advil and orange juice today. Oh, and fried foods. That helps too. Oh, and Happy Valentine’s Day <3

“Oh God,” Virgil groaned, rubbing his temple as he tossed his phone to the side. “Which one of you idiots sent the pictures to the wrong group chat?”

“That might of been me,” Traci admitted, chugging back some Cola. “I had way too much to drink last night.”

“Whose idea was it to go salsa dancing in a country where we’re legal to drink?” Cassie asked, laying on the couch. “Because whoever's idea it was, I have a bone to pick with them.”

Bart raised his hand from the floor. “That would be me. And Jaime.”

“Right. Well, fuck you guys.”

“Second that,” Virgil muttered.

Jaime rolled his eyes, shooting a look to his boyfriend. A very annoyed look that read ‘can you believe this?’. “No one made you guys drink. That is all on you all.”

“Fair point,” Traci muttered. “But being that it was your idea, I suggest y’all be the ones to get us food and Advil.”

Bart rolled his eyes but pushed himself up the floor, extending a hand to Jaime. “Fine. I think there’s some make-at-home Chicken Whizzees in the freezer,” he said.

“Gross,” Cassie sneered. “Nothing vegetarian?”

“Nope.”

“Great,” she sighed before standing up herself. “I’ll head home then.”

“Suit yourself,” Jaime called before following Bart into his kitchen. No sooner were the Chicken Whizzees in the oven was Bart pressed against the wall. He grinned, throwing his head back.

“So, fun Valentine’s day?”

“The best,” Jaime said, nibbling at his neck. “I think everyone else is just bitter because they’re single.”

“Would you consider Cassie single?”

Jaime shrugged. “Tim didn’t send her anything today, so I think the message is kinda clear,” he admitted.

“Ouch. Well, I’m not bitter.”

“Neither am I.” Jaime bent forward, pressing a kiss to his boyfriend’s mouth. Bart responded eagerly, wrapping his arms around his neck. After a few minutes of slow, supple kissing, Bart pulled away, cheeks flushed. They’d only started dating recently, and this was still new to him. They hadn’t even come out as a couple to the team yet. Though, given how close they were dancing last night, it was safe to assume that they probably knew.

“I had fun last night,” Bart admitted. “Even though I don’t remember half of it.”

“It’s okay, I remember enough. You’re cute when you’re drunk, Cariño,” Jaime purred, nuzzling against Bart’s nose. “It’s a Valentine’s day I’ll never forget.”

Bart kissed him again before a cough came from the doorway. They immediately broke apart, turning red as Traci watched with utter amusement. “Y’all are such dorks,” she muttered. “Food ready yet? It’s past lunchtime and I’m starving.”

Jaime and Bart had gotten one thing right, though; Cassie was indeed bitter. Who could blame her, though? Tim and her were still on the rocks, and to make matters worse, he hadn’t even wished her a happy Valentine’s day.

By the time she got home, it was late in the afternoon and she was in no mood for conversation. She was hungry, exhausted, hungover and just wanting a nap. More than anything, she was hurt. Cassie loved her boyfriend, and before he’d left the team they’d been incredibly close. They had gone out on a handful of dates since then, but every time they ended in some kind of argument.

She finally reached her room and flopped on her bed, covering her face. Maybe it was time to finally call it quits. What was the point in even dragging it on any longer? Cassie pulled her hands away from her face and checked her phone, but nothing was there. Frowning, she let out a loud huff and flopped over to her stomach. She’d sleep on it and then decide what to do when she was a bit less grumpy.

Something caught her gaze in her peripheral vision. Cassie turned her head, only for her jaw to drop open. A card sat on her nightstand. On top of a very large box of chocolates and leaning on a hot pink teddy bear. She immediately sat up, regretting it when her head throbbed angrily in protest. Massaging her temple, she opened the card and felt all her annoyance just melt away. A picture of her and Tim, grinning at the camera, sat inside the card. Cassie peeled the picture away to observe what he wrote.

I know you’re still mad at me, and you have every right to be. Right now, I can’t explain. I wish I could. And I understand if you never want to talk to me again, or if you want to end this. But I love you, and even though we’re fighting, you still deserve the world for Valentine’s day. I promise everything will make sense soon.

Love, Tim

Tim watched Cassie read the card from the opposite rooftop, keeping in the shadows so she wouldn’t see him. It was better to leave it silent and undetected; if she saw him, it would leave room for another argument. When he saw her smile, he took that as his cue to depart, feeling like he finally did something right. He pulled out his phone, finding Dick’s number and ringing it with a satisfied little grin.

“ So? ”

“I think she liked it.”

Tim could almost feel Dick smirking over the line. “ Told you that it would. She’s definitely going to feel the aster now .”

The younger bat rolled his eyes. “Can you not use your unwords with me? They make no sense.”

“Stay whelmed, Timothy. One day, my skills will rub onto you.”

“ Fat chance. ”

Dick was about to respond, but he looked at the time and grimaced. Six thirty and he was still in uniform; Barbara was going to kill him. “Good luck with that. Right now, I have a team training to finish up,” he said before hanging up the call. He looked to Brion, Forager and Halo who were finishing up one of their drills. “Good work, team!”

Brion was panting hard as he walked up to Dick. “How would you know? You were just on your phone.”

“The power of multitasking is one of my secret abilities, Hot Lava,” Dick said, igniting a snort from Artemis.

“I was watching,” the blonde said, crossing her arms. “You guys did good. And I think it’s about time we called it a night.”

“I’ll second that. I’m running late to my dinner with Barbara.”

“Then you should have ended training thirty minutes ago,” Artemis pointed out. “Go, I’ll wrap up here,” she said, waving him off. Dick gave her a salute and didn’t so much as utter a goodbye before leaving his team behind. Artemis rolled her eyes, watching him go before turning her attention back at the team. “You guys are dismissed. Good work today.”

“But... it is early,” Violet said, landing on the ground and stopping to glow. Usually their practices didn’t end until eight, or nine if Dick was in a particular mood.“What will we do?”

“Lucas Carr has promised Forager a thrilling nature documentary,” the bug said, clicking happily. “Violet Harper and Brion Markov are more than welcome to join.”

“Actually,” Brion said, cutting in. “I was hoping that you might wish to do something together,” he directed to Violet. “Just us.”

“That could be fun. Did you have something in mind?”

“I could pick you up from your house. We could… go to dinner. Like, a date. For Valentine’s day,” he explained.

Violet hummed, looking to Artemis for confirmation. When she nodded, the younger girl grinned. “I do not know what a date or a Valentine’s day is, but I accept.”

“Excellent. I will make sure it is a date you will never forget,” Brion said, clearing his throat when he realized how eager he sounded.

Violet giggled. “I will go home and change. Will you meet me in half an hour?”

“Yes, it is a date.”

True to his word, Brion picked up Violet at seven on the dot. Violet met him outside, where she was presented with a bouquet of expensive flowers. Will and Artemis watched from the window, both wary but unable to do anything to stop it; the two teens were dating after all.

“It’s weird though, right? I feel like she’s my kid,” Will muttered, crossing his arms.

“Super weird. But it’s out of our hands,” Artemis sighed, turning away when Brion leaned down to kiss Violet. The blonde threw herself on the couch, looking up at Will. “So, got any plans tonight?”

“As a matter of fact, I do,” Will said, heading to the kitchen so he could put the last of the dishes away.

Artemis perked at his answer; she definitely would have thought that her brother-in-law would be joining her for a lazy night of Netflix and pizza. “Does Will Harper have a hot date tonight?”

“Something like that.”

“Um, spill,” Artemis demanded. “Is it a cute mom from Lian’s daycare? Someone from the league? Jade calling for a quick hookup?”

Will sighed. “No, no, and unfortunately, no. What makes you think I’d say yes to Jade, anyway?” he asked, turning to glance at his roommate. Artemis shot him a deadpan look, and he faltered. They both knew him better than that. “Right. But no, you’re wrong on all those counts.”

“Then who is it?”

The former archer put the last bowl in the cupboard before grabbing his keys. “Someone special. That’s all I’ll say.”

Artemis sighed in annoyance; sometimes he could be such a pain. “Fine. Do you need me to pick up Lian from Lynn’s and watch her?”

“No, she’s covered.” Will slid into his jacket and gave her a wink. “See you later, Sis.”

“Do not call me that!”

Will paid her no mind as he got into his car and drove to the nearest Zeta. It was a short trip to Metropolis, and before much time had passed he was on Lynn Jefferson’s doorstep, hands in his pockets as he waited for the woman to answer.

“Will!” she greeted when she opened the door. “You’re early. I wasn’t expecting you for another half hour, at least.”

“Didn’t want to keep her waiting long,” he admitted. “Is she ready to go?”

“Just about. Lian, your Daddy is here!” Lynn called back. “Do you want to come inside?”

Will shook his head. “Thanks for the offer, but we should get going. I have some plans tonight.”

“Oh?” Lynn asked, waggling her eyebrows. “Hot date?”

Will grinned. “Something to that extent.” No sooner had he said the words did an auburn blur come flying at him. He didn’t have but a second to react, but he knew his daughter well enough to instantly scoop her up. “And hello, little squeaker!” he greeted, kissing her cheeks. “Did you have a good day?”

“Yeah!” Lian chirped, wrapping her arms around his neck.

Will bid goodbye to Lynn before carrying Lian off. She continued to prattle on about her day, and he listened as if his life depended on it. She gushed about the party, the cupcakes, and all about the new computer games Anissa and Jennifer had shown her. By the end of her story, she was nearly out of breath.

“Hey Princess, I had an idea,” Will said when he was sure she was finished.

“An idea?” Lian asked, still holding tight to his neck.

“I thought we could go see a movie. Just you and me,” he suggested. “Popcorn, nachos, ice cream. Anything you want.”

Lian’s face instantly lit up at her father’s suggestion. “Any movie?”

“Any movie.”

“Yay!” she cheered, bouncing up and down. Will watched her, unable to help but laugh at her determined expression. He’d never really given much thought to Valentine’s day before. Jade certainly hadn’t made a big deal about it. Not that they were ever a normal couple, but they definitely hadn’t done much when Valentine’s day was concerned. All that had changed three years prior. On February 14th, he’d finally met his little girl, and his life had been changed forever. For that, he’d celebrate Valentine’s day as long as he lived.

“Daddy?”

“Yes, Baby girl?” Will asked, looking down at her.

Lian grinned mischievously before peppering his face with kisses. “I love you lots and lots!”

Will’s face hurt from how hard he was smiling, and he had to stop walking lest Lian distract him enough to walk into a pole. He tickled her to stop, and in the end they both wound up laughing so hard their sides hurt. When they finally calmed, Will pressed a soft kiss to her hair, knowing that she’d be asleep before the movie was out but wanting to do it anyway. “Daddy loves you too. More than anything. Happy Valentine’s day, Lian.”

#young justice #bluepulse #supermartian #wonderbird #dickbabs #artemis crock #will harper #lian harper #karen beecher #mal duncan

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thedcdunce · 5 years

Text

Cyborg

“What, do all black cyborgs look alike to you?” - Cyborg

Real Name: Victor “Vic” Stone

Aliases:

Cyberion

Cyberion Technis

Omegadrome

Planet Cyberion

Gender: Male

Height: 6′ 6″

Weight: 385 lbs (175 kg)

Eyes: Brown

Hair: Black

Powers:

Cybernetic Enhancement

Technis Physiology

Omegadrome Union

Abilities:

Genius Level Intellect

Base of Operations:

Justice League Watchtower

Red Room, STAR Labs, Detroit

San Francisco

Universe:

Earth-One

New Earth

Citizenship: American

Parents:

Silas Stone; father

Elinore Stone; mother

Marital Status: Single

Occupation: Student

Education: Newark City College

First Appearance: DC Comics Presents #26 (October, 1980)

Powers

Cybernetic Enhancement: Cyborg possesses cybernetic enhancements that provide superhuman strength, endurance and durability. Cyborg can also interface with computers. Built into his body-armor were an infrared eye, computer generator, sound amplifier/white noise cannon, and special programming adapters that allowed him to interface with other body extensions.

Computer Interfacing

Body Resistance: The nature of Cyborg's body provides him with natural body armor offering resistance versus energy attacks.

Sensor Systems: Cyborg has optic, thermal and motion sensors just to name a few.

Adaptive Countermeasures: Cyborg's systems are capable of fabricating and initializing any number of technological adaptations to deal with any adversary he comes across.

Shape-Change: He can reshape parts of his body into various weapons and technological equipment. His arsenal included a finger laser attachment, telescopic eyepiece, sonic disruptor, electric shockers, grappling hooks, winches and metallic tentacles.

Material Assimilation: Cyborg can consciously integrate new forms of machines and cybernetics into his own bionic physiology in order to further enhance himself.

Superhuman Durability: His bones are reinforced with molybdenum-steel.

Superhuman Stamina

Superhuman Speed

Superhuman Strength: At optimal capacity, Vic can lift/press in excess of four metric tons. If he pushes himself, he can even exceed five tons, but not without causing severe stress to his cybernetic components. Cyborg's upper strength limits have fluctuated with upgrades to his systems over time. Cyborgs new strength limit is somewhere around 15-20 tons.

Nanobionic Regeneration: Stones robotic's give him the ability to physically recover his damaged circuitry in the event of catastrophic structural impairment.

Power Absorption: Vic's bionic components have the ability to siphon the powers of others within close proximity.

Technis Physiology: For a brief time Victor was assimilated into the technomorphic species of living computers called the Technis race. Through them his core essence was assimilated into their vast digitized sentience network which afforded him a host of unique supertropical attributes which made Vic that much more powerful than ever before.

Technomorphing

Electronic Consciousness

Energy Projection

Holographic Image Projection

Stasis Field Projection

Flight

Interstellar Travel

Omegadrome Union: On his return to Earth, Cyberion had his consciousness of Vic Stone transferred into Minions Omegadrome alien armor. A shapeshifting liquid metal body comprising of incredibly advanced alien technology. Adapting the suit to his own usage he was able to change and morph his own bodies physical semblance however he saw fit, after having assimilated a clone body created for him. Cyborg now could physically retain his ability to take human form as well as change back into Cyborg shape without effort at will.

Metamorphosis

Elasticity

Mechanical Constructs

Techno-Empathy

Abilities

Genius Level Intellect: In addition to his mechanical enhancements, Stone possesses an "exceptionally gifted" level of intelligence; his IQ has been measured at 170.

Origins

Victor Stone was the son of a pair of scientists who decided to use him as a test subject for various intelligence enhancement projects. However, Victor grew to resent this treatment and fell in with a young miscreant named Ron Evers who led him into trouble with the law. This was the beginning of a struggle where Victor strove for his own life engaging in pursuits his parents disapproved of such as athletics. In addition, Victor still kept bad company that led him into incidents such as when he was talked into participating in a street gang fight in which he was wounded. For the most part however, Victor still had a largely normal life under the circumstances where he also refused to follow his best friend's grandiose plans of racially motivated terrorism.

All that changed one day when he visited his parents at work at S.T.A.R. Labs. Coincidentally, an experiment in dimensional travel went horribly awry when a massive gelatinous monster crossed over an experimental portal and killed Victor's mother. The creature then turned on Victor and severely mutilated him before his father managed to force the creature back through the portal. To save his son, Victor's father outfitted him with experimental prostheses of his own design. However, the equipment could not be worn inconspicuously, and thus Victor was horrified to see much of his body, including part of his face, replaced with sheer metallic limbs and implants. Although Victor wanted to die at this shock, he adjusted enough through his resulting physical therapy to control his implants with suitable skill.

Upon release from medical care, he found his life was seriously inconvenienced with the fearful reactions of the public at his implants; even his girlfriend rejected him. In addition, he was also disallowed his participation in athletics not only for his implants but for his poor grades which were further exacerbated by his long convalescence. However, when his old friend attempted to use Victor's troubles to manipulate him into attempting a terrorist attack on the United Nations, Victor found a new purpose as he equipped his weapons attachments and stopped his friend in a pitched battle on the UN building.

New Teen Titans

He joined the Teen Titans, initially for the benefit of a support group of kindred spirits and freaks and has remained with that group ever since. In addition, Victor found new friends who saw past his disfigurements to his own nobility such as a group of children who were adjusting to their own prostheses and idolized Victor with his fancy parts and exciting adventures as well as their beautiful therapist who took a shine to him herself.

Throughout his association with the Titans, Victor has been destroyed, reconstructed, assimilated by an alien race, and had his humanity restored. He later went on to mentor a new Teen Titans group, consisting mainly of sidekicks, most of whom have taken over the secret identities of former members, as well as stalwarts such as Starfire, Raven, and Beast Boy, where they have fought enemies such as Deathstroke, Doctor Light, The Titans of Tomorrow and Superboy and Indigo during the Insiders storyline with a team up with the Outsiders.

Technis

Cyborg always had a problem with his humanity. Since he had lost most of his body in that horrible accident which turned him into a hero; he had always been challenged to maintain his human-side along side living with his robotic body. After a while Cyborg began to upgrade his body with new powers, weapons, and abilities. He became more of a robot; his voice changed and his mannerisms were more technical. Although he maintained he was still human not much was left. Eventually during the event of the Technis Imperative a robotic life form named Technis came to earth during it's universal search for knowledge and cataloging. When it tried to assimilate Earth the Titans stopped it, but Technis singled out Cyborg as he was practically a walking computer. Cyborg's one main crave was his humanity back to it's original level so he could be the athlete he always wanted to and Technis sought to serve this purpose. Technis was not one single being he was a mass of hundreds of them; beings who had a linked minded aptitude to collecting. So Cyborg joined their group in exchange for his soul, essentially. He became Cyberion and Technis became his family, but in the search and cataloging that spanned the universe Cyborg decided to ask Beast Boy to help him on his journey. Beast Boy accepted and Cyborg, now called Cyberion Technis, traveled around the universe until the day Technis was destroyed in a battle. This utterly changed Cyborg as he now lost his second family which shook loose his humanity again and he began to remember his old self and longed for it's return.

The Technis Imperative

After this entire event Beast Boy lost faith momentarily in his best friend and fled back to earth. Now entirely alone, Victor Stone, lost all sense of humanity in a matter of days. Without a team of Teen Titans on earth and with members spread across the globe Cyborg eventually came back to earth in a big way. He became Planet Cyberion and on his cascading trip back to earth he began assimilating and collect everything in his way until he became as big as the moon and when he returned to earth he overcame the moon and with it the JLA Watchtower. The Justice League was angered at this hostile takeover and attacked Cyborg not knowing the man within. Cyborg began to take every single Titan ever on the roster at all. But since the Justice League attacked Cyborg his actions started to affect the Earth and it's atmosphere. Horrible natural disasters and terrible technological threats and shut downs afflicted the earth plant-wide. All the Titans were brought in pods to Titan's Island in New York City. Once all of the Justice League, Young Justice, JLA Reserves, Titans and Teen Titans were brought together a massive fight broke out over the destruction of Cyborg vs. the savior of the world. This fight distracted Cyborg's programming and allowed a team of Leaguers and Titans to break off and head towards the moon where the main central power core of Cyborg's being as held. The Titans succeeded in bringing the human out of Cyborg by manipulating his virtual reality environmental programming and using it on Cyborg himself; this produced an image of Victor's father that said only pleasant things to Victor. Victor's soul was finally free and Raven herself brought his soul to try and upload it into the Titan's mainframe computer. However Victor's soul rejected the computer programming and Beast Boy suggested putting his soul in the Omegadrome Suit and she did. Cyborg then became Omegadrome; the golden suit, shape shifting Cyborg.

Infinite Crisis

During Infinite Crisis, Cyborg joined Donna's New Cronus Team that went to investigate a hole in the universe that was discovered during the Rann-Thanagar War. He left Beast Boy in charge of the Titans while he was gone. They arrived at the re-set center of the universe and with the help of assorted heroes, aided in the defeat of Alexander Luthor, who was attempting to re-create the Multiverse and build a perfect Earth from it.

Cyborg was fused together with Firestorm after returning to Earth. This was caused by the energy ripples caused by Alexander Luthor Jr. which altered the Zeta Ray Beams the heroes were going to use to return home.

One Year Later

After being severely damaged during the events of Infinite Crisis, Cyborg was rebuilt over time in thanks to Tower caretakers Wendy and Marvin. He awoke one year later to find a wholly different group of Titans led by Robin, the only member from the team he formed prior to going into space. Cyborg felt that members such as Kid Devil and Ravager were hardly worthy of being Titans, and thus was attempting to find a way to re-form "the real Titans".

After the team along with the Doom Patrol defeated the Brotherhood of Evil, Cyborg asked Beast Boy to rejoin the Titans, but Gar refused saying that his skills were needed with the Patrol. After returning to Titans Tower, Cyborg began reviewing the security tapes during the last year, in which it appears that he was looked to by all the Titans of the past year for a shoulder to lean on, despite being in a coma-like state.

Although Cyborg did retain the position of statesman amongst the Teen Titans and occasionally played second-in-command to Robin's lead, he no longer operated as a Titan in any official capacity.

Shortly thereafter, Batman, Wonder Woman, and Superman agreed that Cyborg should be offered membership in the new Justice League. However, following a battle against Amazo, Green Lantern and Black Canary took over the formation of the JLA, and Cyborg was not included among the roster.

Cyborg began putting together a new branch of Titans East which consisted of Anima, Dove, Hawk, Lagoon Boy, Little Barda and Power Boy. During a training exercise, the team was attacked by an unknown foe and Cyborg was severely injured. This incident inspires the original members of the "New" Teen Titans to regroup and investigate the situation.

Cry for Justice

Cyborg's new team didn't work out and when the new Teen Titans formed after his Titan's East's destruction he played second in command again. Although not officially on the roster he helped them on their investigations; he later joined officially and headed the new team of Teen Titans. They had many adventures together when their numbers started to grow and the founding members started to move on to bigger things. Wonder Girl began to lead this new team and they moved to Titans Tower in San Francisco, California. Soon the old founding members joined an unofficial team called the Titans to work as a family and a place to relax from their all overwhelming lives. But the peace didn't last when lives started to overlap and intersect and fewer members started showing up.

When the Titans fell apart again, Cyborg joined the JLA alongside Dick and Donna Troy. Officially on the team, he did not enter the field of battle much. Instead, he devoted his time to helping improve the Red Tornado's android body.

#cyborg #victor vic stone #victor stone #vic stone #cyberion #cyberion technis #omegadrome #planet cyberion #justice league #teen titans #titans east #new teen titans #dc #dc comics #thedcdunce

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andromytta · 6 years

Text

What’s a Snookie?

SPN Rare Ship CC: Round 20 | andromytta vs. @inter-ruptingmoose

Prompt: Ice Cream Cones

Ship: Claire Novak/Kevin Tran

Word Count: 1631

No Archive Warnings Apply. Tags:

Fluff and Humor

Snookie may be OOC

fanboy dean

boardw

Summary: Two families go on vacation to celebrate getting into Princeton. Two soon to be Ivy Leaguers realize they have a common passion.

AO3 Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15498963

Written for @spngenrebingo Square Filled: Free Fluff

Claire Winchester-Novak was going to have the greatest two weeks of her life. Her dads were taking her and her best friend, Alex Hanscomb-Mills, to the Jersey Shore to celebrate her getting a full ride to Princeton. It also worked out well for Alex’s moms, who were in Europe taking a second honeymoon. Claire couldn’t think of a better way to spend the time between high school and college than with her favorite people in the world.

Three days into their trip, the four of them were walking along the boardwalk, as they had done the days previous. Claire and Dean were in the middle, with Castiel next to Dean and Alex next to Claire. Claire suddenly looks up at her dad and says, “Hey! Do you think we’ll be blessed with a Snookie sighting?”

“What’s a Snookie?” Castiel and Alex asked simultaneously.

Dean and Claire shared a love of trash TV that the others just didn’t get. Dr. Sexy, MD and Jersey Shore were their favorites to binge watch, and they were both fans of Snookie. When the reality show star had a guest role on Dr. Sexy, they wouldn’t stop talking about it for days. Clearly no one was paying attention.

“Actually, Kiddo,” Dean began as he pulled something up on his phone and held it up to her, “we are definitely getting a Snookie sighting today, and an autograph.”

Claire excitedly grabbed his phone out of his hand as she read the screen. “She’s doing a book signing? Here? At the boardwalk? And you’re taking me? You are the best dad ever!” She stood on tiptoes to kiss his cheek before handing his phone back.

“Hey, what am I, chopped liver?” Castiel asked from the other side of his husband.

“Ok, fine, you’re an awesome dad too,” Claire replied and kissed his cheek as well.

“Ugh. I think I’m going to puke!” Alex announced from Claire’s other side.

“Hey, just because Jody and Donna dumped you with us instead of taking you Europe is no reason to rain on our happy family parade, young lady,” Dean quipped.

Alex dropped her head in her hand and groaned. “Why do I even know you people?”

Claire slung an arm around her best friend’s shoulders. “Because you love me, and you know I come with dork dad baggage.”

“Hey, I thought we were awesome!” Dean protested.

Claire shrugged. “I’m a teenaged girl. My affections are fickle.”

“Yeah, yeah. Once I get you to Snookie, I’ll be awesome again.”

“It’s possible.”

***

Elsewhere on the boardwalk, Kevin Tran and his mother Linda were also taking a holiday to celebrate his own full ride to Princeton. Kevin was currently pleading with his mom to take him to the aforementioned bookstore.

“I can’t believe with your limited exposure to television for one hour a week, you spent it watching trash television! What else did you watch? That horribly inaccurate Dr. Sexy, MD? You could have been watching National Geographic.”

“Mo-om! I have to rest my brain somehow! Relaxation is just as important for neurological development as study is. Man cannot live on caviar alone!”

“Ok, fine, we’ll go see this Snookie. You did work hard all through high school, and you’ll be working even harder once you start college. I suppose you deserve your hobbies.”

“Great! Let’s go!” Kevin practically dragged his mom down the boardwalk towards the bookstore.

They made short work of their journey, and soon Kevin found himself standing in line to meet the reality star of his dreams. His mother was standing off to the side, trying to look stern, but failing miserably, her son’s joy bringing a smile to her face. Kevin was bouncing on the balls of his feet and trying to see the autograph table over the crowd, paying no mind to the line forming behind him.

Claire and Dean arrived around the same time, standing in line while Castiel and Alex stood off to the other side, rolling their eyes fondly. Claire had her back to the person in front of her as she was animatedly talking to Dean about their favorite Snookie moments. “Remember when she was on Dr. Sexy and she played a ghost, but being transparent didn’t take away from her sassiness and she was like…” Claire was gesturing wildly and didn’t notice when she took a step back and ran right into the back of Kevin Tran.

“Hey, watch it…” Kevin started just as Claire turned around to apologize.

“Oh, I’m so sorry…” The words trailed off as their eyes locked, blue to brown. Claire was the first to break the silence. “Um, hi. I’m Claire.” She offered her hand to him to shake.

He gulped and accepted the proffered hand. “Kevin, uh, my name…that’s my name.”

Claire smiled brightly at him. “Nice to meet you, Kevin.”

Dean not-so-subtly pulled their still clasped hands apart. “I’m Claire’s Dad. Nice to meet you,” he grumped as he shook hands with the stunned boy.

“Um…hi Claire’s Dad…” Panic started to fill his chocolate eyes as Dean continued to shake his hand aggressively.

“Dad, stop,” Claire ordered, removing his hand and pushing him back.

As the line crept forward, Claire engaged in small talk with the cute boy in front of her, much to Dean’s dismay. He tried to join the conversation multiple times, but backed off when Claire scowled at him, so he resigned himself to standing behind her and pouting. He wasn’t able to engage his daughter’s attention again until they were at the autograph table.

Claire was first. “Oh my God. You’re amazing, I love you so much. You were my favorite on Dancing With the Stars,” Claire gushed as her book was signed. “My dad brought me because I got into Princeton,” she continued on. Snookie signed her book “Congrats on the Ivy League. Love, Nicole.” Claire stared at her book as she was waiting for Dean.

“Uh, hi, um, Nicole. You’re so pretty,” he stammered awkwardly as he presented his own copy of her book.

Claire interrupted. “That’s my dad. Sorry he’s such an old skeezer.”

“I dunno, he’s kinda cute,” she replied as she started to sign. “You got a name, Daddio?”

“Dean. My name’s Dean.”

She finished signing and handed his book back. “Here you go, Hot Stuff.” She winked at him as he clutched the book to his chest and backed away.

Dean was so stunned by his interaction that he didn’t even notice when Claire wandered off with Kevin. In a daze, he found where Castiel and Alex had been waiting for them. “Snookie thinks I’m cute,” he said to Castiel.

“Well, that makes one of us,” his husband replied dryly.

“Shut up, you love me.”

“You’re lucky I do,” Cas said as he looked around for their daughter. “Dean, where’s Claire?”

Alex chuckled as she spoke up. “Over there with that cute boy she bumped into in the line.” She pointed to where the two were ducking out the door. “Oh great, now I’m stuck with the Dork Dads.”

***

Claire giggled as she and Kevin ducked out of the store, ditching their parents. “Hmmm, I guess I should feel bad stranding Alex with my dads,” she said as they made their way down the boardwalk.

“Alex? Is that your boyfriend?” Kevin asked nervously.

“No, Alex is a girl,” Claire replied vaguely.

“Oh, so your girlfriend?”

“Haha. No, just my best friend. More like a sister. My girlfriend and I broke up after her mom died and she had to move away.”

“So, you’re single?” Kevin fished for information.

“Yep. You?”

“Uh, yeah. Ever since my girlfriend went crazy and slit her roommate’s throat. I’m pretty sure she got possessed by a demon.”

“Wow. Creepy. So, what do you say we go get some ice cream?” Claire’s ability to gloss over the most uncomfortable situation with food was surely a habit she picked up from Dean.

“Oh, uh, ok. Sure.”

They walked to a little ice cream stand a few blocks away from the bookstore. Claire ordered the “Napoleon,” a giant waffle cone filled with five scoops of whatever flavors she wanted. Kevin paid, even though he didn’t get anything but water. They sat at a nearby bench and when Kevin tried to dip a spoon into Claire’s cone, she pulled it away.

“Dude! If you wanted ice cream, you should have ordered some!”

“But, I thought you were going to share. Especially when you asked me what kind of ice cream to get.”

“I was looking for a suggestion, not offering you my treat.”

“Rude! I bought it!” Kevin couldn’t help but laugh.

“Ok, fine. You can have a bite. One bite, from this layer.” She pointed at the third scoop down, a blue one with multicolored bits throughout.

“Awesome, bubblegum. I always wanted to try that flavor.” Kevin helped himself to a hearty spoonful of the confection.

“Hey, not so much!” Claire protested with a laugh.

Kevin grinned at her and went in for another bite. “So, Claire, what would you say if I asked you out for dinner and movie?”

“I’d ask what’s for dinner and what movie?”

“Hmmm….” Kevin made a show of thinking deeply. “Burgers and the new Marvel film?”

“Make it Star Wars or no deal.”

“Done. Saturday night?”

“Done. We’re staying at the Palms, room 210. Pick me up at 7?”

“Hey, so are we. 310.”

Claire looked at him, shy for the first time. “We could walk back together?”

“Ok.” Kevin stood up and reached for her hand.

She let him pull her up and they were met with three pairs of stern parent eyes: blue, green, and brown. Alex stood off to the side with her arms crossed over her chest. “Busted,” she chuckled at them.

#spnrareshipcc #Claire/Kevin #Claire Novak/Kevin Tran #inter-ruptingmoose #appearance by snookie #ice cream cones #spngenrebingo #free fluff

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stray-leagdom · 6 years

Note

Congratulations, you all have been chosen to join the blanket pile.

Congratulations, your going to become very overwhelmed!

Health Parse is the first to somehow get to the pile and sit by the Lavenders, but also sneakily sitting by Mach Windy kinda. They all have a HUGE blanket that covers all four of them.

Alucard came without a blanket (because he was traveling) and he ended up getting asked by everyone present if he needed a blanket. Without being undead anymore, he could actually feel the cold, and he still declines. GZ and Ryuuken might have to throw one over him for him to have one.

Wild Hawk brought his own posse in tow and he apologizes in his own way. He sits without a blanket next to anyone, really. He doesn’t need a blanket as 12 Wishbones come in and pile around Wild Hawk with their bodies swaddled in blankets, not used to the cold.

Gebara came from the ceiling. We don’t know how or when he got here, but he dropped in by Top Joy and god was he scary looking… until you saw he looked like a kicked puppy in a camouflage themed ragged blanket. It was thin, and he snuggled in after someone gave him an opening.

Deus Pascal and his group kinda levitated themselves to SC and when they got there, their wings were pressed as close as they can together as they join. They might have tried to pick a fight with some Wishbones, but those boys are half asleep in their Wild Hawk hogging. The Deus’ have individual purple blankets with stars on them.

Thirteen came walking in while Amp and Watt came jogging/skipping in. The twins have their own blankets that matched each other; Amp with a orange and heavy wool blanket, while Watt had a pink strawberry blanket with extra cotton fibers. They jumped into the pile and really hope Juurouta doesn’t mind the personal space violations, oops. Thirteen just has an dark green blanket and sits in the back of the pile, he isn’t too far from Wat and Amp though.

Speaking of Juurouta, Sisley joins next with his two most right hand men and he attempts to sit next to Juurouta while respecting the Kendo Leaguers space. Unlike his men, who snuggle up to Sisley with their dark red blankets with vigor.

Dyson comes with three blankets, because being older sucks. He’s basically shivering in his blankets and he flat out falls sideways into the warm pile, hoping it’ll help. He needs a hug…

Jet Setter… poor guy, doesn’t want to be noticed and tries to come in with his head down and pace slow. But since he’s last, someone points him out and he’s the center of attention till he sits (we’ve all been there, Jet). He sits, without a word or blanket, behind the pile next to Bull Armor and Top Joy. He might have caught Sisley’s interest, because he was so shy in joining in.

Then again, all these guys never have meet each other till now! What a community!

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spacenightwing · 6 years

Text

Stonewalled

I’m looking at my profile today and I HAVE 56 FOLLOWERS?!?! ASDFGH when did that happen??

Decided to post this fic as a thank you to all my lovely followers ^-^

HUGE THANKS to @marvelgirl411 for beta hep. You are glorious marvelgirl <3

Summary:

After Tula died, Batman tries to do something well-intentioned. Nightwing does not approve.

One Day ago

It had been days, and Aqualad still hadn’t left Tula’s side. No one had the heart to force him away from the body. He would “rest” by taking cat naps while holding her hand when his body and mind had finally had enough. He didn’t eat, he didn’t move, didn’t even cry. He just sat with her in the cave’s reservoir, staring at her face, as if expecting her to open her eyes at any point, if only he held on a little bit longer, she’d finally wake up and his nightmare turn into a bad memory.

Nightwing knew this could not go on. As much as he needed to mourn his friend, Kaldur needed a rock. As the Team’s leader, he was everyone’s rock, forcing him to put his own emotions to be stored in a volt in the back of his mine. As much as he hated some of the years of psychological training Batman forced into him, he was grateful to the grumpy bat, for this moment in time at least. The trick was finding a balance between being the hero others needed him to be and the human he wanted to be. He knew he still hadn’t found this balance, but for the time being, he could put the emotions on lockdown. For Kulder’s sake.

Slowly, Nightwing approached his former leader, his hands out in a show of peace. Kaldur had previously been violent when his Team members tried to get him to move. Nightwing had no intentions of triggering such reaction.

“Kaldur,” Nightwing whispered as he took a step into the shallow water. “It’s time. She has to go back to Atlantis. Her family deserves to be with her.” Of all the attempts to get the graving hero to move, mentioning Atlantis had had some effect without violence. Nightwing was hoping that enough time had passed that it’d work this time.

After a long moment, Nightwing moving closer ever so slowly, Kaldur finally responded when he felt a strong hand on his shoulder. “I should have done more,” is all that he can get out.

“You did everything right. Tula made her choice. The only thing you can do to honor her is by letting her be with her family. Do not let her sacrifice be in vain-”

“I assure you, I have no intentions of doing so.” Kaldur voice was steel, his eyes, the first time in a while since he had taken his eyes off Tula, were ice.

“I know that,” Nightwing assured softly. Now was not the right time to evoke an argument, even accidently. “Her family, Kaldur. She need to go to Atlantis.” He paused for a moment before continuing, “I can go with you. We can make funeral plans. You do not have to do this alone, Kulder.”

The Atlantean was quiet for a moment, considering Nightwing’s words. Finally, his face softened and he nodded. “Your gesture is appreciated, my friend, but your presence is unnecessary. I will ensure she is taken home.”

A knot in Nightwing’s black released, a knot he had not realized he had been carrying. “Very well. I will prepare the Zada platform. I’ll send Robin for you when it is ready.”

***

Present Day, one hour ago

Dick thanked whatever god that might be out there that Kaldur had gone to Atlantis yesterday. If he had seen the stunt Bruce had pulled, Dick would have bet that Bruce would have ended up with a broken arm at best, 1000 volts of electricity in the back of the neck at worst.

In arranging underwater equipment for various Team members to attend an underwater funeral, Nightwing had made a visit to the Hall of Justice. Dick hadn’t intended on looking around the museum, but the advertisements for a new exhibit caught his attention. The exhibit in question? A memorial to fallen heroes.

The memorial is nice enough: a single corridor of blank marble walls lined on both sides with evenly spaced holographic images of the dead, about six feet between each. Under each image was a scrolling description of all the accomplishments and victories won was on prominent display, accompanied by a detailed description of each heroes died. No music played and the exhibit was far enough away from the main museum that the squeals of children admiring their role models and the narrations from tour guides were nonexistent. It was a quiet, simply place for visitors to reflect and pay respects.

While it had suffered its causalities, the Justice League of hadn’t lost enough members to dedicate an entire hall of this magnitude. In fact, while the large amount of space between each image presented the illusion that the exhibit was full, the extra space allowed for the adding of future causalities. The thought made Dick’s stomach turn.

But worse than that though was the fact that there was an image of a teenage Atlantean at the very front. The only member of his Team to have even fallen.

If the Batman thought such a display was necessary, why had this been constructed now and not immediately following the death of the League’s first death?

As Dick looks up at Tula, he categorized each detail, comparing them to his memory of the living woman. Everything was perfect: the intense eyes, pulled back shoulders and the look of immense pride. If it hadn’t been for the light blue tint and transparent illumination, Dick would have sworn that he was looking at his friend, alive and well.

The whole idea of a public shrine makes Dick’s skin crawl, especially considering there was only one person in the JLA that kept up the facade of the Hall of Justice.

***

Present Day, now

Robin knows to avoid Nightwing as he enters the cave based on his tightly set jaw and extreme tension in the rest of his body. At the risk of being chewed out, Robin takes a step towards him as soon as the computer finishes announcing Nightwing’s arrival. He knows it’s not a good idea to kick the beehive, but this is Nightwing. He has a way of putting his emotions on hold in favor of rational decisions. He’s watch a friend die and the rest grave for her, all without being allowed to display his own grief. He needs an outlet or he’ll explore on someone that doesn’t deserve it. Robin knows he doesn’t deserve, but unlike the Team, he can take it. And he’s willing to take one for the Team. “Hey ‘Wing. You look like you swallowed a lime.”

Nightwing ignores the comment and gets straight to the point. “Where’s Batman?” He didn’t even stop walking to acknowledge Robin properly.

Robin understands that Nightwing and Batman didn’t see eye to eye, he really does. He doesn’t know the full extent of their issues, but he at least thinks he deserves some acknowledgement. What had Robin done to make this guy hate him so much? “Why do you think I would know?”

Nightwing does acknowledge him now with an intense bat-glare. It freaks Robin out how much Nightwing is like the guy he claimed to hate. He really hopes he doesn’t turn out the same way. “Because” Nightwing says, “you’re one half of the dynamic duo.”

Nice, Todd, Robin thinks to himself. Stupid question like that does deserve the bat-glare.

“He might be in the Watchtower. I remember Agent A talking about a big meeting for all of the Leaguers coming up, but he didn’t give a day.”

“Let’s find out,” Nightwing says, mostly to himself. He pulls up the holographic computer monitor and begins hacking the Watchtower, something he’s only ever done in the most desperate of times.

Robin watches in awe as Nightwing hacks one of the most secure security systems known to humanity as it’s child’s play. With the combination Wayne Tech and Queen Industries, the system should be flawless. That is, unless, if you’ve been hacking the pentagon since you were ten, or so Robin had been told.

Finally, Nightwing finds what he is looking for. The hologram displays JLA members sitting at a boardroom style table, combating some hidden agenda. Body language of members whom have not learned to control automatic responses, such as Aquaman, Flash, Hal Jordan, and a few others show that the conversation is one that Robin wants no part of. A few more taps on the keyboard from Nightwing activates sound.

“-not change the past,” Wonder Woman states calmly. “What is to happen moving -?”

“Disband the Team immediately!” Aquaman shouts before Wonder Woman can even finish her question. “There is no debate here.”

That’s Nightwing’s call to action and he doesn’t miss a beat, nor does he kill the security feed. Robin might ask him what he’s planning on doing, but the Team leader is on the warpath. Getting in his way might be the equivalent of falling for a trap set by Penguin: not only fucking embarrassing, but surely deathly. Also, given that the feed is still up, Robin didn’t see and harm watching the debate unfold, especially concerning the fact that the meeting is about his Team.

Just as the computer finishes announcing Nightwing’s departure, (still fucking stupid!) the smell of burnt popcorn and cheeseburgers fills the musty cave. Only one person on earth could stomach such a combination. “Sup, Robin,” Wally says as he approaches, the bag of popcorn on one hand and the burger in the other, his girlfriend following closely behind, clearly annoyed that the speedster is giving more attention to his food then her.

Rather than answer, Robin practices his bat-glare and goes back to watching the feed. Wally and Artimus join him.

After 30 seconds of listening to the arguing, Artimus caught on to the topic at hand. “They can’t do that.” She says under her breath.

“Do what bae?” Wally asks.

“They- they want to break up the Team…”

“What?!” Wally yells. “How do you know? They can’t do that! They can’t do that!”

“Shut the fuck up Wally!” Robin barks back.

The arguing attracts the attention of Superboy, who could hear the conversation from the living room. He walks in with M'gann, hand in hand. “Who can’t do what?” the Martian interjects.

Wally, unable to keep his voice under control, shouts again. “The Leaguer’s trying to break us up!”

After insults from Robin and confusion, M'gann reaches out to each Team member telepathically, excluding Kaldur as he is in Atlantis and out of M’gann’s range. As Tula’s funeral is not set to happen for another week, the rest of the Team is still hanging out in the cave, and this is a conversation M'gann highly recommends everyone be informed about.

Soon after, Zatanna, Rocket, Batgirl and Bumblebee, are all crowded around the illegal footage, listening intently.

“Where’s Nightwing?” Batgirl asks, but she’s answered with a Shush! from Wally. Fucking hypercritic, Robin thinks to himself.

“Watchtower,” Robin supplies her quietly.

Tired of the bullshit, Aquaman interrupts whatever point Green Arrow had been making. “Do none of you understand that we’re talking about children? Children! Teenagers. How many must share the same fate as Tula, a highly trained Atlantean warrior, killed in her own element, before we realize this is not their war. No. One is enough.”

Superman picks up the right were Aquaman left off with a heavy sigh. “The King is right. This isn’t their fight. We can’t expect them to-”

“Did none of you think of that when you enlisted children to begin with?”

The conversation stopped dead in its tracks as Nightwing stepped out of the shadows. Clearly, he’d been doing the ninja thing for a while now. His demeanor is soft, but there’s not missing the hateful undertones.

“Nightwing.” Batman address, speaking for the first time since the meeting began. “How did you get in here?”

“Unimportant. What’s important is that I didn’t think there was anything that could piss me off more today. Evidently, I was wrong.” Robin can see though the security feed that Nightwing’s facade of masked emotions is gone. Even though the image isn’t quate quality, the balled fists are slightly shaking. The deep frown lines cut so deep that could scare. If Nightwing wasn’t wearing a mask, Robin would see eyes narrowed to slits. He doesn’t let anyone take the floor from him. No one has ever successfully snuck up on the entire JLA, and Nightwing is not about to give up his advantage. “Aquaman, I respect your concerns, I truly do. I have been leading this Team for years now, and those exact sentiments have been a burden on my mind since the beginning. Long before Tula.” When mentioning the fallen Atlantean, Nightwing looks the King directly in the eye, conveying both his deepest sympathy and personal grief in the single look. Just as soon as the look come, it’s gone, as Nightwing addressed the League in its entirety.

“However, this is not your team. The Justice League may have given the Team guidance, but it did not found the Team, nor does it have say in its downfall. We do good work. Work that the Justice League cannot do. It saved the entire League when it was under mind controlled. Yes, tragedy struck yesterday, but tragedy has struck the League in the past. No one questioned your autonomy move forward. You picked up the pieces, learned to adapt, and strengthened as a Team to minimize such tragedies. Why not do so for the Team?

“Some of you may have questioned enlisting children in your personal wars in the beginning. However, you cannot take a soldier out of war when he is already on the battlefield. You build your child soldiers. Now they’re fighting for what they believe. Take that away from them and the only thing you’re doing is pushing the wars away from you, away from the generals. They’ll work detached from the Justice League, and I won’t stop them. You asked for this when you trained children in the first place. This is the result. You have to deal with that.”

The room is quiet as everyone takes in Nightwing’s words, tention as strong as water pushing against the Hoover Dam filling both the Watchtower and the Cave. Everyone single person knows that the Team isn’t going to stop, regardless of what the JLA says. To an extent, this is the same argument Aqualad, Kid Flash, Robin and Superboy had the night the three sidekicks freed Superboy from Cadmus: we are going to do this. Are you doing to make us do it on our own?

Batman, ever the voice of logic, breaks the dam. “The Team has always been an independent unit. It is free to do what it wishes.”

Aquaman interrupts saying “Not anymore! I will not stand for-”

“Aquaman, stand down.” Superman cuts in. “This is a democracy. We will vote on-”

“Bullshit.” Nightwing says flatly. All of the air in the Cave seems to be sucked out and leavt in a vacuum. No outsider swears at a Leaguer, let alone the every Leaguer. “We just went over the Team’s autonomy. Need I say it again?” Superman is stunted. The Atlantian is clearly unhappy. Whatever moment of shared grief and respect the two heroes had shared a moment ago is gone. But his voice goes soft again as he pleads, “out of respect for Tula, a strong and valued Team member, King Arthur, please, do not taint her sacrifice with destroying something she loved.”

After a long moment, the King must realize this is a battle he’s not going to win. Ever so slowly, he retakes his seat but his glare never leaves Nightwing.

Robin releases a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. Cheers and hugs are passed around the Cave. All is right with the world.

Nightwing allows himself the satisfaction of victory, but he’s not done yet. “Great. Now for the reason I’m here.”

The Cave falls silent again. Is stopping the potential disbanding of the Team not enough for a win for the night?

Nightwing’s voice goes from somber understanding to soiled steel. “What. The hell. Is In. The Hall of Justice?”

This catches everyone off guard, even Martian Manhunter, who can read minds.

Black Canary clears her throat. “Do you want to be more specific, Nightwing?”

Then it happens. Nightwing’s vision tunnels and the only thing he can see in Batman in a deep tint of red rage. “There’s a new exhibit B. The hell is it?”

Rocket turns to Robin, the only one who could potentially understand what Batman is up to. “New exhibit?”

Robin shrugs. “Not a clue.”

Wally doesn’t miss a beat. “Shush!”

“Oh you’re one to talk!” Robin accidently yells out loud. A few laughs are earned.

Wally turns to his girlfriend for support, but her response is nothing more than “He’s not wrong.”

Batman’s answer to Nightwing is strictly monitored before the words leave his mouth. “The League decided that it’s time the public knows the sacrifices both the Justice League and Team have made over the years. They deserve respect.”

Nightwing considers before responding, again in his deadly steel cold voice. “‘The Team is an independent unit. It is free to do what it wishes.’ Does that train of thought not extend to its own fallen?”

Batman’s scowl deepens. “what are you implying?”

“This is my Team, Batman. My Team. My Team and their families will choose how their members are honored, not your team. You have no right to put Tula on display. She hasn’t even had a funeral yet and you have her on display in the Hall as if she dies years ago.” his voice has been rising with every word spoken and each word seems to have hit every Leaguer in between the eyes like a bullet. Every member feels it, even the bulletproof ones.

Aquaman cannot keep his mouth shut, and Robin doesn’t blame him. “What’s this about, Batman?”

“The Hall opened a memorial for fallen heroes. Aquagirl’s sacrifice is worth sharing with the world.”

“Sharing her sacrifice and putting her on public display are two different thing Batman!” Nightwing’s been angry, but he’s finally reached his limit. He’s yelling across the room as if no one else is present in the Watchtower, yet, Robin is sure the present audience is the only thing keeping Nightwing from physically attacking the Dark Knight. “You did not happen to decide to make a memorial for the entire League a day after the Team suffers its first loss. That is not your choice to-”

“It is done, Nightwing.” Batman says. There’s a scooting noise as his chair is pushed back when he stands up.

Nightwing is walking towards his former mentor. “You want to put your Leaguers on display, that’s your business. My Team members are not collectables.”

Batman is walking towards his former protege. “If you think this has anything to do with you, you clearly have not learned nearly as much as you think you have.”

“If you think I think this is about me, you do not know me early as well as you think you do. You’ve overstepped on something you have no right to interfere with. I’m only going to tell you once-” The pair stop only when they are nose to nose, standing so close they can see the other eyes though the white lenses of each mask. “-step off.”

The pair face off for a long heartbeat, on one daring to step in, not even Superman. This goes deeper than politics of the JLA vs the Team. Deeper the Batman and Nightwing’s personal issues. Even deeper then Tula. No one is willing to get in the middle of the ideological battle playing out. If a mediator is heading for Earth, Superman isn’t sure he’d be willing to get up, for fear of getting in the middle of Batman and Nightwing (also a healthy dose a fear of the situation in general.)

Seconds drew into minutes. Batman and Nightwing could have been facing off for days and Robin wouldn’t have noticed. So, when the security speakers finally cracked to life, the sound is almost alien.

“Fine,” Batman releases and backs off the stalemate. “The memorial will be taken down within the hour. The League will find an adequate place for its members. I trust your Team will do the same.”

“Gladly.”

Nightwing turns and heads to the Zada platform without another word or glance back that the Justice League.

When he’s gone, Robin hears Green Arrow over the security system, “you raised one scary motherfucker Batman.”

Batman is not amused with Arrow’s comment. Robin is.

#nightwing #batman #jason todd as robin #young justice #angst #my stuff #fan fics #i have 56 followers asdfgh!!#thank you all so much

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