#he will NOT call him but maya and luke still keep in touch which makes it even worse for phoenix

[citruscore]

Oooooooooo maybe laywright?

gay as fuck to be solving puzzles with another man

#professor layton #ace attorney #hershel layton #phoenix wright #laywright #me and the bad bitch i pulled by being autistic etc etc #i dont ship these two in any serious capacity #but they are objectively funny as fuck #ive talked abt this with my friends before #i think they fucked once and it was great and a huge boost to phoenix's ego #but it wouldnt last because phoenix is exclusively attracted to bottom of the barrel people he thinks he can fix #when the tables turn and suddenly the professor is trying to fix HIM he gets overwhelmed and ends it #he will NOT call him but maya and luke still keep in touch which makes it even worse for phoenix #tldr i only ship these two when its really fucking funny

[4ragon]

oh can we please hear the magatama essay??

Oh boy oh boy, let’s go

Ahem

How to Lie to the Magatama

An essay by JJsADragon

Unlocking Psyche-Locks with the Magatama is a really fun mechanic throughout the Ace Attorney series. It’s introduced in Justice for All when Pearl charges the Magatama Maya gifts to Phoenix with spiritual energy. She describes it thusly: “This is the power of the Magatama. Only you can see these "Psyche-Locks", Mr. Nick… The more someone wants to hide their secret, the more locks you will see. If it's only one, I think you can easily unlock it.” 

Basically: If someone has a secret they don’t want to share, you have to present in-game evidence and break the locks. Things get a little more complicated with the introduction of Black Psyche-Locks, but the general gist of it stays the same. Someone has a secret they don’t want to tell you, and you can unlock that secret with evidence.

This, I believe, is fundamentally wrong.

Why do I think that? Well, I always really like picking apart these mechanics, both as in-game mechanics and how they would work in the real world. In particular, I think the most interesting way to see how something works is to figure out its shortcomings. What does and doesn’t set off Apollo’s bracelet? Why doesn’t Athena notice The Phantom’s whole deal? And, more to the point, when does the Magatama straight up get things wrong?

There are several moments I want to focus on. We have seen the Magatama fail several times throughout the series. Or, to clarify, we have seen at least one time when locks should have appeared where they did not, and several times where the chains did appear and the answers uncovered were either incomplete or just straight-up incorrect.

So, let’s find out how and why the Magatama fails us. First up: 

The False Negative: Farewell, My Turnabout

Fortunately, I think this one is the easiest one to understand. The Magatama has one very clear false negative in Justice for All: Farewell, My Turnabout. Phoenix asks Matt Engarde if he murdered Juan Corrida, and he replies, “Just so we're clear, dude, I didn't kill anyone, and that includes Juan Corrida, OK?” And he’s correct. He didn’t kill anyone. He did not actively commit any murders. And on that technicality, the Magatama does not go off. He did not kill anyone, and he knows it. He believes it. He feels no residual guilt over it. His hands are clean. Hell, he seems kind of gleeful about the fact that he was ‘technically right’ when the truth comes out later.

So, why didn’t a Psyche-Lock appear? As I said, it was a technicality. He wasn’t trying to hide it from Phoenix, he just truly felt no responsibility for what happened. He felt no guilt about it. The Psyche-Locks don’t appear until Matt’s secrets come up. 

This, of course, lines up neatly with our understanding of the Magatama. This instance very clearly falls within what we know about Psyche-Locks. If you’re not trying to hide it, if you truly believe what you’re saying, it’s not a secret the Magatama will alert you to. So, what about these other instances? Do these line up as neatly in the rules of the Psyche-Locks?

The Half Truth: The Cosmic Turnabout

This one is a little strange so I’m just going to touch on this.

In day one of your investigations for The Cosmic Turnabout, you run into a conflicted Bobby Fulbright. When pressed, two Psyche-Locks appear, and unlocking them leads you to three conversations: 1) The bomb threat before the launch, 2) Why Simon Blackquill was given permission to prosecute, and 3) The mysterious Phantom.

So why do I call this a false positive? After all, he is technically hiding all these things. And yet, a lot of how this Psyche-Unlocking goes down doesn’t really make as much sense when you consider that Bobby Fulbright is The Phantom. It really doesn’t make much sense how much information he’s feeding them about the situation, unlocked Psyche-Locks or not. Especially the way he goes about the whole thing. 

We know in hindsight that The Phantom doesn’t actually care about Simon Blackquill or solving the crime that he committed. Every display of emotion is an act. So why does he make a big show of feeling conflicted? Why does the bomb threat that he made lead him to divulging all of these worries about Simon going after the Phantom? Was him revealing this information part of his game? Since we know he was trying to cover his tracks, was he feeding us half truths for a reason? Did he want to feed us this information?

If that’s the case, that leads us to a new problem. Since the question asked was “Why Are You Being Cooperative”, why wouldn’t the fact that he was the Phantom ping the Magatama? He was being cooperative so that he could feed you information, not because he cared about any of the things he was ‘troubled’ by. So why does the Magatama only pick up on half the truth? After all, the Phantom wasn’t knowingly tricking the Magatama.

(Also if you haven’t read this comic I thought it was a super interesting theory. Not sure I ascribe to it 100% but it was a really interesting take.)

I think it’s important to note in this example that, no matter how you interpret The Phantom’s actions, all signs point to him wanting to divulge this information for one reason or another. There was an intent about it. He may not have known a thing about the Psyche-Locks, but he very clearly was baiting the protagonists with an intent. And technically, without knowing it, he was also baiting the Magatama. 

This means that, in the end, the information he actually revealed to the protagonists was not a closely guarded secret of the heart. Yes, you still needed to present evidence and draw it out of him, but I think The Phantom wanted the characters to draw it out of him. It’s not a secret that a bumbling detective was having trouble hiding, it was information that a spy wanted planted. There was intent here, no matter how you look at it. And that leads us to our third example.

The False Positive: The Stolen Turnabout

Unlike the previous two cases, this is the first time that someone has straight up lied to the Magatama. Trials and Tribulations: The Stolen Turnabout. I always get so mixed up by this case. It took me three playthroughs to finally get the hang of who was doing what where and when. And do you know why that was? It was because of one lie that Luke Atmey told us early in the investigation.

Phoenix: Detective Atmey... You were knocked unconscious by the thief, weren't you!?

Atmey: Ha ha ha! Surely you must be joking... You think that I, Luke Atmey, could be knocked unconscious so easily!?

Phoenix: This sword proves it!

Atmey: ...! Th-That's...

Phoenix: Before the theft, this sword was in the hand of the statue of Ami Fey. Furthermore... at that time, it was not bent.

Atmey: Aaah... Err...

Phoenix: ...There's only one explanation. You were struck on the head and knocked unconscious by this sword! Well, Detective!? What about it!?

Atmey: ...I'm impressed. You truly are an "Ace Attorney"...

Unlock Successful

Unlike every other instance, this is just a straight-up lie. This is not a technicality, like with Matt Engarde. This is not pieces of the truth, like The Phantom. This is just factually incorrect. Luke Atmey was not knocked unconscious by Mask☆Demasque. In fact, this not only is a lie, it’s a calculated lie. Without knowing about the Magatama or its capabilities, Luke Atmey used it to convince us that he was knocked unconscious by Mask☆Demasque at the scene of the crime to disguise the fact that he was Mask☆Demasque, which is even wilder when you realize later that even that was a lie! He was covering up a lie with another lie with another lie. It was not just a ploy to fool you into thinking he was attacked my Mask☆Demasque, it was also a part of him convincing you that he was Mask☆Demasque when he wasn’t.

So why the FUCK does the Magatama go off?!

There’s of course a meta answer. The writers weren’t thinking that hard about it. They just wanted to use the Psyche-Locks to make the story more interesting. But that’s boring. I want to go deeper.

Luke Atmey, like The Phantom later on, wanted information planted. But he couldn’t simply tell everyone he was attacked by Mask☆Demasque. After all, he knew admitting to it would put his credentials under scrutiny. So he needed someone to organically draw it out of him. Again, he wanted this information out there. Otherwise, him agreeing to Phoenix’s conclusions, hell, him setting up this scenario with the Shichishito wouldn’t make any sense. Plus, it was only behind one Psyche-Lock and led to him revealing a photo of the crime, one that he was very meticulous about taking to create an alibi.

So. What does this all mean? How are people confusing the Magatama? How are people lying? I think that the element that Pearl got wrong in her initial explanation is that the Magatama reacts to secrets that, deep down, a person wants to divulge. After all, with enough evidence, you can eventually draw all sorts of information out of a person. Some are certainly more closely guarded secrets than others, but in the end, I think the Magatama reacts to secrets that a character wants to share but is not willing to do so without that prompting. It doesn’t have to be real, it just has to be something the person is keeping secret with the intent of finding a way to plant the information.

This can even apply to Black Psyche-Locks. Unconscious secrets that are hidden even from the person hiding them? Those are deep hurts that I think drive a lot about these characters’ personalities and motivations, and I think things like that are the kinds of stuff that a character wants to confront but is unable to do so out of fear, so they push it from their minds.

Let’s look at a few more examples. In Bridge to the Turnabout, Miles demands info from Larry, and he’s able to completely circumvent the Psyche-Locks by divulging something completely irrelevant about his crush on Iris. When Miles realizes his mistake, he discovers a completely new set of Psyche-Locks. Or when Phoenix confronts “Iris” about the presence of another Iris at the crime, “Iris” (cough Dahlia cough) uses that to start planting these ideas about Iris as the original betrayer, as the one who had wronged Dahlia in the first place. I feel these are both things that the characters did want to share, despite not wanting to do it unprompted.

Anyway, uh, that’s most of what I got. Perhaps there’s a stronger answer out there for why the Magatama may react in places it shouldn’t. Maybe there’s some other hidden rule they haven’t mentioned. Or maybe it is just as simple as “The writers didn’t think that hard about it.” But hey, I think I like this interpretation better.

#ace attorney #spoilers #ace attorney spoilers #meta #j

[auspicious-lilana]

Ultimate Spiderman (Peter Parker x Stark! OC x Sam alexander x Danny Rand)

Summary:When people hear 'Maya Stark' everyone would think about the perfect, smart. good looking, rich, student body president of Midtown High.Nobody but her childhood friend Peter Parker AKA Spider-Man and her new team of heroes. Ava, Sam, Danny, and Luke AKA  white tiger, Nova, Iron fist, and Power Man knows about her secret of being Queen's very own Mistress, soon to be ULTIMATE Mistress

Part 1  Part 2

This is it, the test to see if I can make it into the superhero big leagues.

“This exercise will gauge your efficiency against superior numbers. Disable all attackers. You have 60 seconds. FYI, Captain America did it in 10.”  I stood in a battle stance ready for whatever Fury would throw at me.

“Easy-peasy.”  One of the large robots that surrounded me started to attack as I dodged it and quickly shot a web to its head but another robot came and threw me on the ground as they all fell on top of me. “Uh! Uh!” I groaned as I squeezed myself out of the pile of robots. “This is more humiliating than Parker family game night.” I quickly got up and punched all the robots while webbing a few. After I threw another one of them grabbed me and held me up as I struggled to get out from its grip. How weak is this? I'm going to land on the superhero wall of shame for dying ten minutes after joining S.H.I.E.L.D. It started to shock me to which I yelled in pain before I grabbed four arms of it and quickly snapped it back to it making it let me go. The second I got down I ran as I dodged four drone-bots before I got ahold of one of them to see they were bombs that exploded making me hit back on the wall covered in slime as I slowly slid down. I got up quickly as I saw more big bots coming at me, so I tried to work the web shooter.

“Where did S. H. I. E. L. D. tech put the web control? Nope. Nuh-uh. Score.”  I threw a web at two drones and crashed it with two of the big ones. “Yeah!” One of the drone heads fell on me making me groan.

***

While Spider-Man was taking the test. Fury laughed a bit at the sight.

“I finished this thing under 20” iron fist said.

“I finished mines under 18” Luke chimed in.

“There's no discipline to his fighting technique, he's thrashing around hitting things. But Fury says he's good for the team.” White Tiger said as she watched Spider-Man get thrown around.

“His training may be off but he has more experience than the rest of you and his heart is in the right place” I imputed, defending my partner. “I’m just glad he agreed to do it”

“Why is Fury testing another new candidate? I didn't approve of this.” Nova said running up to us.

“So you didn’t approve of me?” I raised an eyebrow and fixed a glare at Nova who’s eyes widened.

“N-no! Your fighting was good, just not his!” I rolled my eyes.

“Look who thinks he's still in charge. That's so cute.” White tiger said to which I nodded my head in agreement.

“If Fury thinks I'm going to lead that lame-o in battle…”

“In your dreams, you're the team leader,”  Luke said placing a hand on Nova’s shoulder as Iron fist joined in.

“He is rough around the edges, but not without potential.”

“Yeah, but he named himself Spider-Man. How sad is that?” White Tiger said as I rolled my eyes. 

“Well, unlike you guys he had gotten his powers under pressure, and the fact he had nobody but me to tell his secret to”

“What was he supposed to call himself?” Iron fist said backing me up.

“Something cool that didn't scream, "Hi, I have low self-esteem and identify with bugs."

“You know what they say about a book and its cover, dude.”

“Dude, I'll clean this Helicarrier for a month if he makes it.”

“Toilets, too?”

“Toilets, too”

“Your on”

“I’m in” Luke chirped in taking Iron fist’s side.

“Me, too,” Nova said also high giving White Tiger. I sighed as I took White Tigers side knowing Spider-Man won’t pass without the right training and I don’t like being in the highest possible losers team and if Spidey does pass, I can just cast a few cleaning spells to help White Tiger out.

“I’m in as well I guess,” I said high fiving the boys, earning a smile from White Tiger. I checked the time and excused myself. “I gotta go. Work to be done, people to visit, someone to tease” the rest said their goodbyes as I walked off and teleported myself to a place near the hospital before I took off my mask making my cloak disappear showing I was wearing blue shorts and a white shoulderless blouse with my black hair down. I jogged from the alley to the hospital a few buildings away before stopping in front of the counter.

”How may I help-”

” I need to see Harry Osborn” I demanded out of breath.  The lady nodded and looked at the computer.

”Room 230 on floor 3” I thanked her before running up the stairs too impatient to wait on the elevator. when I peeked in the room I heard Peter.

“Hey, hero. I brought you something from school.”

“Cheerleaders?” Harry guessed making me chuckle.

“Homework” at the moment I came in.

“Hey Harry”

“I guess Maya’s close to an cheerleader” I rolled my eyes.

______________________________________________________________________________

Harry really stepped up yesterday when the Frightful Four attacked our school. Unfortunately, all that heroism won him overnight stay in the hospital.

Yikes. Wish I was there to help out

Me too,Maya, Me too

______________________________________________________________________________

“Peter has your best interests at heart, son. He's a true friend” Mr.Osborn said placing his hand on Peter’s shoulder.

______________________________________________________________________________

Wouldn’t it be nice to have a dad like that?

______________________________________________________________________________

“How about a ride to school, Peter? Maya?”  

“You don't have to hold a gun to my head, sir.”

“How about you, Maya?”  I shook my head.

“Sorry, my Dad’s coming to get me” like magic my phone rang showing my dad. “Matter of fact this is him now, bye Harry, Peter. See you at school tomorrow” I left the room answering the call.“Hey dad!”

“Hey, sweetpea. How was the S.H.I.E.L.D test?” 

 “I think I aced it. Tell you more in the car ride home I see you”

“Okay,”  I ended the call and got into the car.

 “So? Details?”

“So I finished the test under 14 seconds”

“That’s my girl”“And I met my future team”

“Did you guys show your identities?”

“No.not yet but I know they know Peter’s identity”

“You’ll learn their identity-“

“Oh I already did”

“You did?”

“Yeah, Fury enrolled them to Midtown high so I may or may not have looked through their files”

“I bet other dads don’t have a daughter like you to have bragging rights with” Dad mumbled.

______________________________________________________________________________

Meet my dad, Tony Stark aka Iron man. Since he has Stark Interpers I barely get to see him everyday but he tries his best to get some quality time together and he makes sure we eat breakfast together so we can catch up on what happened to us yesterday since he’s busy at night. Plus I get to hang out with the avengers daily so I call them uncles/aunts.

______________________________________________________________________________

“Dad!”

“It isn't my fault my daughter is beautiful, genius AND a future avenger! I got the full package!”  I sighed as I smiled and hugged dad. No matter how many times he would brag, I know he means well and loves me just as much as I do.

“I love you dad”

“I love you two my favorite daughter”

“I’m your only daughter”

“...don’t ruin the mood” I laughed as I snuggled close as we got home.

“We’re here,” Happy said from the driver’s seat. I nodded and thanked him as I got out with my school bag on my shoulder.

“I’m gonna go and do my homework real quick and check in with the vice student body president cause I’m sure Peter forgot to do it for me” Dad kissed my cheek before ruffling my hair.

“I’ll be in the lab if you need me. Capsicle  wants to see you in an hour for your training”

“Thanks, Dad,” I said as I kissed his cheek and went up to my room.

“How did I get lucky with her?...” I smiled as I heard my dad before I went into my room.

***

“Smile, Spider-Man,”  MJ said to peter flashing a camera at him making him lose his balance and fall as he started rambling nervously.

“Oh! Whoa, I'm not... How did…”

“Wow, nervous much? I'm practicing what I'll say when I finally meet Spider-Man maybe even Mistress. Here”  MJ handed him a paper he read. ‘Spider-Man and Mistress: I will tell your side of the story. Call me. Mary Jane Watson’

“You really believe those two hang out here in Midtown?”

“ They’ve been seen on campus often enough.they could be anybody. A student, a teacher, or…” Stan walked by pushing a cart full of mobs and such before turning to them.

“Thwip Thwip” And he left.

“Ok, well maybe not anybody,”

______________________________________________________________________________

I know how much it means for MJ to get that reporter job with the Bugle and I'd love to help her out. I'm afraid I'd blow it once I started talking to her. I mean, MJ knows me so well.Maya would help her much better seeing how she takes Drama and can act it out but I don’t think she’ll want to take that risk either....

______________________________________________________________________________

“Even if Spider-Man and Mistress are a student, They’re going to keep it on the down-low. There's no way They'd let anyone know who they really are”

“Maybe, but I'm not giving up. Also, Have you seen Maya?”

“No, not since yesterday. Maybe she’s in the council room?”

“Most likely, seeing how she wasn’t able to check in yesterday” Peter’s eyes widened. ‘I completely forgot about checking in for her! Maya must be extremely busy now! All cause of me’ Peter gloomed at the thought before smiling again.

“I’ll go check on her since we are walking home together”

“Make sure to get her something to eat on your way there, she hasn’t touched her lunch at all”

“Okay, bye” MJ left as Peter went off to get Maya so they can leave for S.H.I.E.L.D as promised.

***

“Sir, ma'am. Yo, what's up?”  Spider-Man said to every passing agent we saw making me sigh. I wasn’t going to come here with him but after he kept telling me I can get back to the paperwork later and I had to take a ‘break’ I eventually came around.

”Spidey, what are you doing?” I asked unamused.

“I'm just trying to blend in now that I'm an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.”

“An agent? You're barely a newbie.” Fury pitches in making me smirk at the look of Spidey’s face as Fury scanned his eyes at an entrance.

“ID confirmed. S.H.I.E.L.D. Director, Nick Fury.”

The doors slid open revealing a testing room for gadgets I’m guessing as we went in.

“Get in here and don't touch anything.”

“Cool!” Spidey exclaimed looking around as I stood there watching him. “Awesome!” I looked over to see him looking at a guy flying with web wings before looking over to a guy climbing a wall with spider legs/claws. “Eh. It’s been done”   Spidey and I walked over to Fury who stood by a doctor

“Yo, Doc. Meet the new kid. Spider-Man, our resident tech genius. Dr. Curt Connors. And I know you’ve already met Mistress or Maya.” 

“Yes, we did, didn’t we?”  I nodded as I smiled. Spidey decided to make himself known and stuck out his hand.

“Always glad to meet a fellow genius” When Doc didn’t shake his head and Spidey saw Doc didn’t have a hand. “Awkward” Doc pulled up his sleeve and shook Spidey’s hand with both of his hands.

“A pleasure. I followed both yours and Mistress’s career closely, very impressive.”

______________________________________________________________________________

I like this guy

Of course you would Peter, of course you would.

______________________________________________________________________________

“Even before Director Fury approached you about joining us, I had my R&D team develop an array of Spider-Man and Mistress inspired weaponry.”  Spidey looked around confused.

“Then where’s-”

“It’s in another room. We like to have separate weaponry rooms for you two since we had a lot and Mistress had already seen hers, yesterday”  I nodded as Spidey nodded his making an ‘Oh’ face.

“What if we said no?”

“Not an option”  Fury replied sternly.

“Huh, that's funny, you're using our web-shooter out of camo mode.” Doc pointed out as he took Spidey’s wrist and placed it into camo mode.

“Oh, yeah. I had it in camo mode. But then I couldn't find it.” Doc and Fury just stared at Spidey unamused as I resisted the urge to facepalm.  “Joke. Don't you people ever smile” I’d be surprised if they ever did.

“Over here is something we think you'll find particularly interesting,”  Doc said as he leads Spidey to something covered.

“I reserve the right to be awestruck.” Before Spidey could touch it he was quickly hit with a metal whip. “Ow,” he groaned out as I cringed. Ouch.

“Hold it. Director Fury, I've never questioned your choices when it came to the others.” Coulson said.

“Others?” Spidey questioned. I was about to reply before I remembered, he doesn’t know about the others yet.

“But in this case, we're dealing with a complete wildcard. Daily Bugle Communications calls Spider-Man a threat to public safety.” Coulson continued.

“But I’m so cuddly,” Spidey said rubbing his head with his arms intertwined making me giggle a bit as his silliness.

“Spider-Man's my responsibility, Coulson. That's what he's here for. To learn responsibility.” Fury sternly replied.

“We’ll see” Coulson left just like that as Spidey quickly uncovered the thing and looked at it unimpressed.

“We call it the Spider-Cycle,” Doc said as Spidey looked back at him.

“Uh, yeah. Useless”

“Excuse me?” Doc said taken back.

“I mean it's cool and all, but why do I need a motorcycle? I can get anywhere by thwip-thwip.” Spidey said illustrating what he meant by ‘thwip-thwip’  

“ I calculate you can make it from 80th to 34th street in 3. 7 minutes while using up what I'm guessing is fairly expensive webbing and at maximum muscle stress.“

“Uh maybe” Spidey rubbed his muscle to stubborn to admit Doc was right to which I rolled my eyes at. Unlike him, I levitate my way so I have no need to waste strength nor use any expensive webbing.  

“The Spider-Cycle can make it minute-and-a-half. If you're not scared thwip-less to climb on” Fury added on knowing full well out competitive and ‘prideful’ Spidey is. It seemed to work cause Spidey glared at him.

“One side” and he climbed on….wait…...he never took driving lessons ...or have a permit…..this won’t end well…this is soo gonna get recorded. I placed my hand behind my back and muttered  a summoning chant spell and summoned my phone from my backpack back at my room (Yes we stopped by my room on our way here to drop off our stuff) “and the starter is…” Spidey touched somewhere starting the Spider-Cycle up and running as Spidey yelled and I laughed a bit as I placed a spell to make my phone follow his Spider-Cycle, recording.

“You should go and follow him” I nodded at Fury’s suggestion as I stifle my laughter as I levitated my way to catch up to him.

“Brakes, THE BRAKES!” I saw Spidey yell as agents quickly dodged him nearly. I flew a bit faster in an attempt to catch up to see him blast a hole. “NOT BRAKE!”

“Aaah! Not a problem. I'll just pop another parachute and” Spidey tried to do it to see he ran out of the web. “Okay, now I'm scared thwip-less Aaah!”  I stopped at the hole fully knowing I wouldn’t fly down so I cast a teleportation spell and got to a rooftop to see Spidey riding on the side of a building as I watched in amusement before he ended up in the streets screaming, that's when I got up and flew above him.

“ Kid, what's wrong with you? You act like you've never driven before.” Fury said as I giggled.

“That’s because he never did!” I yelled.

“I don’t even have my learner’s permit!”

“You what?”

“It’s new york! Who needs a car?!” Spidey said as he jumped over a school bus as I flew above. “OH COME ON” Spidey yelled as he went through a sign reading ‘road closed’ I sighed knowing I can’t keep this up, guess fun’s over. I picked up Spidey as I saw Luke pick up the bus the Spider-Cycle would’ve hit and White Tiger quickly hopped on the Cycle stopping it as Nova helped me carry Spidey. “Let me go, Buckethead!”

“Calm down preschool, we’ll take it from here.”  We let go of Spidey as I stood next to Nova as White tiger hopped off the cycle with Iron fist’s leg on the wheel and Luke next to him.

“We-” I coughed as Spidey rolled his eyes. “Okay I appreciate a hand now and then, but I really didn't need to be saved by-who're you guys?”

“Iron Fist, Nameste. Iron Fist. Kung fu master with a fist of well...iron.”

“White Tiger. Acrobatic ninja with steel claws and cat powers. And the big guy there is Lu-”

“Power-Man. If he calls himself Spider-Man then I'm calling myself Power Man. It's cool and doesn't scream ‘I have low self-esteem.’ Super strength and bulletproof skin.”

“Okay, Power-Man” White Tiger said rolling her eyes.

“And I already met Captain Buckethead over there,” Spidey pointed at Nova.

“Names Nova, creep”

“Nova creep, catchy”

“Nova, the human rocket.”

“Okay. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to get this bike back to HQ. You see, I'm with S. H. I. E. L. D.”  Spidey bloated in smug, little did he know hehe.

“Small world,” Power-Man said with a smirk as Nova gave Spidey a smug grin.

***

“No, no, no, no, no. I never signed on to be part of a team.”   Spidey complained as the rest of the team and I stood behind Coulson who was trying to reason with Spidey.

“It’s not a team, its a program. If you just let me explain” Coulson said.

“No! Nix! Nein! Nyet! Na-uh! No way! Never!” Spidey stormed off in anger.

“We won the bet!” White tiger and I high fived. “No toilets for the Tiger and Sorceress, Whoo!” I smiled before I looked back at where Spidey left.

______________________________________________________________________________

He’ll come around. I know he well. Stubborn  is one thing he is really good at but I know he’ll realize being in a team instead of a Duo will help a lot learning about responsibility and make us stronger heros too

______________________________________________________________________________

I sensed danger somewhere as my eyes widened and gasped as  White Tiger must've noticed since she placed a hand on my shoulder.

“You good Mistress?”

“Danger.”

“What?”

“I sense danger somewhere.” White Tiger turned to the team who are now alert.

“You heard her, there is danger somewhere, let’s head out ASAP” I nodded as we all got out to see Thundra throw a large metal cap at Spidey as Power-Man quickly took action and kicked it away as White Tiger pounced on top of Spidey.

“What are you guys doing here? I had them on the run. “

“Except for the part you didn’t” White Tiger countered as she brought out her claws and cut off the anti-gravity pad that was on Spidey’s chest as soon Spidey fell on his butt while White Tiger landed safely. Klaw sent a sound wave a the two as Spidey dodged it and Tiger fell back. I quickly took action and sent a blast of fire at Klaw sending him flying back in pain.

***

“Okay, Nick. I'll join your junior "Glee" club. But I still operate Duo as Spider-Man and Mistress, It's our version of ‘Me Time’”

“Done” they shook hands before the web shooter shot a parachute falling on them.

“Awkward."

*** [Peter’s POV] ***

Finally, both school and Spidey lives are back to normal. I opened my locker and sighed happily as I smiled. Maya should be here any minute now since she probably finished all that council work she had to do and have that meeting with the new principal I heard about.

“Oh, Puny Parker. Locker knocker time” I sighed remembering my normal life...has Flash in it. Before Flash could push me in Someone pulled me away making Flash fall in my locker and lock himself in. “Ow” I looked up to see my   ‘savior’

“Wait, do I know you?” I saw three other kids behind the guy looking oddly familiar. “Any of you?”

“Say hello to your new classmates,” Said the blonde guy, “Danny Rand” now known as Danny.

“ Luke Cage,” Said the guy who ‘saved’ me.

“Sam Alexander,” said the Latino guy.

“Ava Ayala, think about it” That’s when a light bulb went off my head as I realized, these were my new team.

“Huh?” was all that came out, I was speechless, AND right where I thought everything would be back to normal!

“Oh, some idiot gave Fury the bright idea we needed ‘me time’ away from S. H. I. E. L. D,” Sam said hinting at Me sarcastically.

“ FYI, don't sweat the secret ID. Code of silence man”  Somehow Maya came in just in time.

“Hey Peter, seems you already met the new students huh?”

“Maya! Please tell me this is some sort of mistake!” I plead. Being the head president of the school, basically, like a vice-principal, she had to have control on who enrolls, right?

“I’m sorry Peter but my job is to welcome students not the opposite and besides I placed myself the job of giving them a tour here”

“Why do you have to be their tourist?”

“Cause one, I’m the head president of the school, and the second is Fury wants me to so they can grow accustomed here plus ‘get to know each other as civilians’” Sam smirked as he came closer.

“Well, how lucky we are to get such a cutie to tour us” Maya smirked as she cocked her hip.

“I don’t think you should be flirting with your teammate,” She said mockingly.

“Teammate?” Maya’s smirk widened as the rest’s eyes widened.

“Funny how you didn’t recognize me as I quick as Peter”

“W-Well it's just that you where a large cloak with a black mask so we couldn’t see you properly aside from half your face and your hands s-so-” Maya laughed a bit.

“Don’t sweat it. I’m cool with it besides the whole point of the mask and cloak was for nobody to get a slight hint about my identity.”

“Hey, this is great. Really, really great. I just got to go talk to a guy.” I said before running off to the principal's office leaving Maya with them.

“ I need an immediate transfer”

“Denied, Mr. Parker”

“But why?” The principal turned around and I saw...Coulson?!

“Because Fury wants you where he can keep his eye on you.”

“Coulson?!”

“Acting principal Coulson, Thwip-Thwip,” He said with a mocking grin. I went out gripping on my hair in frustration.

“ I said it before, I'll say it again. N-o. No, no, no-no, no, no.”  I said walking by my locker.

“Hello? Can somebody let me out? Please. Anyone?” I backed up and looked at my locker with a smirk.

“Okay, maybe yes”

#Sam x reader #Peter Parker x reader #Tony Stark's daughter #Maya Stark #Ultimate Spiderman #White Tiger #Danny x reader

[miissmr]

At First Sight

So, I was going through my laptop and found so many unfinished one-shots and ideas for rucas. I don’t know if anyone is still interested in reading GMW fanfiction, but I thought I’d finish one, and maybe finish other one-shots eventually. 

Summary: Riley believes when someone is going to be someone important in her life, she’ll feel a connection when she first sees them. So, what happens when she sees a new face that makes her feel something she has yet to feel. 

Word count: 3,042

Riley Matthews was a believer in love at first sight, or rather seeing someone and knowing that person will have an everlasting effect in her life. Either way this belief has a earned her the title of hopeless romantic, but she didn’t mind. Her very belief is what lead to two of the best people to become part of her life. It was the reason she eagerly befriended Maya all those years ago when Maya randomly entered her bedroom window or the first day of kindergarten and she saw Farkle and immediately wanted to become his friend even though everyone else ran from him. Riley knew these two people would be important people in her life.

This very belief is the reason she repeatedly turns down Charlie Gardner. It’s not that he’s a bad person because Riley knows Charlie isn’t. And he is also undeniably handsome with his intense blue eyes that would send any girl into a daze, but when Riley looks at Charlie, even into his hypnotizing eyes, she doesn’t feel a connection. She is aware sometimes a connection needs to be built, but Riley wants to feel a life changing connection with someone she’s going to be romantic with. She wouldn’t be a hopeless romantic if she didn’t.

“Aren’t you excited for tonight?” Maya searches through her closet.

“I’m not sure excited would be the word I would use. What if we get caught? Shawn would tell my dad and my dad will fake a heart attack and threaten to lock me in my room until I’m 43.”

“We won’t.” Maya continues to go through her closet. “My mom and Shawn are gone till Sunday, and we’ll have the house spotless by time they come back that they won’t even know we had a party.”

“Fine,” Riley sighed. “Can you at least tell me if Charlie is going to be here? Because I need to know whether I need to hide or not. I don’t think I have the heart to turn him down anymore.”

Maya spots shuffling through her clothes and looks at Riley. “So, don’t.”

“I can’t say yes. It wouldn’t be right to him. But just in case, I’m going to hide out in your room. So, if I go missing half way through the party, you know why.”

“And I will understand. Now, come here and please help me find something to wear. I kind of invited Josh.”

Riley jumps to her feet. “You invited my Uncle?”

Maya shivers. “Can you maybe not call him that? It makes him sound so old when he’s only a few years older than us.”

Riley shallows her laughter. “Okay, okay. You invited not my Uncle?” Maya hastily yanks something from a hanger and throws it at Riley. “This is actually cute. Wear it. The red compliments the blue in your eyes.”

Riley had just managed to escape Charlie Gardner. She has to remember to tell Darby thank you for coming to her rescue because Riley didn’t have it in her to let the poor guy down again. She made her way through the house and towards the kitchen. She watched some of her classmates stumble over their own feet while others were huddled around a table playing drinking games, and the rest dancing to the music in the backyard.

When Riley makes it to the kitchen, she sees her Uncle Josh with Maya. She thought about approaching them but the smiles they both wore told her not to. Maya’s eyes sparkled with happiness, and Josh was drowning in her deep blues. There was no way Riley was going to ruin a moment like that, and if she did, she was pretty sure she’d hear about it later from Maya.

So, Riley grabs a water and turns to walk away when she sees Charlie Gardner making a beeline to her. She frantically looks around the room looking for someone to save her or a reason to leave, and this is when she sees one of her close friends walking through the front door, and Riley takes it as her chance to dash to the front door.

“Well, hello to you too, Sugar,” Zay says as Riley throws her arms around her neck.

Zay Babineaux transferred to Abigail Adams High freshmen year, and the minute he walked into her father’s history class she knew he would make a great addition to her group of friends. She might have been a little pushy with her friendship, but she couldn’t ignore what she felt when she saw Zay. She knew he’d be an important person in her life, and now three years later, Riley will proudly say she considers Zay one of her best friends.

“You have spectacular timing.”

“Let me guess. Charlie?”

Riley groans. “You have no idea.”

“That poor boy won’t take a hint. Do you want me to set him straight?”

“No,” Riley laughs, “that’s okay.”

She makes a move to close the door, but Zay stops her. “Hold on, I have a friend coming. He just forgot his phone in the car.”

“Anyone I know?”

“I doubt it. He just moved here from Texas. His first day is on Monday, but he isn’t excited about. Which I don’t blame him. I felt the same. Just maybe don’t be pushy.”

“Oh, you don’t have to worry about me. I think I’m done for the night. I’m hi—” Riley stops midsentence. Her gaze wanders off behind Zay, and green eye captivates hers. She knows this would be an important moment in a movie. The moment where the protagonist meets the very person that would have an everlasting effect in one’s life. This is the moment Riley has been waiting for, but now that it’s here, she has no idea what to do in this situation.

“Riley? You okay?” Zay looks over his shoulder. “Oh, Luke. Riley, this is Lucas, and Lucas this is Riley.”

Riley stares at Lucas, and she wonders if he feels what she’s feeling. Her heart feels like a hummingbird is flapping around in her chest. Her stomach fills with nerves the way it always does when she’s about to reach the drop in a rollercoaster, but in the best possible way.

“Hey.”

Riley thought his voice was just as captivating as his eyes. He only spoke one word, but it was enough to interest her. She could sit and listen to him speak for hours. She wanted to speak to him for hours to get to know him.  

“Hi.”

“Uh, Riley?” Zay touches her arm. “I hate to ruin this moment your having,” he whispers, “but Charlie is on his way over.”

Riley snaps out of her daze. She doesn’t immediately look away from Lucas fearing if she did, he would disappear.

“Riley?”

“Yeah, sorry.” She shakes her head and looks at Zay. “I’m actually going to go hide for a bit.”

Riley’s eyes meet Lucas’, and she doesn’t know when’s the next time she’ll see him again. He’s going to be going to the same school, but it isn’t guaranteed she’ll see him. She feels a connection, and Riley isn’t ready to walk away just yet. But, if she doesn’t, she’ll be stuck trying to turn down Charlie.

“It was nice to meet you, Lucas.”

He smiles, and if Riley thought her heart was racing before well it feels like it’s going to explode now. “You, too, Riley. I hope I see you around.”

Riley doesn’t want to walk away, but she does, down the hall towards Maya’s room.

It’s been about an hour since Riley has locked herself in. Riley sits in the middle of Maya’s bed with a book open. She’s read maybe five pages because her mind keeps wondering of Lucas, and as much as she wants to go out to the party to find Lucas, she isn’t sure what she would do when she finds him. She’s scared she’ll make a fool of herself. She knows she can be aa bit much sometimes, and she would like Lucas to get to know her before learning about all of her quirks.

But she wants to know what his favorite color is, or what he likes to do on a rainy day or if he even likes the rain because she loves the rain. She marvels over the possibility of having things in common, but if they don’t, maybe he’ll open her eyes to new things and vice versa.

Riley tries to read a passage, the same one she’s been trying to read for the past ten minutes, but with no luck. She instantly looks up when she hears the door creak, and her breath catches in her throat.

Green eyes stare at her. “I’m sorry. I thought this was the bathroom.”

She clears her throat. “No. It’s the next door over.” Her voice sounds foreign to her. It’s rattled with nerves.

Riley waits for him to disappear behind the door, but he doesn’t. He stands where he is, and Riley feels the rollercoaster feeling in her stomach. She wants to ask him to stay. She wants to spend the rest of the night getting to know him, but Zay told her not to be pushy, so she bites her tongue patiently and anxiously waiting for what’s going to happen next under his gaping eyes.

“Is, is it okay if I hide in here with you? Party’s aren’t really my scene.”

She tries to hide her the excitement she clearly feels, but he’s smiling at her and she feels like she’s melting from the warmth his smile makes her feel.

“Of course.”

“Thank you. But I really do have to use the bathroom, so I’ll be right back.” He disappears behind the door, but she knows he’ll be back.  

As soon as the door close, Riley is on her feet and rushing to the mirror. She runs her hand through her hair to comb out any knots and cleans her eyes of any possible eye boogers. She thinks about quickly putting on a few swipes of mascara because Maya always told her it makes her eyes pop, but he’ll be back before she’ll finish. She tells herself to calm down that this is what she wanted, but she had no idea it would be happening so soon. She breaths in and breaths out.

The door creaks again. “I’m back.”

“Hi.” Riley steps towards Maya’s bed and takes a seat on the foot of the bed.

“Is it okay?” Lucas gestures to the spot next to Riley, and she nods. She thought it polite of him to ask and incredibly cute.

“So…Zay told me you’re new to the city. If you don’t mind me asking, what brought you here all the way from Texas.” Lucas shifts his place, and Riley mentally curses at herself. Zay told her not to be pushy, and the very question was pushy.

“I’m sorry. We don’t have to talk about.”

Lucas shakes his head. “No, it’s fine. It’s just, I don’t know. I don’t particularly want to be here, but my mom got a job offer she couldn’t pass up, so here I am.”

“You don’t sound too excited about it.” She can’t stop the words from coming out. She just reacted, but when she doesn’t get a response. She drops her head and plays with the hem of her shirt, pulling at the loose tread.

Lucas sighs. “It’s hard to. Texas is where I belong. It’s my home.”

“Tell me about it.”

Once again, word vomit. Lucas looks at Riley, and from this close Riley can see the different shades of green and how it seems to have an ombre effect of dark to lighter greens the closer to the pupil. “You want to hear about Texas?”

“I do. I mean I heard Zay’s experience of Texas, but I’d love to hear yours.”

Lucas shifts his body, so he is facing Riley, and she mimics his movement.

“What do you want to know?”

“Everything.”

Lucas smile reaches his eyes that they dance with happiness, and Riley has to tell her heart to be still.

Riley intently listens to Lucas talk about his life in Texas, breaking eye contact as little as possible. Lucas tells her about his family’s ranch and all the ways he helps his grandfather care for it. Like grooming the horses, especially his horse Sophie, or carrying the straw bales because there is no way his grandfather can do it.

Lucas tells Riley about the fourth of July party his family always host, and all the neighbors come over to celebrate. He tells Riley about his high school, but more specifically about his friends and the sports he played. He tells Riley about his plan to go back after high school, and she tries to ignore the small pang she felt in my chest because she knows if she left New York, more importantly, the people in New York, she would be counting the days until she was back.

Riley doesn’t say anything as he speaks. She listens attentively and admire how with each thing he talks about there is so much excitement, but it’s hard to dismiss the sadness that follows.

“I didn’t mean to go on like that.”

Riley smiles. “It’s okay. I like listening to you talk.” The words flow out before Riley could process what she was saying, and he grins.

“It’s just Texas is my home. And, Zay doesn’t seem to understand that.” Riley tries to stifle her laughter, but a small chuckle escapes. “What’s so funny?”

“Well, Zay thought the same thing. He used to say that he couldn’t see how any other place besides Texas being home, but Zay loves it here now.”

“Well, me and Zay are different people.” Lucas says defensively, and Riley squirms in my spot a little.

“I know.” Riley’s voice is small like a child who was just scolded by their parents

Lucas drops his head, and Riley watches as he rubs his hands together before taking a deep breath. His eyes lock on to Riley’s. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to snap like that. It just, I always had these plans, you know? I’d eventually take over the family ranch since I’m the oldest grandson. I’d be able to help the animals there because I’ll be a veterinarian. And when I have kids, I’ll be able to give them the experience I had growing up on a ranch. Texas is home for me.”

He finishes his thought and looks away from Riley, but she doesn’t look away from him. She studies his side profile, and she can see the creases in his forehead, maybe they’re from feeling conflicted he shared too much to a stranger. She can see the tightness in his jaw. It’s hard to miss with a sharp jawline like his. She knows she shouldn’t pry. Zay basically told her not to, but Zay should know Riley. It’s one of the few things she’s knowns for.

So, before Riley knew it, her lips were parting, and words were spewing out. “Is that why you’re scared to make the best of your time in New York because you’re scared of it maybe becoming your new home?”

Lucas chuckles, but he doesn’t look at Riley. She isn’t sure what to expect. Maybe he’ll get defensive with her, again. Or, maybe he’ll leave the room and realize Riley is too much.  

“Nevermind.” She quickly says. “I didn’t mean to pry.”

“You didn’t.” He still doesn’t look at her, and there’s a moment of silence. He clears his throat. “It’s just Zay said you were good at reading people, but I guess I didn’t think you’d be able to read me.”

Riley coaxes her head. She wants him to look at her. “Why?”

“I guess because I’ve always kept a guard up. I don’t let people get to close me.”

“Well, that’s a shame because from the short amount of time I’ve known you I think you’re pretty great.”

Lucas slowly looks at Riley. “Can I be honest with you?”

“I would like that.”

“I knew this wasn’t the bathroom when I walked in here. It’s just—” Lucas shakes his head. “Forget it.”

“No, what is it?” Again, there she goes not knowing when to stop. “I’m sorry. I should warn you, in case Zay hasn’t, I tend to be a bit pushy and can’t let things know. If we’re going to be friends, it’s something you should know about me.”

Lucas laughs, and Riley thinks she found one of her favorite sounds. But his laugh is short lived once his eyes find Riley’s. Silence fills the room, and Riley hopes Lucas can’t hear how fast her heart is racing.

“Do you ever just look at a person and know they’re going to be someone special in your life?” Lucas asks, and her breath hitches and she’s at lost for words. “I know. It’s stupid.”

“No!” She immediately says. “Not at all. I, I understand what you mean.”

He smiles. “It’s the reason I came in here to talk to you.”

“Well, I’m glad you did.”

The door creaks open, but Riley doesn’t look away from Lucas and he doesn’t look away from her. She wants to stay in this moment for as long as she can, but it’s hard when she hears someone speak.

“I knew I’d find you in here with her.”

Both Riley and Lucas look at Zay standing in the doorway. He smiles at them and takes a sip from his cup. “Riley’s pretty great, isn’t she?”

Lucas looks away from Zay and focuses on Riley. “Yeah, she is. I’d say she’s something special.”

The words ring through Riley’s ears. Her heart slams against her ribcage, and she’s sure her cheeks are flushed. She didn’t think she’d ever meet someone who could make her feel nervous simply by saying something nice about her. Charlie did all the time, and she never felt her body react like this. But she’s also never felt an intense connection with someone upon seeing them, and now that she has spoken to Lucas, the connection seems to have intensified. Riley’s eyes meet Lucas’, and she wants to soak in as much as she can of this moment.

#I haven't written anything rucas or GMW in a long time #it felt nice #i miss rucas #I MISS GMW #i don't know what inspired this when i first started i don't know how long ago #rucas fanfic

[daresplaining]

Some Thoughts on Daredevil #600

    Here’s to 600 issues of Daredevil (not counting mini-series, annuals, etc.)! As usually happens at these landmark moments, Marvel and the DD creative team celebrated with a longer-than-normal issue, which sparked far-reaching changes to Matt Murdock’s world. 

    The situation set up by this story arc is a grim one. Wilson Fisk has been elected mayor of NYC. Matt has been keeping an eye on him (and vice versa) as Fisk’s deputy, but has struggled in his every attempt to sabotage him. However, he has recently discovered a crack in Fisk’s law-abiding facade: a meeting that he has planned with the city’s prominent street-level villains. Matt, as Daredevil, gathers together a gang of heroes to crash the party. 

Matt: “We protect this city, we fight in its streets, we are New York. And now we’ll take it back from Wilson Fisk. Mayor or not, he has to go down. We agree on that.”

    Colorist Matt Milla still hasn’t quite gotten the hair color memo, because poor Jessica has lost her brown hair. It also would have been nice to see Colleen in this team-up, since Misty is there. But these are minor complaints. In a series that restored Matt’s secret identity and thus symbolically isolated him from many of his friends, it’s a powerful gesture, in this climactic issue, to see him engaged in this kind of a team-up... even if most of the people involved still don’t know who he is. It’s especially nice to see Maya (Echo) here, back in action alongside her former friends. Since her resurrection early in the run she has had a few really touching moments of reconnecting with Matt, and we hope to see more of her as the series continues. 

    Matt has pulled off similar plans in the past, and he has taken down Wilson Fisk in some thoroughly delicious ways, but in this instance, it ends up not being that easy. And we like that-- Fisk has been one step ahead of Matt for this whole arc, and it would have felt anticlimactic for such a simple, faulty plan to bring that to an end. Rather than catching Fisk red-handed, the Kingpin doesn’t show. The collected villains turn on each other, the heroes swoop in to prevent any unnecessary deaths... and then the cops arrive. 

Matt: “Damn. Damn. So much for the plan. Need to get down there, before someone gets-- Wait. NYPD. But that’s... Oh, no.”

    This scene, as exciting as it is, features a reappearance of the less-than-stellar Garney/Milla radar sense, which we’ve complained about before. 

    There has always been inconsistency, but generally, modern depictions of the radar sense don’t allow it to pierce solid objects. Here, we see Matt tracking the activity in the restaurant from outside, a blatant break with tradition that we’re not huge fans of. What makes even less sense is the arbitrary use of multiple colors. Since the radar depiction is a visual stand-in for non-visual perception, the different colors must represent something... but what? Texture? And in the panel where Matt notices the cops, his radar seems to be picking up on flat images and uniform details that he should have no way of perceiving. It’s a nonsensical, misleading approach to the radar sense, and a tragic departure from Paolo Rivera’s crosshatching design, which was used to great effect in volumes 3 and 4. We understand each creative team wanting to put their unique stamp on the comic, but come on... if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

    The police swoop in and grab the heroes and villains alike. We learn-- in a neat twist that, again, fits with Fisk’s behavior in the issues leading up to this climax-- that the proposed meeting was a trap, designed to round up the city’s crime bosses and get them arrested. As Matt has done again and again in this arc, he assumed nefariousness on Fisk’s part, and ended up shooting himself in the foot. While we know that Fisk is still a bad guy, and probably has all sorts of things up his sleeve, it’s always fun to see him play the good guy, just to see how cleverly he constructs the facade. And even more compellingly, Matt’s failure to accurately read his nemesis backfires on his friends. 

Wesley: “There were heroes there, too. Jessica Jones, Danny Rand, Maya Lopez, Luke Cage, Misty Knight and Marc Spector. Even Spider-Man.”

Fisk: “Spider-Man... and what is his name? Who is he?”

Wesley: “We don’t know. Just before the cops grabbed him, he sprayed that webbing of his around his neck. Sealed it up tight, like glue. They can’t get his mask off.”

    (Oh, Peter. He’s so... experienced at this secret identity thing.)

    It will be interesting to see how long they actually end up in jail, given the events of the rest of the issue. Hopefully, someone is babysitting Dani...

    One of our favorite moments in this issue is a little reversal. While Matt has failed again and again to properly read his opponent, Fisk knows exactly how Daredevil works, and where to find him. It’s a level of familiarity between hero and arch-nemesis that is highly compelling to us. It’s these kinds of details that make for the best hero/villain relationships. It also gives Matt a chance to do a badass pose on Fisk’s roof, which is always a plus. 

Fisk: “It’d be just like him. Come along, Wesley. Let’s go up and say hello.”

Matt: “Fisk.”

    There have been so many iconic fights between these two over the years that it’s increasingly difficult to do anything new with them. This fight is certainly a good one... but then, they all are, and this tussle probably won’t go down in DD history as one of their memorable battles. But it’s still highly enjoyable, and is enhanced by Soule’s excellent dialogue, which highlights the core of their conflict, and emphasizes just how long they’ve been having these fights. 

Fisk: “If my name weren’t Wilson Fisk, you wouldn’t have batted an eye. You’d be cheering that the mayor had found a way to get Owlsley and the others off the streets.”

Matt: “But you are Wilson Fisk. You are the Kingpin. And you’re the enemy of everything that matters about this city.”

Fisk: “No. I’m not. But I’m sick of trying to explain that to you.”

    But as was foreshadowed throughout this arc, Matt isn’t allowed a clean win. Fisk hits him with a sledgehammer so hard that it’s amazing he’s able to stand afterward, and then goes off to tell a crowd of adoring supporters how great he is. Again, we are given a look at Fisk’s faked (probably?) duality, as Soule is exploring it-- the idea of him playing the hero while still being a villain. This isn’t a new Kingpin concept, of course, but it remains a good one, and an engaging way of playing with the character’s complexity.

    Partway through the speech, the Hand arrive and shoot Fisk full of arrows, thus kickstarting the next story arc. The Hand are really neat when used well, so we’re excited to see where Soule takes them, particularly given their new connection to Blindspot. However, they are not this issue’s big surprise. We learn, as Matt is carted away by the cops, that with Fisk now out of the picture, the mayorship falls to his deputy...

Steve: “Matt Murdock is the mayor of New York City.”

    (Heck yeah!)

    This is really exciting, not only because of its implications for Matt’s life, but also because it has been a long time coming. Kesel wanted to do it back in the 90s, but the idea was shot down by editorial. Bendis teased the possibility, but it never actually happened, thanks to the events of the rest of his run. 

Guy: “They’re going to ask you to be the Democratic nominee for Mayor of New York City.”

Matt: “Huh.”

Daredevil vol. 2 #56 by Brian Michael Bendis and Alex Maleev

    And Waid’s speculative story in the 50th anniversary issue suggested that Matt had been/will become the mayor of San Francisco at some point, but we don’t get to actually see him in action. 

Foggy: “They remembered him from his original tour of duty here, when he and the Black Widow made the scene. [...] So when he came back, they had your pop running for office in no time. Busy boy, he was. Made lots of enemies.”

Daredevil vol. 4 #1.5, “The King in Red” by Mark Waid and Javier Rodriguez

    But we are finally getting Mayor Matt Murdock, and we cannot wait to see how that works out for him. 

    The issue’s secondary plot thread is possibly even more interesting than the Matt/Fisk shenanigans, because it’s all new. This thread follows Sam’s final battle with Muse... who is essentially a Blindspot rogue now, rather than a DD one. Their relationship is fascinating, with Sam’s quest to understand the nature of his own heroism/lack thereof paired with Muse’s frenetic lack of morality. They are both raw, emotional characters, and their interactions in this issue are stunning. We’re gonna miss Muse.     

Sam: “I need to understand, Muse. I need this to make sense. Why do you do what you do? Why do you hurt people? Why do you kill? Why?”

Muse: “You know why, Blindspot. It’s the same reason you want to kill me right now. It makes you better it makes you strong it shows them your power it says something it means something it solves your problems it gives you control you’re big they’re small it’s art it’s art IT’S ART!”

    This fight also hints that Sam’s connection with the Hand is far from over... and provides a glimpse at how his time training with them may have changed him.

Beast: “You know my power. The power of the Beast. I will give it to you once again. Just reach out... and take it.”

    While Sam refuses to kill for the Beast, this relationship will likely continue into the next arc-- which appears to be Hand-centric. Sam’s continuing evolution has been full of surprises, and we’re eager to see where this story takes him. All-in-all, this issue didn’t stand out as one of the most earth-shattering Daredevil stories ever told, but it was still thoroughly enjoyable, and did a great job of setting up some very exciting things in the future. 

    As an extra treat, the issue also includes a short, Foggy-centric story called “They Also Serve” by Christos Gage, Mike Perkins, and Andy Troy. This is merely the latest in a long line of Foggy-centric stories that celebrate his relationship with Matt. And there’s not a dang thing wrong with that, because they never get old. Matt and Foggy’s friendship exists at the very core of the comic, and its power and poignancy only increases as the years go by. Give us all of the Foggy-centric retrospectives. We will get misty-eyed every time. 

    We have only one complaint about this story, which is that Foggy... doesn’t really sound like Foggy for parts of it. 

Foggy: “This is gonna be so great! You have no idea how lucky you are, Murdock, ‘cause Foggy Nelson just happens to be the finest wingman in the history of wingmen. You just stand there looking handsome, strong, stoic... with a hint of tragedy, while I draw ‘em in with my oratorical virtuosity. Between my silver tongue, your looks, and the whole blind thing, you’re gonna need that cane to ward off the babes.”

    (Who... who are you, and what did you do with the real Foggy?!) 

    In fact, he sounds just like MCU Foggy. Which maybe shouldn’t have surprised us, because Christos Gage was also a writer for the first season of the Netflix show.  

    Despite this bit of weirdness, the issue is a nice look back at moments in Matt and Foggy’s friendship. It’s a trip down continuity lane, emphasizing just how long they’ve known each other and how much they’ve been through together.  

    All told, it’s a pleasant way to close out the issue, particularly given the rocky state of Matt and Foggy’s friendship throughout this run. 

#Daredevil vol. 5 #Daredevil #Matt Murdock #Kingpin #Wilson Fisk #Blindspot #Sam Chung #Muse #Commentary

[rileysluke]

can i be him ✗ part five

A/N: guess who’s back back back, back again. okay so i’m so  sorry for such a long wait, i totally did not anticipate for it to take so long for me to get another chapter out! I had a few issues in personal life which i had to put to rest & i appreciate all those concerned & thank everyone for their patience! This chapter is more of a filler, but I hope it is long enough without it dragging along! Words: 4,862 Previous chapters: One, Two, Three, Four

A soft sigh rolls past her lips as she runs her fingers through her dark locks, frustrated and fatigued by her own thoughts. She never really understood how her brain worked. It was James who left her during the middle of their date and yet she felt guilty because Lucas had stepped in so she wouldn’t look like a fool.

Things were getting way too complicated. The fact that she actually enjoyed Lucas’ company a lot more scared the hell out of her. What made things worst was when she saw the look on his face when she told him about James. She didn’t want to think that Lucas could look at her as more than a friend but there was just something about those solemn emerald hues that tugged at her heart strings.

She was in middle of tracing the rim of her cup of coffee, completely lost in her thoughts, when Maya returned from her phone call.

“Sorry about that,” She muttered. “I swear Josh never knows where anything is.” When she noticed Riley’s dazed expression, she snaps her fingers and begins to sing, “Earth to Riley!”

Riley is abruptly pulled out of her thoughts to find Maya’s inquiring gaze boring in to her. “Oh, you’re back. Is everything okay?”

“You tell me. What’s going on, honey?”

“I was on a date last night.”

Her azure eyes narrow down at the brunette as she brings her coffee up to her lips. “Yeah, with James. You came over beforehand, remember?”

“With Lucas. I was on a date with Lucas.”

In the middle of her sip, Maya almost chokes on her drink when her friend’s words reach her ears. “What?!”

Riley’s eyes widen at her outburst, noticing that they’d gathered an audience. “Calm down, it wasn’t anything like that.”

“Wha do you mean?!”

“James... He got a call and left before we even ordered anything,” She tells her, trying not to sound too phased by it.

Pursing her lips, she closes her eyes and sighs inwardly, as if trying not to lose her cool. She’s about to make a snarky comment about James’ idiocy but when her eyes flutter open, she takes note of her friend’s expression. It was obvious Riley was trying to keep herself together but the sorrow in her eyes betrayed her. She lets a reassuring grin touch her lips, her hand reaching over to squeeze it gently.

“Riles. What do you need for him to do so you could leave him? He’s literally doing all the wrong things.”

“What makes it worse is Lucas was there at some dinner with his family which he abandoned and kept me company the entire night. He even walked me home. I was mortified, Maya...” She trails off with a sigh, pressing her fingers against her temples as if she had a headache.

“Did you tell him about James?”

“Yeah. How could I not?”

“And...?”

“I don’t know... I felt like everything changed between us after I told him about me and Josh. You should’ve seen his face, Maya.”

“Do you think that maybe he might like you? It’s not like he knew you were taken until last night.”

Suddenly his somber expression from last night came to mind-- the way his usual light green eyes had darkened to a deep blue when she revealed her relationship status to him. Letting a small chuckle escape her lips, she shakes her head. “There’s no way.”

“You just said he was having dinner with his family. He’s a fireman. When could he possibly have free time to spare? And rather than staying with his family, he stayed with you instead.”

“He’s just being a good friend.”

“I don’t think so, Riles. But hey, I could be wrong. Just some food for thought.”

————————————————— ❤ —————————————————

After her talk with Maya, Riley found herself thinking about Lucas more than she probably should. She would check her phone every few minutes just to see if he texted her-- which he hadn’t. Walking down the hall to her door, she halted midway when she found James standing against it, clearly waiting for her.

What she wanted to do was turn on her heel and leave him waiting for nobody but she finds herself making her way over to him. “What are you doing here, James?”

“I’m sorry for last night, babe.”

“Don’t ‘babe’ me right now,” She says, side-stepping him to get to her door.

As she begins to unlock her door, he gently grabs her forearms to turn her around so she’d face him. “Riley... I really am sorry. You know I’d never actually leave during one of our dates-- if it wasn’t something serious, it wouldn’t even come to mind.”

“Have you ever thought about me, James? You’ve never been there for me. I can’t remember the last time where you actually asked me how I’ve been doing, what’s on my mind, how my day is--- or just be with me! ”

James was clearly surprised by her outburst as he watched her eyes fill with tears. “Babe--”

“No. I’m sick of being walked all over, James.”  Pursing her lips, she refuses to let the tears fall from her lashes as she turns to finish unlocking her door. Before he could say anything, she quickly walks inside, shutting the door behind her.

He had a key to her apartment. If he really wanted to make things right, would he leave or at least try to make things right? After a few moments had passed and there was no sign of James, she furiously wipes away her tears, refusing to cry over him and his lack of effort.

————————————————— ❤ —————————————————

For the next two weeks, Riley was ready to bang her head against a wall. James had been leaving notes and flowers on her desk at school every morning she came in. Even though she was surprised by the amount of effort he was putting in this time around, her thoughts kept drifting to Lucas and how he never contacted her since that night.

She’d be lying if she wasn’t hoping to run into him at the school, but it didn’t seem like that was happening any time soon. The weekend had come around again which meant she was at Topanga’s. Maya and Isadora had decided to come to keep her some company since Auggie decided to go out with Ava since their last date night failed miserable.

“So, what’s going on?” Maya asks, arching a brow at her best friend.

“I’m dying inside,” Riley says with such a genuine smile that her friends were almost taken aback.

“Shut up, bubbles. Don’t even joke about such things,” Isadora reprimands, shaking her head disapprovingly.

“So, no Lucas?”

Riley shoots Maya a knowing look. “No.”

“James?”

This time, she rolls her eyes. “He’s been leaving me apology notes and letters on my desk for a few weeks now.”

“He should be, considering he’s a jerk--”

“I kinda feel bad that I haven’t said anything,” Riley mutters, waiting for her friends to reprimand her.

Before they could, a shaggy haired little boy runs into the bakery with flushed cheeks and a smile playing across his lips. “Miss Riley!” He exclaims, his little feet carrying him towards the group of girls.

“Dylan!” Riley greets with a smile, though she’s certainly surprised to see him here. Her gaze flits to the door, wondering how he got here without his parents. Coming around the counter, she crouches down to meet his height. “What are you doing here?”

“I came with Santa,” He tells her with a toothy grin.

A small laugh rolls past her lips, her gaze flickering to her amused friends watching the boy before looking at the boy again. “There’s still some time till Christmas, Dylan.”

“Ho Ho Ho!”

A deep jocular voice booms through the cafe and in came Santa Clause with a male dressed as an elf. Everybody in the room was in high spirits at the sight of the man dressed up as Santa, and she couldn’t help but let a smile.

Dylan is giddy as ever, leaning over to whisper in his teacher’s ear. “it’s Unca Lucas!” He says before breaking out into giggles.

Riley’s smile falters slightly, ignoring the way her heart pounding in her chest as she stood up. She assumed this had to do with the annual tradition of firemen dressing up for the holiday and going throughout the city wishing everyone with their obnoxiously loud sirens. “Can we get you anything, Santa?”

It’d been days since he last saw the brunette and yet it felt like months. He felt ridiculous especially since this was the first time he was seeing her since that night and he was dressed as Santa fricking Clause. He blamed Zay for the suggestion and for giving Dylan the idea to come here and visit his ‘favorite teacher’. He couldn’t help but let a small smile touch his lips at the sight of the familiar twinkle in her eyes. “Milk and cookies are my favorite.”

“You’re a little early this year, no?”

He’s about to respond until Dylan speaks up on his behalf, “Miss Riley! I just told you it’s Unca Luke!” He ushers for his uncle to reach to his level so he could pull down at the fake beard and when he finally does, he most certainly proves that it was Unca Look. “See, I told you, Miss Riley!”

Maya and Isadora secretly exchange mischievous smiles before taking sips of their drinks.

Lucas let’s a smile tug at the ends of his lips before kissing his nephew’s chubby cheek.

“Silly me,” She mutters to herself as she watches the interaction between the duo.

“Unca Luke told me that the real Santa Clause will visit on Christmas!”

“Unca Luke is a very smart man,” Riley teases, unable to restrain herself from smirking at the man in red as he stood up.

“Sucking up to Santa will get you nowhere,” Maya smirks, nudging her friend’s side jokingly.

“I wouldn’t bet on it,” The elf pipes up, smirking at Santa as if he’d made a very valid point.

Heat rushes to her Riley’s cheeks as she shoots daggers at Maya while Lucas does the same to Zay, very much wanting to knock some sense into both of their friends for their choice of friends. She then decides to go back around the counter to tend to a few other patrons who seemed to be waiting on her. While Maya and Isadora keep the little boy company with Zay, Lucas gets on line to order a drink-- and so he could talk to Riley.

“I’m sorry about my friend back there,” Lucas apologizes, shaking his head at the thought of Zay’s comment.

“Don’t apologize. I blame Maya,” She rolls her eyes before grinning slightly. “Can I get you anything Mr. Clause?”

Lucas chuckles, “Can I get a coffee?”

“No milk and cookies?”

His hand falls onto the pillow they used to give him a fake protruding belly, “Not today. They’re already catching up with me so I think I’ll have to wait till Christmas.”

Riley couldn’t help but let a small laugh roll past her lips before she turns to reach for the kettle. “How’ve you been? It’s been a while.”

“It’s been alright. I missed you,” He blurts casually without realizing and his eyes widen at his own idiocy. Fuck me. “All these fires getting to my head,” He mutters before speaking up again, hoping she forgets he even said anything. “And you? How about you? How’s everything?”

Riley almost lets the coffee kettle slip from her fingers when the words escape his mouth. She could feel the heat rushing up to her cheeks and she could’ve sworn she resembled a ripe tomato. Her heart beat began to pick up again but there was something so calming about those words coming from him that she couldn’t help but smile to herself for a moment before turning to face him again with his drink.

“Everything has been fine. I’ve just been busy with school, the bakery, and stuff...” She trails off with a slight shrug, resting his drink before him.

He’s slightly relieved she doesn’t poke fun at him for his little slip of the tongue. “And.. how is ‘stuff’?” He asks slowly, silently signaling to the matter of her boyfriend issues.

She purses her lips for a moment, sighing inwardly. “I haven’t really seen him since that night. He’s been saying ‘sorry’ but, once you break a vase can you possibly pour water into it? It’s useless at this point.”

His hand reaches out to grab hers gently, “I’m sorry, Riley.”

Her lips curve into a small smile, “What are you sorry about, silly? You didn’t do anything.”

“Well, if you need anyone. I’m always here,” He reassures her by squeezing her small hand in his.

“Hey Luke, we gotta get going. Your sister called, she’s asking for Dylan.”

The two look over at Zay who has Dylan in his arms. Lucas nods before turning to look at Riley with a small smile. “Thanks for the coffee.” He gets up from his stool and is about to leave until there’s a small tug at his hand and realizes Riley was still holding onto him.

“I missed you too, Lucas.”

————————————————— ❤ —————————————————

As he walks out of the bakery with Dylan and Zay, he bumps into someone and almost knocks them off their feet. "Oh shit my bad-- James?!" Lucas exclaims as the man before him dusts himself off.

James' brows crease together as he looks Lucas up and down, "I'm sorry Santa, do I know you?"

He chuckles a bit, pulling at the fake beard a bit to reveal his face properly. "James, it's Lucas."

James takes a moment to himself as he goes through a revelation, looking at Lucas and Zay while putting the pieces together. "Lucas Friar?! And Zay Babineaux?! Well I'll be damned. I haven't seen you guys since I left the team."

"It's been some time, huh? How's everything?" Zay asks, raising a brow.

"Honestly everything is pretty great. We should get together and have drinks some time soon. How about tomorrow night?"

"Uh, yeah sure. We should be free unless there's a fire, obviously," Lucas explains with a nod.

"Of course. Well, I'll see you guys. Gotta go win my girl back," He tips his head in a salute before heading towards Topanga's.

Once they watch him walk inside, the two exchanged suspicious glances in regards.

"You don't think..." Lucas trails off, his brows furrowing slightly. There was an odd unfamiliar feeling stirring in the pit of his stomach as he couldn’t help but think the worst.

“Let’s hope not. There’s no way Riley would date such a crazy dude,” Zay waves the matter off.

____

“Riley,” James rasps as soon as he enters the bakery, catching the attention of all three women.

Maya purses her lips, frowning distastefully at the sight. When she glances at Isadora, she can see the girl has mirrored her expression. When they look at Riley, they notice she’s halted in her steps at the sight of the male standing just a few feet away. “James. What are you doing here?”

“Can I please talk to you?” When he notices Maya arch her brows dubiously in his direction, he continues. “Without your body guards.”

Riley sighs, “I have to take care of the cafe. Whatever you need to say, you can say in front of them.”

James clenches his jaw momentarily, very much aware her friends weren’t happy with him right now. “Riley, please? Just a few minutes,” He pleads, hoping she gives in.

“Maya, can you look after the cafe until I’m back?” When her friend is about to protest, she gives her a knowing look before making her way past James and out the door.

James follows her out the door and finds her getting seated at one of the tables outside the cafe. “Have you gotten any of my letters?”

“Yes.”

“And...?”

“How is it that you’ve had time to drop by my work almost every day but never made this kind of effort beforehand?”

“I don’t wanna lose you, Riles. I know I made mistakes. I know I shouldn’t have left dinner, I acted poorly. Please forgive me, I really want to make it up to you.”

“Why should I believe you now, James?”

“Just give me one chance, Riley. Please?” His hand reaches out to grabs hers, his thumb running over her skin.

She’s stiff for a moment but when her eyes meet his pleading ones, she can feel herself softening. “One last chance,” She says tersely, albeit giving into his request.

A smile tugs at the ends of his lips, relief washing over him that she’s finally decided to give him a chance. “You won’t regret it, I promise.” He leans over and presses his lips to her cheek for a kiss.

“We’ll see,” She sings lightly before getting up, “I’m gonna get back to work.”

“I’ll call you?”

“Sounds good.”  

The two part ways and Riley is slightly hesitant as she heads back into the bakery, very well aware that her friends will eat her alive once they find out she made peace with him.

While Maya was tending a few customers, Isadora was looking at her expectantly as soon as she walked in through the door. When she noticed the expression spread across her friend’s features, she was sure of the result.

“I knew it,” The ebony haired girl breathes before letting her forehead fall onto her palm.

“You took him back?!” Maya exclaims almost dropping all the change she’d counted in her hand. She mutters an apology to the woman in front of her, handing her the money before taking a few strides towards the duo. “What did I just hear?”

“You heard nothing! I didn’t even say anything,” Riley protests, shaking her head at her friends’ behaviors.

“You didn’t need to Bubbles, it’s all over your face,” Isadora responds with a knowing look.

“What happen out there?” Maya demands, hoping her best friend didn’t make the choice she thinks she did.

“I’ve decided to give him one last chance,” Riley reveals tentatively, running her teeth over her bottom lip as she waits for her friends to react.

Isadora and Maya look at each other, visibly disappointed.

“What about Lucas?” Maya asks, raising a brow.

“What about Lucas?” Riley repeats tiredly. “Maya, Lucas never expressed any sort of interest in me for me to even think that there’s a chance between us,” She tells her, when in reality it seems like she’s trying to convince herself.

Maya sighs inwardly, ignoring the urge to disagree. She purses her lips for a moment before tilting her head slightly, concern etched onto her pretty features. “Please be careful, okay? I’m not gonna tell you to leave him but I really don’t trust James after everything he’s done and put you through.”

“I agree with Maya.”

————————————————— ❤ —————————————————

Surprisingly, James stuck to his word and made it a point to spend majority of weekend with her. Maya and isadora were thoroughly suspicious considering it was just too good to be true while Josh and Farkle refused to give any input in the situation knowing it’d only get messier.

When Monday rolled around again, Riley was in high spirits. Not only was it because Christmas was just a few days away, but everything finally seemed to be falling into place. She seemed happy and that was probably the only reason as to why Maya didn't want to rain on her parade or try to warn her again (which Riley was secretly appreciative of).

She was giving this relationship one last chance for the sake of everything they’ve been through and she’d rather not hear her best friend pester her about it, regardless of the ongoing lingering thoughts of a certain fireman.

"Dylan, what's wrong?" She asks as she'd noticed he kept resting his head against the desk and was much quieter than his usual jovial self.

It was time for recess and the kids were playing inside, considering it was too cold for them to be outside. While all the other kids were causing a ruckus, the shaggy haired little boy seemed to be the only one who seemed a little out of it.

“I don’t feel too good,” He mumbles, pouting naturally while doing so.

“Did you want to go to the nurse’s office, sweetheart?”

His eyes widen slightly before he shakes his head just barely against the desk.

She gently presses the back of her hand against his forehead and frowns when she notices how warm he is. “You’re burning up.” She mutters to herself. “I'll be right back, okay?”

Reaching her desk, she begins to look through her files to find the contact information for the students. Once she does, she begins to dial Serena’s number using one of the school phones.

“Hello?”

“Hi, This is Ms. Matthews from the pre-school-- Dylan’s teacher. Is this Mrs. Archibald?”

“Oh, Hi Ms. Matthews-- yes, this is Mrs. Archibald. Is everything okay?”

Riley couldn’t help purse her lips for a moment as she could sense the worry in the woman’s tone of voice already. “Everything is alright. Dylan doesn’t seem to be feeling too well and I think he might have a fever. I was going to send him to the nurse’s office but he is resistant to go. Do you think you’d be able to pick him up?”

Serena heaves a sigh, “Oh no. I’m actually at work right now, about to go into a meeting-- I’m gonna see if I can have Lucas come pick him up. Can I let you know in a few minutes?”

RIley cursed herself when she felt her heart race ever so slightly at the mention of Lucas. “Yeah, of course.”

The two hang up and she makes her way back to Dylan, crouching slightly so she was at his height. “Are you sure you don’t want to go to the nurse’s office, Dyl?”

“I don’t like the nurse’s office,” He complains slightly, frowning.

When she feels her phone vibrate in her back pocket, she lifts her finger to Dylan to signal that she’d get back to him in a moment. Pulling it out, she sees Lucas’ name flashing on her screen. Taking a deep breath, she answers his call. “Hello?”

“Hey Riley, Serena just called me about Dylan and how he’s not feeling well? I’m on my way to pick him up, if you can just get him ready for me that would be great. Serena would’ve called but she had to go in a meeting and just chewed my ear off,” He chuckles, shaking his head though she couldn’t see.

Riley smiles slightly at the sound of his voice, “No worries. I’ll get him ready for you.”

“Sounds good. I’ll see you in a bit.”

“See you.”

————————————————— ❤ —————————————————

As Lucas hangs up, there’s a hint of a grin tugging at the ends of his lips. But when he found himself thinking about this past weekend, the grin faltered almost immediately.

“Isn’t it weird how James was so eager to make plans with us?” Zay asks, plopping onto one of the stools in front of the bar.

The two were at one of the bars they frequently visited, waiting for James to show up. Considering it’s been some time since they last spoke, they thought it’d do some good if they caught up especially since their very ironic encounter outside the bakery.

“Yeah. It was a little weird.”

Before they could get into details, James had entered the pub and already began making his way toward them. He slides onto the stool next to Lucas, nodding at the two in greeting.

After ordering drinks, they spend the first hour talking about work, sports, and useless matters. They’d all surprisingly been enjoying themselves until James’ phone rang and he rolled his eyes before picking up the call.

Lucas and Zay secretly exchanged confused glances, waiting for the male to finish.

Once he does, he downs the rest of his beer before letting out a strangled sigh.

“You alright?” Lucas asks, raising a brow.

“Yeah, just this girl I’m dealing with. I accidentally slept with her-- she ended up getting pregnant and now won’t leave me alone. She keeps threatening to tell my girlfriend about it,” He confesses, shaking his head.

The other men weren’t sure how to respond, continuously sharing looks with each other while trying to be as subtle as possible.

“It sucks because my girlfriend, Riley, she’s really sweet and probably doesn’t deserve any of this. But this other girl, Lexie, is just really hot and now apparently pregnant. I’m just trying to see how far I can keep all this a secret before it blows in my face,” He chuckles to himself before ordering himself another beer.

Lucas almost dropped the bottle he’d been holding when the Riley’s name slipped past that idiot’s mouth. He tenses when all the puzzles begin to fall in to place and everything begins to make so much more sense. When those glassy amber hues come to mind, it takes everything within him to not turn and sucker punch the piece of shit sitting beside him.

“So you’re cheating on your girlfriend instead of breaking up with her? And you got another girl pregnant? Are you fuckin’ sane?” Zay blurts, not bothering with the formality as he’d put the pieces together as well. It was also because he’d met Riley and knew she didn’t deserve any of this.

James doesn’t seem to phased by the profanity as he raises his brow at the male, “Honestly probably not. But, I can’t let them go.”

“What the hell is wrong with you?” Lucas blurts incredulously.

“What?”

“Why are you doing this? Ruining people’s lives like this? The reason why you got kicked off the team was because you slept with the Chief’s wife and now you’re cheating on a good girl and got another girl pregnant. Do you realize what you’re doing? You need help, James,” Lucas spat, throwing a few bills onto the counter before hopping off his stool.

“What is wrong with you guys?” James asks, now seemingly offended.

“Us? Do you know what you’re doing? Playing with people’s feelings like that?” Zay was beyond annoyed at his density.

“Listen, think over what you told us James. Don’t mess around with somebody’s heart like that. Make the right choice for once.” Lucas takes a look at his phone before turning to Zay, “Chief’s calling, let’s go.”

Before he knew it, he was standing outside of Riley’s classroom. Running his hand down his face, he sighs into it before letting it fall by his side. Stepping into the room, he lets a small smile touch his lips at the sight of Riley instructing the other kids to begin cleaning their toys as recess was about to end. His gaze flickers over to his nephew who was bundled up in his coat, scarf, gloves and hat. He looked adorable and clearly tired. “Hey buddy,” He greets before lifting the boy into his arms.

“Lucas,” Riley acknowledges his presence with a smile as she walks over to him. “I didn’t hear you come in.”

“It’s okay,” He chuckles, patting Dylan’s back gently. “How’s everything?”

“Everything is going really well actually, much better than we last spoke,” She tells him, her lips curving into a smile. “We made up, so...”

Lucas’ smile is tight as his mind keeps playing Saturday night in his head. If Riley is this happy this must mean James is still in her life which means he’s still probably cheating on her. “I’m glad.” When he hears Dylan mumble incoherently in his ear, his gaze flickers to boy resting his head on his shoulder. When his gaze returns to Riley, his features soften. “I should get going.”

The brunette nods understandingly as she begins to lead him towards the door. “I hope you feel better Dylan, get some rest okay?” She says in a more child-like tone, giving the boy a momentary back rub before looking at his uncle. “Before you leave, I wanted to ask... are you free Friday evening?”

The blonde haired male had a small smile playing across his lips as he watched her interact with Dylan. When she asks him about his plans, he takes a thoughtful moment to himself before responding, “I should be free. Whatsup? Is everything okay?”

She lets a small laugh roll past her lips, “Everything is fine. Maya is having this holiday party and I think you should come.”

“If you weren’t taken Ms. Matthews, I would’ve thought you were asking me out,” He teases lightly, though he secretly wishes it was true. Stupid bastard James was.

“You wish,” Riley retorts playfully all the while ignoring the heat rushing up to her cheeks. “Anyways, you should get going. I hope to see on Friday and feel free to bring Zay!”

“Sounds good,” He flashes her a smile before making his way out the door.

#rucas #rucas fic #can i be him #who hates james bc i know i do #rucas fanfic #rucas au

[madelinecoffee]

The Right People Ch.4

Summary: Its Junior Year of college and after the break-up with her ex-girlfriend Riley Matthews wants to focus on school and her friends, most especially her new friendship with Lucas. She’s hoping that with the right people this year will be a great one. Fancast: x A/N: In this Riley is bisexual, and this fic does deal with emotional abuse. If you’re sensitive to that proceed reading this fic with caution. This chapter mentions a pic of Paula and Riley this is the pic I envisioned: x Words: 2,179 Tagging: @iwantyoutochooseme  @grapes-day @ouat2011(if you would like to be tagged let me know) Ch. 1 Ch.2 Ch.3

“Hey Maya!” Lucas quickly slid into the booth with his coffee across from Maya who had her laptop open and was drinking some tea “Is Riley here or coming?” He looked around to see if he could spot the brunette

Maya smirked as she watched Lucas’ head swivel around looking for her usual counterpart, “Nope Ranger Rick, just me and maybe Farkle if he stops by. I left her at home she was napping, thank god.”

“What do you mean thank god?” Lucas asked his eyebrows pinching together

“She hasn’t been sleeping a lot at night, it’s the Paula texts. She’s not reading them but its still upsetting her.” Maya shrugged, “Why were you looking for her? I’m sure she could use a napping buddy” Maya gave him a wink as his face flushed

“Nope, that’s great actually. I wanted to talk to you without Riley around”

Just then Farkle slid in next to Maya, “What’s this about wanting to talk without Riley around? You aren’t like going to tell us you secretly hate or something? Because Maya will jack you up son.”

Lucas gave an exasperated sigh, “No nothing like that…opposite actually.” Lucas took a gulp and avoided eye contact with Maya as Farkle, “I…like her and I um wanted to ask her out but I didn’t know how she’d react. And I love our friendship and if she wouldn’t want to go out with me I didn’t want to ruin it so I figured I’d ask Maya to see if she knew what Riley…” Lucas was cut off by Maya and Farkle laughing

“Oh my god Ranger Rick, you’re dense.” Maya flicked a fake tear away as Farkle spoke up

“Riley is completely smitten with you. There’s some weird draw she has to you, I’ve never seen anyone calm her down as quickly as you did a few weeks ago when the texts started.”

“Plus you two are always holding hands, she never tries to hold anyone’s else’s hand. I mean mine on occasion. But its like it calms her or something, all I know is that even if you don’t notice it that girl is into you.  I’d say go for it Huckleberry.” Maya gave him a smile as she sipped her tea, “You might even see a little more of the Riley we used to know before Paula”

“Do you think you could tell me more about Riley and Paula? I know I know it’s not your story to tell,” Lucas piped up when he saw Maya about to protest, “But I know next to nothing. Just like a baseline of their relationship? Maybe more of Riley before?” Lucas gave a hopeful smile.

Farkle and Maya had a nonverbal conversation before Farkle spoke up,

“Riley was a lot more open before Paula, she was loud and silly and goofy. She was a little sunshine queen.” Farkle smiles as he continues, “When we were in middle school we had to take an aptitude test and hers told her she should be a bunny farmer.”

Lucas smiled he could see Riley surrounded by bunnies, he was shaken out of the thought when Maya spoke up

“She was like that still when her and Paula and her started dating. I think it was what got Paula to say yes when Riley asked her out. Paula was all tough looking and scowling but Riley just went over and put a smile on her face. Well for a while. I don’t know exactly what happened, but overtime Riley’s little sunshine-inner-light started to fade. She was constantly apologizing for doing Riley things. Like Riley loves to sing, well she used to, and she would sing everything she did. I have this one distinct memory when she was dating Paula for a few months and she was making pancakes and Riley started singing as she mixed the ingredients. And she realized what she was doing and got this look of horror on her face and apologized profusely even when I told her it was fine.” Maya shook her head

“And as you know Riley is a super affectionate person, and like over time Paula just wouldn’t hold her hand or let her put her head on her shoulder. Or basically let her touch her. Riley insisted that it was just how Paula was, but they weren’t like that in the beginning”, Farkle added in

“The biggest thing that I think did Riley in is that Riley’s proud of her bisexuality. Like she uses the label a lot and when people tried to call her a lesbian when they knew she also was into guys she went off. At first Paula seemed chill with it, but over time I don’t know what happened but Paula became really bi-phobic about it. Paula’s a lesbian and she too has a lot of pride about it too. Which is great but she started just making really nasty comments about being bisexual, which did not fly with me at all.” Maya shook her head, “Anyway that’s all I can tell you from my perspective the rest has got to come from Riley.”

“Of course, I just wanted to get a better idea of what Riley’s been through, the last thing I want to do is make her uncomfortable. Hey do either of you have a picture of Paula? I’ve never seen one of her”

“Oh sure, yeah this will be good you can keep an eye out for her.” Farkle pulled up his phone and scrolled through until he found one.

“This is them, I think they were going out? I can’t remember” Farkle explained as he handed his phone to Lucas. Lucas just started at the phone completely flabbergasted, he was sure he looked like a dying fish.

“I..I know her.” He finally managed to say, he was completely shocked that the girl who had hurt his sunshine was his lab partner at some point.

“Well yeah Huckleberry we all know Riley” Maya gave him a look but Lucas shook his head.

“No. Paula. She was my last lab partner; Tony and me are partners now. Because we switch around in this class but it was her at first, no wonder those biphobic texts to Riley sounded so familiar.” Lucas handed the phone back to Farkle. He wasn’t sure what he wanted to do, his lab partner Paula and Riley’s ex girlfriend Paula had always been two separate people. He had wanted to punch her in the face before but now he really wanted to.

“I have to go.” Lucas quickly, got up he didn’t know what he was going to do but he knew he wanted to talk to Riley first. Before he fully left the café he doubled back. “And please don’t say anything to Riley about me asking her out until I do, I want my moment to be my moment.” And with that Lucas took off in the direction of Riley, Smackle, and Maya’s apartment.

Farkle moved to where Lucas was sitting and faced Maya,

“Wonder what he’ll do.” He mused at Maya, they both knew Lucas had a history of anger but he had told them he hadn’t fought since middle school early high school

“I’m not sure” Maya shrugged, “He’s probably going to talk to Riley. So probably nothing. She wouldn’t let me do anything to Paula I doubt she’ll let good ‘ol Huckleberry do anything.”

“So what do you think about that? Riley and Lucas? Lucas and Riley, Liley, Rucas?” Farkle questioned with a raised brow

“Oh those two? Totally already in love and they don’t even know it. They’re perfect for one another Farkle! Did you see his face when he first saw her?” Maya gushed, “And they’re already drawn to each other. Did you see how fast he reacted when he came in and she was crying?” Maya gushed as Farkle chuckled

“You seem excited for their potential relationship”

“He makes Riley happy, and ultimately that’s all I really want.” Maya shrugged, “I know we’ll never completely get the old Riley back but he brings out that light I thought we lost. If they make each other happy, we should do everything in our power to push them together if they don’t get there on their own.”

“Agreed” Farkle proclaimed with a smile

--------

Lucas was so wrapped up in his own thoughts that before he knew it he was knocking on Riley’s door.

He couldn’t help but smile at the sight that greeted him, Riley answered the door wearing her hair up in a bun the purple tips peaking through, her face adorned with glasses he didn’t know she wore, and a flannel with cropped leggings. She looked happy to see him as she pulled him for a hug

“Lucas! I wasn’t expecting to see you, what’s up?”

“Um…I wanted to talk to you. Nothing bad…. just yeah. I like your glasses. I didn’t know you wore them?” Lucas touched the legs gently as he looked into her eyes

“Um yeah, I usually wear contacts. I have the ones you can wear for a week straight but they started to mess with my eyes so I got regular ones. But until they come I’m rocking my glasses. I don’t wear them a lot, um Paula said they made me look like a nerd” Riley told him with a shrug and a glance at the ground, like she usually did when she gave him an explanation involving her ex-girlfriend.  

“Well you do look a little like a nerd” Lucas teased with a gentle tone and nudge of his shoulder, “But a very cute nerd” Riley’s cheeks flamed red with the compliment

“You said you wanted to talk about something? You want to come to my room?” Lucas nodded as they sauntered over to her room

“Oh shit!” Riley quickly moved to clean up the various papers and books piles lying around her room “Sorry for the mess I was trying to get inspiration for a poem so I was rehashing old notes and yeah.” Lucas just chuckled and helped her put her notes in a pile on her desk. They sat down on the ground facing each other.

“So Luke, you wanted to talk to me?” Riley gave him a smile and an encouraging look

“Um, well I was talking with Farkle and Maya and the topic of Paula came up,” Lucas saw Riley flinch and try to hide her grimace. But Lucas took note and scooted to be seated next to her as he grabbed her hand. “And I realized that I had never seen a picture of her before, so I asked ya know for reference. And while Farkle showed me and I know her Riley.” He felt Riley stiffen next to him and he gave her hand a squeeze.

“H-how do you know her?” Riley asked, her voice timid.

“She was last lab partner before we switched. But she’s still in our class. And god Riley, I didn’t like her at all before. But knowing that she hurt you? Part of me really wants to just walk up to her and punch her in her face.”

“No! Please don’t!” Riley turned to Lucas as she shouted, looking into his eyes tears were threating to spill out of her eyes, “I just don’t want you to get involved in all the issues with her. It’s my problem, I don’t want you to be dragged in”, tears were spilling out of her eyes now and Lucas moved to wipe them away. Riley was so tired of Paula she had figured when she broke up with her that all these issues would be over, but nothing is ever as simple as it seems.

“Ri shh shh, its okay. If you don’t want me to get involved with it at all, I won’t. I’ll respect your wishes.” Lucas pulled her into a hug hoping to soothe her, and it worked quickly. Once she had calmed down he pulled her head out of his chest and gave him a small smile as she wiped her face.

“Sorry I’m always crying on you about my ex-girlfriend.”

“Ri, I’m here for whatever you need. And I didn’t want to upset you. I just wanted to talk to you about it. One of my favorite things is talking to you.” Lucas grabbed her hand and gave it a kiss as Riley giggled, “You want to go get some pancakes? Or make some pancakes?” Lucas smiled knowing pancakes were Riley’s pick me up food.

“Can we make pancakes? I don’t want to leave and it’ll be fun! I have sprinkles and chocolate chips!” Riley clapped excitedly and pulled Lucas off the ground.

“Whatever you want Sunshine” Riley blushed and giggled at the nickname a warm feeling spreading through her. Lucas smiled as he followed her into the kitchen and started helping her make pancakes. He couldn’t help but loose track of time as he hung out with the brunette. He still wanted to ask the brunette out, but that was for another day.  

#rucas fic #rucas fanfic #the right people #my writing