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popculturebuffet · 4 years

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The Loud House Reviews: Ghosted!

Halloween Havoc returns! Lori is haunted by a ghost and brings in LIncoln and Clyde ot fix things.. only to find out he’s actually the beloved school mascot and must enlist Lucy and her crew of goths to help her. The bar from the overlook hotel, 1900′s disco, and Boris, the best loud house character i’d never heard of all insue. All hail boris, and prepare for full review with spoilers. under the cut.

We’re back! I’m sorry this is a week late. This is both due to having a LOT going on.. as well as my own fault for pushign this review back to do a review of the first episode of Starkid’s “Nightmare Time”.. only to have to push BOTH back after I was unable to finish this weeks’ Ducktales on Monday because I ended up having to get off it so my mom, who works from home, can use it, and because AT&T is an utter nightmare we’re thankfully leaving, so if nothing else that will hopefully never be an issue again.

TLDR: I kept putting this one off, didn’t realize this week’s episode was in fact on this week, and now I have to get 5 reviews done in the span of three days: I have this episode, this week’s loud house, the amphibia halloween special, and reviews of Ducktales “The Duck Knight Returns” and the first darkwing duck episode “Darkly Dawns the Duck”.

I kid, this blog will end as I too hope to end.. taking rusty and Zach with me. But i got myself into this mess and i’m getting myself out of it. I will get these done even if it kills me.. my ghost can then take care of the two fictional children. ON with the review!

We open at Fairway University.

I had to. Lori is practicing for the big tournament coming up.. which normally would have me super excited as tournaments are my shit... but we’re not talking two people beating the shit out of each other, wether it be for the sport of it, because their master told them to, because one of htem is a demon who will end the world, or because their loved ones will be murdered if they don’t beat people up as a team for demons, nor people playing card games for their grandpa’s soul, or a grudge caused by an abusive childhood that leads to a battle over gods inside trading cards, or because the school decided why not, or because you need to both keep your godlike dragon that’s also in a card and your friends safe, or.. you get the idea. I love Anime tournaments in what anime I have watched. Me watching or reading of those is like coke to me... a golf tournament however?

Yeah i’m not big into non-wrestling sports in general, let alone one where hte main action is a ball went really far. I mean it IS impressive a golfer can do that and accuratley no less, that’s some Hawkeye level stuff, it’s just not for me. I do HIGHLY enjoy mini golf, and mini golf episodes as both simpsons and gravity falls episodes on that are a good time. I mean any episode that gets flanders to say this is worth at least one watch.

And thanks to fond memories of my grandpa using them to get around his carnival, yes my grandpa owned a carnival and yes it was great and yes he was a great man and I miss him every day, and carting me around in them. If it were street legal i’d have one. And finally I LOVE happy gilmore. While Adam Sandler took a turn, and hopefully Hubie Halloween is a sign that long national nightmare is over, that film still holds up and is still REALLY damn funny. And by this point your probably wondering what the hell my point is. Well the hell my point is is that in light of me liking golf related things for weird reason despite praying for death but death won’t come at the thought of watching actual golf, I love fairway university. I love the fact that a golf based college is credible, I love the fact it goes so far in it’s theme that the text books are all golf related, the dorms are all weirdly golf themed, and students apparently can get an arnold palmer at any time of night. I also assume the dorms have on demand streaming for happy gilmore and caddyshack, and a genisis with a copy of lee carvillo’s putting challenge. Back on the actual episode at long last, Lori is putting in some driving practice and facetiming bobby. The reason the tournament is so important is that she needs to beat the evil elf Malketh at golf or else Suryr will end all life... I may of been reading walt simsons’s thor lately but admit it you would watch that. No it’s more mundane than a fire giant trying to commit universal genocide: Being the only freshman on the team, as in that good, if she dosen’t do well, she might loose her scholarship. Granted I DOUBT they’d take it away after one game, but it’s understandable why she fears loosing it: She can’t afford college any other way. Her parents finances are spread among 11 kids who all live comofrtably and while every loud would gladly give things up so she could go to college still.. Lori wouldn’t accept it. She’d be grateful.. but she wouldn’t have her family be miserable for her sake, even if it’s her dream. This is her one shot for the career she wants and loosing this would destroy her. Even if she’d still have Bobby. But Bobby is pulled away because his customers are annoyed.. and by customers I mean just Vito.. the rest seem fine despite the line, who complalins his spumoni is melting... because apparently he can’t just have bobby get him a fresh one as Bobby would be happy to do because he’s made of pure joy and it was nice seeing him. Though I do hope to see him in college himself next season. It is WEIRD having the casagrandes season 1 paired with a season of the loud house taking place months later.. and having the halloween episode for season 2 show up months ahead of season 2 itself.

But soon Lori has bigger problems than Bobby having to go or crushing loss... after consulting the school gopher, because the dean apparently really loves caddyshack as ANY dean of a golfiing school should. I forgot to mention it above but I freaking love that movie too. Good stuff. Back on point, Lori soon gets stalked by a g-g-g-host! And nope this ain’t no party, this ain’t no disco, this ain’t no fooling around.. nor is it a scooby doo esque scheme. This is an actual ghost. Represented by a ball of light but .. yup they went there. And look I get the show breaks from reality a lot: Luann acts like the silver age joker once a year and gets away with it, Lisa gets up to dexter’s lab esque shenanigans on an episodic basis, and Girl Jordan isn’t part of the group despite clearly sharing their intrests and being intrested in both lincoln and stella. There are stretches in reality.. but mostly for humor or because it’d make a good plot. Most of the plots are grounded in reality: From Luna’s entire romance arc, with her insecurities and her and sam’s worries about each other, to Luaan’s nervousness about her first kiss, to Lincoln and friends having to learn that sometimes a girl dosen’t want to date you just because their nice to you, to Lynn learning not to be a dick and hten forgetting it overnight because this show hates me, the show grounds wacky shenanigans in relatable slice of life stuff. It’s what makes it and it’s sister show work so well. Grounding the exagerated comedy with likeable relatable characters. IT’s what works. Why I bring this up is this and family bonding show a possible trend of the show getting into more bizzare stuff. A ghost here, a secret agent there.. it means the loud world can get as insane as it wants and the reason I bring it up is simple: Is that a GOOD thing. And my opinon, it CAN be if used right. With Family Bonding the fact there are Secret Agents is just.. casually mentioned. Like yup james bond esque spies exist and have weather dominators and an 11 year old just stopped them. It’s just.. treated like a normal thing when it’s not. Here.. a ghost showing up.. is treated like someone suddenly finding out ghosts are fucking real. Lori slowly comes unraveled a bit as the first few minutes go: She deals with seeing a ghost glow on the range, having the ghost drop books on her in the library, and having it serve her an arnold palmer.. in what genuinely looks like the bar from the overlook hotel from the shining.

I get it’s a deliberate shout out, especially since it’s bartender is a ghost. But it just raises so many questions: Was it a concidence or did whoever put this bar in really love the shining? Did he want teenagers to murder their wives and children? Did he? Is this building haunted and not just by the genearl ghost that haunts everything? Did they take this from the overlook since it didn’t burn down in the movie? Does this mean shining and loud house are the same universe and by the same token so is community and the casagrandes? WHy is a tea with lemonade called an arnold palmer? But yeah after breaking down in her room Lori can’t take being stalked by a ghost and does what 80% of people in a paranomal activity film take too long to do and calls a ghost hunter. Specifically clyde! And to my shock this is apparently the first time the two have interacted since season 2! And it shows.. their on perfectly fine terms, to the point she has his number and they can talk like humans. I like it.. it’s subtle. Again wouldv’e appricated the episode where he got over here being more finte, but still, this is better than him either passing out in his own master roshi esque blood or trying to get her to leave bobby because bobby is a saint. The worst he’s done is break up with someone because her brother made his sister cry, when none of that makes any sense but he’s dumn and noble enough i’ll allow it, and telling sergio never to come back, which his show framed as a bad thing but really I would two after two minutes with him.

She called Clyde because he’s the brains behind the outfit... but Clyde has her on speaker. Wah wah wah. Their watching ARRRGH! The ghost adventuers style show that showed up in an episode I never saw but read about. Wah wah wah indeed, but it was apparenlty made up. Why their still into it I dunno, but apparently argh ghost blasters ARE ACTUAL LASER GUNS. This show has gone enitrely off the rails and i’m fine with that. As long as it’s funny. But seriously who gives out actual proton packs I ask you your just asking for some kid to blast himself in the face. But yeah Clincoln McCloud is on the case. And while i’m still annoyed they didn’t bring at least two more friends to play ghostbusters, presumibly stella because she’s the compitent one and Zach because he could NOT belivie in something for a change and tha’td be funny. I know i’m beating a dead horse but it dosen’t HAVE to be all or nothing with their friend groups. You do know that right writers?

I mean I get only using them here as opposed to family bonding, but still, if you can use LIam outside of his episodes you can use the rest of them.. and I don’t even like Zach but he’d be in his element here. It’s not complicated but it is frustrating. Anyways the boys and Lynn Sr arrive with Lynn Sr making a scene.. which embarasses Lori but i’m on his side here. His oldest went to college. She left the nest. It’s a lot. Plus she apparently hasn’t visted home yet so he misses his baby. Just accept it. She also asked the boys to be subtle about their ghost hunting which does not work at all. Lori you knew who you were asking for this. It’s like asking Sterling Archer NOT to be sarcastic, loud and slightly hammered. It’s part of the process. Natrually hyjinks insue as our heroes chase the ghost with the most... on this campus.. and end up shaming him into leaving. Yes really. Clyde even says that’s what usually works on him. Oh Clyde.. if that were true you would’ve stopped trying to break up two people clearly in love with each other for your own benift, you twit. So problem solved right, ghost busted, no more stalking and no lori turning into a monster and ushering in 80 sequels with no real resolution right?

Yeah I mean this is a half hour special. Everyone at Fairway starts playing off, and it turns out because they realized the ghost was missing. Yes.. everyone knew the ghost was real. Thankfully given this is a halloween episode fairway isn’t some kind of rosemary’s baby, midsommar, herditary, paranomal activity , god a lot of movies use this death cult scenario. That we’re aware of Lori may just not be the target. The team captain takes Lori aside to explain things: They normally don’t tell freshman this until after their first game because the plot says so, but Fairway has a ghost. And again what makes this work is the guy does realize people might not belivie this and while normal for the students of fairway, it’s not normal for everyone and they might not belivie in it. But no turns out the ghost is beloved 1900′s era Caddy, Shanks Bogey, who in the moment that cemented him as a legend singelhandidly helped Fairway to a big comeback in their first tournament ever, and was given a permanent positoin after graduation. Because they train caddy’s here too which makes sense. And now his ghost lives there too and still helps to this day. OR did anyway. Now why he coudln’t of told her this or why they don’t check to make sure one of the students dosen’t bring ghost hunters around or an exorcist or ash williams?

This episode already runs on nonsense i’m just going with it. Point is LOri’s hair’s falling out, more apparenlty, from the stress as she retreats into her hoodie.. Clyde gave her one to protect her because ARRRRGH! is really freaking shameless apparently. While LIncoln dosen’t know how to put a ghost back luckily Lucy has the mortuariy club over and LIncoln sends them over. Also Lori dosen’t want dad driving them, but Lincoln was on speaker which.. yeah Clyde I might get, the only person he’d probably want privacy with is his girlfriend, he and Lincoln have the exact same running crew but lincoln has 10 other people int he house who may eevesdrop. But hell yeah, it’s my first Lucy episode on the blog and my first with her club period. For Lucy she IS one of the sisters I like I just haven’t checked out her episodes since season 2,a nd that’s my fault and something I intend to correct. She’s adorably, hilarious in her creepiness, and endearing in how she feels ignored at itmes.. because she is. They also ALL can apparently do her suddenly sneak up on people batman schtick as they all pop up on lincoln when he mentions a ghost. But yeah I love she has her own adams family esque group of goths, and that one of them is a Haiku from an earlier episode. While he and clyde hitting it off went nowhere it IS nice for the show to actually bring back an earlier character they entirely forgot about. It’s very rare for them.

But yeah I already like these guys, arriving in coffisn and accidently sending my new faviorite borris flying.. a boy who talks like dracula, looks like an orlock and talks in the third person, though he ends up completing a cheer pyramid, because as an intentional joke or not, fairway , a school for a sport built on quite conversation... has a cheers squad. But hey we get boris talking about his hollow bones and cheering out of it so we’re good.

But now the goth gang can get down to business. They try the obvious first a séance which.. yeah if bill and ted and beetlejuice have taught me anything, Seance’s can only end in friendly ghost murder. Granted unlike Otho I think Lucy knows what she’s doing, I just don’t want Shanks to die. This dosen’t quite work as while there is some bubbles it’s just Froggy 2 who apparently goes here when he’s not with adelaide. Good for him, getting some higher book learning. That’s rare for frogs. Though the faces on the Club are priceless as they are adorable.

Plan B is to set out Shank’s faviorite food, Ferminted Bean Meal.. which yes is both to set up a fart joke and may or may not exist. He also liked pigs in a blanket, which is a good gag. Lori asks why theyd idn’t go with that I say they simply did because these are professional Goths, and they will always go for the weirdest option possible. It’s who you signed on for lori. You could’ve just called the fentons at the start of this but no, no crossover for us. And yes it’d be butch heartman free but as far as I’m concerned he can go fuck himself for, most among a LARGE pile of him being a jackass, promoting faith healing seminars that among serious illnesses.. include autisim, aka equating what I have to things like alhimers and cancer. No joke there just screw him, don’t screw danny phantom it’s great, moving on. They intend for shanks to eat it but Lori’s teamates do instead as does the one club member who has weird hair that really unernves me. I get it’s supposed to be spider like but still, the rest of the club is really well designed, including him minus the hair. Why this why. They all get stomach poisoning and blame Lori for it despite, you know, eating strange food left in the middle of campus which is never a good idea, as it’s either someone’s elses or possibly spiked. What did you think was going to happen? Lucy’s last ditch effort is partying like it’s 1900. We do get the club and lori in top hats and canes with presumibly pocket’s full of miracles. So that’s neat. But it fails thanks to the cheerleaders coming in, boris very much included. Lori is desparing,.. until it turns out the disco ball which broke offers a mirror to the other side.. and thus where shanks is.. at the graveyard just off campus. Haiku finds this school creepy and wants to go there. Me too little sister, me too.

Lori opts to go alone.. while this shit terrifies her, understandably, it was her mess and she needs to clean it up.. even though him not explaning himself to her or anyone else did this I don’t know if he can talk so fair enough. He can however caddy obviously as Lori gives him a heartfelt apology, and then plays a round, with him helping.. though apparently returning her ball also opens a doorway to hell. Go figure. Great gag though especially lori’s casual “that was disturbing”. He dosen’t give a sign he’s coming back though. Then we cut to the game.. with no real sign lori told anyone anything.. was.. was a chunk cut out of this episode or did they just run out of time? I dunno it’s jarring but the game is down to her, and Lori ends up in a sandtrap with the sun in her eyes. But luckily shanks returns! He llfts an umbrella for her. Again I think it’s less that he’s inconsiderate and more that he’s mute.. or maybe he’s just a jackass I dunno. We don’t know enough about him. Point is Lori wins, her scholarship is secure and her family is cheering her on.. well okay her family in terms of lincoln, clyde, because he counts dammit, and her parents the rest of the girls minus lucy are absent because they needed room for her club. Whose in the sun somehow. Lori wins, Boris does an exorcist head spin, and Lucy feels he’s lost to them. I mean.. he has to go home.. unless he dosen’t have one... which is probable. Man now I want a fairway spinoff even more.. I mean just give lori and bobby an off campus place, have leni and her two friends move in, maybe throw in carol and have boris living in a hole in the backyard and we’re good. Please nick, greenlight this. I will write it for you just give me the go ahead.

Final Thoughts:

This one was okay. As I said the reality breaks are fine if their used for good reaosn, but I felt the episode put Lori though a bit much. She hasn’t been unsympathetic in so long, and she has a genuine heartwrenching reason to want to do well and is terrified of shanks. It’s not her fault no one told her. I mean that should be in the brochure “We have a ghost but he’s a casper ghost and not a gozer ghost so your good”. I mean the fact Jack Fenton HASN’T come blaring down the campus is only because he already did that and is banned from campus. that and he drove through the comisary.. like through both walls. The Fenton Van is thick. Point is lori goes through a lot of pain and humilation for no reason. It also feels like a two parter put into one half hour: The first half has a problem that’s seemingly solved only to have a cliffhanger with Lucy coming in as the solution. That being said I aboslutely love the mortuariy club. Why they can’t repalce spider head with rocky I don’t know, but otherwise I love em. Especailly boris who i’m fine with him staying at fairway as long as I get that spinoff> The Clyde and LIncoln antics are just “ha ha their mech dosen’t work”.. when they still have rayguns as part of the merch, though I do appricate that them running out of power is set up: Their guns discharge as a running gag so it’s no suprise their out by the time our heroes need them. And Clyde’s line about shame and guilt “Just like me!” was gold. This dosen’t really have the missed opprtunity smell of family bonding or strife of the party, it did fine enough and the scene of lori and shanks playing golf was really sweet. It really is just okay: Not AMAZING, but not terrible. I’ve seen much worse already this season, but the creative halloweeny premise, fun with the goth gang, and general weirdness of fairway make it a hole in two. Not a slam dunk but still fun. Just because an episode is mostly okay dosen’t make it bad. If you liked this review follow for more, as I have weekly coverage of ducktales and loud house and ocasionally the casagrandes and later today should have, space and time permitting, reviews of the new loud house, the new amphibia, and later this weekend some darkwing duck. Until then stay safe, stay spooky and happy halloween. Play us out white stripes!

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#halloween #the loud house #ghosted #lori loud #lincoln loud #clyde mcbryde #lucy loud #haiku #boris #dante #morpheous #perspherone #lynn loud sr #rita loud #fairway university #shanks bogey #halloween havoc

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armageddon-generation · 5 years

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Batwoman Could’ve Been the PERFECT Batfamily Show

After Gotham ended so recently, Batwoman should've positioned itself as the Ying to that show's Yang by focusing on Batman's allies instead of his enemies.

The 'Bruce disappears hook is a brilliant way to do this

Kate is our audience entry point into this world

ORACLE + GORDON

Barbra Gordon has already been paralysed via The Killing Joke, and hasn't yet become Oracle - she's still recovering

Comissioner Gordon took an early retirement after his daughter was paralysed, which is why Kate's Dad's private security force the Crows runs the streets

Batwoman and the series' events inspire him to return and reclaim Gotham for the Law by the end of season 1

TIM DRAKE + WE ARE ROBIN

Robin disappeared with Batman, so we can introduce the We Are Robin gang. At the beginning of the season they're just criminals, but after Kate defeats their ringleader she shows them a better outlet for their rage, and inspires them. Duke Thomas (future Signal) is among them

Once the we Are Robins are established Tim Drake returns to Gotham. Kate is surprised - few people outside of Gotham know there have been multiple Robins. This way we can explain the different versions to people not in the know

Just like after Bruce was sent back in time in the comics, Tim has gone travelling the world as Red Robin, searching for him. Tim heard about the Robins causing civil unrest and is concerned about them marring Robin's good name.

Tim and Kate clash over the Robins' chaotic, violent modus oprendi - Tim enforces a philosophy of Robin as the light to Batman's dark - promoting positivity, not violence. A loose adaptation of the Robin War storyline follows where Duke Thomas emerges as the Robins' leader and rallies them to be more controlled and less violent

Tim leaves after this mini-arc, satisfied Gotham is in good hands. He also teaches Kate more about the detective side of Batman - he isn't just a blunt instrument. Tim will be our primary link to the 'Bruce's location' mystery throughout the series

NIGHTWING

Dick arrives in Gotham on a case from Bludhaven. Kate thinks he's abandoned Gotham - he should've taken up the mantle while Bruce was gone.

Explore Dick's troubled history with Bruce (not to F**k Batman levels), how Babs being Batgirl caused him to quit, and the one-two punch of Jason Todd's death and Barbra's paralysis only validated his getting out while he could

Tender scenes between Dick and Babs alluding to thier teenage crushes on each other.

As a cop, Dick hates the Crows being on Gotham's streets and more actively conflicts with Kate's father, driving up the tension between them and Batwoman

RED HOOD

This arc would be like a finale-style thing

Jason Todd returns and starts assassinating criminals with the ambition of 'controlling' crime. Kate is a soldier, more brutal than Bruce, so she has greater sympathy for Jay's methods

Jay is after the Joker. Like in The Dark Knight Returns, the Joker has 'retired' to Arkham since Batman left - he got bored pretty quickly. This arc introduces him properly after a few teases earlier in the series.

Jay learns of Barbra's paralysis (which happened after he died) - even then Bruce wouldn't kill him. A scene where Jason visits Babs (little brother/big sister dynamic).

Both Dick and Tim return for this arc, losing their shit over the Joker. Kate's reaction to the Joker is much like Terry McGuiness's in Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker. She doesn't get why everyone is so scared of this stupid clown.

Tim is the one who figures out how Jason was resurrected; just like in the Red robin comic he's been travelling through the world of assassins and knows about the Lazarus Pit.

I think doing the Red Hood arc without Bruce - the main target of Jason's anger - is super interesting. Most people share his anger at Bruce for disappearing.

It also lets us dig deep into the inter-Robin dynamics - Jason hates Dick because he always had to live up to him (do that thing in the comics where Jay had to dye his red hair black to 'look like Robin')

Jay hates Tim for replacing him, for being proof Bruce didn't learn his lesson, for Bruce treating Tim better, the way he should've treated Jason

Kate is instrumental to this arc because, being outside all the drama, she has objectivity. She forces Dick and Tim to get their heads out of their asses and talk to Jason, forces them to confront the problem.

Instead of taking the Joker to Bruce as he does in the Under the Red Hood movie, Jason takes Joker to Babs, who has suffered the most because of him. Confronted with the man who 'ruined' her life, Babs proves bigger and stronger than him. She refuses to kill him. Unlike Jason, she's moving on and growing past her trauma, not looking for revenge.

Joker (being the Joker) turns the tables on Jay and has him at his mercy. Kate swoops in and, like Terry in Return of the Joker, messes with the Joker's head by refusing to take him seriously. The Joker is distracted, screaming about Kate not being Batman, and Babs gets to knock him the fuck out.

Jason escapes, but not before dropping a clue connecting Bruce's disappearance to the League of Assassins

I know the showrunners admitted they have no clue where Bruce is yet, so in my version he's off on some quest with Ras Al Guhl. In the time since he's been gone he's married Talia and had a kid. no-one in Gotham knows this yet.

VILLAINS

We can explore how Batman’s absence has had a strange effect on Gotham's villains - many have gone into states of hibernation similar to the Joker.

Two Face gets his dark Knight Returns plotline where the attempt to repair his face,

Mr Freeze has a similar ‘cure’ story a la Batman Beyond

Clayface (as in the Rebirth run of Detective Comics) is trying to go straight - using his shape-shifting gift to make a name for himself in the movie business. He thinks he's finally been accepted, but people are just sucking up to him because of his talent - the reality of their disgust threatens to push him back over the edge

Without Batman there to fight her, Poison Ivy has pretty much taken over Gotham's main park space, but a kind of stalemate has been reached - she won't attack the city as long as the city doesn't move against her plants.

Kate's central dilemma is navigating these unusual waters - she toys with the idea of putting Ivy behind bars and we get an episode of her exploring the micro-climate of the transformed Park. Kate's disturbance makes Ivy threaten the city, and she has to stretch her underused negotiation muscles to talk her down.

I like the idea of Ivy as an ambivalent character, not good or evil. She'll do whatever she wants. Also she and Kate would have killer sexual chemistry.

Harley. Exploring Harley in such a strongly feminist show would be fascinating. Joker has closed off, given himself up. Harley is forced to fend without him, and finds an antihero niche with the Gotham City Sirens (hi, Ivy!)

With Bruce's disappearance, Wayne enterprises is designing revolutionary new weapons for the Crows. It's revealed that they’re using the Riddler to design these. After Batman disappeared it was presumed Nygma went through therapy and was moved away from Gotham - in fact he's here.

This plot point is inspired by the New 52's Zero Year arc. Kate discovers the foul play when the Crow's systems go haywire because of a virus Nygma planted, sending Gotham into a blackout and giving the Riddler control of its municipal systems

Kate finds Nygma and exposes Wayne Enterprises' corruption, but in the process Riddler escapes.

Similar to Ivy, Kate's appearance excites the Riddler and he reactivates his Saw-like trap rooms across the city. Kate has a different, much blunter way of solving puzzles that frustrates him, used to Bruce's genius-level intellect.

This raises the question - is Batwoman a liability to the city?

BATGIRL(S)/BIRDS OF PREY

With Riddler's re-emergence triggers the appearance of Spoiler. In the comics Stephanie Brown is Cluemaster's daughter, but no-one really gives a shit about him. The benefit of a decade-plus old Batman means his rogues gallery can easily have kids - Stephanie had her name changed in witness protection.

Steph helps Kate beat the Riddler in collaboration with Bab's hacking skills. Kate sees potential in Spoiler and sends her to Babs to be trained.

As Batwoman's appearance reawakens super-crime in Gotham, the Crows get desperate. They hire world- renowned assassin David Cain to start taking out targets

Intro Cassandra Cain.

Cass + Steph + Babs are this series' version of the Birds of Prey

Babs teaches Cass sign-language to communicate. Steal her friendship with Clayface from the Rebirth Detective Comics - Clayface leaves the movie business again because it was unhealthy, and is trying to do good

Everyone is very protective of Cass and determined she won't fight

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psychovigilantewrites · 4 years

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Chapter 12- The Dark King

Word Count: 10, 700

Ao3

TW: Mentions of rape, abuse, violence

A/N: Thank you guys for your kind comments and support so far! I really love the enthusiasm and your responses!

I also wanted to share these amazing fanart!!

by @nessieusagi

by @milas-imaginarium

I think they’re so lovely and it makes me so happy seeing all of this!

Masterlist

Ko-Fi

The first thing you felt when you woke up the next morning was the burning soreness between your thighs.

You winced when you reached down to touch your tender folds. Your labia minora was slightly swollen, and you felt something sticky. You withdrew your hand to see dark red oxidized blood.

You got up from bed, flinching as you walked to your bathroom to wash up. After a quick shower, you head out but paused when you caught your own reflection in the mirror. There were bruises on your waist and your hips, a double crescent shaped marking around your left nipple- you hadn’t even realise he bit you there in the heat. Your eyes then darted towards your neck, taking in the dark spots that had formed on the surface of your skin.

“Fucking hell,” you muttered.

You were a fucking mess. Anyone who saw you would immediately know what you were up to the night before. Even washed and clean, you could make out your slightly swollen lips.

You reached for your makeup bag and started covering up the visible remains of the assault you welcomed- before pausing in realisation.

Mother was quiet. She hadn’t made a single comment about how dirty you were.

And you didn’t feel dirty either.

You saw your own lips quirk up in a smirk as you craned your head to expose your neck even more to dab on concealer. You had just finished getting dressed when you heard a knock on your door.

“ Hey, you up?” you heard Dick’s muffled voice from outside.

You didn’t bother to reply, but went to open the door for him.

You stared at him, as he stared at you.

“You look like shit,” you snickered, then stepped aside to allow him inside.

His eyes were red and puffy, with dark circles underneath them. He looked like he hadn’t slept in days and the fact that his complexion was gray and pale added on to the “looks like death” look.

“I feel like shit,” he groaned. You sat on the chair near your desk as he helped himself to your bed.

“Are you okay?” he frowned in concern.

“I’m fine. Why?”

“You’re walking funny,” he narrowed his eyes at you.

Shit.

You had tried to walk as normally as you could, but you were naive to think that you could have fooled Dick.

“Oh!” you feigned realisation, “My foot hurts a bit. I think I twisted it yesterday when I ran up the stairs.”

Fuck.

Another blunder.

It wasn’t a half truth, it was a straight up lie, and you knew how good Dick was at detecting lies. Judging from the tightening of his lips and the scrutinizing pause, he saw straight through you. You remained silent for a few moments. Then-

“So, Bruce told you, right?” Dick changed the subject, “How did you take it?”

You relaxed.

“I didn’t know him,” you reminded, “So it was more like a surprise to me, you know? I didn’t think it was possible. Then everything just made sense. Like, mind blowingly. The shit he said to me, the familiarity with the gadgets and my uniform, the kidnapping.”

“It killed him, you know?” Dick brought up, “Bruce, I mean. When he saw those bruises Red Hood- no, Jason- left on you. He probably didn’t show much, but Alfred called and told me how badly he took it.”

Suddenly, you were hyper aware of the hickies you currently had hidden on your neck, as if they were burning into your skin.

“Well, that was Todd’s plan, I suppose,” you shrugged. It still felt weird to talk about him in the context of the present.

“It worked,” Dick nodded, “Bruce was messed up. You’re his daughter after all.”

You didn’t know how to respond to his sad smile, so you changed the subject.

“So did you yell at him?” you smirked, “For keeping it a secret for so long?”

“Yell at him? I punched him,” he revealed.

“In the face?” you gasped.

“Wouldn’t be the first time,” he muttered, looking away.

“How long will you be staying?” you asked.

“I’m taking a week off work. If nothing by then, I’ll go back, but will continue to drop by as much as I can.”

“Anything last night?” you questioned.

“No,” he sighed, “We tried to look for people to interrogate, but it wasn’t our luck. We’ll try again. We’ve been checking out Bruce’s safehouses as well since he never removed Jason’s security clearance so he could be using one of them. So far nothing, though.”

You felt like a dark mass inside of you was eating you up, drowning you in guilt and shame.

While they were out desperately looking for Jason the night before, you knew exactly where he was and who he was doing.

“You’ll find him eventually,” you offered, “And when this stupid suspension is over, I’ll be there to help as well.”

“Yeah,” he hummed, “Jason… I want to help him. Save him. He’s angry, and you know what? I get it. I get why he’s pissed.”

So Dick got it?

He got that it was your fucking fault? That you were Jason’s replacement?

He got why Jason fucking hated you?

Dick must have noticed the change in your expression, because he quickly added, “I meant Bruce. How Bruce let Joker go.”

“Yeah, I got that,” you recovered, “It’s fine.”

“Sure, Bruce beat Joker up and all that, but I felt that Jason was always the type to think that the ends justify the means. He valued the intentions more than the action itself-”

“I said it’s fine, Dick,” you cut him off.

“And of course it does not in any way justify what he did to you-”

“Dick,” you grit, “It’s fine.”

He looked at you warily.

Or was it pity?

You didn’t need or want his fucking pity.

“Anyway,” he got up, “Breakfast?”

“Sure,” you followed suit, willing yourself to not grimace at the shooting pain between your thighs that you had forgotten about.

The two of you made your way downstairs to have breakfast in the dining room, table already set by Alfred.

“Bruce?” you asked Dick, wondering where your father was.

“He’s been in the cave the whole night,” Dick frowned as he took a seat across from you, “Hadn’t slept a wink.”

“I see,” you acknowledged, while you piled your plate with bacon and eggs.

“So,” Dick started with his mouth full, “Where did you go last night?”

“Did Alfred tell you I went out?” you narrowed your eyes.

“Mhmm.”

You immediately started to get more cautious.

“I went to see someone,” you casually told him, trying your best to lower your heartbeat.

“Oh, was it that guy you were seeing?”

“Yup.”

“You never told me his name.”

You swallowed.

“Carter.”

“Carter?” he snickered.

“What’s wrong with Carter?” you feigned a defensive stance.

“Nothing wrong,” he tried to stifle his laughter, “So is Carter the reason why you’re walking funny?”

You did not expect that.

You were going to gasp in shock, but you had food in your mouth, so you ended up choking on it and going into a coughing fit.

“Dick!” you hacked violently, eyes streaming with tears.

“What?” he guffawed, “Oh, God. Are you okay?”

“Why would you say that?” you reached for the glass of juice.

“I need to know whether I gotta have a stern talking with some guy,” he laughed, “It was an honest question! Come on, I’m your brother.”

“Even more reason not to discuss these things!” you grimaced.

“Hey, if you’re old enough to do it, you’re old enough to talk about it,” he said smugly.

“It’s none of your business,” you protested, blushing furiously.

But the universe was a bitch.

Against all your luck, your phone that you had set on the table dinged.

You looked at Dick, and he looked at you, mischief glinting in his eyes.

You had been Robin for a long time, and while your reflexes were good, it still wasn’t as good as Dick’s.

Before you could reach for your phone, Dick had lunged for it, snatching it away mere moments before you could react.

“Dick, give it back!” you panicked, jumping across the table to catch swipe it back, causing a commotion.

He stood up tall, keeping the phone out of your reach.

“Oooh, Sexy Hunk From Library, huh?” he read out the notification on your lock screen. You put in a mental reminder to change your settings later.

“Thought of my proposal?” he read out loud, skipping away from you.

Fuck.

If Jason sent anything else, he’d expose himself.

“Proposal?” Dick continued, “What proposal? Did he ask you to marry him?”

You could tackle him. You couldn’t beat Dick but you could perhaps make him drop your phone.

“Or,” he gasped, “Is he into BDSM? Fifty Shades of Grey stuff? He’s getting you to sign a contract, isn’t-”

“How about instead of distracting yourself and using humor as a coping mechanism for your obvious grief and anger, you come to the terms and accept the fact that it was your fucking little brother who kidnapped and sexually assaulted me?” you spat with venom.

You saw the moment Dick registered your words, the way his smile fell, his teasing eyes darkened, his jaw clench and his back stiffened.

Dick had never looked at you the way he did then, and suddenly you felt small in his presence, the way Batman had always made you shrink away from his excessive aura of authority that he projected while he scrutinized you.

You felt like a dark veil covered the sun, and wanted the ground to open up and swallow you whole as he looked at you with dark eyes.

“Dick-”

“You’re right,” he grit, “Thanks for the slap in the face.”

“I’m sorry-” you tried.

“Clean up the mess you made,” he cut you off before leaving you alone with spilled juice and bacon bits on the floor.

You were never the clingy type.

You never really missed anyone because you never had anyone to miss. The maids and nannies in your childhood home rotated frequently so that you couldn’t get attached to them. Looking back, you were sure your parents did it on purpose.

It was only when you started giving full trust to your new family that you knew how it felt to miss someone.

And it had always been Dick, since you had gotten close to him and he wasn’t around much. You always had a good relationship with him, and he never once got angry at you or looked at you the way he did.

And now, it was Dick you had hurt.

But frankly, you didn’t care.

Because he deserved it.

***

It wasn’t like Jason was hoping for you to agree, but it was part of his plan so he couldn’t help but hope.

At least, that’s what he was telling himself.

He was sitting at his dining table- the fact that he owned a dining table sort of made him pleased with himself- cleaning his guns.

It took you almost an hour before you finally replied his text.

When Jason heard the ding, he looked to his screen to read the notification.

I’m still thinking.

He frowned, then put his gun down. He wiped his hand stained with grease and gunpowder residue on his bare chest, leaving a trail of gray on the surface of his skin before picking up his phone to reply.

Think faster. he simply sent.

He saw that you immediately started typing back.

These things take planning, Jason. I need to make sure no one can identify me if I were to go out with you. It’s not the matter of whether or not I can decide, it’s the matter of whether or not I’m capable of eluding Batman once he sees a surveillance footage of me with you.

Jason smirked. Evidently, you were agitated.

He liked that.

He liked agitating you.

You’re a smart girl. You can figure it out. he replied and went back to cleaning his weapons when you didn’t text him back.

Two hours later, his phone dinged again.

Fine. Where do we meet?

Jason smiled widely at his success.

Meet me at 7th Dillon Avenue, Coventry. I’ll be in the alley between the old tailor shop and a thrift store. 11pm sharp.

Noted.

Oh, and babygirl? he sent again.

What?

Put on that lip gloss you always wear. he replied with a kissing emoji he knew would get under your skin.

***

I don’t exist for him.

I don’t care what he thinks.

I don’t want to please him.

You repeated to yourself again and again as you stared at your reflection in the mirror, the tube of clear lipgloss you always wore held tight in your shaking fist.

After knowing he wanted you to wear it, you were suddenly torn between putting it on or not. You didn’t think something as stupid and simple as that could drive you up the wall.

You were frowning at yourself, at how idiotic you were being.

You were already ready, wearing a tight black suit made from Kevlar thread underneath black armor, your hair out of your face, and steel toed combat boots on complete with black leather gloves you usually wore during winter. The only weapons you were bringing were a pair of escrima sticks strapped to your back, your grappling gun strapped to your upper thigh, and a small knife strapped below it. Your belt only had smoke bombs. You were ready to leave, except for the lipgloss.

You groaned, and smacked it on anyway, hating yourself silently for listening to him.

You left your phone in your room, because you knew that Bruce could track your movements with it and deactivating your GPS and whatever bug he used would be more suspicious.

You managed to sneak past Alfred and head to the garage, thankful that both Bruce and Dick were already out, and chose the most normal looking motorcycle available and slapping black duct tape on the number plate to cover it up.

You thought about how your core would just sting while riding a motorcycle. The pain between your legs had lessened, but it was still sore enough to make your movements odd and stiff.

You left the manor with your heart beat racing, thinking of how you were betraying the man who took you in and loved you.

The man whom you called your father.

The streets in Coventry were dark and empty at that time. The only shops that were open were a couple of empty dodgy bars and convenience stores. You and Batman sometimes would patrol the area because it was such a perfect place for crime to happen. For some reason, it was so empty that even criminals hardly ever targeted anyone in the area save a few residents.

You hurriedly zoomed into the alley that Jason had told you. Both the tailor shop and thrift store were closed. You immediately saw him leaning against a black, sleek classic car, helmet resting on the hood. It was your first time seeing him as Red Hood after discovering his identity.

And the image ignited a fire in your belly.

You parked next to him and switched your engine off, taking off your own black motorcycle helmet.

You walked towards him and stopped a few feet away, arms crossed.

He looked at you, up and down. Then-

“Very homemade. I like it. Black suits you better,” he drawled. “You’re packing light tonight.”

“I had to be careful,” you reminded him, “I couldn’t take much weapons. He would have noticed.”

“I didn’t know you used those,” he nodded at the escrima sticks on your back.

“Dick taught me how to use them,” you explained, “My fighting style is too rigid- Bruce would recognize it if he saw me fight next to you. I’m not as familiar with the escrima sticks, so I haven’t developed a style yet. It could throw him off- hopefully.”

“Hmm,” he hummed, and started walking towards you. You refused to budge. He came close to you and grabbed you by the hips, pulling you close against his chest.

Your breath hitched, but you willed yourself to not show any sort of reaction.

“And this?” he breathed, hands snaking up your waist, rubbing the material up and down, “Kevlar armor?”

“Zylon,” you mumbled, ignoring the growing heat between your legs, “It’s six times stronger than Kevlar.”

“And he wouldn’t notice this go missing?”

“It’s stored away,” you huffed, “It’s more like a bulletproof vest rather than a suit. He wouldn’t miss it. Not the way he would miss the tech he used on the Robin suit.”

“Impressive,” he whispered, his warm breath fanning your face. He started caressing your cheek gently. It could have been a romantic gesture, but for some reason you thought that it was more threatening. “You’re even wearing contacts to change the color of your eyes. See? I knew you were smart”

“That’s a given,” you scoffed, looking sideways. Anywhere to avoid his eyes, though he was wearing a red domino mask with white lens. “Why do you even wear a mask if you already have a helmet?”

“Why did you wear your lipgloss when you had no obligation to listen to me?” he smirked, his thumb pressed on your shiny lips.

You slapped his hand away and looked at him in defiance as you put on a black bandana over your nose and mouth, tying it behind your head to give you a sense of protected identity.

He chuckled, and let you go.

“This is our rendezvous point. If anything happens, we meet back here. Now hop in,” he walked towards his car.

“Why can’t I take my own vehicle?” you demanded.

“Because I want you next to me,” he grinned, and put on his helmet. The minute it rested on his head, you saw it activate, the white glowing eyes switched on and you heard the very soft sound of his electronic breaths.

You frowned.

It was state of the art tech. You knew it must have had additional features like night vision and zoom lenses, not unlike the one you owned. You wondered where or how he had procured it.

“If that’s your only reason, then I’m taking my bike,” you defied.

He was already going to enter the driver’s seat when he stopped midway. He turned to look at you, and for some reason, it made you shudder.

In a flash, he was already behind you, taking your arms to incapacitate you and slammed your front onto the hood of his car.

He was unbelievably fast- you couldn’t believe that they were human reflexes. It must have been a result of the Lazarus Pit that Bruce briefed you on.

He bent over you, a hand in your hair forcing your head down against the warm car.

“Don’t get too cocky, baby girl,” he cautioned, “I still don’t trust you enough.”

You had to admit that the vulnerable position you were in sort of made your pussy clench.

“Fine,” you conceded, “I’ll go with you.”

You felt the pressure disappear and heard the car door slam. You grumbled and rubbed your cheek, before following suit.

Just because you knew it was Jason, you had let your guard down. You forgot how unstable he actually was. You made a mental reminder to be more cautious of his mood bursts.

You slammed the door shut. The interior of the car looked just as sleek as the exterior, with black leather seats- the passenger and driver’s seat were joined together- and an old school cassette player with nothing playing. The car was spacious and looked like a collector’s car. Again, you were left to wonder where he got it.

“Where are we going?” you asked, looking out the window, trying to avoid how sexy his arms looked when he gripped the steering wheel.

How could arms even be sexy?

“We’re heading to iClub,” he stated.

“On Verne Avenue? The one owned by the Ibenescus’?” you frowned, “They still a problem for you?”

“Big operation. Proud family,” he huffed, “International business. Yes, they’re a problem. They’ve been trying to hide it from me, but my men say they’re still active.”

“So what are you going to do about it?”

You felt uneasy.

“Just have a little talk with Victor,” he shrugged, “He’s in charge of the operations now after the Patru Fatri, and the cousins. He’s more distant from the main family, but an Ibenescu nonetheless.”

“Well, I hope the club doesn’t check IDs,” you mumbled jokingly to yourself.

To your surprise, you heard Jason bark out a loud laugh. It was an odd sound coming from the voice scrambler inside his helmet.

“Don’t worry, sweetheart,” he rested a hand on your lap, which you felt almost burn, “You look way over 21.”

*** What Gotham lacked in security, it made up with entertainment.

Theatrics.

Its affinity for producing and attracting bizarre individuals always made for good dinner discussion. You just never thought you would be on the side of the crazies.

Jason had parked a couple of blocks away from the club. You recognized the area, as it was just a lane away from The Black Bass Bar, where Jason had decapitated the cousins and put their heads on spikes.

The two of you walked towards the club.

“Listen here,” he started, “This isn’t your area of expertise. You do exactly what I tell you to do. You don’t open your mouth unless I say so. I’ve worked hard to earn fear from these people and I’m not going to let you fuck that up for me. Understood?”

“Whatever,” you huffed.

You noticed how the bouncers started getting nervous when they saw the two of you approaching. They had started to sweat and fidget, trying excessively hard to focus on filtering the going ins and outs of guests.

“Red Hood, sir,” one of them nodded and let the two of you inside. The moment you stepped in, you felt like you were immediately deafened by the loud techno music that was playing, and blinded by the flashing bright lights.

You noticed how many of the customers recognized Red Hood, and flinched away from him, avoiding eye contact. Their gaze would linger longer on you, curiosity in their eyes.

The both of you squeezed past the sweaty dancers on the floor, and towards the VIP area on the other side of the club.

Seated on the long suede purple sofas were three men, each with at least two women on their arms. The moment they saw you approaching, they immediately went rigid.

Red Hood simply strutted to the area and you followed behind him.

“Ah, Red Hood,” the man with straw hair that was slicked back and navy blue shirt that he had left unbuttoned, revealing his hairy chest, greeted. “Take a seat, take a seat! I see you have a guest with you, as well.”

“Victor,” Red Hood nodded, sitting on the chair. He crossed his legs and spread his arms across the back of the sofa, lounging comfortably. He looked over to you and nodded to his side, silently telling you to sit.

You obeyed, though less relaxed than Red Hood. It was slightly quieter at the VIP lounge, but you still had to strain your ears to hear them speak.

“Can I get you a drink, my friend?” Victor offered, “Maybe something for the lady?”

“You want anything, princess?” Red Hood turned to you.

“No, thank you,” you grit.

You hated that he was calling you pet names while in the presence of a crime lord. It was humiliating, and made you feel like you were just an accessory to him, not unlike those hardly dressed girls that were on Victor’s side.

You noticed one of them.

He had his arm wrapped around her waist, but she looked extremely uncomfortable. She was blonde, wearing a black dress with a plunging neckline, and didn’t look that much older than you. Even with the layers of badly applied makeup, you could tell she had eyebags and dark circles, perhaps maybe even bruises on her face.

“Angelica,” Victor called a girl from the other end of the sofa, “Come here give my friend some company.”

The girl called Angelica had tanned skin and exotic features, and was a brunette with curls that hung to her hips and was wearing a body hugging deep purple glittery tube dress. She came to sit on Red Hood’s other side, snuggling up close to him and started rubbing her hand on his thigh, and whispered something that you couldn’t hear.

And he just let her.

You clenched your jaw.

No, you couldn’t be jealous. It didn’t make sense for you to be. Yet, the sudden tightness of your chest said otherwise.

You saw Red Hood angled his face slightly towards you, probably to see your reaction.

You couldn’t see it, but you somehow knew he was smirking.

“So what brings you here?” Victor asked, trying to hide his nervousness.

It was the first time you met with an Ibenescu face to face. You thought that they would have a thick accent, but Victor sounded just as American as you and Red Hood.

“I was just wondering how things were going on your end,” Red Hood shrugged.

“Things are going excellent,” he replied, “As you can see, the club is doing great. People are enjoying themselves.”

“And the drugs?” Red Hood brought up.

“Ah, straight to business, like always,” Victor chuckled, “We’ve sold almost all our stock this month. You can come by and get your share of profits any time.”

“Who are your clients?”

“Local distributors, as well as some international ones,” he explained, “With explicit instruction to avoid dealing with the underaged, of course.”

“And how can you be so sure they’re listening?” Red Hood demanded.

“You know us, Red Hood,” he boasted, “The Ibenescu Family is one of the most powerful families in Gotham. Our name is very well known in the underground. We have people everywhere. Our operations span from the Americas, to Europe, to South East Asia.”

“And which operation did you come from, sweetheart?” he addressed the girl next to him.

She looked at him with shock, gaping like a fish out of water.

“Angelica here is from the Philippines,” Victor answered for her, his voice grittier than normal, “She migrated to find work. I provided for her. Isn’t that right, Angel?”

“Y-yes, sir,” she stuttered, “Mister Victor has been very good to me. He gave me a job when others wouldn’t. I am forever grateful for him.”

You frowned at the way she recited those words, almost like she memorized it from a playcard.

“The American dream, as the say,” Victor continued, “My family are very familiar with it. We are immigrants that came a long time ago, and America provided for us. I wanted to do the same for others.”

“Did you now?” Red Hood hummed.

“Of course,” he nodded aggressively, “But enough about me. Who is this ravishing lady you have here? I have not seen you before, my dear.”

You looked at Red Hood, who nodded subtly once.

“I’m V,” you made up on the spot.

“V?” Victor repeated.

“For Vendetta,” you finished.

You heard Red Hood chuckle next to you.

Victor raised an eyebrow, “Well, my dear, you must be special to my good friend Red Hood, here. I didn’t think he was capable of laughter. Where did he hide you all this while?”

“Ah, you see, Victor,” Red Hood cut in, “I did not hide her, because she isn’t mine to hide. V here is her own person, who happened to become partners with me for tonight. People only hide property, and women aren’t property, am I right?”

There was an unmistakable threat in his voice.

“Of course not,” Victor agreed, “I respect women.”

Suddenly, there was a tension in the air as the two men looked at each other.

Then, Victor started laughing.

“You’re too tense, Red Hood,” he boomed, “And you should trust your associates more. Especially the ones who sacrificed their entire industry for you.”

“Sacrifice, huh?” he said softly. Then, Red Hood turned his body towards you, scooting closer to your side. He let his hand rest on your thigh.

“You got my back, baby girl?” he whispered into your ear.

“Yes, but I’m not killing anyone,” you whispered back, “And you shouldn’t either.”

He ignored you and went back to Victor.

“Victor,” Red Hood said, “I’m feeling a little… Restless tonight. I want one of your girls.”

You clenched your jaw.

“Oh?” Victor widen his eyes, “Finally taking up my offer! Of course, of course! Pick anyone of my lovely ladies.”

“I want that one,” Red Hood pointed to the blonde Victor was obviously possessive over.

“Elena?” Victor started laughing awkwardly, “I’m afraid she’s not available, Red Hood. But you’re welcome to choose anyone else. Angel here is very popular.”

“No,” Red Hood insisted, “I want your Elena.”

“That’s not possible,” Victor denied, annoyance on his face, “Elena is only for me.”

“Well, since you respect women so much, let’s hear it from her, huh?” Red Hood teased, “Elena, sweetheart, would you keep me company tonight?”

Elena’s eyes were wide and terrified. She looked like a deer caught in the headlights of a car. You felt bad for her and wondered why Red Hood was putting her in such a difficult situation.

“I-I-I’m v-very sorry,” she squeaked. You could hear her thick Romanian accent. “I o-only serve Mister Ibenescu.”

“What, this clown?” Red Hood scoffed, earning a glare from Victor, “Unlike him, I’m sure I can give you a pretty good time.”

“S-sorry,” she stuttered, “T-that is not possible.”

Red Hood kept silent.

“There you go, the woman herself said it,” Victor commented, “And you’d want to respect a woman’s wishes right, Red Hood?”

“How old are you?” Red Hood asked softly, ignoring Victor.

“T-twenty-four,” she replied.

“You don’t look twenty-four,” he hummed, “How long have you been working with Victor?”

“Two years,” she automatically responded.

“I see,” he nodded.

You could tell she was lying, about both her age and how long she worked. And you knew Jason caught on as well.

Jason leaned back, taking out his gun from his thigh holster and casually dumped it on the low rise table, clinking against the glass bottles and shot glasses.

Ibenescu tensed up, and then there were about fifteen men who pointed their guns at the two you. You were about halfway standing up, reaching for your escrima sticks when Red Hood caught you by the shoulder to stop you.

You frowned at him, then sat back down.

You noticed that the music had suddenly stopped, and everyone in the club was silently looking, worry in their eyes and preparation to take off if anything were to get out of hand. You guessed that these sort of things happened frequently, and the club probably had a system for when it did.

“Relax, will you?” he growled at everyone, “Was just getting a little uncomfortable there, Jesus Christ.”

Victor nodded at his men, and they set their guns down. The music continued to play and the customers continued to dance as if nothing had happened.

You now knew what he was doing.

From the very beginning, he already planned out what he was going to say and what he was going to do in order to prepare for an inevitable fight. Based on observation, he knew that Elena was Victor’s favourite and that he would not let anyone touch her, so he provoked him by asking for her.

Asking Elena her age and how long she worked was also a calculated and pivotal move. Since both you and Red Hood could tell when someone was lying, the fact that she was indeed hiding what seemed to be minor information told volumes that she wasn’t supposed to be by Victor’s side, meaning that she wasn’t there by choice, and you could assume that she was trafficked.

From there, he confirmed his sources that Victor had not ended his human and sex trafficking trade, and had reasonable reason to attack.

And by putting the gun on the table, however he relaxed he seemed, was a massive power move. He showed that he wasn’t afraid of being unarmed- though, you knew he was probably packing more than one gun. Tactical wise, when Ibenescu’s men showed themselves, they also showed their numbers to you. You now knew where they were, what weapons they used, and how many of them you needed to take down.

You smirked to yourself underneath your improvised mask. You knew already how smart and strategic he was based on how he conquered the underground in only just a few months, but seeing him act in the flesh, you truly appreciated his brain.

“It almost seems like you’re scared of me, Victor,” he drawled, “Are you?”

“You did kill members of my family,” he mumbled.

“It was their fault now, wasn’t it?” Red Hood shrugged, “I told them to stop. They wouldn’t. Now, if you’re not as stupid as they were, Vic, you wouldn’t have to be scared, am I right?”

Red Hood leaned forward towards Victor, resting his elbows on his knees and tilting his head sideways.

“With all due respect, Red Hood, they were not stupid,” Victor argued, “They were simply protecting the pride of our name.”

“And how about you? You’re not protecting your family’s pride?”

“I prioritize my life over pride,” Ibenescu admitted, “And I respect you as Gotham’s Dark King.”

Dark King? What the fuck?

“Dark King,” Red Hood repeated, laughing lightly, “Got a nice ring to it, don’t you think, princess?”

He elbowed your side playfully.

“A bit cheesy for my taste,” you grit.

“Aw, the missus doesn’t like it. To be fair, I think it’s cheesy too,” he stated, “But you know what I don’t like even more, Victor?”

Victor frowned at him in question.

“I said,” Red Hood snarled, “You know what I don’t like even more, Victor?”

“W-what, Red Hood?” Victor sputtered.

“People who lie to me,” he growled.

In a blink of an eye, with the speed you had witnessed earlier and many times before, he had managed to stand up, reach for the gun on the table, jumped across and stepped on Victor’s chest who was leaning in panic against the sofa, and cocked the gun towards his head.

All before you could even register his initial movement.

The fifteen men aimed their semi-automatics at Red Hood, prepared to gun him down.

The music had stopped, and from your peripheral vision, you saw the crowd were ushered to the exit in chaos.

“If your men don’t put down their weapons, I’ll shoot,” Red Hood looked down at Victor.

“What is the point, Red Hood?” Victor defied, “You would kill me anyways. I might as well try to take you down with me.”

Red Hood paused for a moment. Then-

“Baby girl?”

You nodded. “Got it.”

The first person you attacked was the one pointing his gun to your back.

The sticks felt unfamiliar, yet refreshing.

You managed to knock him out before he could shoot at you, but by that time others were already pulling their triggers. You locked your next target.

You ran at him and slid on the floor, taking his knees out and simultaneously pushing him into the next person whom you used your stick to hit directly at the centre of his head.

But you could sense a gun being aimed at you, and you dived behind the sofa to use as a shield. You heard glass shattering around you, and on the floor you found someone’s dropped mobile phone. You reached for it, and with aggressive force, sent it spinning through the air and hit the culprit in the eye, blinding him.

You came out of hiding and lunged your sticks at his throat.

You spun around to grab the neck of a semi-automatic and directed it upwards, causing bullets to spray across the club.

Your ears heard nothing but ringing for the next minute.

You pounded onto the guard’s chest using your sticks, and ended the attack with a blow to his temples.

You had counted five, so you reacted quickly to lock on your next target, but when you came out of your adrenaline induced tunnel vision, you noticed everyone else were already lying on the floor.

During the time you knocked out five men, Red Hood had already killed ten.

And now, he was left with a sobbing, begging Victor Ibenescu who was on his knees on the glass covered floor.

“What should I do with you, Vic?” Red Hood drawled, “I’ve already gutted your cousins, put some of them on display. And it was a pretty display, wasn’t it?”

You approached them.

Out of the corner of your eye, you noticed a whimpering Elena who was in a fetal position against a toppled over sofa, terror in her eyes.

“P-please,” Victor stuttered, “I promise I’ll shut down the operation, for real this time!”

“I don’t give second chances, Vic,” he told him, “Now I’m just thinking about whether I have the time to skin you alive before the cops show up.”

“Red Hood,” you called out, “You don’t need to. The cops are already on the way- hell, Batman is probably a couple of minutes out. We should leave.”

“And leave him here unpunished?” he jabbed the gun into Vic’s head, causing him to recoil from the heat of the muzzle. “I don’t think so.”

“Red-”

“Elena!” Red Hood barked, “Come here. Now.”

You saw Elena struggle to get onto her feet and limped her way to you.

“What do you think, sweetheart?” Red Hood asked, “Should we leave him for the cops to find and deal with, or…”

He looked over to her and gently took her hand, handing her his own gun.

“Do you want to kill him?”

You gaped at Red Hood, just how Elena was.

“M-m-me?” she managed.

“Yes, you,” he confirmed.

“You can’t possibly make her-” you started.

“Don’t you think she’s the one who should decide what happens to him?” he cut you off.

Elena still looked shocked, and held the gun as if it was going to hurt her.

“Hey,” you approached her slowly, “You don’t have to. Once the police come, they’ll take him away and put him behind bars for the rest of his life. You don’t have to be scared anymore. They’ll help protect you.”

The poor girl was shaking so bad, you were worried she might set off the gun accidentally.

“No,” she whispered.

“Elena-” you tried.

“No!” she shrieked at you, causing you to stumble slightly back in surprise, “You- you don’t know. He do things to me! Again and again! He took me. I thirteen! Now I eighteen! No!”

You were utterly speechless. How could you reply to that?

She held the gun properly now, with two hands.

“He made me kill baby. Two times!” she sobbed.

Your heart broke.

She shuffled closer to him.

“Elena, my dear,” Victor started frantically begging, “You’ve always been my favourite. I’ve always treated you well, haven’t I?”

“No!”

BANG!

You heard Victor let out an inhuman screech.

Elena had shot him between the legs. Next to you, you heard Red Hood chuckle.

She pulled the trigger one last time, and crumpled onto the floor at the same time Victor did.

You wanted to approach her, comfort her, anything.

But Red Hood beat you to it.

“Listen to me,” he growled to get her attention since she was sobbing hysterically, “Are you listening?!”

She nodded.

“When the police come, you tell them that I made you shoot, alright? You tell them that I said I would rape you then gut you alive if you didn’t shoot him. You understand me?” he shook her.

“Y-yes,” she hiccuped.

“Repeat it. Tell me what you are going to tell them.”

“R-red Hood say he rape me and kill me if I no shoot,” she bawled.

“Good,” he nodded, “You did good, Elena.”

He then turned to you. “Let’s go.”

The two of you quickly rushed to the exit. You were just about to leave the club when-

“W-wait!” Elena called out, “Red Hood!”

He looked at her.

“T-thank you.”

He left without saying a word.

***

You were being really quiet in the car.

Jason thought that you were still shaken over what had happened.

Sure, maybe you saved people from being mugged or raped, and perhaps even some trafficked girls in the past.

But he was sure that those girls didn’t have the option Jason graciously gave Elena.

Jason thought that you were probably thinking about what those girls you saved in the past would have done if they were granted the same choice.

He sped up, hands gripped tight around the steering wheel. His body was still buzzing from leftover adrenaline, and he was itching for something.

An illegal car race. A good old fashioned hand-to-hand combat with somebody who could keep up with him. Hell, even a nice and long jerk off session.

He was bothered by the silence, despite being alone the whole time before this.

He put in a cassette and AC/DC started blasting through the speakers. He saw you jump at the sudden noise.

Somehow the ride back to the rendezvous point seemed longer than expected.

“Why do you still have a cassette player, and cassettes?” you spoke for the first time since the club.

“I’m old school that way,” he jested.

You ignored him and continued looking out the window.

That annoyed him.

Fuck, why was he so fidgety? Why did he want your fucking attention so much?

He felt like that kid in kindergarten who pulled on the pigtails of the girl he liked.

Finally, the both of you were back in the alleyway.

He turned off both the music and the engine, and took off his helmet. He combed through his hair with his hands and tossed the helmet in the backseat. He saw that you had taken your mask off as well, but hadn’t made a move to leave.

So he just sat there with you in silence, unsure of what to do or say- like a fucking idiot.

Fuck.

You were driving him crazy.

Thankfully, you broke the silence.

“What did your sources say about the Ibenescus’ still trafficking girls?” you wondered.

“There was a recent shipment of girls from Philippines, Thailand, Russia, and India,” he explained, “Only the Ibenescus’ would still have the guts to carry out the operation. Like Victor- may he rest in peace- had said, the Ibenescus’ are powerful. They have an international business they just can’t afford to sacrifice.”

“But since Victor is dead, someone else would just take his place,” you frowned in the dark, your outline illuminated only by the single dim street light from outside.

“And I’ll keep on killing every single one of them,” he grit.

“But like you said, it’s an international operation,” you argued, “Even if it was just the States, you can’t possibly stop every single operation under the Ibenescus out there.”

“Just like however much you and Batman patrol at night, you can’t stop every single crime, right?” he sneered.

You remained silent.

“It’s the same fucking thing,” Jason insisted, “Except that Elena got her justice. True and proper justice. Or are you telling me she made the wrong call? That she shouldn’t have shot his balls off and killed him after he raped her for years and made her abort her baby twice?”

“There must be some other way,” you muttered.

Jason was annoyed at how stubborn you were, but frankly he understood.

Because that’s what Batman did. He brainwashes you into thinking that his way was the only way.

“What if I told you that one fifth of the trafficked girls were aged below twelve?” he said softly, “What if I told you that the Ibenescus’ have been providing the elite pedophile rings with children? Would you want there to be some other way?”

You looked at him, shocked.

“Elite pedophile ring?” you gaped.

“Batman didn’t tell me either when I was Robin,” he grumbled, “It’s either he didn’t know about it, or he kept it a secret from us. And knowing him, I doubt it’s the former. Weren’t there days where he insisted on being alone?”

You frowned, taking in everything Jason had said. He was proud of himself. Just after a few hours with him, he could already see your resolve faltering.

“As long as I can clear Gotham of sex trafficking, as long as there are less girls like Elena here, and as long as there are no more children involved, I’m satisfied,” he continued, “That’s what I do. I give out justice and fix things. I know most victims like her don’t get the opportunity to get closure the way she did, so I’ll be the one to make that decision and carry it out for them.”

“Oh, so you’re supposedly Gotham’s savior, then? A fucking Angel of Death or something?” you answered sarcastically.

“Didn’t you hear Vic?” he chuckled, “I’m the fucking Dark King.”

You scoffed, and crossed your arms, still looking outside.

“You were pretty good with the sticks,” Jason commented, changing the subject. “Though definitely not as good as Dick.”

Fuck, why was he still talking to you?

“I don’t usually use them,” you shot him a glare that Jason thought was more cute than threatening, “I usually use Krav Maga.”

“Yes, I’m familiar with your subpar fighting skills,” he smirked.

“That’s not fair,” you huffed, “The Pit gave you peak human abilities. You can’t compare yourself to me.”

Of course Bruce knew it was the Pit that revived Jason.

“Baby girl, I was much better than you when I was Robin,” he poked.

Why was he teasing you like this? Flirting with you like he was normal?

Joking with you as if he wasn’t planning to hurt you?

“I doubt it,” you pouted.

Even in the dim light, Jason could still make out the shiny traces of lipgloss that were still left on your lips.

Before he could stop himself, he reached out a hand to your chin, and pressed his thumb against your lips, sticky from the lipgloss.

He saw the way your breath hitched in surprise, the way your eyes darted from his eyes to his lips, the way you gulped.

“Why do you like my lipgloss so much?” you spoke, lips brushing against his thumb.

Fuck.

“Because, baby girl,” he drawled and scooted closer to you, “Ever since day one, I kept on imagining your shiny, wet lips around my cock.”

A small gasp escaped your mouth.

Which made his cock start to fill up.

“Want to make my fantasies a reality, princess?” he smirked.

“Why would I?” you whispered, “I don’t owe you anything.”

“It’s not about owing me,” he came closer, now rubbing his thumb all over your lips, smudging your lipgloss, and picking up some of your spit. “It’s about helping each other out.”

He gripped your waist with his other hand, rubbing up and down through your armor.

“Didn’t you like last night?” he purred, gripping your thigh. He noticed how you easily spread them wider apart.

“Didn’t you come all over my cock?” he forced his thumb inside your mouth, hooking it at your lower teeth and forced your face closer to his.

“Didn’t you wear your lipgloss anyway just to get my attention?” he smirked.

He had expected you to pull away, or even bite his fucking finger, but to his surprise, your lips closed in on his thumb.

And you started sucking.

All while looking up at him with your innocent, puppy dog eyes.

And for some reason, even though it was just his one fucking thumb, he felt like he was being consumed by the warmth and the wetness and the fucking softness of your mouth.

Jason was in trouble now.

Because you had started swirling your tongue around his finger as you sucked.

Jason couldn’t hold back his groan.

And from the delight he saw you in your eyes, he already knew what type you were.

You were the type to get turned on by his pleasure, his approval, his praises.

Typical Robin complex.

“Baby girl,” he breathed, “I’m not going to come unless you do the exact same thing but with my cock instead.”

He smirked when you gave him an irritated look, but then-

“Ow! Fuck!” he snatched his hand away.

You fucking bit his finger.

Again.

And this time you were looking at him with complete smugness.

“Oh, you’re in trouble now, princess,” he growled. Then, he grabbed a fistful of your hair and tugged you to him roughly, forcing his tongue in your mouth as he kissed you violently and grabbed your tits which were still covered by all your-

“Fuck, why do you wear so much fucking armor,” he gasped.

“Because I’d like to actually live in case I get shot,” you shot back at him.

Jason glared at you. He usually loved your attitude, but somehow he felt really irritated by you that night. You weren’t as snarky and confident the night before. Obviously you were less nervous, and less afraid of him.

He needed to change that.

In a flash, he pushed you hard against the locked door of his car, earning a shocked gasp from you. He crawled over to you , engulfing your body with his own.

It was hard to move in the car, but the compact setting made Jason feel like he was trapping you in a cage.

He put his hand around your neck and squeezed lightly while he attacked your mouth with his own again. This time, his kisses were less pretty.

He bit and nipped at your lips, your tongue, forcing both of your teeth to click together.

He could hear you panting hard, and moaning into his mouth, sometimes letting out soft whimpers.

“You trying to sass me, baby?” he breathed over your face, lips brushing against yours. He increased the force of his throttle.

“You forget who’s in charge here?” he whispered, appreciating the way your mouth just fucking fell open.

“Who’s in charge, princess?” he growled.

He saw your eyes roll upwards, your lids fluttering close, and felt your thighs squeeze together.

Fuck.

Were you getting fucking turned on by his choking?

“Y-you,” you said in stuttered breaths.

“That’s right, baby,” he let go of your neck, causing you to gasp for air.

Then, Jason leaned back against the door on his side, and parted his legs.

He was glad the Impala’s seats were joined, without any annoying bumps that parted the passenger and driver’s seat. It allowed more room to move around.

Once he saw you catch your breath, he patted to the spot between his legs.

“My cock ain’t gonna suck itself,” he smirked.

He could see the fire in your eyes as you came over to him, bent on all fours. You laid on the seat on your belly, your mouth close to his cock that was borderline becoming extremely painful.

He had to wear protective cups while he worked, which meant that getting an erection was excruciating.

He tilted his head in curiosity when he saw you stare at his thigh holsters, biting your lower lip.

“You see something you like?” he teased.

Your gaze snapped back at him, a blush creeping onto your cheeks. You ignored his question and started working on his belt buckle.

Once they were off, you impatiently pulled his pants down, but was puzzled when you saw his jockstraps.

He almost laughed when he saw the confusion etched on your features.

“They’re just like normal briefs, baby, but with extra protection,” he winked, cupped his junk, and gave it a little shake to make a point.

“I- I knew that,” you fumbled, and went to hook your fingers in the elastic waistband. You brought them down with some difficulty, as they were tight.

But Jason enjoyed seeing you struggle, so he let you figure it out.

And boy, the look on your face when you finally took his cock out.

He hissed at the relief when his cock slapped back onto his lower abdomen when it was free, but your expression made him chuckle.

“Did- did I really have that inside me last night?” your voice went up an octave.

“Inside you, and outside, and inside, and outside,” he gave you a shit eating grin.

“Very funny,” you glared, but gulped again at the sight of his erection, “Jeez. No wonder I couldn’t walk properly all day.”

“And I assure you, every single time I fuck you, you wouldn’t be able to- ah, fuck!” he got cut off by the pleasure that suddenly shot up his spine when you gripped his shaft hard.

He looked at you and saw you gave the same cheeky grin back.

Fucking hell.

You bent down, and gave a small experimental lick at the tip of his cock. He could see the way your eyebrows knitted together, how your eyes were so full of fucking contemplation. Like you were thinking of a strategy to make him come undone.

You started lapping your tongue a few more times over the head of his penis before taking the tip into your mouth and started sucking softly.

Jason groaned, and then reached his hand to tangle into your hair. Not to control your movements, not to show you how it’s done, but just because he needed to grip something.

From the tip, he saw you let your saliva drool down his shaft, making it glisten. Then, you sunk down and took more of him in. You got too ambitious, because you went down too fast and then he felt you gag around his dick.

“Fuck,” he grunted as he felt your fucking throat try to push him out, “Take it slow, baby. We have all night.”

You released him from your mouth and gasped for air, a string of saliva connecting his tip to your mouth, tears streaming down your face, eyes and nose red.

Shit.

It was a fucking sight, alright.

“I-I’m sorry,” you sputtered, “I wasn’t sure- I don’t- it’s my first time.”

And holy hell, did Jason’s heart flutter at your innocent apology.

“It’s okay,” he wiped the tears from your cheeks like he was your lover, like he fucking cared. “It feels great when you gag on my cock, but you don’t have to take it all in at once. Here.”

He pushed your head back down to take him in rough, but not too rough.

Jason needed to be a little forceful, a little violent with you. He needed to hide the fact that you sucking on his cock for the first time didn’t flick a switch of emotion within him.

“You take in as much as you can,” he panted, “And your hand can do the rest.”

He wrapped your hand around the base of his shaft.

“So when you go up,” he pulled your hair to guide you up his length, slick with your spit and his precum.

“Your hand follows your mouth,” he gripped your hand and moved it upwards as well, following the motion. “And don’t forget to suck.”

He saw that you got the hang of it pretty fast, and soon, Jason was groaning and moaning, and tugging at your hair.

He fought hard to not cant his hips upwards and start fucking your mouth. He fought hard to be considerate, to not hurt you, to not give you too much of what you could handle.

He didn’t want a repeat of the night before.

Yet, the fire in his belly and the dark voices inside his head told him to grip your head with both his hands and fucking use your mouth like a toy.

But, no. Jason was in control. And he didn’t want that. Not tonight.

He saw that you were watching him as you bobbed your head in motion, and he knew you were enjoying the sight of him. He felt vulnerable to you, open and exposed.

He hated that feeling. The shame of being laid out like that when someone was watching him-it made him feel small and guilty.

But the shame and humiliation and guilt was what made the whole thing more enjoyable.

Soon enough, he felt the familiar feeling of his gut tightening, his toes curling in his steel boots.

“Stop,” he rasped, pulling you away.

You looked at him with worry in your eyes that made Jason almost come anyway.

“I- I was close,” he explained.

“Isn’t that the point?” you smirked.

“Wanna fuck you first,” he murmured.

Then, you started blushing.

“Uhm, it still hurts a lot from yesterday,” you answered sheepishly, biting your lip awkwardly.

It reminded Jason of how you were with him the first time he met you at the library, how you were shy and a blushing mess, when you didn’t know his identity. It seemed so long ago, and for the first time, he wished things could go back to being that way.

“Fine,” he gruffed, “Come back down here, then.”

When you started sucking on him again, he added, “Didn’t know you were so weak. Thought you’d be used to getting thrown around by now.”

It really wasn’t fair for him to say that, and he knew it was hurtful.

But he wasn’t the good guy in this story.

You shot him a glare, and then popped his dick out.

“Jason, my mouth was around your cock when you said that, and if I were to accidentally bite you, well,” you retorted.

“You wouldn’t do that, baby,” he chuckled.

“Why wouldn’t I?”

“Because, princess,” he drawled, and forced you to continue sucking, “My cock- ungh- is your favourite part of me, isn’t it?”

And as if you conceded, admitting he was right, you started to suddenly increase the pace. Filthy wet sounds filled the car as Jason heard the sound of rain in the background, and noticed that the inside of his windows had started to fog up.

Your warm, wet mouth consumed him whole, and he felt his balls tighten and tighten.

“Baby,” he gasped, “I’m gonna- I’m gonna-”

Despite his warnings, you still went on, as if you were determined to finish your job.

He groaned loud and long as he spilled his cum inside your mouth.

He felt you fucking drink it up.

Fuck.

When he was done blowing his load, you were giving him soft, gentle licks on his now sensitive cock.

And you then you sat up and smiled proudly.

“You waiting for me to give you a candy, or some shit?” he snickered, “Or a gold star?”

“Maybe you should,” you huffed and crossed your arms, sitting back properly in the passenger seat.

Jason put his pants back on, and sat up as well.

But then he noticed you squirming slightly, your respiratory rate fast, small pants escaping you. You were clenching your thighs together.

He smirked.

He reached out and caressed your cheek with one finger.

“Want me to help you out?” he offered.

“I’m fine,” you said, “I’ll deal with it later. I should go back soon. What time is it?”

“Almost two,” he glanced at the dashboard clock.

“Batman and Nightwing are probably just leaving the club by now,” you said out loud, “I’m sure they’ll keep on patrolling, though. Unless they got a clue.”

“Clue?”

“Yeah,” you hummed absentmindedly, looking outside at the rain.

You remained silent for a while.

Jason hated the silence.

Then-

“It’s your face, by the way,” you started.

“What?”

“Your face. My favourite part of you,” you avoided Jason’s eyes.

Jason was taken aback at your confession.

Why would his face be your favourite part? He had scars all over, eyebags and bloodshot eyes, and he was pretty sure his nose was more crooked than average.

“You’re good looking,” you said as if you were mad.

“Well, you’re not too bad yourself,” Jason blurted before he could stop himself.

You blinked at him in surprise.

Fuck.

He fucked up.

He wanted to punch himself.

What were the two of you doing? It wasn’t like it was a fucking date. It wasn’t like he cared about you that way. It wasn’t like he wanted you all to himself, and never let go.

Fuck.

He was done being the charming, kind, gentleman Jason Haywood.

So why was he still acting like he was?

***

“Where were you?” Dick demanded when you opened the door.

He was still in his Nightwing uniform, sans the mask.

“What?”

“Alfred said you weren’t around, and you left your phone at home,” he persisted, “Where did you go?”

“I got some junk,” you pointed to the big bag of junk food on your bed.

“Alfred said he noticed you weren’t around at midnight, and you only just got back an hour ago. It took you almost three hours just to get junk?” he narrowed his eyes at you.

“Fine,” you conceded, “I went to see Carter.”

“Why did you leave your phone?”

“I forgot, okay?” you exasperatedly flailed your hands. “I’m grounded from patrol, not from going out. What’s the big deal?”

Dick frowned at you.

Your heart was beating so hard you were afraid he could hear it.

“Where did you meet him?” he continued to interrogate.

There were no more room for half truths.

“Robinson Park,” you answered, “We spent some time in his car. Lost track of time. And- you know what? I don’t even need to tell you all of this! It’s none of your business, Dick.”

“There was someone new with Jason tonight,” he stated.

Fuck.

“Someone new?” you repeated, tilting your head in feigned curiosity.

“A girl,” he continued, “She’s skilled.”

You frowned. “Who is she?”

“Eye witness said she calls herself V,” he told you, “She uses escrima sticks and a form of arnis and silat hybrid.”

“Hmm,” you pondered, “And? Is she someone you and Jason knew?”

“We’ve been wondering about that,” he muttered.

Your eyes widen.

“You think that was me?!” you shrieked.

“You tell me!” Dick retorted.

“Why, Dick?” you shouted, “Why?”

“You were out for god knows how long and suddenly Jason has a girl with your knowledge of martial arts at his side?” he snarled, “What else am I supposed to think?”

“One, fucking anyone could learn martials arts!” you argued, “Two, I was out with Carter yesterday as well! There wasn’t anyone with Red Hood yesterday!”

“Red Hood wasn’t seen yesterday,” he debated, “And you haven’t even shown me a picture of this Carter you’re seeing. What’s his last name? Where is he from? You need to tell me. You need to tell me the truth.”

“I am,” you grit, “You need to figure out your bullshit, Dick!”

“What?”

“I get it, okay,” you sighed, and sat down on your bed, “Jason, your brother, he betrayed your trust. He’s angry at Bruce, but why didn’t he come to you?”

Dick simply looked at you.

“You trusted Jason when he was Robin, as family,” you explained, “The way you trusted me. And now that trust is destroyed, you’re questioning me as well.”

You looked at him with a sad smile.

“I’m not like Jason, Dick,” you tried to convince him, “I’m me. I’m your sister. I have no reason to hurt you or Bruce. I love you both. Okay?”

Dick stared at you, and you saw tears pooling his eyes.

That made your heart sink to your stomach.

“I’m sorry,” he blinked away the tears, “You’re right. I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay,” you got up and hugged him. He hugged you back tightly, pressing his cheek into the top of your head, “I love you, Dick. I’ll help you guys out with this, okay? I mean, I know I’m not as good as either of you, but I’ll try.”

“Yeah,” he sniffled, “Thank you. Can’t wait for you to get back in uniform.”

“Me too,” you replied, holding back your own tears while you thought about how fucked you were.

#jason todd x reader #jason todd reader #jason todd #batman #red hood #dick grayson #nightwing #dc comics #dceu #dc universe #under the red hood

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tvdversefanfiction · 4 years

Text

Canary Carnage

Fandom’s: The Originals, Arrowverse, TVDverse and DC Universe.

Chapter One: Earth Blood

Warnings: I don’t own any of the rights, content or characters belonging to any of the DC content I use within the story along with not owning any rights, content or characters within The Vampire Diaries, Originals or Legacies.

15+ Rating: Moderate/Graphic displays of violence, sexual innuendos, sexually charged scenes, strong language and potentially triggering scenes.

Pairings: M/M, F/F, M/F.

Laurel Lance was a powerful district attorney within Star City, a job she had well and truly earned through dedicating her life to her work but something which wasn’t very well known as Star City’s D.A. was that by night she was someone else entirely Black Canary.

Laurel had been a meta-human her entire life without knowledge of her special DNA until the day she learned her first love Oliver Queen and her sister Sara Lance died the day the Queen family’s boat Gambit crash and sunk within the sea which is when she released her first canary cry.

The joint death and betrayals from her lover and her sister could’ve sent Laurel down a wayward path but instead she chose a path of heroism as she became the Black Canary vowing to make sure her city was safe from any further tragedies knowing her city needed saving from its dark underworld.

Laurel’s younger brother chose a very different path to his sister following the deaths of Oliver Queen and Sara Lance. Laurel’s brother Lucas Lance struggled to cope with his sister Sara’s death especially after their father Quentin Lance passed away and decided to start impacting suffering on others instead of having to feel it himself therefore becoming Red Canary.

After one too many run ins with his older sister Lucas moved to Gotham City knowing he’d have more fun there torturing the bat family and making alliances with the likes of The Joker, Harley Quinn and Bane before being ran out of the city by the bat family not long after a brief stint in Arkham Asylum pushing him towards a reunion with his sister back in Star City where a years long feud would conclude in a very unexpected way forcing both Lucas and his sister Laurel to become allies in a very different world to which they were used to.

“Why couldn’t you just stay away?” The Black Canary asked her brother the Red Canary while the two stood in an alleyway within Star City as Red Canary snapped the neck of a random man before throwing his lifeless body to the ground.

“Gotham was fun and everything I just missed my big sister I mean sure Bats and his family of do goodies are a good challenge and everything, but nothing quite beats your own family you know what I mean.” Red Canary explained to his sister while walking towards her.

“I see you’re just as psychopathic as the last time I saw your crazy ass!” Black Canary snapped at her brother while the two began walking closer and closer towards each other. “I know my brother is still in there somewhere and I know you’re the last of my family, but I can’t let you harm anymore people.”

“I had a feeling you’d say that.” Red Canary replied as the brother and sister stopped walked as the brother and sister now stood in front of each other.

At the exact same time both Black Canary and Red Canary began to shriek releasing their sonic screams at the same time both screams in the direction of the others forcing windows, buildings and the earth itself to begin shaking underneath their feet as their screams grew louder and louder until they ripped open a dark red portal appearing in between the two of them much to their own shock as each found themselves stopping their canary cries to look on in shock.

They had each seen portals before to other worlds within the multiverse which they both knew existed but none quite like this but before they could properly examine the mysterious portal they both found themselves pulled flying into the red portal from different directions before the portal closed itself taking the Black Canary and the Red Canary to somewhere totally different to where either had ever been before.

The Black Canary and the Red Canary found themselves falling from the sky before crashing through a series of branches before eventually crash landing onto the grounds of the bayou within the city limits of New Orleans, as the two slowly raised to their feet they had no idea where they were world or city.

“What the hell just happened?” Black Canary asked her brother.

“I think we must’ve screamed ourselves a portal to somewhere...although I have no idea where.” Red Canary replied while looking around the bayou.

“Typical I tried to get rid of you once and for all and you pull me into another earth.” Black Canary snapped at him.

“Oh, please Dinah it took two cries for this to happen not just one.” Red Canary told her. “I know it’s easier for you to blame everything on me, but you fuck up just as me sis.”

“My name is Laurel.” Black Canary reminded her brother as she punched him across the face. “But it’s Black Canary to you jackass and I’m not your sister…not anymore!”

“Fine then get your own way home or not…Star City would be much more fun without you.” Red Canary replied before super speeding out of sight only to super speed back onto the same spot. “Okay that’s new…what the hell was that?”

“I guess this earth has different rules to the others.” Black Canary said before she super sped out of sight for a moment before returning to the same spot just like her brother just did. “I guess our meta-human abilities are different on this earth.”

“Cool,” Red Canary said with an excited smile on his face. “I wonder what else this earth has to offer.”

The Red Canary looked around the bayou for a moment before releasing his shriek causing his sonic scream in the process as his Black Canary cry grew louder and louder before the entire earth began shaking viciously as the wind grow more chaotic and trees began being pulled from their roots before flying and crashing into other trees the very earth itself rising as this part of bayou was left completely destroyed by his scream unearthing all dirt and destroying everything within distance before Red Canary stopped his scream.

“I guess we’re stronger in every way in this earth.” Black Canary stated while being left in shock by the carnage her brother had just created before the Red Canary super sped out of sight. “Which isn’t good for anyone on this earth with you on the loose.”

Laurel found herself back in normal clothes thanks to a quick stop/break in to a closed down clothes store on the outskirts of New Orleans managing to find something acceptable to wear before stealing a car and driving her way towards New Orleans.

She didn’t know much about this earth, but she knew if she could get to a city she could hold tight there why trying to work out if this earth’s versions of her allies could be trusted and if they couldn’t then she would just have to make New Orleans her base of operations until she worked out how to get home choosing not to think about the carnage her brother would cause in the meantime and Lucas was definitely living up to his reputation.

Just like his sister Lucas had found himself a change of clothes although he chose a much more violent approach in doing so as he attacked a man in a nearby bikers themed dive bar parking lot located within the outskirts of New Orleans knocking the man unconscious and stealing his clothes before walking into the bar for a drink expecting plenty of carnage to follow knowing by the end of first drink he was going to blow the roof of the dive bar.

It didn’t take Lucas long upon walking into this dive bar to notice that most of the people in there already didn’t like the look of him but it’s not like he cared in fact it just gave him more reason to kill them all not like he needed a reason.

“I’ll have a Pina Colada please,” Lucas ordered from the tall body builder-built bartender who laughed at his choice of drink. “Maybe you didn’t hear me the first time around…so I’ll get a little louder.”

Lucas released a canary cry aimed directly at the bartender’s forcing the bartender backwards before his entire head exploded with an explosion of blood which found itself falling on the counter and Lucas himself before the headless bartender’s body fell to the ground gushing out more blood onto the floor.

“Now is someone going to make me a god damn Pina Colada or am I going to have to kill every last one of use?” Lucas shouted to the entire bar who were shocked by his act of inhuman violence, demanding their attention. “Because honestly I do love my Pina Colada’s but killing everyone in here would give me just as much joy.”

Lucas did get his Pina Colada after a few more canary cries killing half of the people in the bar only to thank the survivors by using his enhanced canary cry to turn the bar into nothing but rubble after finishing his drink only to walk out of the rubble beyond happy with himself knowing the carnage he created as he began to love this new world he had found himself in and began feeling invincible even to the likes of a certain bat family.

Several Days Later

Rebekah Mikaelson had agreed to accompany Marcel Gerard back to New Orleans as she tried her best to convince him to give up his ties to the city forever so the two could start a new life together knowing her family couldn’t intervene due to the fact neither Rebekah, Klaus, Elijah or Kol could be anywhere near each other without the hollow which was within the four original vampires trying to escape and find it’s way back to possessing Rebekah’s niece Hope which neither she, her brothers Kol or Elijah, her mother Hayley Marshall and especially her father Klaus would dread.

So with her brothers especially Klaus no longer having control over her life or threatening to murder yet another lover Rebekah was determined it was time for her to finally have the life she had always dreamed of one filled with love, laughter and the possibility of children however she knew if she was to have it with the upgraded original Marcel then he had to give up on New Orleans a city she was once it’s queen.

This particular visit to New Orleans didn’t end well for her as the girl who fell in love too easily once again found herself drowning her sorrows within Rousseau's following heartbreak as she called time on her relationship with Marcel following his refusal to give up on New Orleans and her refusal to give up on getting him to give up on the city.

“Well if it isn’t Rebekah Mikaelson what has it been 5, 6 years since you came anywhere near New Orleans?” Hayley said after vamp speeding herself into the bar to stand next to the original woman vampire.

“Well if it isn’t my brother’s baby mama Hayley Marshall.” Rebekah replied as she stood up and hugged her friend. “What can I say New Orleans just doesn’t have the same appeal as it used to.”

“Yeah I must admit it’s a lot quieter in this city since you and your siblings left…how is Elijah?” Hayley asked her.

“Last time I heard he was a pianist in a delightful bar somewhere in France I may have visited him once or twice from a distant of course over the years. He seems happy the lucky sod doesn’t remember any of us.” Rebekah revealed to the mother of her niece.

“I hope he gets to live a peaceful life at least one of us should.” Hayley told Rebekah. “I guess by the fact you’re here means Marcel’s back in town too?”

“Yeah and he’s going to be staying here.” Rebekah admitted as she sat back down at the bar and ushered the bartender to fill up her glass. “I however intend to get out of here as quickly as possible.”

“Oh, I see I guess he made the wrong choice then if it helps any, I’d choose you over a city any day.” Hayley said, trying to reassure her friend as she sat down at the bar next to her. “Anybody not willing to give up everything to be by your side is a fool and we’ve both been with too many fools to suffer any more of them.”

“You are as always correct,” Rebekah laughed as she downed her drink in one go. “Tell me where I can find my sister Freya is, she still staying at the compound with you?”

“Yes and she’s still pretty relentless in finding a way of removing the hollow but getting nowhere although she’s getting somewhere in her personal life as Keelin’s moved in too between them and Hope when she’s on holiday from the Salvatore Boarding School the compound still has some life left in it.” Hayley replied while ushering the bartender to get her and Rebekah drinks. “Have you heard from Klaus? Hope really hears from him and even when she does it’s a card or present on special occasions and I’m growing quite sick of him not being a part of her life I mean sure he can’t be in the same place as here but picking up a phone isn’t the hardest thing in the world I mean at this point even Kol keeps in contact with Hope more.”

“Niklaus is a stubborn old fool at the best of times I don’t think he’s taken this whole separation thing too well I’ve not heard from him or seen him since the day we took in the hollow he’s cut off ties from us all.” Rebekah told Hayley. “Kol’s the only brother I actually hear from and all he ever wants to talk about is his broken heart over Davina…I guess she really is Marcel’s daughter after all.”

After a few drinks in Rousseau’s with Hayley, Rebekah decided to take it to the streets to get her next drink although this one was admittedly bloodier as she found herself in a nearby alleyway fangs deep into a compelled woman until suddenly she heard a piercing scream which was met by a gust of wind sending the original female vampire flying across the air before hitting the ground breaking her compulsion on her victim at the same time who began running away as Black Canary dropped from the sky landing on both feet.

“Since when did witches start wearing masks?” Rebekah asked her as she rose back to her feet. “Oh well that doesn’t really matter since I’m about to kill you.”

Rebekah vamp sped hallway towards the Black Canary before the Black Canary let out her canary cry once more causing the entire alleyway to shake by the vibration of her powerful scream as Rebekah was put to a halt unable to move further as the scream grew louder in her ears until the force of it made her drop to her knees as blood began pouring from her eyes and ears before the Black Canary stop her canary cry and began to walk towards the original female vampire.

“Vampires are different here although it makes sense considering I’m different here too.” The Black Canary told Rebekah as she continued walking towards the original female vampire who was severely weakened by her canary cry. “Doesn’t seem to be any heroes around here however, maybe that’s why I’m here.”

“Who the bloody hell are you?” Rebekah asked the masked vigilante in between her groans of pain.

“I’m the Black Canary and I’m here to save this city heck I’m here to save this world.” Black Canary declared before releasing another canary cry this time directly aimed at the original female vampire’s head, her cry growing louder and louder until Rebekah’s head exploded in a burst of blood and guts which is when the canary cry ended. “Guess decapitation still works for vampirism in this bloody earth…hmm Earth Blood welcome to Earth Blood Laurel Lance.”

The Black Canary wasn’t the only Canary who had worked out this world played by different rules bloodier rules than any earth he had been to before but unlike the Black Canary the Red Canary loved the violence in this world with no heroes to get in his way or at least that’s what he thought until his latest act of terrorism on a little magic shop had him coming face to face with the self-proclaimed king of New Orleans himself Marcel Gerard.

“You’re going to want to let that witch go before you piss me right off!” Marcel warned the Red Canary after vamp speeding his way into the magic shop within the French Quarter of New Orleans to find the Red Canary choking the store owner.

“And just when I was starting to have my fun.” The Red Canary replied before snapping the store owner’s neck, throwing her body to the ground and turning to face the upgraded original. “Please don’t tell me you’re this city’s hero where’s your mask?”

“I think the better question is why are you dressed up like some bad BDSM Halloween combo?” Marcel asked the Red Canary while looking his red leather jacket, trousers and mask up and down before laughing at his look.

“Okay now you’ve pissed me off.” The Red Canary stated before super speeding over to Marcel and punching him across the face.

Marcel vamp sped a punch in the canary’s direction only for the Red Canary to block his punch before kneeing Marcel in the stomach and headbutting the vampire once more before kicking him to the ground.

“This city’s answer to a hero is a vampire,” The Red Canary scoffed. “I guess I’ll call this earth: Earth Blood.”

Marcel vamp sped his leg to trip the Canary up before throwing himself on top of The Red Canary and pinning him to the ground.

“What the hell are you?” Marcel shouted at him, while keeping the canary trapped under him.

The Red Canary released his canary cry straight upwards towards Marcel who due to him being so close to the canary felt the full pain of the canary’s cry as it grew louder and louder until Marcel’s head exploded within a burst of blood that completely covered the Red Canary’s face and body.

“Ugh, yup Earth Blood really does fit this place.” The Red Canary mumbled to himself as he threw Marcel’s headless body of him, throwing it across the shop floor and getting back to his feet. “I guess this means this city’s mine now.”

“Yeah I wouldn’t get too ahead of yourself there his head grows back and when it does, he’s going to be super pissed.” Hayley revealed to him after vamp speeding into the store. “No matter how cool it was your days are now limited after pissing off my friend the only reason I’m even here to warn you is because I really want to know what the hell is with your red leather style?”

“Why do people keep asking me that?” The Red Canary snapped at her. “Does nobody hide their identity in this world? Seems highly idiotic to me but hey that’s not my business.”

“What do you mean by this world?” Hayley asked him.

“What do you mean by his head grows back I thought he was a vampire? Only person I know whose head grows back is clay face and this really annoying elongated guy.” The Red Canary replied with another question.

“Okay you’re just giving me more questions, why don’t you try answering some before his head grows back and your too dead to talk to me.” Hayley snapped at the Red Canary.

“Hmm so this guy is really hard to stay dead you say?” The Red Canary said with a twisted sense of intrigue while walking towards the headless body of Marcel Gerard. “Means I get to keep killing him over and over again.”

“What have you got against him anyway? I know he has a thing for pissing people but the same could be said about anyone from around here.” Hayley asked, determined to get some answer from the mysterious masked vigilante.

“He just got in my way is all kind of like you are now.” The Red Canary replied before turning to walk towards Hayley only to be stopped by The Black Canary who super sped her way into the store and in between her brother and the original baby mama.

“We need to talk now!” The Black Canary snapped at her little brother before grabbing him and super speeding out of sight with him.

“Oh, great there’s two of them,” Hayley sighed as she pulled out her phone and dialed Rebekah’s number only for it to go to the answer machine leaving her no choice but to call Klaus whose phone also went to the answer machine but this time she decided to leave a message. “Klaus I know you listen to these so listen up there’s two god knows what arrived in New Orleans and one of them alone took down Marcel without any trouble I don’t know who they are or what they want but my guess is probably you so you should get to New Orleans and fix this mess before Hope comes home for the holidays.”

“So, I’ve got myself a bloody sore headache thanks to some bitch witch in a mask, but I think she did something else and I need you to check for me.” Rebekah told Freya after vamp speeding into her room in the compound to find her sister sitting on the edge of her bed reading a book.

“Hello sister nice to see you again too.” Freya greeted her younger sister as she placed the book on her bed and stood up to face the original female vampire.

“Sorry sister I’m beyond happy to get to see you again.” Rebekah said as she walked over and briefly hugged Freya. “Now can we get to this masked witch who blew my head up.”

“There’s two of them.” Hayley revealed after vamp speeding into the room. “One man and one woman but I don’t think their witches or at least not just witches.”

“I guess you encountered them too but here’s the thing despite the rudeness of having my head explode on me and having to grow it back giving me one hell of a headache they could come in useful.” Rebekah replied to Hayley.

“I’m glad we’re not jumping straight to bloodshed well more confused than glad how can these maybe witches come in useful?” Freya asked her sister.

“Well that’s where I need you to check for me the thing is after the literal scream from hell which blew my head right off the bloody witch may have done something right.” Rebekah revealed to them both. “I think that scream destroyed the part of the hollow inside of me which means if it did…”

“Then we have just got to make one of them do the same three more times and we finally get rid of the hollow pending of course if we can convince Marcel not to kill one or both of them beforehand.” Haley answered.

“Pending of course if the part of the hollow inside you has been destroyed which seems unlikely considering we’ve literally tried everything.” Freya stated, making clear her disbelief of a sudden cure to her family’s dire situation.

“That’s exactly why you’re going to get your witch on and tell me if I’m finally free from this bloody witch or not because if I am I’m heading to Mystic Falls to see a certain niece of mine face to face for the first time in half a decade.” Rebekah demanded.

“Look my darling sister I get this world is new and anything but I’m still playing by the same rules.” The Red Canary told his sister as the two of them stood within an abandoned building near the docks of New Orleans.

“If you put your stupid pride to one side for a minute then you would realize this earth is unlike any other there’s no doppelgangers no Star City no Gotham City nothing that is on any other earth it’s like we along with everybody we ever knew doesn’t exist here.” The Black Canary informed her brother.

“This world just keeps getting better,” The Red Canary said with a sinister smirk. “No Batman or bat family no Joker or Harley nobody gunning for me except a restorative vampire and you.”

“Okay you realize that’s not a good thing, right? We have no ideas of the dangers of this world…what do you mean by restorative vampire?” The Black Canary questioned him.

“Apparently the vampire I took down today can grow back his own head which I was about to see for myself until you took me to this hell hole which is so like you always going out of your way to spoil my fun!” The Red Canary moaned at his sister.

“Listen you idiot if we don’t tackle this cautiously then we could wind up dead very quickly now what the hell do you mean by restorative vampire?” She snapped at her brother, sick of him not taking their situation seriously.

“Wow you’re really scared, aren’t you?” The Red Canary scoffed. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you scared before. That vampire I left headless back at the store according to the she-vamp who was also there his head’s going to grow back.”

“How many special vampires are there in this city because I may have blown a head or two off myself?” The Black Canary wondered.

“Who knows probably a few…you’re really worried about not getting out of here aren’t you?” The Red Canary questioned his sister.

“I guess she’s the brains of this little two masked vigilante operation.” Marcel said to the Red Canary after vamp speeding into the abandoned warehouse. “Unlike you.”

“I don’t know if we’re calling anyone stupid it should be the one who came to find two canaries alone when one canary already took them down by themselves.” The Red Canary tormented the upgraded original.

“Speak for yourself I’m not helping you for all I know this guy could be innocent and has every right of killing you!” Black Canary snapped at her brother.

“Two canaries got us here maybe only two canaries can get us home.” Red Canary replied to his sister, twisting her arm to convince her to help him

“What the hell is a canary other than the bird of course?” Marcel asked them both as The Black Canary looked at her brother, clearly frustrated to be forced into taking her brother’s side before the Black Canary and the Red Canary released their canary cries at the same time forcing the whole building to shake viciously before the ground beneath them and the roof above them began to collapse into itself.

Marcel tried to vamp speed towards them both but it was taking at his strength just to stand still where he was without being thrown across the warehouse as his ears and eyes began to bleed as he began coughing up blood and fell to his knees as the canary cries grew louder and louder.

“Stop!” Rebekah screamed as she sped into the crumbling warehouse vamp style, stopping the two canaries crying at the same time. “We want to offer you both a deal pending of course you stop trying to kill us both.”

“Yeah not interested.” The Red Canary stated before super speeding out of the still crumbling warehouse, as Rebekah helped an injured Marcel to his feet.

“What kind of deal?” The Black Canary asked the original female vampire, eager to find any ally she could trust more than her brother.

Klaus Mikaelson hadn’t been back to the city he called home since he was forced to say goodbye to the hollow following the spell Vincent Griffiths cast to expel the hollow from his daughter Hope and store parts of it in him, his sister Rebekah and his brothers Elijah and Kol and a part of him wondered if he’d ever return to New Orleans over the years but all that changed when he listened to his baby mother Hayley Marshall’s voice message and the several later left by Rebekah who promised a way to get rid of the hollow forever.

For over half a decade Klaus had lost hope in ever seeing his sisters, brothers or daughter even again but now he had finally been given a chance at reuniting his beloved family and he was heading home to do just that not allowing anything to get in his way and god help anyone who wasn’t cooperative with the original hybrid’s plan.

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gamergate-news · 6 years

Text

And here we go again with this shit.

Spider-Man has taken on his share of street thugs and supervillains, sometimes teaming up with the police to face down foes and rescue the people of New York. While Spider-Man on PS4 undoubtedly shows Spidey’s allegiance to his community, it also casts him as a big fan of police and their tactics that sometimes conflict with that civic mindset. From cheesy detective impressions to Rikers prisoner beatdowns, Spider-Man’s uncomplicated approach to crime clashes with the reality of day to day life.

One of the earliest things you do in Spider-Man is go around activating security towers, made by Oscorp but used by the NYPD, that make it easier for Spider-Man to track crimes as they happen. Narratively, these towers allow the police to better surveil citizens; they also give Spider-Man access to police frequencies. They’re always listening, giving out calls to car chases and telling the player about break-in attempts that Spider-Man can thwart before the crime occurs. The uncritical use of these towers struck some players, especially those who live in New York, as odd. An NYU Game Center scholar took to Twitter to note similarities between these towers and the real world real NYC security cameras that IBM recently used to make skin-color profiling technology. Meanwhile, Spider-Man’s enthusiasm for the police—from his stated love of busting drug deals to his cheesy “Spider-Cop” impersonation—had my coworker Tim Rogers calling Spidey a “narc.” While I found Spider-Man as good-hearted and heroic as ever, he was also way more accepting of state power than I expected from a hero with a history of being wrongly maligned by the press and police.

Modern superhero games have trended further and further towards authoritarian extremes. Injustice 2’s core conceit hinges upon the audience believing that Superman, that all-American Kansas boy, could conceivably rise to lead a strict and heartless regime following the Joker orchestrating Lois Lane’s death. That incident, and its extremes, call to mind the reactionary shift in American politics since September 11th, 2001. We can believe in Superman’s militarism because it reflects a 21st century historical reality. Despite Superman’s role as antagonist, the heroes facing off against him—and begrudgingly allying with him once Brainiac enters the story—share a similar authoritarian streak. This is best expressed in Batman’s disturbing “Brother Eye” surveillance system, which can spy on anyone in the world. And while Spider-Man’s Oscorp-made, police-operated surveillance towers aren’t as extreme as Brother Eye, they are features of a similar predictive, Watchdog-esque surveillance state.

Spider-Man have never quite shared Bruce Wayne or Superman’s drive for power or control. He’s the the boy from Queens who rose to the challenge. New York based superheroes have always had a much more intimate feel than other characters. Luke Cage isn’t just a super strong hero; he’s Harlem’s hero. Daredevil is the protector of Hell’s Kitchen. And while Spider-Man often swings around Manhattan, he still can drop in at a bodega for a sandwich in Flushing or Astoria. That street-level, community minded nature clashes with the high-tech surveillance of the game’s towers and the game’s outlook on police.

Police are an unimpeachable group in Spider-Man. They show no real flaws and make no mistakes. They don’t feel like an integrated part of the the community; they pepper cutscenes and sometimes walk the streets but mostly show up as an allied faction in procedurally generated crime events. Even if Spider-Man’s New York is largely a fiction, it points towards a real place. New York is many things, but it is also the city of Eric Garner, stop-and-frisk, and Palantir. Rikers isn’t some fake pastiche location like Arkham Asylum. Real life police are a complicated presence in New York, but in Spider-Man they’re part of Spider-Man’s vigilante quest for justice, rather than members of the communities they’re supposed to protect. This simplification extends to the game’s portrayal of the criminal justice system as well. About half way through the story, villains orchestrate a massive breakout at Rikers Island. It’s treated as a crisis so dire that Spider-Man temporarily abandons his search for a potentially pandemic-causing biological weapon to help the NYPD bust skulls and put down prisoner riots. Without fail, every convict is violent and aggressive.

In reality, New York is moving to close Rikers on a ten-year timeline on the recommendation of organizations like the Independent Commission on New York City Criminal Justice and Incarceration Reform. The majority of people incarcerated in Rikers’ are people of color, and many are citizens waiting for their trials in a backlogged court system, often for misdemeanors and unable to pay expensive bail. In one of the most most prominent cases, 16-year-old Kalief Browder spent three years in Rikers—a majority in solitary confinement—awaiting trial for the theft of a backpack. He committed suicide two years after his release from prison.

In real life, the conditions at Rikers Island and the systems surrounding it are complex, but games like The Division and Spider-Man flatten that complexity in favor of giving you criminal enemies to overcome. The Division features “the Rykers” as an opposing force for much of the mid-game, and while its radio makes mention of how many prisoners are in jail for minor crimes like drug possession, your primary interaction is to shoot everyone.In Spider-Man, these prisoners function as generic thugs to fight in waves. Despite being a superhero who is on the side of the people, when faced with this element of his city, Spider-Man forgets his allegiances and just enjoys beating the shit out of them.

While Spider-Man’s criminals are one-note, the game features a diverse and, I’ll admit, likable cast of supporting police officers. Spider-Man’s radio contact Yuri Watanabe is beleaguered but reliable, working with Spidey to protect as many people as possible. Miles Morales’ story hinges on the integrity and heroism of his police officer father Jefferson Davis. Watanabe and especially Davis are fun characters who I like spending time with. Their idealism provides a powerful contrast to the cruel, destructive forces of Silver Sable and her mercenary corp, who care little for collateral damage. As they crack down, side quests open up where Spider-Man needs to rescue protestors imprisoned by Sable. In these moments, Spider-Man seems to suggest that if policing is necessary, it must be something more communal, and these standout police characters suggest such a thing might be possible. But this can’t quite overcome the game’s tendency to paint simplistic portrayals of police as good and criminals as evil.

Spider-Man’s simple presentation of crime and policing feels tone-deaf in the modern age, when more and more people are growing aware of the class and race dynamics of policing. This isn’t to suggest that the game needs to take a break every ten minutes to infodump real world statistics, but games are released in the context of their time. We’re post Edward Snowden, living in the age Black Lives Matter. Last week, Dallas police officer Amber Guyger shot and killed 26-year-old Botham Shem Jean in his own apartment. This is the world we live in and the world Spider-Man was released into. While it might be nice to escape into a world where these problems don’t exist, that is a luxury that countless people cannot afford.

Spider-Man’s portrayal of policing feels divorced from reality, to the point that it feels out of line with Spidey’s comic book heritage. Comics often speak to what’s happening in the real world. Captain America assumed the role of Nomad in 1974, the same year that Richard Nixon resigned from office in the wake of the Watergate Scandal. The X-Men have a history of allegorical representation of minoritized and persecuted groups. Spider-Man doesn’t seem interested in reacting to the real world. My colleague Tom Ley wrote about this at Deadspin, noting that nearly every side activity involved aiding the police. This stands in contrast to games like Spider-Man 2, where Spider-Man returned as many lost balloons as he webbed up muggers. Instead of being part of the complex life of the city, this latest Spider-Man sees a black-and-white world of cops and robbers. He aids in state surveillance, standing unquestioningly alongside an overly idealized caricature of the police. He’s still friendly, but I don’t know if he’s part of the neighborhood now.

I bet this she thinks she woke and doing all those black folk favor.

Because police brutality is exactly what I want in my escapists fantasy video game.

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becausewerebatfam · 6 years

Text

Mother F*cker (1)

Jason Todd x Reader

Jason finds out what happened to you after his death and you find out what he did when he was resurrected. (In this universe, you are the biological sister of Damian Wayne)

At first, it was like a dream but quickly turned into a nightmare.

After going through hell and back Jason was finally blessed with the sight of an angel. When he first laid eyes on you he became a slave to your love and affection. He lived his days chasing you for the chance to feel your lips upon his. He died thinking he would never get to steal another kiss, hold your hand in his, feel the warmth of your body as it pressed against his own...

“Jason?” a shaky breath found its way out of your lips as you carefully approached the man who stood in front of you. His face was obstructed by the red helmet but that voice...

Jason too stood frozen at the sight of your tattered costume. Your beautiful face tainted by the bruise upon your cheek and a bloody lip, nonetheless he was awestruck. His throat felt dry as he attempted to speak. He needed to know what you were doing out of Gotham but no words came out. He reached out to hold you, “Baby girl-” he was brought to a stop by the Batarang that lodged itself in his hand.

“Hands off!” Damian shouted as he approached with full speed followed by Tim. Together the two of them began to fight the man you were almost certain was your deceased beloved.

At the sight of the rest of his ex-brothers Jason snapped out his trance and began fighting back.

Dick quickly scooped you up and took you to safety atop a building where he finally got the chance to inspect you. “Are you alright?” he asked. Aside from the visible damage on your face he wanted to know if there were any broken bones or internal bleeding. He began examining you in a panic leaving the battle to his two younger brothers.

“I’m fine” you insist finally breaking out of your shock. “That guy...” you break away from him to peer over the roof’s edge and get a look at the man who was fighting against Tim and Damian “...he sounds like-”

Dick’s eyes widen as he realized you might find out what they had been hiding from you for the past few years.

+++

That encounter haunted Jason’s thoughts. The way you gasped, shocked beyond belief had him thinking you possibly didn’t know of his resurrection.

“What’s up with you lately you’re skipping the bar and going off on your own.” Roy gave him a smug smile as he elbowed his side. “You sly dog, you hiding a chick from me?”

He shook his head in denial. All this time his anger towards the bat family had grown thinking not only that Bruce had let him down but that you had preferred him dead. You, his one true love, seemed to be missing every time he fought the bat. Dick, Tim, and Damian all accompanied him one time or another but he had yet to see you.

Jason groaned as his helmet came into contact with the ground.

Dick held Jason down trying to stop him with the least amount of damage. He only wanted to reason with him but his brother had long lost his diplomacy. “Jason I just want to help.”

“Help me?... it’s too late for me Grayson...” Jason knew he had gone far beyond Batman’s code of honor. There was no way he would ever accept him and if he wouldn’t then you surely... “Grayson is she-” he desperately wanted t know how you were doing. “How is she?”

Dick’s grip loosened and his expression softened. “She’s fine,” that’s all he could say knowing that you were definitely not fine. He offered him a hand and helped him stand. You were never the same after the loss of Jason.

Jason desperately wanted to see you, even a glimpse would be fine but for some reason, he hadn’t even heard your name. No one ever seemed to speak of Batgirl since he came back, it was always just Batman and his brothers who got mentioned in the papers. He constantly woke up in a cold sweat from a recurring nightmare where you had followed him to hell but unlike him, you never got back. “Just fine?”

“As fine as any of us can be after witnessing a loved one die.”

That encounter did nothing but make him think back to the day he died. He knew there had to be a reason to why he kept having that nightmare.

When he asked Talia about it, about you, she only gave him a number and location.

+++

Tim groaned as Jason held him by the throat.

“Tell me why Y/N has a record at Arkham!” Jason was utterly horrified when he found his ex-girlfriend’s name in their system. That picture of you, that came up with the file, didn’t look like you. Your eyes were empty of any light like you were gone...broken. The alias you used sounded like a villain he had heard of before, one that assassinated a lot of high profile people.

The records were sealed and encrypted so if anyone ever looked for them Batman was alerted. When the alarm came Tim was the only one in the Batcave. He raced to Arkham where he ran into Jason.

“What are you doing here Jason?” Tim wasn’t worried or in danger. Jason wasn’t trying to hurt him, he had loosened his grip so he could talk making it obvious that his priorities had switched.

“I asked first.”

Tim knew he couldn’t let Jason know that you had been admitted into Arkham because of him. That after he died you were consumed by rage. “Batman will be here any minute,” he warned. The alert would soon reach his coms making him drop what he was doing and head to Arkham as well.

“What is he going to do, put me in Arkham? We’re already here.” He pushed Tim towards the computer. “I knew he liked this place a little too much. How could he let Y/N come here?”

“She had to,” Bruce spoke up from the shadows as he joined the two of them. Bruce never wanted his own daughter to be locked up along with the villains she had helped capture but that’s what she needed. After Jason died you slipped into depression then rage overtook you. At one point you ran away looking for the Joker wanting to make him pay for the way your life had turned out but instead found Talia.

“Why?” Jason fired back hoping to get his answers.

“Why don't you ask Talia, you two are close now.”

Jason lost his temper knowing very well what Bruce was referring to. He lost track of his mission and began fighting them until he could make his escape.

He knew the only way to get answers was to look for them himself. That’s how he ended up using his detective skills once more.

+++

“Where is she?”

“Who?” Dick asks approaching Jason in a very calm manner that was totally out of character for him. He knew you being upstairs in the manor could possibly compromise the perfect little world they had painted for you. The world where you thought your loving boyfriend Jason died a hero. If you ever found out he had been resurrected into the murderer he was then you would surely slip over the edge and turn into a murderer once again.

Jason wasn’t in the mood for games. He had just learned some very important information about you and he needed to confirm it. “I don’t have time for this,” his arm collided with Dick’s as he pushed past him. “You know I’m looking for Y/N.”

“She’s not here.”

“Bullshit!”

Damian’s blood boiled seeing Jason push past Dick in an entitled stride. He jumped in front halting him once more, a scowl on his face. “Why are you here Todd!” Damian didn’t ask, he demanded an answer.

He was sure they all heard from Tim about the encounter at Arkham. “You know why.”

“Tt, what makes you think you can see my sister?” Damian wasn’t particularly against Jason finding out the truth about you. He actually enjoyed the idea of Jason blaming himself for your actions. What he didn’t want was for the guilt to come back. After you broke free from Talia’s brainwashing you were horrified to find out you had broken the moral code your father held sacred. The crippling guilt is what was captured in your photograph at Arkham.

Just the thought that you heard Jason’s voice sent you falling back into a weak mental state. For days Damian stayed by your side as you refused to do anything opting for locking yourself in your room. He kept an eye on you knowing his mother was always waiting for a moment of weakness to regain control of her children.

“You’re too young to understand,” Jason dismissed him.

“Tt, I’m not a child,” Damian lost his temper and lunged forward landing a breathtaking kick to Jason’s stomach. “I’m more a man than you, that’s for sure!”

With the wind taken out of him, Jason stumbled back into some equipment causing a loud series of noise.

Dick called out to him warning him to keep it together. They couldn’t risk being heard.

When he regained himself Jason didn’t fight back like both Damian and Dick expected. Instead, he began talking in a very serious tone, “I know your mother kept you two separated, neither of you knew you had a sibling. When Y/N ran away your mother told you that if you wanted to meet your father and sister you had to beat her-”

“I know my own past!” Damian knew of your escape as a young teen. When you found out who your father was you ran away from Talia and the league. Years later Damian won his mother and found himself face to face with his father and sister. A sister he never knew he had. You were equally as shocked to know you had a brother...a brother you didn’t know you had left behind back then.

“My point is, your mother kept something very important from you two. It fucked up your life!”

Damian’s eyes narrowed knowing where this conversation was going. Jason had finally pieced it together.

Jason was almost afraid to find out the truth. If you did know about him and chose never to cross paths it would figuratively kill him again... and if it turned out you didn’t know... then what should he do? Should he even show up in front of you hoping you still loved him? Would you still love him? Or would it be best if he pretended he was still dead? “She doesn’t know I’m alive, does she?”

“No,” Damian didn’t hesitate to answer. “I’ll make sure they never do.”

“I am the night!” a child’s voice echoed through the cave gaining their attention. “Me too!” a second higher pitched voice followed.

Dick and Damian mirrored their shock as they saw their nephew and niece running down the stairs at full speed. The five-year-old twins didn’t use the practical way and opted to jump off the side when they saw their usual landing spot.

“No-no-no” Dick repeated religiously always fearing they would hurt themselves. Once they landed safely he sighed holding a hand to his chest.

“Uncle Grayson!” the little girl happily giggled as she latched herself onto his legs. The mischievous smile showing she got a kick out of worrying him. “Did you have a heart attack again?”

Dick picked her up with a nod and a groan, “Jas, how many times do I have to tell you I’m getting older and weaker.”

“Lies!” the little girl shouted. “You are not old only weak.”

“Why you-” Dick tickled her causing an uproar of laughter. Damian had taught his niece and nephew the art of sassy remarks.

Jason was motionless, completely drained of life when he saw the two kids. He couldn’t believe it, it was all true. After months of investigating he found birth records of two new Wayne family members.

The little boy dropped his smile the minute he saw the stranger in the room. “Tt, who’s this?” He puffed up his chest and scowled putting on his tough guy persona but never leaving his Uncle Damian’s side.

“No one,” Damian responded.

“Jay...Jas!” you called out from the stairs knowing your children had disobeyed you and gone down to the cave. They loved to see everyone suited up fighting bad guys, quickly learning what it meant to be a vigilante. “How many times do I have to tell you-” your words came to an abrupt halt worrying your kids.

“Ma-” little Jay ran to you. The way your eyes grew double in size and your skin paled reminded him of the time he spilled orange juice on grandpa Bruce’s important papers.

Jas took one look at you and joked to her dear Uncle Grayson. “Mommy looks like she saw a ghost.”

That’s exactly what it was. You were incapacitated by the fact that you were seeing your ex-boyfriend’s ghost except he wasn’t floating or monochrome.

“I never noticed how horrifyingly advanced your development is for five-year-olds.” Most kids would still fumble with words, be socially unaware of the adults around them, they would even be tripping on flat ground but these two were like miniature Damian replicas. “Must be a Wayne thing...” he put the little girl down allowing her to join you.

But they weren’t all Wayne... they had Jason’s facial features and while little Jason had your green eyes, Jas had his beautiful blue eyes not to mention his ability to make jokes in all situations.

You looked to Dick, pleading with your eyes for confirmation. He nodded understanding that you needed to know he saw Jason too given the fact that you had gone to an insane asylum for a year.

“Y/N...” Jason called out hoping you would allow him to approach you. To his surprise, he didn’t have to because you ran into his arms.

“Jason...” you breathed shakily as you hid your face in his chest so no one could see how much you were crying. His arms wrapped around you tightly as he too began to tear up. He had begun to think he would never get to hold you yet here you were. You let go of his torso to hold his face in your hands. It was like you were still trying to confirm that he was actually there. Your fingers ran through his hair moving it out of his face before pressing your lips against his.

The kiss was interrupted when your son kicked Jason’s shin. “Let go of my mother stranger!”

“Ah-” Jason winced in pain. He was used to being hit but not by children and not without his armor. This kick was nothing compared to Damian’s kick earlier but it was unexpected.

Jas laughed at the stranger’s reaction and since her uncles hadn’t moved she took it upon herself to run in as her brother’s backup. “Get him Jay!” she declared war with a giggle that had the others wondering if perhaps she liked violence a bit too much.

“No, wait- stop you two-” you tried stopping them off but they were determined little creatures.

Little Jay kicked the back of Jason’s knees making him fall over allowing Jas to climb up onto his shoulders. Her tiny legs wrapped around Jason’s neck trying to choke him while her hands grabbed his luscious black hair to pull on.

"Should we help them?” Dick asked when he saw the two of you struggling to keep your kids from beating up their own father. The only response he got from Damian was his signature, “Tt.” He knew Jason deserved a good beating, he was just disappointed it wasn’t from him.

“Jason Thomas and Jasmine Martha Todd-Wayne” you exhaled sharply after the mouthful of words. It was shocking to see how high your son could kick not to mention how strong.

The kids stopped knowing you meant business when you called them by their full name. They stood side by side supporting each other for what they thought was a job well done.

“I asked you to stop. do you know what you did?”

The nodded in unison, “The opposite.”

“Apologize,” you weren’t good at apologies so you didn’t expect them to be either. They had the same ego you did and could hardly admit they were wrong much less remorseful for their actions.

You didn’t know how it was possible but they were pouting and scowling at the same time. Their brows furrowed in the middle showing their irritation. “She’s sorry...” Little Jay apologized for his sister’s actions and she reciprocated by doing the same. “He’s sorry too... but you had it coming.”

“Jas-”

“It’s true Uncle Grayson!”

“He was trying to suffocate mother by stealing all of her oxygen!” Little Jay added as he wrapped his arms around you, he was a real Mama’s boy.

Dick burst out laughing at their argument realizing the kids had fought Jason because he kissed their mother. The atmosphere in the cave lightened when even Damian began to chuckle at his niece and nephew’s innocence.

“I wasn’t stealing anything, she kissed me.” Jason kept his distance but still tried to defend himself against the five-year-olds.

“Liar!” the kids yelled.

They would have continued to say more but their attention turned to the dark figure that appeared behind Jason. “What are you doing here?”

“Batman!”

“Grandfather!”

Bruce picked up his grandchildren only to hand them to Tim. “Take them upstairs.”

When he ordered the kids to be taken away you saw Jason flinch. He took a step forward before lowering his head. He wanted to stop Bruce but didn’t know if he had a right to. “Father wait...” You stood by Jason even going as far as holding his hand. “I have to tell them.”

Jason smiled glad to have you on his side. He didn’t care if everyone else hated him as long as you were on his side. It was like back in his Robin days when you would stick up for him after he got into a fight with anybody, including your father.

Bruce’s eyes narrowed at Jason, your response to his reappearance wasn’t what he was expecting at all. He was all for children being raised by both parents but his grandchildren had the misfortune to have parents with questionable morals. It took him almost two years to get you back but he was able to redeem you. He did it for his grandchildren...his grandchildren that spend their first two years being cared for by everyone but their mother. Now for their sake, he would do the same for their father. “Tell them... but after you know what Jason has done while he was gone.”

-end-

[ Part 2 ] You find out he is Red Hood.

A/N: Does this need any warnings?

#jason todd x reader #red hood x reader #jason todd x you #red hood x you #jason todd robin #jason todd red hood #batfam scenarios #batfam imagines #batfam fanfiction #batfamily #dc comics #dcu #dc universe #batman comics #red hood comics #batman fanfiction #jason todd fanfiction #red hood fanfiction

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hellraiserdeano-blog · 7 years

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Evil Has Always Lost Chapter 11

Grant Mitchell sat again the wall staring into The Joker's eye's, they'd been fighting since jason left the area "Where the fuck is Chuck's Type-writer?" he demand's before pushing off the wall. The Joker grin's at him licking the blood from his knuckle's "You have to beat me, break me--otherwise, this world and every one die's because of Lucifer's plan" He grin's punching his fist together "I will never tell you a god damn thing, Grant. I am not your true enemy, I am your nightmare" he say's before he and Grant Mitchell suddenly hear the roar of the sky, Both turn looking as A vile visage began to reemerge from the sky slamming down so thunderously the ground errupted around them nearly destroying the strip club. The 1,000 Foot tall Lucifer looked down at the Ground his red eye landing on Grant mitchell as Grant Mitchell look's up at him The Joker grin's malevolently at him "And he's baaaack!" He smirk's causing Grant Mitchell to look at him "I don't give a shit, mate" He glare's upward's "And you; YOU killed my brother and Luke, i will not forgive or forget" He say's to the giant who merely grinned devilishly at him, Lucifer stared down at them his voice sinister and malevolent "This world is full of malice, he created you to mock me. I was his most beautiful angel and most loyal. When he asked me to bow," His eye's glare all around "I was down right pissed! and now he's gone and sent me to jupiter! imagine how fucking pissed off i am now? imagine what's about to happen Granty! snap of my goddamn finger's and you all die 'cause i'm bored with this little game we've been playing for so long" He put's his finger's together as Grant Mitchell stared at him "Go the fuck on ahead! you're a sad weak little kid who's just mad Daddy Didn't show him more love than the other's!" He roar's back at the giant. The Joker look's at Grant then up at the giant "Lucifer, allow me to finish this one myself?" He question's gleefully, Lucifer look's down at the Joker annoyance clear upon his demonic visage "You are human; So YOU, too shall die!" He growl's before snapping his finger's as one by one the human's near the strip club begin exploding into blood and gut's. Before Grant and them could implode; Chuck suddenly appeared his wing's descending back into him as he look's up at Lucifer "How many more must suffer?" He question's then look's at Grant with a wary look "Why? because they're human? is that why you hate my creation so much? is that why you try and hurt them?" He turn's back to Lucifer "you are so wrong! i made you and the other angel's but, i did not make you to be selfish and greedy" He crosses his arm's smirking at him "and you were the only one to break my trust." He look's at Grant and Cook "My creation can not be killed by you, Nor will your power deminish them" He look's into Lucifer's eye's "In this game of Hell Versus Heaven there is but one victor, and it is not you" he sit's down indian style as Lucifer glare's at Chuck "You think by saying that you have defeated me?" He question's as Chuck shake's his head "No, because the truth is i've already won, i'll explain why" He open's his arm's "You called this beautiful and that was your down fall, Because you showed me the reason you dare hurt my creation is because you are petty, greedy, selfish; Need i say more? And no matter how many time's I save them, it's alway's you that hurt's them" He look's over at Mark Fowler Jr. "Lucifer, this battle you have started can only end in your death, i gave you Hell to rule because it is a lowly place just as you" he stand's up his eye's glowing bright "And you dare step foot onto my greatest creation? you dare defile it with your dirty rotten feet?" He walk's forward his hand's held at; the ground begin's to heal itself in an instant "You are nothing more than a weak son, i gave you every thing and you could never give me the one thing i wanted: Trust" He stare's hard "I asked YOU to love them more than I, more than you could have ever Loved me; and what was your answer? you and the other's that followed you" He float's up in the air "You all tried to take my throne, And i gave you what you wanted: A throne" He glare's dangerously into Lucifer's red eye's "so now, let me show you my power so that you may witness how pathetic you are compared to GOD" he say's causing Lucifer to growl fire errupting all over the area "Fool! i am not alone!" he say's before firing a fireball toward Chuck as Chuck inhale's the fireball much to lucifer's shock "Was that supposed to kill me? Lucifer, how many centurie's have I told you our power is not matched; try not to die" He say's before a huge white light slam's into lucifer from thin air causing the giant to fall to the ground creating an earth quake "That's not even half of what i can do" He look's up "You forget i've been building a new army to show your demon's, they are nothing but child's play!" He open's heaven from the sky as a Bright light shined upon Lucifer and million's of angel's riding on white stallion's began to descend up the beast who glared in return "You have another army?!" He growl's out in rage before fire slam's into the angel's sending them flying into the ground lucifer stand's up his red eye's on chuck "You think that I will accept what we talked about as 'burying' the hachet? i Can not exist as long as your Warrior's still stand!" He raises a hand "You who call your self my Father, Know nothing of my power--Soul's are what you need to get strong? well, I want you to see this, because all over this putrid world people have made deal's with me and it's time to collect on that debt!" He yell's as his hand ommit's red light and it shoot's into the air Chuck stare's at him "You can't get that many soul's, And you know that Lucifer" He grit's his teeth as Lucifer stare's down at him "Oh, but I can, these soul's are coming!" He gleefully laugh's as Chuck stare's into the sky "Not if I stop it" He remind's as Lucifer smirk's kicking chuck hard through the strip club and out the other side through a truck then stare's up "Soul's are coming and I will be unstoppable!!!!" he grin's big fire rising from the ground around them Grant Mitchell look's up yelling "You'll still be a weak bitch!" He smirk's as Lucifer look's down at him "is that a bug I hear calling out?" He say's before stomping Grant Mitchell blood gushes all over the ground as James Cook stare's at the foot that had stomped grant then stare's up Lucifer stare's down at him "What are you going to do little pest? i am not a dr. i am not a psychiatrists nor any of this putrid children you can beat up! i am the end i am the king of evil, i am lucifer the devil in the flesh! and there is no one who can stop me now! the soul's are here" He say's as James Cook glare's hard at him then witnesses a thousand billion soul's wailing in the sky as Chuck Shurley hold's out a hand "Not this time, lucifer!" He shout's as Lucifer keep's his hand held high he turn's grinning at Chuck his eye's turning to fire as a huge wave of flames shoot at chuck disrupting his hand the billion's of wailing soul's shoot into lucifer's right hand as Chuck glare's with wide eye's "No" he mutter's watching as Lucifer consume's every soul that has ever made a deal with him his body growing in mass as James Cook look's over at the bloody body of Grant mitchell and Mark Fowler jr. then back at the growing Lucifer "Mate, you may have consumed so many soul's in a mili second but, you're forgetting what can hurt you when demon blade's can't, when holy water refuses to get the job done, you are nothing to a book" He say's pulling out a spliff and lighting it as Lucifer grew in size James Cook pull's out the bible from his back pocket "Are you listening now?" He shout's up as Lucifer's red eye land's down on Cook seeing the bible he laugh's demonically his left hand snap's it's finger's as James Cook explodes Mark fowler Jr. jump's backward's slamming again the car blood all over him staring at the giant beast as Chuck look's furious after that he raises both arm's "That was UNCALLED for, Lucifer!!!!" He scream's as Lucifer look's at him "I will not stop until your creation is dead and gone and I am the only one standing!" he roar's before hearing a rumbling sound Lucifer turn's toward the horizon "What is that?" He say's before holding out his left hand "You think it'll make any damn difference rather the plague's hit me all at once?" he say's as Chuck shurley smirk's as Lucifer stare's down at Chuck "You think the plagues can hurt me? i am not a human" He holds out a clawed hand as Chuck raises his hands "I'm not out to hurt you" He says as Lucifer look's down at Chuck "A god who doesn't even give a shit about his creation, you made my words a reality, no one else did and as i once told kevin lomax, you SIT on your ass laughing at their sorrow--Worlds greatest dad? I hardly see a difference in me and you" He raises both hands flames errupting around the area as Chuck look's annoyed by him "What i did was because you all dissappointe--" Mark fowler jr. punches Chuck as Chuck staggers back and fall's on his ass surprised by a punch he stares up at mark fowler jr. "You--" He says before he goes quiet looking into Mark fowler jr's eyes Lucifer look's down at the scene before him a loud chuckle begin's to errupt from him as Mark Fowler Jr. look's up toward the Devil the beast stops laughing looking into his eyes "What's this? you? you are a God's warrior? HOW many are there? How many more god's warriors must I annihilate in the purest form of torture? I done killed your daddy, I almost made you fuck your sister courtney, what else should I do little boy? What else should I, the taker, take from your worthless life? What do YOU stand to gain from helping GOD? your father is dead now, it is his fault you are meeting me, the greatest mind in the universe, the only angel GOD ever truly loved as a favourite son, What do you have for hope to beat me?" he bellows as Mark Fowler Jr. rips off his vest throwing it to the side, Chuck stared apathetically at him then away as Mark Fowler Jr. stared up at him with cold psychotic eye's the sheen was missing as Chuck look's back at him "All my warriors have something unique within them," He states to no one in paticular but to the devil before them who stared at him "Only, you can see it now, That's right you can see it now lucifer? A gods warriors soul is golden, and that's not all they are as strong as an archangel, You know this don't you? that form, that beast body of yours isn't enough to protect you from the judgement of My Warriors" He stand's up as Lucifer stare's at Mark Fowler Jr. red eyes widening as now he saw something more than flesh. Mark Fowler jr. no longer looked human, He was glowing a golden hue and wing's were protruding from his back his eyes lit up in golden iris's as Lucifer grit's his teeth looking at the form of an arch angel "Yo--you dare mock my brothers? you dare pretend to be an arch angel!" He slings fire at Mark Fowler Jr. who took the fire to the face and was unscathed as Lucifer glares at Mark Fowler jr. "You are an arch-angel now? is that what a god's warrior looks like?" He barks befire putting his fingers together "Lets see you survive this!" He snap's fingers as Mark Fowler Jr.'s golden wings extended Lucifer step's back causing the ground to shake "What is this shit? God's warriors, you're all them? how many?" he roars as Chuck look's up at him then smirks "There are many warriors all my warriors, but they are stronger than you and your army combined" He look's over to Mark Fowler jr. "He is just 1 of my warriors, but it is Dean winchester that is the link between them and you, And as long as that link exists they can be stronger than you lucifer--better than youever were!" His eyes glow a bright white as Lucifer stares wildly and lunges.

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torentialtribute · 5 years

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British Boxer Callum Hancock opens up on horrendous childhood trauma

The evening crawls over Sheffield and Callum Hancock is alone in the gym and working on the bags.

That is his style – volume over power, they drown in numbers. And he's decent too, with nine wins from nine fights and fallen in the rounds in his sixth.

At this stage it is difficult to say how far he can go. He is probably not a world beater, but he is a promising super-middleweight, good enough to be on the undercard of Kell Brook last December and be able to reach the British title level, perhaps European.

[Hij is waarschijnlijk geen wereldklopper, maar Callum Hancock is een super-middleweight promotor] Callum Hancock is a promising super-middleweight champion of the world, but Callum Hancock is a promising super-middleweight.

He is probably not a world beater, but Callum Hancock is a super middleweight

& # 39; Who knows? & # 39 ;, he says. & # 39; I'm undefeated so it's all there for me. I will fight again in June and hopefully a few more times this year, so I think we'll find out soon enough. It is starting to rise. & # 39;

But boxing is only part of his story.

& # 39; I want people to understand this and I want to help others like me & # 39 ;, he says, handing out his gloves

& # 39; If something good comes out of this everything has to come, then maybe it's because of talking. & # 39;

And so a pretty devastating story begins.

Callum Hancock is now 27.

Last September he waived his right to anonymity after Lyttle pleaded guilty at Derby Crown Court, he was ten and lived in the Birkhill area of Eckington when he was raped by Jason Lyttle, a neighbor who was four years older than him. to buggery and two counts of indecent assault committed between January and July 2001.

Hancock gave up his protection because talking helps – it helps others and it helps itself, especially on its darker days. Fortunately, those bad times were not quite what they were – suicidal thoughts and attempts are over, the elaborate plans to capture and kill Lyttle are over, and the tantrums that once put Hancock in prison are also largely over.

But he accepts: & # 39; This thing will always be with me, chasing me when I let it happen, so the most important thing is not to be afraid of it anymore, and that means being open. & # 39;

With that his mind goes back to when he first came in contact with Lyttle. & # 39; I was just a little boy, seven or so & # 39 ;, says Hancock. & # 39; He has badly bullied me most of my early life.

& # 39; He had never done anything sexual in the early days, but he was the worst person in my life. I remember this one time when I was about eight, three or four came before me – Jason Lyttle and his brother, who was a few years older, and they had two boys with them.

& # 39; They caught me, undressed me, threw them in this dam and threw me in afterwards. They were terrible, those boys. I would always fight back no matter how many there were.

<img id = "i-b1b1bd36849f5162" src = "https://ift.tt/2JHGybp image-a-27_1553549715881.jpg "height =" 423 "width =" 634 "alt =" But boxing is only part of his story. A small part, actually, and it's not really why we're here "

<img id = "i-b1b1bd36849f5162" src = "https://ift.tt/2U851L7" height = "423" width = "634" alt = "But boxing is only part of his story. It is not really why we are here"

But boxing is only part of his story. A small part, actually, and it's not really why we're here

& # 39; I would scream on the floor, & # 39; I'll have you when I'm older & # 39; and they'd be smiling at me, saying, "Oh no, we're on the Hitman Hancock list."

& # 39; This stuff went on for years and it was terrible.

The day of the rape is brutally alive in Hancock & # 39; s spirit. I didn't think it would get any worse and then, well, it did. & # 39; I played in my garden and I crawled under the fence to get this piece of greenery behind the house & # 39 ;, he says.

& # 39; I tried to get back under the fence and grabbed my legs and pulled me back. But I couldn't say it easily. I went to get them and I remember thinking, "What is the catch, why is it fun?"

Hancock takes a deep breath and continues.

& # 39; Then I have always said: & # 39; This is what everyone at school does. & # 39; He did what he did and I was stiff, I wish my mother or brother would come looking for me. I remember having my things together and I thought, "What happened?" I cried out my eyes and ran into the house, to the bathroom and closed the door.

& # 39; The worst thing is, I didn't tell anyone. On a previous occasion my father had seen Jason & # 39; s father about the bullying and it got worse for me because they said I was a grass. I was 10 years old and had that *** in my head. "

There were further incidents with Lyttle and it didn't stop until Hancock moved home a few months later. I wouldn't tell another soul what happened until he was 18. & # 39; I loved this thing so long in, & # 39; he says. & # 39; It destroyed me. For years I was terrified that it might happen again, afraid people would look at me differently if they knew. I was even afraid of going to school to go to the toilet. It completely changed my personality.

Hancock (right) in action with Nick Blackwell during a fight in Sheffield in 2012 "in action with Nick Blackwell during a fight in Sheffield in 2012 "

Hancock (right) in action with Nick Blackwell during a fight in Sheffield in 2012

& # 39; This thing has crushed me and I finally learned to put on a mask to hide ho e this boy has violated me. For my friends I was fun, a joker, bigger than life, a tough kid. I started boxing in my teens and became these people, a tough man. Inside, I was just a scared child.

I was on vacation in Tenerife for 18 or 19 years when I finally met two friends after a few drinks. That's what I thought, "Did I really tell them?"

& # 39; I panicked and deliberately began to distance myself, which was terrible because they were my best friends and, looking back, I had to talk. & # 39;

Hancock regularly began to experience suicidal thoughts when he was 21. & # 39; I remember October 14, 2013, I had a serious accident at work on a jetty and I was sitting under the bridge in Eckington Woods that night and put a rope around my neck & # 39 ;, he says.

& # 39; The only thing that stopped me from thinking I couldn't do it to my father and mother. Nobody knew what was happening to me. I started as a boxer, undefeated in four fights. For everyone, that was all they saw. But my head was in a dark place. "

The darkness extended to detailed plans for revenge. He knew where Lyttle lived and had been watching him for months. & # 39; It was a terrible state of mind & # 39;" he says. & # 39; It was when I was around 23. I was sitting and watching him at the end of time, when murder and suicide were my best friends – I wanted to kill or kill him.

& # 39 "But how do you take revenge on someone like that? If you get hit, you want to hit back. If you get robbed, you might want to rob them back. But he raped me and I wasn't a rapist.

& # 39; I am not proud of what I thought, but I want to be honest, I was always looking at him and mapping where I could go, remote places where I could grab him and not get caught. I know that sounds bad.

Hancock (left) was 10 and lived in the Birkhill area of Eckington when he was raped "

) was 10 and lived in the Birkhill area of Eckington when he was raped "

Hancock (left) was 10 and lived in the Birkhill area of Eckington when he was was raped

& # 39; Once I wore a balaclava, I had a knuckle cloth and hid in the dark near his house. I wandered around every evening around 7.15 pm with a fagot and this time I looked closer and closer at him. He was about five meters away and a little boy was just coming out of the house, calling him and I stopped. When he left I fell backwards, head in hands, crying. I could not do it. & # 39;

One of the lowest points for Hancock came in 2015. A good friend committed suicide and it accelerated into a downward spiral that caused Hancock to be in jail for six months for beating a doorman. & # 39; My friend's death has broken me & # 39 ;, he says. & # 39; I remember at the funeral I thought I would soon join him.

& # 39; A few weeks later I was crying in my bedroom with my eyes out and I wrote the letter stating what had happened to me. I have it now and it has prints on it. That night I put it in my safe, went to shower, put a mask on the life of the party, and when a doorman jumped on my back, I answered.

& # 39; In some ways it went to jail aided. Three weeks before I went in, I sat down with my parents and told them everything.

& # 39; That was the hardest bridge I crossed. They blamed themselves, which is ridiculous. My mother just shouted: "No, no, no". I wanted to stop this thing to hit myself. When I was inside, it really touched me what I needed.

& # 39; I was listening to the Samaritans, where I spoke with other prisoners. He brought home how important it was to talk.

Despite the feeling that he had made progress, Hancock was still thinking of revenge when he was released in the spring of 2016. They were only exacerbated by a chance meeting with Lyttle. November 1945 [

& # 39; He was right in front of me and I hit him & he said. & # 39; His family was with him and they all looked confused. My girlfriend had pulled me away and I told her that night what had happened.

Hancock has a complicated relationship with boxing – it's a reminder of sorts of his pain "

& # 39; I went back to his house that evening and let his entire family sit down and demanded that he admit what he had done. He kept saying that he only reminded me a bit and that I got so angry. I shouted, "I don't need a judge or jury to tell me what you did," and I was ready to blow.

& # 39; A few days later my father sat down. He could see if maybe I had something bad and he gave me the most important conversation in my life. He said, "Unfortunately, Callum, this is you, you have been raped." You can kill him, but you are still raped and you handled that in prison.

& # 39; I stopped driving around with a knife in my car and a month later, January 2017, I went to the police. & # 39; Lyttle pleaded guilty and in October 2018 was sentenced to six and a half years in prison.

Hancock has a complicated relationship with boxing. The sport and the identity he gave him was once his shield for the outside world, but by extension it is now closely linked to a part of his life filled with trauma. It is a reminder of sorts of pain.

& # 39; Look at my nickname & # 39 ;, he says. & # 39; It's Hitman Hancock, but for me it's a bit connected to Jason and those boys who pin me down as a child. Sometimes when I think of boxing, it can feel close to what happened.

& # 39; When Jason was in the courtroom, it was also a good distraction.

& # 39; But now that Jason is gone, I must heal, love myself and my loved ones. I have worked with this great group, Survivors Manchester, to make up for myself and it is good that I am taking this time for myself. It is important.

& Then when I come back to fight in June, I want to be ready because boxing is a big part of the next phase. I want to draw attention to the super-middleweight division, because if this thing that I have been through could not hit me, I know that I have a heart for it. I want to give myself a new story.

Again, only time will tell how far he goes, and how much he can achieve in his mission to win titles and serves as a role model.

In the context of where he has been and where he would have ended up, the last one has already been checked.

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#British Boxer Callum Hancock opens up on horrendous childhood trauma"

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totesmccoats · 6 years

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Batman: The Dark Prince Charming – Book One

Italian comics artist Enrico Marini dives into the Superhero genre in a big way with his take on the most popular hero of them all, and so far, he hasn’t changed much. His Batman and Catwoman are also in a solid relationship, much like the main series. So don’t go into this expecting a wild reimagining of the character.

The story concerns Joker kidnapping a young girl after the news reports that her mother is suing Bruce Wayne for child support, claiming that she is his daughter. Joker, having seemingly already put together that Bruce Wayne is Batman, targets her to get to his real objective. Batman wants to rescue her, and after running a DNA scan on one of the girl’s dolls, this case becomes personal.

Despite being fresh to superheroes, and coming from a comics culture where they aren’t as ubiquitous as they are here, Marini absolutely nails the heart of Batman’s cast – most impressively the Joker. Marini’s Joker is obviously influenced by Heath Ledger’s performance, borring the presumably fake child-abuse backstory, and a habit of killing henchmen mid-robbery; but also distills so many other versions of the character, maintaining the best parts. Marini’s Joker threatens the kidnapped girl with a knife, only to reveal it’s to cut into a pizza he ordered for the two of them. Of course, he also killed the delivery boy. He’s a Joker who throws Harley a big birthday party, but kills all but one of his other henchpeople when she doesn’t like her present. Actually, unlike most Jokers, Marini’s seemingly isn’t abusive towards Harley, which is a pleasant break from that sorta thing. This Joker is unpredictable and cruel, but he’s also very fun about it; exactly how Joker should be.

Unfortunately, the women in this story aren’t treated as well. While Harley isn’t abused, she’s depicted as way more cheesecake than usual, and Catwoman’s every other pose may as well be on a stripper pole. It’s not like these are huge departures or anything, but it seems like some of the messier parts of the characters taken a little further than usual, is all.

Also, the book is absolutely gorgeous. I don’t want to say it’s the sort of quality of art that’s rare in American superhero books because I’d feel like I’m insulting artists like Ferreyra, Alex Ross, Sean Gordon Murphy, Jeff Lemiere, Francis Manapul, and many other fantastic artists I currently greatly enjoy and admire; but Marini’s handpainted, realistic yet heavily stylized work is far from the house styles of the big two. There are panels I legit want to blow up and hang on my wall. And Marini’s lightly tweaked character designs, plus his new Batmobile, are simply sweet as hell, and I wish they would be used in more things. And his Gotham is brimming with gothic personality, and an insane verticality that dwarfs Batman in the best way.

So far, this story isn’t really anything new or novel, but it’s a damn excellent Batman story in its own right, and one worth picking up if you enjoy comic art.

Batman: White Knight #2

Jack Napier gives an impassioned testimony at his trial, declaring his innocence and putting the blame on Gotham’s police. He maintains that the authorities experimented on him, turning him into the Joker, so that they would have an excuse to demand bigger budgets from the taxpayers to fight a new breed of super-criminals. He says that the rich and powerful of Gotham have invested in crime to do what they’ve always done, make a profit off the suffering of the poor. And though Napier’s populist message has caught on with the poor and middle classes in Gotham, this isn’t a campaign he can lead alone, so he looks for allies.

His first stop, Harley Quinn. He goes to see her, only to find out that she has no love for Jack Napier, only loving the Joker. He then finds out that she’s not the original Harley. The first Harley – in the actual Harlequin outfit as opposed to the Suicide Squad inspired outfit of the new one – steps back in to accept Jack’s proposal, while explaining that she left after feeling neglected by the Joker in his obsession with Batman; and that in his maina, he never even realized she found a replacement. It’s actually a really smart take to explain how Harley has has such a drastic change in character recently.

Meanwhile, Bruce and Mr. Freeze test out their new cure for Nora. They first test it on some lab rats, but then Mr. Freeze tries it on himself. And while it successfully reverses his condition, it also rapidly ages him to make up for all the time he spent frozen.

Bruce later goes to some sort of rich people party/auction, where he’s horrified to learn that his friends have been profiting from Batman’s war on crime. He knocks out his friend and storms off. Now, this I really like. Murphy hasn’t just switched Batman and Joker’s roles as hero and villain; Bruce legitimately seems ignorant of the inequality that Batman’s worked in service of, and he hates it. I’m expecting we may even see Bruce approach Jack to assist address the problems that Batman and the police have caused through Gotham – but that still makes me question how Batman ended up in Arkham from the cold open of issue #1.

I really like how much effort Murphy has put into this story to make it much more than just a simple “what if?” tale. Just as last issue brought up the popular fan-thought experiment regarding whether Batman is to blame for his villains, this one weaves in the fan-discourse about how the collateral of Batman’s work really does seem to disproportionately land with the poor. Napier’s speech isn’t just a an exercise in populist rhetoric, but an actual well reasoned argument against Batman’s existence vis-a-vie his effect on inequality. And it’s one that fits as much for canon-Batman stories as this alternate-universe that Murphy has lovingly crafted for this story. If you’re not already reading this one, get on it.

Batman #34

Batman and Catwoman have their first post-engagement spat. Batman said that he’d “seen more” after Catwoman commented on there being “a lot” of something, and Catwoman took it as an insult, and Batman’s trying to explain he was just saying…oh and by the way they’re talking about the number of swordsmen surrounding them preparing to attack. Because that’s just how they do. King’s juxtaposition of the action with sitcom-esque dialogue isn’t the most original, but it’s really effective here in establishing that, for Batman and Catwoman, this is fairly typical. It continues through the issue, with the two also discussing whether Talia could be considered Bruce’s “Ex,” and lots of Bruce calling Catwoman pretty to deflect from accidentally saying something she’d consider rude.

Meanwhile, Damian and Dick track their father to the same entrance that he and Catwomen fought their way through last issue, but are stopped from following by Superman. Damian threatens to kill Clark with magic, but Clark reminds him that then Jon probably wouldn’t want to be friends anymore. Then Supes goes flying off to handle and alien invasion in Central City; and Dick and Damian decide to sit on the stoop and wait for Bruce to come out. It’s one of those scenes that works because it reminds you that Damian’s just a kid. A kid who can make a believable threat against Superman, but one you can’t take all that seriously because he’s just saying it because he’s steamed over his parents doing something in secret. So when Damian can’t get his way, he just pouts and sits down; and Dick, being the best big brother ever, waits with him.

The lighter tone of the issue changes almost instantly when Talia finally shows up at sundown. The palette of the issue switches from a yellow-orange to a red as the sun sets, ending with an early night-blue sky as Talia challenges Selina to a duel over Batman’s wounded body. The change is dramatic, but not sudden. Even once Talia is in-frame, she approaches slowly, taking about two pages before she starts fighting Batman, giving the sun time to fully set.

Jones’ inky style is still a perfect fit for this adventure, continuing to capture the feeling of the sun beating down on the characters by putting everything in high-contrast black against Bellaire’s yellows and reds.

We also find out in this last act of the issue that this isn’t some weird newlywed hazing ritual; but that Batman and Catwoman are actually looking for Holly Robinson, who killed the 237 people that a young Selina took the blame for, and they tracked her here. So, one question answered, at least one duel to the death to go before getting more.

Green Arrow #34

Oliver has some trouble adjusting to his mother having been alive, and being a prominent member of the Ninth Circle, the evil bank that he’s been trying to bring down for the past year. Moira tries to convince Ollie of the virtues of capitalism – that when the Queens do well, all of Seattle benefits, but Oliver won’t have it.

Instead, he helps Black Canary take down the Clock King, who has hacked into Star City’s smart infrastructure, and is causing every self-driving vehicle in the city to go crazy. Dinah stops a speeding train on it’s tracks by screaming at it hella loud, while Oliver finds and stops Clock King.

Meanwhile, Diggle helps Merlyn make a full recovery, and then tells him that his debt for Merlyn having saved his life some time ago has been paid. Merlyn feels differently.

And at the end of the issue, Oliver agrees to help Moira raid the sunken vaults of the Inferno, believing that even if everything she says is just some Ayn Rand bullshit, a little money would help him out with his murder trial, and also gather evidence more against the Ninth Circle to rescue his city.

This issue is a bit of a mess. The Clock King and Diggle stories both feel like filler to make the issue reach it’s page limit, and to distract that, during them, Oliver completely flip-flopped on helping out his mother.

Also, I’m not a fan of Stephen Byrne’s work on this book. It looks too…flash animation-y, characters look as though they were coated in confectioner’s glaze. It actually reminds me of some bad webcomics, which ain’t good. Also, Moira looks more like Felicia Hardy than a woman who should at least be in middle age. What happened to Ferreyra? Or Campbell?

Superman #34

As his worshippers beg him to lead their forces to take back Apokolips, Lex does the least Luthor thing ever and abdicates his godhood to the person their prophecy actually foretold – Superman. Did I miss something really big with Lex, or am I just supposed to believe that, after deciding to become a hero, he also just no longer has his character defining flaw? I don’t want to be one of those people who says comics should never change, but unless I missed something, this is a huge change of character. Even if he really is a hero now, that shouldn’t exclude him from being arrogant and striving for praise and adulation.

Meanwhile, Lois and Jon are also on Apokolips; and while Jon can just fly away from the people and hounds hunting them, Lois can’t, and finds herself taken by Granny Goodness’ Furies. But when their convoy is attacked by a giant, fire-breathing dredge worm, Lois picks up one of the fallen Furies’ guns and proves to Granny than she’s more than just another captured vermin.

While I continue to appreciate this book’s focus on Lois, it also puts her in a situation that doesn’t suit her strengths as a character. Lois is a reporter, she’s not Wonder Woman. I like that she’s able to defend herself, and that she’s not being damsel’d, but becoming a Fury feels just as out of character as Lex declining a throne.

Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man #6

J. Jonah Jameson cooks up a nice-looking lasagna to warm up his latest interview subject – Spider-Man! Of course, Spidey is only there for information that can help out his sister, but in exchange, he agrees to a no-holds-barred exclusive interview with the man who used to slander him for profit.

The interview doesn’t start off well, and quickly becomes a heated argument between the two on why Spider-Man wears a mask, and why Jameson hates him for it. The two trade verbal attacks about the other’s role in the creation of super-villains, destruction of property, and death, before just straight up calling each-other cowards and bullies.

If last issue suffered because it was too plot heavy to give room for characters to breathe, than this issue is an incredible course correction. Anything relevant to the plot of the arc is sidelined for the raw catharsis of Spider-Man and Jameson finally just letting everything out. And the issue ends up becoming a complete disrobing of Jameson as Spidey slowly digs into why he’s hung onto this grudge through becoming mayor, the death of everyone close to him, and getting fired from the Bugle. Like Zdarsky’s best issues, there’s more than a twinge of meloncholy through the issue, as he reveals how broken this character has been. That sorta thing has become his specialty, it seems – making jokey characters kinda depressing.

Walsh is the perfect artist for this issue. His style, much like Doc Shaner or Darwyn Cooke’s, evokes an older time in comics, with thick charcoal-y hatching and shading, and uneven outlines. Plus, no spaghetti webs! This is matched by Herring’s muted and watercolor-textured colors. The aged affect of the art is epitomized by a single flashback panel made to resemble Ditko’s original Spider-Man work; and it’s amazing how solid a throughline you can make from his style to Walsh’s.

It’s also scary impressive how much emotion he can draw out of Spider-Man’s mask, like…there’s seething anger in one panel that comes across through the mask despite any and all reason.

Black Bolt #7

Finally free from the prison, Black Bolt makes his way back to Earth, but not before a pit-stop to return Monsteroso to his home planet. He’s reckoning with the loss of his voice and the PTSD from his time in the prison. Also on board is Blinky, who has her own nightmares, only hers can manifest physically, and require Black Bolt to destroy before they could actually harm her.

Very much a breather issue after the conclusion of the last arc, Ahmed writes an issue with almost no threat or urgency that isn’t just in one of the characters heads, excepting for a short space-dogfight at the end. The tone is complimented by guest artist Frazer Irving’s soft, dreamlike art. Irving’s style is almost the complete opposite of Ward’s hyperactive neon trips, almost resembling a children’s picture book; but is equally gorgeous to the work Ward has done on the series, and fits just as nicely into Ahmed’s story. This is easily the most beautiful single I picked up this week, and proves that Black Bolt is one Marvel book you should be reading even on “off” months.

Crosswind #5

Juniper’s guys follow Cruz to Mika’s house, where he’s just finished beating her up. Then he kills two of the three guys Case sent to kill him, and promises to kill Cason as well. Then he gets a visit from the mysterious old man who swapped Cason and Juniper, who explains the situation and why he did it. So now, Cruz is out to kill June and her family as well.

Cason overhears the old man’s voice over the phone as he threatens to kill him, and knows enough of Cruz to prepare for him to make the trip to Seattle. Juniper catches up with Mika and tells her everything that’s been going on, and they both decide to try and cut Cruz off in Seattle.

Meanwhile, thanks to Cason’s advice, Kelly’s finally making friends at school. And he comes home to his step-mom finally giving his dad what he deserves.

While I didn’t really think the body-swap needed an explanation, I’m very glad that it happened essentially out of pettiness. The man who did it did so because they both refused to sell him their plane tickets so that he could see his wife before she died. It’s like something out of a myth, a god ruining your life because you were rude to them in disguise. It really may as well have been random.

Staggs continues to do wonders just with the main characters’ postures, like how June still holds her towel up to her chest as though to cover breasts, or how Case sits with a wide stance even in a dress.

Paper Girls #17

Charlotte finally fills the girls in on the time-travel war that they’ve found themselves caught in the middle of: The teens who’ve been helping the girls are time travellers from at least 70,000AD who go back in time to right wrongs; and are are fighting against the “old-timers”, the first generation born after the invention of time-travel, who try to prevent anyone from interfering with the timestream. She was told this by a friend of the same time travellers who rescued Erin’s life; and even though she seems legit, if not a little eccentric; Mac doesn’t trust her completely. And when Mac tries to tell this to KJ, and also calls Charlotte a lesbian, KJ comes out to Mac, who is shocked once she realizes what KJ just told her.

Meanwhile, Tiff escapes from the overturned police car amid the giant robot battle happening around her, and manages to make it to her parents house, where she finds a mysterious goth sitting in her living room, and claiming to be married to her!

It only took seventeen issues, but we finally have an idea of what’s going on in Paper Girls! Yay! Not that I minded much, obviously; I was enjoying it either way, but it is cool to have some more context. And that moment between Mac and KJ is *mwah* perfect. Their faces! So good! Besides that though, this is mainly an exposition issue; with Tiff’s scenes being almost completely wordless. I still love how the teen’s mech is just an EVA though – that’s fantastic.

Uber: Invasion #9

The unique Battleship Churchill – Leah – and a thirteen year old battleship candidate named Tamara rendezvous with Patton’s forces as he crosses the alps. The Germans have him walled off with a small squad of Ubers, expertly positioned to prevent his further movement despite his superior forces. Luckily, Churchill’s arrival provides him with inspiration for an attack the Germans could never see coming.

I won’t say how, because it’s one of the most amazing action sequences in recent comics memory, but needless to say, the issue ends with the Allies winning big, and possibly turning the tide of the war.

Leah is the star of this issue, and oh boy does she earn it. She’s a gentle giant, possibly the strongest single character in the franchise, and someone you do not want to be on the wrong side of. Gete draws her to make her basically a Totoro on one page, and then the Hulk on another. Generally there’s a distance between Uber’s characters and the reader because of the book’s narration taking the form of an objective post-war narration, but you really end up rooting for Leah, and not just because she’s ripping Nazis to pieces.

Comic Reviews 11/1/17 Batman: The Dark Prince Charming - Book One Italian comics artist Enrico Marini dives into the Superhero genre in a big way with his take on the most popular hero of them all, and so far, he hasn’t changed much.

#batman #black bolt #crosswind #dc comics #enrico marini #green arrow #harley quinn #invasion #j jonah jameson #joker #lois lane #paper girls #peter parker #sean gordon murphy #spider-man #superman #the dark prince charming #uber #white knight

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