#that kind of eliminates the possibility of them being forged

[cerastes]

We’ve heard about the seeming contrast of creators that make these super happy saccharine pieces of art being bitter people whose lives seem to be filled with agony whereas horror creators that thrive in the grotesque all seem to be super happy and positive people, the usual “Miyazaki Hayao vs Itou Junji” kinda beat.

There’s a similar, slightly overlapping dynamic between cuisine and blacksmithing. Chefs are the single angriest existences in the world and would piss on your grave seconds after stuffing your freshly gutted corpse in it. Blacksmiths are jovial, usually quiet dudes that work machinery and think your dagger is still very cool even if it’s got some balance issues.

Now, of course this is making reference to the Ramsay style of food shows, which is not the universal experience when it comes to the genre -- I’m more of a Cutthroat Kitchen kind of guy, because I like Mario Party -- but it’s always fun to me to go through an episode of Hell’s Kitchen where Ramsay annihilates his own vocal chords screaming “FUCKING DONKEY” and “IT’S RAW”, then right after, watch some old Forged In Fire and see the Filipino weapon master, Marcaida, test a short sword one of the contestants made and it fucking explodes into shards without nary a scratch on the pig’s carcass, obviously the shittiest weapon you could possibly make, damascus steel shards flying embedded in his arm, and he’ll calmly, with his signature friendly smile, lovable demeanor, and charismatic gait, face the contestant and be like

“Well, you see, Bob, your blade unfortunately suffered a catastrophic malfunction, and it can’t be tested any further. However, the handle on your weapon allowed for some very good balance and ease of swing, it fits my palm perfectly and it swings very easy. Despite the blade fracturing in 7 uneven fragments, we can see that the blade didn’t chip or roll at all. Good work, Bob” then they’ll shake on it and Bob is eliminated, and all he’ll say is “I’m sorry to have punctured 4 blood vessels on Marcaida, but end of the day, the other smiths were simply better, and I’m proud of them. I just gotta go and work on my fundamentals back at home now :)” meanwhile Hell’s Kitchen’s contestants are having a shootout with Glocks in their dorm because someone made fun of someone else’s raw scallops. 

[cannibalisticskittles]

amity tries really really really hard to be both good and nice as much as possible. she prioritizes good, in situations that force her to choose between one or the others and she's willing to forego niceness entirely when dealing with someone that's causing a certain level of harm and jump straight towards problem-solving, IE, eliminating the threat. but she still tries to be nice whenever possible... even if niceness isn't exactly deserved. she will accept a lot of shit being thrown at her without complaint that she Really Should Not Let Slide.

and she doesn't have a lot of experience with friendship. with polite relationships, sure, but nothing close. she stumbled into her friendships with the other members of the order of the burning tent by accident; she did not anticipate that they would enjoy her company and value her and openly and frequently call her friend. which is what convinced her that she is Capable Of Making Friends. that she is Worthy Of Receiving that sort of love. she... didn't think that was really a possibility for her previously. so there are many aspects of interpersonal relationships that she's extremely inexperienced in.

and she wants to be on good terms with all of the companions; if she can be friends with them all, that's the dream. (amity would be friends with every person who ever lived and who ever will live if it was physically, temporally, and ethically possible.) but... even so... there's something different about astarion.

and to be clear, that thing is The Fact That He Is An Asshole.

he's selfish and shortsighted and petulant. he said shitty things to her and about her and he poked at one of her deepest insecurities in an intensely uncomfortable way and he tried to turn it back on her and make it her fault (and she still doesn't even know why he was MAD about it, why does he CARE).

so i think... she's going to test things out with astarion. friendship-wise. feeling out boundaries (and dynamics) that she either hadn't been in a position to use, or hadn't felt comfortable asserting. trying out saying no. saying "that's a shitty thing to say and you should apologize and never say that again." being nosy! doing things that make her feel like she's probably being annoying and then not apologizing for that or spiraling into panic about how to make up for it and not feel like a burden to him.

and if it makes things between them sour, well... look, she DOES want things between them to at least be cordial; if you're fighting alongside someone you're on bad terms with, you're out of sync, and that's dangerous for you, for them, and for everyone else you're traveling with. cordial is good, cordial is safe, cordial is wise. if they can be genuine friends on top of that, that sure is swell.

however.

he's already acted like a dickhead when she wasn't slacking on being Purposefully Polite to him. what's she going to do now; walk on eggshells and be Extra Specially Super Duper Polite to him just to keep him happy? he probably wouldn't even be happy, he'd probably still be just as petulant as ever.

and he's not nice. he doesn't seem to have even a semi-decent code of ethics. and he seems happy to continue on like that. amity doesn't wish him ill, but what are the odds they'll bond or get along well enough that either of them will want to spend time in the other's company when the business with their tadpoles is taken care of? so. if she's a little incautious and does something too rude that pisses him off and he doesn't want to be around her... no great loss? any camaraderie they forge now is likely to be temporary.

like, she really likes wyll. she thinks everything he's doing is great. the goals, the drive, the dramatic flair, the kindness towards children, all of that is wonderful. it would be an honor if she had the opportunity to continue to travel with him once they figure out what to do about their parasites -- two magical friends defending the sword coast together :) they had both care a lot about doing the right thing and helping people and this feels like a bond that can last, if forged correctly.

keyword: correctly. she knows that she is capable of making friends. she does not know what she happened to do right with the other members of the order that she failed at for so many years with everyone else. and she does not want to overstep with wyll. she does not want to make a mistake or come on too strong in a way that makes him find her annoying and not want to be around her. (wyll would never, but even though she's made progress on those insecurities, they still run deep.)

but astarion? ...eh. he's funny, when he's not being a huge bitch about something that she has a very personal interest in. or when he's not suggesting they let other people come to harm because he just doesn't want to do anything. but she suspects that even if she stays on his good side, he will probably only tolerate her at best in the long run. so, with him, she does not have this same sense of caution that she has with the others.

but it is also important to note that the extent to which she realizes that she's doing any of this is... pretty low. she is Not self-aware. it's likely just at a level of 'huh, wonder what he's alluding to. rude to ask, tho. ...wait, astarion is perpetually rude, can't i be rude to him? isn't that fair? what'll he do, be mad at me? he gets mad about some very silly things, that doesn't automatically mean it's wrong with me to ask. i'll try it.'

there's no conscious testing. astarion is just the biggest asshole she's been around for such a sustain period of time who she doesn't need or want to stab (mostly. you should be thanking her on her his knees for not turning him into a smoking crater back in the woods. truly, her restraint is saintlike). there's a certain fascination there. a desire to see why he is the way he is -- to study him and find that out. she would honestly be horrified if she realized that she was doing this. at least at first. she needs to get more comfortable with the idea of being a bitch sometimes, it would be good for her lmao

anyway, that's my thoughts on the pic. not sure how much this will come across in it, tbh, but i wanted to muse about it for a while

#amity tag #this is. a bit too long to stay on the dashboard with no readmore #but I want his assholery sbove that cut lmao

[magpiejay1234]

Now we return with Episode 121.

The episode's title is The Wicked Brand, this episode's title will be referenced for Branded archetype in Abyss lore.

After the recap, Jack intervenes. Sanders asks if he is Lancers' comrade, Jack states he isn't a Lancer, but he is one of their comrades, thanks to Yuya's Dueltaining.

Jack calls Gongenzaka to stand back, and he, and Yuya will deal with this. Gongenzaka obliges, Shingo thinks Gongenzaka was expecting Jack, but Gongenzaka denies that, but then states he expected something to occur, since when miracles happen, Yuya holds on to them.

(This idea is probably why Beyond the Pendulum's Kanji name is a miracle/trajectory pun.)

Yuya thanks Jack, and says he didn't expect them to meet again. Jack has a speech about how he thought he would watch NDC's fate, but now can't see people forging a new future to help the Lancers.

Jack has a flashback about Crow's kids telling him to help save the world, like Crow did, Jack states their love transcends dimensions (a tease for the ending).

Jack asks where is Crow, Shingo reveals Crow was carded to save him, meanwhile BB is trying to reach the Lancers. Jack screams at BB, asking if he did it, BB asks what would happen if he did, and Jack states he will crush him for sake of the case.

Sanders likes Jack's self-confidence, Shingo states BB is Academia's strongest Duelist (obviously incorrect, Yuri, and Leo exist), and Jack is NDC's. Jack starts his Duel with Setting a card. Sanders is surprised.

Jack then Summons Scarlight Red Dragon Archfiend. Academia students are shocked at Jack's strength, but BB tries to negate SRDA's destruction effect, leading Jack to respond with his Counter Trap. Sanders, and BB are shocked that his card can activate during the turn it was Set.

Shingo is happy that Jack's effect dealt damage, but doesn't get why there is 1500 damage, since there was only one monster. Gongenzaka reveals it is because of BB's Thumbs Down working against him.

Sanders realizes this was his intention, Jack states he expected this because of Yuya's LP, Obelisk Blue students realize BB can be defeated this turn, but Jack states he cannot attack due to Red Warg's effect.

BB briefly smiles because he is saved. Sanders, angry, enters the Duel to guide BB.

Sanders Fusion Summons Editor with Test cards. As you probably know, Test cards in the Japanese are known as "Slave" cards, referecing the slaves owned by gladiators.

Gongenzaka is surprised he can control BB's monsters with it, Sanders reveals Editor is the master of Gladiator Beasts.

Yuya starts to get BB's deal. Sanders states the objective, except Reiji, but especially Yuya, all the Lancers are to be eliminated.

Yuya realizes this probably means Leo knows Yuya's connection to Yuri (therefore Z-ARC). Jack states they will not be defeated.

Sanders tries to destroy SRDA, but Jack protects it.

Sanders attack Yuya instead. BB does not cooperate, allowing Yuya to get Action Magic: Evasion.

Sanders thrashes BB, and states Obelisk Blue should follow his orders. Shingo mocks him for having his five students carded.

Yuya, and Yuto talk about this revelation. Yuya thinks all the events are connected (kind of true, but not entirely), and assumes Leo knows who the being inside them (Z-ARC) is. Jack thrashes Yuya, affectionately, for not paying attention to the Duel.

Jack, Shingo, and Gongenzaka tell Yuya to continue to clear the doubt in his heart, and don't let Crow, and Tsukikage's sacrifices to be in vain.

Yuya negates BB's Andabata's effect, and lowers its ATK, then attacks it. BB stops its destruction, then activates Gladiator Beast Assault Fort, which can treat two Spell/Traps as Continuous Spell, Gladiator Beast Fort.

BB reveals the card's effect (it is similar Rishid's Temple of the Kings, but with Trojan Dogs), and states this is his Trump Card. BB growls, and Yuya has a flashback from the times he was isolating himself. He ends his turn.

Sanders tells BB to bury Jack, and Yuya. BB refuses, Sanders tells him he will be carded if he doesn't obey, causing BB to act against Sanders by using his Editor against him, inflicting him enough damage to defeat him. His defeat is not yet seen, though.

Next episode will continue on the Duel without Sanders being an active participant.

That's the episode, here's the lore:

For the previous posts, since I haven't watched the later episodes, my assumption was Leo didn't know Yuya was Z-ARC, though I'm not entirely sure Yuya's own assumption here is correct. Either way, it is unlikely that he knows Yuto is inside him, but we'll see.

For the episode proper, it is pretty obvious, as stated by the end text, that Yuya was probing BB's intentions with the attack on Andabata, because he realized he was acting aggressively out of trauma, because that's what he did himself. Of course, BB is more violent, so the result didn't go full egao.

As noted by others, Sanders represents Academia's all-or-nothing ideology, and shows Academia is willing to put down minions that don't act properly.

This Duel, which will continue to next episode, serves as the final major bonding moment between Jack, and Yuya, since Jack will not team up with Yuya for the final Duel, because spoilers, Yuya becomes the Supreme King... Z-ARC.

Jack will instead team up with Gongenzaka, whose team-up is already set-up in this episode. Much like Crow-Shingo, the two didn't have major moments before this, really, though in Gongenzaka's case, it was because he was defeated by Crow in the first match of Friendship Cup.

I don't know Assault Fort's Continuous Spell treating effect exists in an OCG card, if it doesn't, I'm pretty sure it will be a thing, soon, given the recent influx of cards treating monsters as Continuous Spells.

The episode showcases Sanders-BB vs. Jack-Yuya as contrasting mentor-student duos. Jack of course learned from Yuya, which is why he is much less aggressive in this episode, he wants to prove Obelisk Blue students wrong, whereas Sanders, as Shingo notes, learned nothing, other than being more controlling for his other students.

Gladiator Beast Tamer Editor's name refers to the overseer of gladiator fights:

#ygo arc-v meta mini

[karissasands1]

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#Product Reviews

[jostenneil]

i see a lot of batfam fans hc that talia would be a good mother figure to jason, while i do agree with this hc i would like to know your thoughts.

so i want to kind of address red hood: lost days first. what i've seen people do a lot is take that run mostly at face value and ignore the last issue for convenience's sake so that the mother-son relationship between talia and jason can be maintained. that's something i did at first, too. the more i reread the run, though, the more i realized that it's actually. . . pretty off in its characterization of talia. i think people sometimes believe that any portrayal of talia where she isn't necessary "evil" and is portrayed as loving is in-character enough, but obv that's not really true. there are still motivations and boundaries she possesses that need to be taken into account, and i don't really think winick took those into account. (1) talia was never motivated to "prove" her love to bruce bc the problems in their relationship were largely external, particularly the presence of her father. bruce always loved her and more often than not when their paths collided he did give her the benefit of the doubt. so i personally found it hard to believe talia would care for jason out of a need to prove herself to bruce bc the more glaring issue to him was her inability to detach herself from ra's. (2) another thing that really struck me as odd was the kind of people talia sent jason to train with. obv we're told that talia wants to distract jason from directly going to kill bruce in the hopes that he'll turn around, but the thing is that like. i seriously doubt talia wouldn't be repulsed by the idea of sending jason to such people to begin with. she was raised an assassin but she never liked being an assassin, nor did she respect people who meaninglessly preyed on human life. she despised them. she despised her father for it. i really do think in the specific situation of ra's posing a simultaneous threat that she'd have sooner notified bruce about jason than send the latter to all of those mercenaries knowing the kind of people they were and the kind of cyclical abuse she could be propagating, which brings me to my last point. (3) i don't really agree with much of the ra's portrayal in the run either lol. ra's was always someone who capitalized on opportunity. he hated to be undermined, so his initial anger towards talia for dousing jason in the pit makes sense, but i was skeptical of his aims to eliminate jason afterward. jason was a direct product of bruce's impeccable instruction, and he was already starting to forge a vendetta against bruce that ra's could have easily capitalized on not only as a standard assassin's asset but also as a means to undermine and threaten bruce. it would have wasted an opportunity to eliminate him, and i think placing the role of coordinator for jason's mercenary education would have fallen more in line with ra's's goals and the kind of people he was willing to employ in his service.

all that being said, i very much do think talia has the capacity to be a good mother to jason, it just. . . requires working with the initial, bare bones premise of red hood: lost days more than it does the actual content of the run itself bc so much of it relies on talia and ra's's mischaracterization. if anything i think talia would be the kind of person actively trying to steer jason as far away from an embedment within the typical assassin's life and mindset as much as possible. i think she'd focus on imparting him knowledge and care and an open ear to listen should he ever need to vent or grieve. i think she'd take him on as a ward not to prove her love to bruce but to care for a boy bc he's a victim and he's confused and alone, and then on top of that bc he is someone bruce cares about, so she would extend that level of kindness out of her own compassion and empathy. maybe she would even take him on as a ward bc in the aftermath of having to give up damian for adoption, she's grieving for the loss of the family she might have had. i think she would respect jason's agency to choose what to do with his own life bc she has hope that he can be as much a force for good as bruce is, but that if she saw what was happening in gotham when the red hood started to take over that she'd be there at the drop of a hat ready to put an end to all of it bc submission to trauma and reckless elimination of people to achieve some higher end is not actually justice. that's something she knows intimately bc of her experience with her own father and his similar lack of regard for collateral in the pursuit of a pure earth (another reason why i think it would make more sense for ra's to be willing to take jason on as a student, bc their means somewhat align). talia to me is someone who can sort of fill in for where bruce falters a bit with jason bc she's grown up with someone who also takes a very black and white approach to justice and she knows how that's flawed and how the pursuit of it ultimately consumes you. i think she'd very much care about seeing jason heal and be able to move forward from his trauma bc he can do good in the world, he just needs to clear up a few things in his own mind first

#talia al ghul #jason todd #ra's al ghul #dc #mine:meta #asks #sorry this took me so long lol i have. a Lot to say on this topic bc of how much i hate that comic now ajalkjdflskjgdlhgf #me in june: idk maybe i can tweak a few things here and there with it when writing my fic #me in december: so much of this comic is garbage and i would throw eggs at winick's house

[eisiramdeus]

NOTES ON FAR CRY 5 VERSE

PRIOR TO THE GAME’S EVENTS,

He comes to Hope County, MT, on assigment to investigate Joseph Seed and the rising concerns regarding his upstart religious organization. Infiltrate this cult, if possible, and assess its potential for militarization against the Federal government.

His objective is to gather evidence of radicalism, militarization, and unlawful acts to compile a largely HUMINT report to the Federal government recommending the arrest of Joseph Seed and accomplices.

He moves into the county under the identity of a retired serviceman looking to move out West and settle down, aided by the DoD with forged documentation to support this identity. He spends several weeks settling in and interacting with locals instead of beelining to the cult. This is to solidify his identity as a member of Hope County.

He becomes “curious” about this new Project at Eden’s Gate group he’s heard about from the locals after interacting with members of the cult, and begins to show interest in joining the cult.

How, and why, he manages to secure an invitation into the cult can vary depending on plotting. For an example, if you are writing a cult member or cult leadership, he will attempt to befriend them. If you are writing an anti-cult character, he will likely avoid bringing up the subject to not inflame the situation.

After gathering sufficient evidence, he will flee the cult, cover up most traces of his stay in Hope County, and return with his report. The warrant for Joseph Seed’s arrest is issued, and the Federal Marshal is sent to serve the warrant along with the local police department. The events of Far Cry 5 begin. 

DURING THE GAME’S EVENTS,

When the Marshal never returns with Joseph Seed, and no communications can be established with the county, Alex returns to settle matters. Note that for my verse, I go with a no impending nuclear apocalypse ending: otherwise, if the United States was in the brink of nuclear war, he’d have a lot more on his plate than domestic terrorism out West.

He largely acts as Death from the Hills in the dense, forested, rough terrain of Hope County; a very seasoned marksman and operator, he disrupts supply chains, captures and interrogates cult members, and is a terror in the night.

He expertly avoids being seen even by resistance members, and is often fully covered/masked. He may attempt to establish contact with the resistance for resupplying and to provide expertise where he can, and will attempt to defuse the situation with anyone who may recognize him as a “cult member” from his forged identity.

If you are writing a cult member or cult leadership: heavy plotting will likely be required. He is a professional killer nearing twenty years of accumulated military education, training, and wartime experience. The likelihood of your character’s murder is very high during an interaction, but we can always work out some kind of plot! I’d also highly suggest we write in a timeline prior to the game’s events for civility’s sake.

If you are writing a resistance member or deputy: interactions should be much easier in our case. While Alex may hard to find, he will likely make an appearance on the different resistance strongholds in the county. This is a good opportunity for interactions, and again, we can always work out plots too! I also have the idea of Alex as one of the Specialists to facilitate interactions with deputies. He acknowledges the deputy as Joseph Seed’s object of obsession, and decides to go along, looking for an opportunity to strike at the reclusive Father and his Heralds. More about Alex as a Specialist under the cut below.

AS A SPECIALIST FOR HIRE,

Alex will follow a deputy around during any mission aimed at drawing out the Father and his Heralds, looking for an opportunity to eliminate them. He has two associated unique traits like the rest of the Specialists.

DISCIPLINED — He will carry multiple weapons available in the game and will switch them out accordingly; an adaptable operator, effective at all ranges and situations. His frequent picks are the MBP 50, the 45/70-T, and the MP5. He carries the Beretta M9 as a sidearm, and has a diving knife for utility, or fun. A few, occasional, flavorful picks may be the D50, the 1887, and the recurve bow for hunting, or spite.

STANDING ARMY — He will care for his firearms and assist other with maintaining theirs, reducing the wear, likelihood of malfunctions, and optimizing the deputy’s overall efficiency. While accompanying the deputy, they will receive a discount when resupplying their ammunition, and some later-game firearms are unlocked earlier for the deputy to purchase.

How the deputy comes across him and begins their partnership is up to discussion in each individual case.

#𝐗𝐈. VERSE. FAR CRY. #verse notes / #long post /

[marypenelope]

Okay, so I've talked previously about how I don't think Luz's presence on the Isles is an accident. In that original post, I posited that the Emperor's Coven, or Belos himself, might have something to do with the letters. However, that doesn't seem particularly plausible at this point. Based on his desire for Eda's portal and him going to the trouble of fixing it after Luz blew it up, Belos didn't have a way to the Human Realm at the time the letters would have been sent. Given that the Emperor's Coven are basically his lackeys, it's highly unlikely they had access to a portal either. So that eliminates them from the list of suspects.

The fandom has also wondered if King or Eda might have been responsible for the letters - perhaps as a way to help keep Camila pacified and keep up the ruse that Luz is at camp. However, like I mentioned in the previously mentioned post, I think that's unlikely. Although the spelling errors do seem at least somewhat on par for King, and we have most certainly seen that he Does Not Want Luz to Leave, given what we know about him likely being 10 or younger, as well as his general lack of knowledge regarding the Human Realm, I seriously doubt he'd be capable of forging the letters. Plus, unless he has some kind of creation powers that we don't know about (which is not entirely out there; it seemed kinda like he was trying to create more Jean-Lucs when Eda found him, but for whatever reason they were lifeless), that wouldn't explain what we saw in the most recent episode.

Eda, of course, is a whole other ballgame. She certainly would have had the power to pull something like this off, at least pre-YBOS, and given that she's apparently hidden out in the Human Realm before to avoid her mom - as well as having been collecting and selling items from there for years - she's certainly more familiar with human culture than King. Even so, we see in the early episodes that this knowledge doesn't account for much. She doesn't know how TVs and batteries work, or even what summer camp is. As well, she's seen how worried Luz is about her mom since the portal was destroyed, and in Echoes of the Past, she got a very frank reminder that keeping secrets of that magnitude never ends well. While it's still possible she's at fault, I genuinely believe she would have told Luz by now.

So who does that leave? A few people suspected Amity when we first saw the letters, given some minor similarities in the handwriting, but much like King, I doubt she would have had the knowledge or power to pull something like that off - especially since she'd only recently become friends with Luz when the letters were revealed, and it seemed like several had already been sent by that point. Willow and Gus are equally unlikely. But if it's not our main antagonist, our other two protagonists, or our favourite side characters, who could it be?

A somewhat popular theory is that the camp itself is at fault - that, somehow and for whatever reason, they've been replacing campers with 'perfect' versions of themselves. While this is certainly possible and makes sense in its own way, I'm not entirely convinced. After all, that'd be a pretty deviation from the current plot - and given everything else going on with the Isles, I'm not sure Dana and crew would have time to cover it in what's left of the show. Maybe if we were getting a proper season 3, but...

Of course, if the camp is somehow connected to the Isles, that makes things a bit simpler - but it still doesn't explain how, who, or why. Again, Eda's portal is the only stable, reliable form of transportation between realms that we know of, and she's had it for about 20-30 years. Belos seems uninterested in humans, or at least he was uninterested in Luz, and he can't be behind it for the same reasons as above. If someone is kidnapping human children and replacing them with... idk, abominations, or illusions, or changelings or whatever - then who? And why? What would be the purpose of that?

And then there's my personal theory, which I first discussed in the other post, and expanded on a bit more here. What if Luz is meant to be here?

It could be, as I previously speculated, that the Titan itself chose Luz to be here, and has been somehow communicating with her without Luz realizing it - giving her knowledge of things like griffins with spider breath and helping her discover glyphs. But in order for the Titan to have arranged for Luz's double and the letters, it would need to be. Y'know. Less dead, and also able to write and stuff. Which, like, maybe? We don't know a lot about the Titan. But it seems unlikely that it would be directly responsible for the letters and doppelganger.

I think it's far more likely that an individual or group of savage witches - or at least, people who oppose Belos - is working on the Titan's behalf, likely manipulating the 'leaks' that Gwendolyn talked about. Perhaps the author of the Azura books, or the human (or, more likely, their descendant, given Gwendolyn said her great-grandma was the one to tell her about them) that was mentioned this episode.

But I don't know. There are just so many missing pieces here - it's impossible to say what's really going on until we know more.

#toh spoilers #the owl house spoilers #the owl house #toh #toh meta #the owl house meta #toh theory #the owl house theory #toh luz #toh eda #toh king #toh belos #emperors coven #toh gwendolyn #toh amity #toh willow #toh gus #creepy luz #toh camila #I feel like I had more but my body is currently mutinying due to my second dose of vaccine yesterday #and it's very hard to concentrate #my point is i have a lot of Thoughts

[fanfic-archive]

A Little More than an Alliance

Eivor Wolf-Kissed x Female Reader

Summary: Eivor has been travelling all over England, forging alliances and making a name for herself. Now she comes to your little kingdom in the hopes of forging an alliance with the king, your father.

Word Count: 3299

It was impressive, the amount of allies the Raven Clan had forged since arriving in England, and that news eventually reached your town. So, you had certainly heard the name ‘Eivor Wolf-Kissed’ before, and you supposed it was only a matter of time before she stepped foot in your little region of England. 

When news of Eivor wanting to meet with the king got around, your father agreed to a talk. You, your father, and his most trusted men gathered in the throne room, waiting for the Viking to arrive.

As soon as the Dane stepped into the hall, your full attention was on her. You couldn’t help it, of course you have heard of her but you still had no idea what to expect in many ways. Now, she stood in front of you and your father.

You felt foolish, never before have you been so captivated by a person. Your father and her spoke, while you took in each detail of her appearance. Her clothes, her braids, the parts of tattoos and scars that were visible, the way she held herself and walked into the hall with purpose, like she owned the place, how she showed respect while simultaneously demanding it with just her presence.

Eivor must have noticed your staring because she glanced over at your, making eye contact for just a moment but it was enough to turn your cheeks a light shade of pink and tear your gaze way from her.

Your father, the king, had never been too fond of the Danes but you had always been more open minded, simply curious about them. The truth was, you wanted to learn more about them, preferably from Eivor. 

The meeting between Eivor and your father didn’t go so well, your father didn’t seem interested in any sort of alliance but you knew that she wouldn’t give up that easily. 

Once the meeting ended, your father retired to his chambers while Eivor headed out of the hall. Deciding to try your luck, just a little, you followed after the Dane. 

“Excuse me” you spoke as you caught up with her, your voice making her pause and turn to you. “I’m sorry for my father’s rudeness” you apologised on the king’s behalf. 

“He isn’t the first leader to protest, but I’ve never let it stop us before” she shrugged slightly. 

“He isn’t...a fan of your people but I want you to know that we don’t all think the same way and that I think he will come around in time” you assured her. 

“I’ve won over stubborn Saxon’s before, I’m sure I’ll manage it again” she nodded in agreement. 

“I hope you do” you admitted, glancing over at the pair of your father’s men who were watching you both, likely wondering why you were talking to her without your father’s presence. “Would you walk with me?” you asked, wanting to get away from the curiously men. Eivor nodded, making you smile before you both left the hall together. “I believe an alliance between our people will benefit us both...and I confess you and your people intrigue me” you told her as the doors closed behind you. 

“Is that so?” Eivor asked with a small hum, walking through the streets of the town with you. 

“My father believes that your belief in multiple Gods is heathenism and therefore damning, though I imagine our belief in a singular God confuses you just as much” you shrugged. 

“It’s not the belief that confuses me, but the way you worship” Eivor confessed, a little curious about what you had to say. 

“We must humble ourselves before God” you explained simply. 

“We seek glory in the name of our Gods, I doubt you would consider that humble. We should take pride in our glories” she shook her head, clearly disagreeing. 

“Pride is a sin” you informed her playfully. 

“Another confusing concept of yours: sin. Your people make sins out of our nature. It is honour that decides our fate after death” she told you. 

“Your Valhalla?” you asked and she nodded in confirmation. “Now that is something I don’t understand. The feasting and celebrating sounds like a wonderful end but the continuous battles I may never understand. After everything you earn in life, don’t you want the next one to be...peaceful?” you pondered. 

“And your afterlife is that?” Eivor questioned. 

“...I suppose we can only hope” you sighed softly. You had faith and you trusted that faith, but nobody could know for sure. 

“You are a curious princess” she smiled slightly to herself, curiously looking you up and down, which definitely made you blush again. 

“Thank you” you smiled softly, hoping that your flushed face wasn’t too noticeable. “I wish to further understand your people. Understanding and respect are the only things that can bring us together” you insisted. 

Eivor went to speak but was interrupted by a man calling your name. The two of you turned to see one of your father’s most trusted men, one that you had known since you were a child, approaching you both. “Your father has requested your presence” he told you. 

You nodded before turning back to Eivor. “I have to go” you sighed, sounding disappointed. “But I enjoyed our talk and I trust you don’t plan on leaving until you have formed an agreement, so perhaps we could talk further when you have the time?” you looked up at her with a hopeful gaze, and she had to admit that she wouldn’t mind speaking with you some more. 

“It would be my pleasure” she nodded, smiling at you. You returned her smile before heading off to speak with your father. 

Eivor watched you walk away with a small smile on her face, just has she had captured your attention, you had captured hers. 

-

Unsurprisingly, Eivor did stay, continuing to speak with your father about possible alliances. 

Though, she spent a good portion of her days speaking with you instead. She told you all about Norway and her life there, why she and her clan came to England, and their journey here. Your favourite stories where the ones she told you of her Gods, even they were flawed being and you found that you liked that.  

Of course, you told her about your life growing up in England, laughing at the vast differences of your experiences. She told you about her experiences, but they were things you could only imagine. Your stories just didn’t compare in your eyes, they weren’t nearly as interesting in your opinion. 

Eivor just had so many stories, either from her life or about her Gods, and she told them so well, so poetically. Each and every one held your fascination, you could just listen to her for hours on end. 

You had offered to give her a proper tour of the town, the two of you got some curious looks from the people you passed, the Saxon Princess and the Danish drengr, but neither of you cared much. She had even taken you out of town for the day, without your father’s knowledge. It had proven surprisingly ease to sneak around to spend time with this fascinating woman. 

All the while, Eivor was making impressive strides in forging an alliance with your father. She wasn’t doing it alone though, you were helping, trying to convince your father to consider the proposition. 

-

It wasn’t too long before your father realised that both you and the Raven Clan had a shared enemy, Kind Alfred. So, your father set the terms of the alliance, if Eivor could help him and his men eliminate Alfred’s control over the region, she would have him as an ally. 

Your father had only recently left for the camp that they were going to regroup at, leaving you with a goodbye and a promise to return. 

Now you stood alone in the empty throne room, which would undoubtable be the place you waited until they all returned safely. You were just about to sit down when the front doors opened and Eivor walked into the room. 

“Eivor, you haven’t gone yet?” you were definitely surprised to see her here, having assumed she would be one of the first at the camp, preparing for battle. 

“I wanted to come and tell you that we’d be attacking Aelfred’s men tonight, I am meeting your father at the camp soon” she explained her presence. Knowing that she had come to see you just to say goodbye made you smile just a little, you would have smiled more if you hadn’t been so worried. 

“I know, he just left to prepare” you nodded, walking towards her so that you both met in the centre of the hall. “Tell me, Eivor, are you even better in battle than you are at diplomacy?” you asked. 

“The battlefield is almost like a second home to me” she nodded, her brow furrowing in confusion and curiosity at your question. 

“Good...then I suppose I have nothing to worry about” the answer didn’t really do anything to put your mind at ease, you already knew about her prowess on the battlefield, you had heard the stories...and yet you still worried about her. 

“You’re worried we won’t succeed?” Eivor questioned you with a small frown. 

“Well...yes, but not because I’m doubting your abilities. I’m more concerned about your safe return” you confessed. 

“I’ll be fine, we’ll likely be back sometime tomorrow” she promised you, sounding confident in it. 

“And you’ll look out for my father, it’s been some time since he saw battle” you requested. He had never been a coward in a fight but you still worried about him, he was family after all. 

“I will, I promise” she nodded before turning to leave. 

You hadn’t expected her to try to leave so suddenly, there were still things you wanted to say to her. 

“Eivor” you swiftly caught her hand in yours, making her stop and turn back to you. She looked at you expectantly, seeing the worry written on your face. “Please be careful” your voice was soft, like a quiet prayer. 

“You don’t need to worry” Eivor raised her hand, tucking a strand of loose hair behind your ear with a surprisingly soft smile on her face. 

Both her smile and gesture were gentle, more gentle than one might expect from a drengr such as herself. You had learnt during your time with her that she certainly did have a gentle side to her, one that she had been kind enough to show to you. 

“I’ll be back soon, after we claim our victory” she assured you, her hand slipping around to the back of your neck before pulling you closer. 

You went to speak, to question her, but you where quickly shut up. Your eyes widened slightly as her lips pressed against yours firmly. Slowly coming out of your surprised stated, your eyes fluttered shut and your hands rested on her arms as you returned the intense kiss. You had never felt so much heat and passion in a single gesture...or at all for that matter. 

Eivor broke away from the kiss, leaving you breathless. She brushed her thumb over your cheek before pulling away from you completely, walking out of the hall to prepare for battle, leaving you standing in the middle of the throne room, slightly stunned by the sudden development. 

-

The next day your father and his men returned, just like they all promised. Your father had greeted you with the good news and a hug before taking his place on his throne, you standing by his side as he spoke to two of his men. 

You had been paying attention to the conversation...until Eivor walked into the hall. As soon as you saw her, you were solely focused on her, and you were sure that your face just lit up at the sight of her. 

The truth was that you just wanted to run to her, but you knew that you couldn’t. So, you stayed put, just grateful for her safe return. She seemed glad to see you as well, greeting you with a nod and a smile, both of which you returned.

Everyone had returned, the dead had been honoured, the battle was won, and an alliance had been forged. So, it was time to celebrate, and everyone did so with a feast. 

As the men, Saxon and Dane alike, celebrated with food, drink, and music, your father sat up on his throne looking on with pride. 

You had left your father’s side, approaching Eivor, who was leaning against a wooden post in a quieter part of the hall. “Your people seem much better at celebrating than mine” you commented, getting the woman’s attention. 

“I’d have to agree with you” Eivor nodded as you moved to stand beside her, the two of you watching the more rowdy Danes attempting to bring out the worst in the more reserved Saxons. 

“...it looks like fun” you sighed. 

“It is. Why don’t you join in?” she asked, looking down at you. 

“I can’t” you shook your head, sounding displeased. 

“Of course you can. You’re a princess, you can do whatever you want, especially if that thing is celebrating” Eivor chuckled a little, seemingly not understanding your claim. 

“My father considers it indecent of me to join in with the festivities” you told her, making her roll her eyes.

She seemed to think about something for a moment before looking back at you. “Come on” she nodded at you to follow her before walking off. 

You frowned slightly in confusion but followed after her anyway. She grabbed two tankards off of a table, filling them with mead, before heading for the front door. You were still none the wiser as to what was going on in her head but you didn’t question it, you only followed curiously. 

Following her outside, you let the doors close behind you both before coming to a stop around the side of the building. It was dark outside now, the night sky lit up by the moon and the stars, the glow from the torches lighting up the town. Everyone else was in the hall, so it was just the two of you were out here, making it all the more peaceful. 

“I guess you’ll be returning home now” you realised with a dejected sigh, taking a sip of your mead. 

“I will. I’ve finished my business here, and I am needed back in Ravensthorpe” Eivor nodded, drinking from her own mead. 

You have had some time to think about what you wanted out of life and you knew that now was the only time you might get to ever seek something new. “Would you take me with you? Back to Ravensthorpe?” you asked, knowing that the question was probably surprising. 

“Now, why would you want that?” she did sound curious but she seemed to hide her surprise pretty well. “I love my father and I love our home, and I don’t plan on cutting all ties, but I don’t think my place is here anymore...I think there’s something more for me out there” you confessed, looking over at her and attempting to disguise the longing in your gaze. You succeeded...partly. 

“I’m not one to try to talk somebody out of following their fate but I have to ask, why don’t you think your place is here?” she didn’t sound judgemental, she just wanted to better understand. 

“I will never be considered for the throne and I’m okay with that, I don’t think I even want it, but if I am not here to be my father’s heir...there is no real role for me here” you explained honestly. 

“And what would your role be in Ravensthorpe?” Eivor questioned and you paused for a moment. She made a fair point, what use would you be to the Raven Clan? 

“...I guess I’ll have to figure that out” you confessed with another sigh, looking out at the quiet town in front of you. Surely, she wouldn’t accept your request, she had no reason too. 

“I’m sure I can think of a place for you” she reassured you casually, taking another drink. 

“Really?” your head shot round to look at her with widened eyes. “Is that you agreeing?” you asked. 

“Will your father allow it?” she answered your question with another question. 

“He won’t like it but I don’t think he could stop me, nor would he break his alliance with you. He never was too fond of Danes but he is a man of his word, plus I believe you have won him over on your people” you told her. 

“Tonight we celebrate, we leave tomorrow morning...we’ll speak with your father then” she nodded, not even questioning her decision. 

“Before we leave, I must ask...before you left to fight Alfred’s men...” the confidence you just had, asking to leave with her, faded as you brought up the subject that you really wanted to talk about.

“Yes?” a small smirk tugged at her lips. 

“What was that?” you asked. 

“What was what?” she was teasing you now and you knew it, she wasn’t even attempting to hide her smirk. 

“Eivor” you groaned in frustration and embarrassment, but she just chuckled. “The kiss, what was that?” you asked, a light blush spreading over your cheeks as you hung your head slightly to avoid her gaze. 

“Did you not enjoy it?” Eivor asked but it didn’t really sound like a genuine question. You guessed that she already knew the answer, she was just teasing you. 

“Yes, I...of course” you assured her quickly, making her smile. “I was just wondering what it meant...” your words drifted off again. 

“Well...” Eivor smiled as she placed her tankard down and turned to you, “...I meant...” she reached out tenderly and pushed some hair out of your face, reminding you of your encounter before she left for battle, “...that I would like it if you joined me in Ravensthorpe.”

Her answer made you smile, glad to hear that you meant as much to her as she meant to you. This time you were less surprised when she cupped your cheek in her hand and lent in to capture your lips in a kiss, her other hand resting on your waist.

You placed your tankard down as carefully as you could as you returned her kiss, bringing both of your hands up to cup her face. The hand against your cheek fell to grip the other side of your waist as Eivor pulled you closer to her, making you wrap your arms around her neck. 

This kiss was even better than the last and you hoped that there would be many more in the future. The way she kissed you, the way she touched you, even the way she looked at you, lit a fire in you that you had never experienced before and you didn’t ever want to lose that feeling. 

You reluctantly broke the kiss but didn’t pull away from her. “Come with me” you practically whispered as you took her hand in yours, stepping away from her. 

“Where are we going?” Eivor asked curiously, letting you guide her around the longhouse, towards one of the doors around the back. 

“Tonight is about celebrating, is it not?” you asked, looking back over your shoulder at her with a small smirk of your own. 

Eivor smirked in return, quickly catching on to your plans for the evening, letting you sneak her back to your chambers.

Once you reached your chamber, you closed the door and returned to Eivor’s embrace. She instantly pulled you into another kiss, and before you knew it she was lowering you onto your back on the furs of your bed.

#eivor x reader #eivor wolfkissed x reader #eivor #eivor wolfkissed #assassins creed valhalla #my writing

[mc-critical]

Do you think MC hurrem, before the bayezid and selim conflict of course, ever considered that the traditional fratricide could possibly happen amongst her sons? Mustafa hypothetically killing her sons if he became sultan is constantly used as a reason for why she had to get rid of him but how could multiple princes having the same mother resolve any potential conflict for the throne? Sorry idk if what i said makes sense

Don't worry at all, I understood you perfectly! ^^

No, I don't think MC Hürrem considered that possibility as strongly before the inevitable occured.

First off, her adaption to the harem was a slow and gradual process and she certainly didn't become aware of all the rules, all the sudden. (as when she was surprised that Mustafa was getting his own harem before the sanjack) She knew enough to set a goal in her mind from the first episode, but didn't get to see the full picture until she went through fulfilling that goal step by step and saw an obstacle that would be impossible to ignore. She was so focused on the path to survive, she brushed off the cost of said path in the first place.

It's true that in the beginning, there wasn't a reason for her to consider possible ongoing rivalry or fratricide between her sons. Nigar told her that she would rule the world if she gives the Sultan a child and when she becomes aware of the competition in the harem, what would make her prevail over them all, guided by her desire to make SS only hers and maintain power, for she would stop undergoing the same trauma and disrespect all over again? More children! We could argue that, throughout season 1, she views having more children as a privilege - not only does it secure more her position as a favorite, but it makes her gain advantage and power over her rival in this game. Notice how she boasts about the possibility alone in front of Mahidevran in both E06 and E11! ("It will be a boy. Then it will be a boy again. Then it will be a boy again and again..."; "I will give birth to many princes, but you won't even give birth to a girl.") These lines could be an attempt of assertion and a mask of vulnerability and insecurity, in a way, but this is far from the only thing going on. Not just the children, but the princes specifically are capilatized on, because bearing one is considered an honor in this harem and for every pregnancy, Hürrem expresses an almost firm confidence that it will be, without a doubt, a prince. The whole system in the show, sadly enough, encourages that whoever has more sons is more powerful and will get everyone else out of their way eventually, without shining a light on the more grim implications and what the mothers will possibly have to go through with their many sons, to the point it simply leaves them to find this out by themselves. It puts the princes in idealized superiority that is one of the first things Hürrem gets used to and that's why she was initially taken aback when Mihrimah was born instead of another prince she wanted so much. By that point, she had no time to consider eventual conflicts or fratricide because of her (initial) upper hand.

The higher stakes were kept under wraps in the series itself, too, because of its Cerebus Syndrome nature that lets you endear with the characters at first in lighter, more mainly interpersonal situations and then move to the wider scale of the historical themes, having them grow as people and political players and realize the bigger context along with the evolution of the narrative. That is coupled with the children's ages, for the small age, to me, was presented as a symbol of innocence. There's this prevailing trend in Hürrem's character during season 2 where she kept saying that Mustafa is too little for doing certain stuff (like going to a campaign, to a province, etc.) and that, I think, is telling enough of the amount of awareness she had for an eventual conflict between her sons. That was a general theme of the show, too, because both Mahidevran and Hürrem held no ill will against the other's children when they were small, as seen by them taking care of them during the janissary rebellion and Mahidevran saving Mehmet in E16. The children themselves weren't a priority of eradication for them back then and when they were little, they were something worth protecting as a mother's value, not tools to be moulded for the future battle for the throne. When their mothers find a common ground in this aspect, would a conflict between children of one and the same mother be possible? Only when they grow up, awareness comes to the surface, bacause by the time they're still small, they're harmless and innocent. (handicapped by SS's words to Mustafa in E46: "As you grow up, the innocence between us disappears, my Mustafa.") Even Hürrem set herself against Mustafa only by E38 and she didn't want his death until then. Knowing this, could she predict that something could go wrong between her own sons, no less? Doesn't she have other stuff to do until she reaches that point? Isn't she too busy in forging her own survival path and not think as much about her children before they grow up?

Then again, Hürrem has shown to be capable of anything to always remain in SS's good graces both because she is devoted to him and for her own goals. The princes play a part in this, because they have to gain the padişah's support first and foremost and that simply cannot be done through quarrels. Hürrem may have grown wise to this, with the many cases of her ordering the children to go away once a conflict of any kind ensues and especially, always telling them throughout season 3 not to fight with each other, not even because of her, and stressing that family is the most important thing. She may have wanted their childhoods to be as peaceful as possible, rendering them (except Mihrimah) oblivious to what she's gone through, which gave them a sense of naivety in the process. And while that naivety turned out to be a double-edged sword (as we saw with Mehmet fully believing Illyas and Cihangir believing in SS's promise that he won't sacrifice Mustafa), it could've been a way for Hürrem to make sure that her children in general would always seek a consensus and look good in front of the sultan. That didn't end up being the case. Despite of these possible measures of hers, I doubt she got fully aware of the possibility, precisely because of her set goals. Even though the dismissal of Selim and Bayezid's conflict became a main arc of Hürrem's in S04, there were also hints of this in S02, shown by E53: "Such a sun will rise that that sun will only rise for me and my children." Her fixation on Mustafa as the single pivotal moment of her life fight is a huge character flaw of hers almost right from the moment she began to see him as a threat and even from her first attempt, as we see by the quote above, she thinks that by eliminating him, it would be all over, assuringly discarding everything else afterwards. And Selim and Bayezid were already arguing by that episode and it only escalated further since then, because of her ignorance as a part of the whole issue.

It's even questionable whether she has ever thought that, maybe there is more work to be done after Mustafa, because Hürrem's fixation became more predominant as the series progressed, in conjunction with the evergrowing Selim and Bayezid conflict. It was already so prevalent by S04 that Hürrem went as far as to blame Mustafa for the first big scandal between them in E112 and Mihrimah had to remind her of their rivalry-slowly-turning-to-enmity's very existence in the first half of the season that is there in spite of who Hürrem thinks is the bigger problem. She didn't give it the significant attention it deserved when they were little and I, for one, believe that she had to investigate more when Selim set Bayezid's arrow up for failure around E91/92 and not scold only Bayezid, for it only heightened his resentment for Selim. She didn't think of it as something that big to deal with, it was probably a problem they would fix by themselves for good measure, because they're still children after all, aren't they? But a resentment of a child could only continue to live on, especially in such a time period, so if Hürrem, knowing how paranoid she could be and how much she tried to evade everything that could oppose her success, predicted the future mass of the conflict, wouldn't she do something more, wouldn't she nullify it? It's a given that she can't be next to them in every single minute of the day, but the possible outcome itself just screams for tiiiny bit more involvement on her part. The earlier you interfere, the earlier would stop the obstacle in its entirety. Hürrem is smart enough to know this, so the logical thing is that she didn't fully take all that into account. She couldn't, and possibly didn't, want to predict this as a mother.

The very realization of the actual massive power of Selim and Bayezid's enmity and her newfound inability to interfere almost at all to it came as such a surprise for her. She not only completely miscalculated, but it broke her heart into pieces. She didn't see coming any conflict of the like, because if she did, even before the whole fiasco happened, early into S01-2, she would never let it reach such extremes. And the realization hit her in such an unexpected way that she wanted to escape the shock that she had to choose and try to solve things as she has always had, doing things that should've been done such a long time ago. Would she be so helpless when she finally came to terms with the following fratricide, if she saw it coming before the conflict even started?

In summary: Hürrem didn't think of something like this at all early on and when it happened, she did see the roots, but could never, not even in her dreams, imagine the devastating results.

Though yeah, could a conflict between sons of the same mother fully be resolved in circumstances like these? I very much doubt it. Even if the mother removed the tension between them, there are other factors we shouldn't forget (I refer to SS's reign in particular): they are sons of the same mother, but they're still candidates for the throne, hence they're rivals and both the people and the padişah will have to pick a favourite. No matter how impartial a sultan seems to be, he does end up picking sides eventually - whether it's about the province one is sent in, when they're sent in it, how often does he visit them, what in them does he approve or disprove of or how competent they are in his eyes. It's inevitable for them to live in absolute peace in an environment that would sooner or later cause them to fight until one's absolute and total failure.

#magnificent century #muhteşem yüzyıl #hurrem sultan #ask #builtfromabrokenheart

[batarella]

The Bullet: A Sequel to The Commander - Part 7 *FINALE* (Jason Todd x Reader)

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH THIS FUCKING FINALE I SWEAR. HOPE YOU GUYS ENJOY BECAUSE THIS IS THE MOST ACTION PACKED FINALE I’VE EVER WRITTEN.

WORDS: 14349 WARNINGS: FIREARMS, VIOLENCE, DEATH

MASTERLIST

THE BULLET MASTERLIST

-----

Strapped onto the wheel chair like a rabid circus freak, Y/N knew exactly where she was headed. She just didn’t know what for.

With her neck being held back she could only look at the bulbs of white fluorescent light that continually passed by her and couldn’t do so much as look at the ground. Plenty of guards were around her as well. She didn’t bother struggling, nor did she speak. But there were even more armed guards lining up, going to wherever she was going as well. All the way up to a white room.

A mission. Her first mission with the squad. Just delightful.

“Deadshot?” the guard near the door asked. When the ones carrying her wheelchair gave him her files, she was let in.

She was the last one to arrive. Because everyone had their eyes on her the moment she graced them with her presence.

The first one that caught Y/N’s eye was, of course, Amanda Waller. With the room littered with her goons and guards, the woman stood at the very front, against a blank wall with her hands behind her back and her eyebrow quirked up right at Y/N. Y/N squinted her eyes back at her, some sort of a decline to her superiority, and Waller looked amused.

Then when the guards parted to make way for her, she was brought to the very center of the room, where there were five rather familiar faces giggling and snarling at the newest member of the squad. The one at the center, Rick Flag, ordered his men to place Y/N on the leftmost side.

Those faces, the ones she’s seen more often than she wished she had. Some already knew her. Some hated her. And some simply didn’t care.

Harley Quinn. Of course, out of everyone else in the room, was the only one bubbling with laughter and other nonsense spurting out of her mouth. She was waving her legs around the wheelchair like a little girl would on a swing. And she was staring at her, laughing. “WE GOT A NEW GIRL ON THE SQUAD!!!” she bellowed out. “WHAT?! DEADSHOT’S NEICE. THAT’S NEPOTISM RIGHT THERE.” Y/N ignored her.

The one beside her was someone she didn’t know personally, someone she’s never even met. They said this guy came from Australia and robbed almost every bank there was. Captain Boomerang. He, too, was strapped to a chair, though he wasn’t as loud as Harley. Y/N saw him eye her head to toe while he bit his lip, and she shot Boomerang a knife-like scowl before his eyes got too comfortable.

The next one. Killer Frost. A beautiful woman with ice-white skin and the hair of an arctic fox. She didn’t give Y/N so much as a glance. Most probably because they had her stored in a coffin-like chamber with only a glass window where her head could be seen. On the inside, she could see the glass covered in frost, and the chamber looked cold to touch. She was calm, reserved. And looked on at Waller’s direction.

The creature beside Frost was the one she really wouldn’t want to mess with the most. The largest in the room, with blue skin and a body ten times the mass of any human being possibly could be. He had the head of a shark, eyes red like her optics. He even had a fin sticking out his back. and he was muzzled and strapped standing upright with five more guards around him. Y/N could hear him growl, wordless, and when she caught his eye, he snarled at her.

Finally, El Diablo. The quietest out of the bunch. His wheelchair looked just like hers, except his hands were completely covered by iron cylinders, probably filled with ice cold water. The man was covered in tattoos, and he didn’t have a shirt on. His face looked like a skull’s, which made the way he looked at everyone else look more menacing than his supposed behaved demeanor.

These were the dangerous people she’s stuck with, most probably for the rest of her life if all else fails and she’ll never be able to get out. The people that Floyd had worked with. And they were a few of the most maniacal villains there were in the whole country. She wished she could tell herself she didn’t belong. But she actually did. In fact, she had no business going about pretending to be better than all these people. When it came to how much blood they’ve shed, she probably wasn’t too far off from Harley. Maybe even more.  

Y/N was right where she truly belonged. Today, she is welcomed as the newest member of the Suicide Squad.

Waller stepped out to the front. “Y/N, your team. Let’s cut to the chase. We don’t have much time. Bring out the files.”

These files were then projected onto a holographic screen against the wall behind Waller. It was a photo of Scarecrow.

“Some of you probably have heard. Just yesterday, Dr. Jonathan Crane released his new toxin in the National Bank of Gotham.”

The screen started to show footage of what went on in the Bank.

“Our first mistake was thinking Scarecrow had launched the same kind of toxin as the last time, but as the surviving victims were brought out to the stations, they continued to showed the side effects of the toxin, including mania, hallucinations, homicidal tendencies, unnatural human strength, and even cannibalism. Even after being held for observations for more than twenty-four hours, they, unfortunately, could not be brought back.

“Which means that Crane had finally developed a fear toxin that causes permanent effects to anyone who does so much as inhale the gas…”

She heard guards shuffle and hold their guns tighter.

“I have a question!” Harley screamed, holding her hand up despite it being strapped to the chair.

“Flag. Muffle her.”

“Muffle me!? What do you-MMMMM!”

“As I was saying. The victims were forced to be euthanized when none of the doctors could bring them back. One hundred-twenty people died in the incident and the whole country is in a state of panic.”

“MMM MMM MMM?!” Harley asked.

“Yes. The whole country. Months ago, Dr. Crane had blackmailed the crime syndicate Carmine Falcone, who he instructed to forge buy outs of several other Gotham businessmen, stole almost all their money before hiring a certain hitman-“ she stared at Y/N. “-To assassinate them all one by one before his shortcomings are detected. That placed Falcone’s total net worth to be almost two hundred billion dollars. Or so we thought.

“After Falcone’s death, Crane had already taken all the money for himself and had used to build what might be the end to all of mankind. A new Cloudburst weapon. This time large enough to engulf the whole country in his new toxin, as well as a brand-new militia army of hundreds of men guarding his device. Mankind as we know it will be haunted with his obsession with fear and we will all be nothing but goddamn zombies.”

“MMMM!” Harley thrashed about in her chair, then she spat out her gag. “Yuck! That was disgusting! I was about to say that gag had a bug and it crawled down to my throat but it actually wasn’t that bad!”

“Harley!” Rick Flag screamed. Harley pouted and stuck out her tongue.

“And what is it you want us to do, Waller?” Boomerang asked with his heavy accent. “You want us to go there and possibly inhale this bloody toxin!?”

The screen turned to a helicopter’s sight. “Last night, we managed to tracked down a dome-shaped building in the deserted areas outside New Jersey with more than five hundred men guarding it inside and out. It is suspected that the weapon might be hidden somewhere in its center. Your job is to go there, eliminate Dr. Crane and his army, and destroy that weapon with whatever means necessary.

“And as for your concern, our teams have developed a mask for you all to wear. It has the filter to go against the toxin. We found it on one of the Arkham Knight Militia’s men and developed our own.”

Oh. Shit. That. She totally forgot. Man, how time flies.

“Let’s not waste anymore time. Flag. Take them to the airport and give them their gear.”

“Weeeeee!” Harley squealed as they started wheeling her out of the room.

Y/N had no idea where to start, if she even had a place to start.

Everything Waller mentioned, it could all be traced back to her. In so many ways. And she knew it. Everyone in the room probably knew it. It was only fair that she be involved in trying to correct it at all. She had no business complaining or thinking she should be somewhere else. This was Waller’s way, hell, this was the whole goddamn world’s way of handing to her what she truly deserved. And she was so tired of constantly being the cause of hurt and pain. So many mistakes, costing her everything she’s ever known to love. She really, truly belonged here. More than Harley. More than Killer Frost. More than anyone else in the squad.

Because without her even knowing, she’d been involved in this mess before any of Scarecrow’s plans were even thought of. With the militia, the Cloudburst, Falcone’s assassinations. In so many ways, none of this would have happened if not for her.

But did she even have the time to blame herself? When it would barely do her any good?

As Y/N was taken to the plane, beside the other members of the squad, she focused on the buzzing and Boomerang’s rants and Harley’s cackles. She even caught the eye of King Shark and didn’t budge.

Because of course, in a way, she was to blame. She knew Crane had something planned when he almost had her killed that one, terrible night trying to lessen the odds of her ruining his plan once more. And another one of her stupid mistakes was to completely forget about it.

They arrived a few hours later. On the military base somewhere in the interstate, even more soldiers and guards waited for them in the barren grounds surrounded by their tents.

She was the farthest behind, the last one to be wheeled out of the plane. When Rick Flag met them at the center where suitcases and crates were being brought out. He waited until most of the squad members had settled.

“Everyone. Stand your ground. Unlock them and give them their gear. If you idiots do so much as look at me differently, I will detonate the bombs.”

“We know the drill, mate,” Boomerang spat at him.

“I know. I was talking to the new girl.”

Y/N’s wheelchair stopped. Then, they were all released from their straps, from their chairs. Harley hopped up and stretched out her arms, then took out her clothes from the crates and her enormous hammer. Boomerang fixed his coat, then he had a single boomerang from his case. He threw it in the air, and a few seconds later, it came flying back.

Killer Frost, with the air suddenly becoming a little chillier when the chamber opened, walked out and grabbed her icy-blue suit. She didn’t have any more weapons. El Diablo was slow to move, but when the chains were unlocked, he got a single hoodie jacket and hid himself from everyone else.

King Shark, on the other hand, put up most of a fight. Terrified soldiers had their shields up when they released him from his confines and he roared directly at Flag’s face. Flag didn’t budge.

Y/N stood up from her chair, stretched her neck, then cracked her knuckles.

As an entire arsenal of guns was brought to her, she stared vacantly at her red and gray suit and the white mask at the bottom of the crate.

That wasn’t her. It didn’t call out to her anymore the way it did just a few days ago. It was a layer of skin laid over her flesh that wasn’t hers at all. She wasn’t Deadshot anymore.

She can't wear this suit.

Y/N eyed another crate nearby. It must have belonged to the other gunmen in their army.

She can make something out of these.

Nobody batted an eye when she started scavenging for parts.

Black body armor, covering her chest, shoulders, and knees. Dark pants covered in straps and holsters on her hips and thighs. Boots that went up to her knees, covered with the pads. And underneath the armor was a dark blue body suit, making her look completely different from her uncle’s red one. Her wrist gun, spray painted blue. And lastly, a black hood with a mask that covered her nose and mouth.

Around her neck was a small silver chain with the diamond ring through its loop. Y/N longingly stared into its crystal, looking back at everything Jason had promised her. How she believed them even when they weren’t so possible. How much she missed him.

She stuffed it under her suit and placed the hood over her head.

Already, she’d shed off that foreign skin. This was her. This was Y/N.

When everyone was ready, Flag came up to the crowd.

“No longer Deadshot, are you?”

“No,” she said.

“Then what do we call you?”

She simpered.

“The Bullet.”

-----

This had to be all theatrics. Not to mention completely unnecessary. Jason got off his motorcycle and parked it right outside the gate.

Somehow, they kept it. Even the fence. And it still had ‘Wayne Manor’ on its wrought iron bars even when the field behind it had been completely emptied out. The ruins and everything left behind after the manor exploded had been cleared out and demolished. Still, they chose not to do anything with the land, even when millionaires fought over it and maybe a few intruders with metal detectors breaking in to look for the Batcave.

Dick told him to meet him and the rest of the family there. He had no idea where, but when he stepped into the gate, Dick was there leaning against the vine-covered fence behind it. Jason wasn’t so sure how to greet him. the last time they saw each other, they were at each other’s throats. Literally. Now at their mercy, he wasn’t so sure what was the quickest way to let his pride down without looking too much of a desperate asshole.

“Uhm. Hi,” Dick said.

“Hey.”

They stared at the grass.

“Are Babs and Tim coming?”

“Yeah. They just got out of their honeymoon.”

“Oh yeah. Congratulations to them.”

“You can tell Tim when we get to them.”

Of course. Tim. The replacement. He can totally congratulate him on his wedding without it sounding too awkward.

“We talk here?”

Dick wrinkled his forehead and laughed. “You thought we were gonna plan this whole thing out on an empty field?”

“This place sure looks like one.”

He threw his head back. “Come on. Follow me.”

Hands in his pockets, he trailed behind Dick. All the way over to the center of the field where there wasn’t so much as a porta potty for them to go into.

Then Dick pulled out his watch, which wasn’t a watch at all, and started to press onto its buttons.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Jason sighed when the ground underneath them suddenly started to rumble.

“What? You thought the cave went out with the explosion, too? Bruce wouldn’t let it go to waste.”

Then the grass, which turned out to be fake, had split into a large, rectangular shaped ramp that slowly descended down onto the undergrounds for them to walk onto. When it stopped, Jason pressed on his nose. “I can't believe I didn’t know about this.”

“Come on.”

They started walking down. “Barbara’s the one in charge. She practically runs the place.”

“I can see that.”

When they reached below ground, the Batcave was exactly as they had left it. The last time he was here, he was with Y/N, the Commander. And although they’d changed its entryway, the Batmobile and the Batwing were still there, the computers were still up and running. How massive it was and how bats were still up on the rocky ceiling looking down on them with their beady little eyes. Jason and Dick walked down the driveway and he let his hand run onto the batmobile’s surface.

Barbara and Tim were at the computers. They turned to the two and the way they looked at Jason wasn’t something he particularly liked being stared at.

“Hey, Babs.”

Barbara was the first to smile at him. “Hi, Jason.”

Then when he looked at Tim, who didn’t share the same smile, he stopped himself from scratching an itch on his head.

“Hi… Tim…”

“Jason…” he coughed.

“Congratulations, by the way.”

“Thank you,” Babs said, then she reached out to Jason’s hand. He took it, for a while, then he pulled away.

“Sorry to hear about her,” Tim said.

“I know. But if you help me… and I thank you for helping me now… we can break her out.”

“Did you come up with a plan?” Dick asked him. Jason, arms crossed, turned over to the computer. Barbara had already gone ahead with looking up Scarecrow.

“If the squad is being sent out to deal with Crane, they might be going after that new weapon of his. We can go after them there and get her out before anyone sees.”

He stared at his hands. “I was hoping Babs could come up with some sort of devise that can disable the bomb in her neck.”

“Dick already told me. Don’t worry. I came up with something this morning.”

The three men followed behind her as she wheeled over to the table next to the keyboards.

“This,” she held out a device shaped like a thick pen. “If you can get her to settle down, you stick this thing to the back of her neck and it will send shocks right up to the nanite bomb. It should give it the voltage it needs to be disabled. It’s going to hurt. But it can save her.”

She was an angel. A literal angel. Just the thought of it gave him that little flutter of hope he definitely needed.

“Babs, I don’t know how to thank you…”

“Don’t worry about it. We’re here to help you.”

Two years ago, he had this woman kidnapped and sent to Crane, gave her the death scare of a lifetime and almost had Tim killed when Scarecrow had him captured.

It was too much. How none of their faces looked the least bit bothered. Dick held the pen and took off the needle cap, flinching, then he gave it to Jason.

Jason looked down on it, clearing his throat.

“I’m sorry…”

Dick, with his arms crossed, Tim leaning against the table, and Babs looking down at her hands, they all didn’t have much to say.

“I’m sorry for everything I did to you. All of you.”

“Jason…” Dick rubbed the back of his neck. “We used to be brothers-“

“No, I… I couldn’t. When this is over, I’ll be out of your way. And I owe you. All of you… But I shouldn’t stay…”

“You can. And you will. No matter how much you push yourself away… We’re here for you…”

Tim never looked up. But Jason knew, that if he were in his place right now, he’d be all over him with the ‘I told you so’s’ and the snide remarks. But the younger man was silent, didn’t even look at him the wrong way.

And that’s when he really felt like shit.

“We’re happy you came to us for help,” Babs said.

Jason hadn’t figured this part out when he reached for their help, but he knew something like this was about to happen. It was the entire reason why he didn’t want to. Because somehow, when it did, these guys won't hate him anymore, and he’ll end up hating himself instead.

Dick placed his hand on his shoulder. For a moment. Then when Jason’s body tensed, Dick pulled away.

“Now,” Babs went over to the computer. “Time to hack into the government.”

-----

The helicopter landed some distance away from the dome. The Bullet still had no idea why it was shaped that way. Just that it was new and humungous and completely littered with army men guarding every inch of it.

She, Harley, Boomerang, Killer Frost, King Shark, and El Diablo stepped out at the front lines, with Rick Flag right behind them, followed by their own army of men, though a number considerably less than what they were going up against. They had to be smart with this and break in.

They went into the forest, out on the fields. The dome was in a level ground lower than the lands around it, shaped in a circle, much like it was on a pit that was about two or three stories below ground. They crouched down on the bushes when they started reaching the edges of the pit and Flag looked out on his scopes.

“They’ve completely covered the perimeter.”

“Do we just attack?”

Flag put down his binoculars. “We are. To keep them distracted. When everyone’s backs are turned you six go in there and finish the job.”

“You say it like it’s so fucking easy,” Boomerang snarled. King Shark gritted his sharp teeth and growled staring at the armed men around the building.

A hand grenade. Right at one of the trees. It got their attention enough, especially when Flag started firing at the guards stationed just outside the entrance. Crowds of Scarecrow’s men, armed to the teeth, ran the outside grounds to go after Flag’s men. They drifted down the pit, outstretched their legs, and handled them at close range, while some stayed at the trees firing from afar.

The Squad, on the other hand, were all the way over to the other side. Almost all of them had ran off, except for two who stayed behind guarding the backside.

“Bullet,” Frost placed her frosted hand on her shoulder. It made her shiver. “You're up.”

The Bullet took out her sniper and shot down those two men almost at the same time. Then they slid down the side, King Shark rolling down with his immense weight. When another of Scarecrow’s men ran out the door, a boomerang landed on his head.

The door was locked. “I’ll take care of it,” Frost said. Boomerang scoffed, “Fucking metas.”

Holding out her hands, fumes of ice shot out from Frost’s palms and froze down the locks. King Shark kicked the iced hinges down, then the door fell to the ground.

“That was easy!” Harley skipped inside with her mallet over her shoulders. Diablo was still silent, still with his hands in his pockets.

“Don’t jinx it, Harls.”

It looked more like a warehouse by the entryway. And there was absolutely nothing inside save for a few cylinders and water tanks and a whole lot of pipes being guarded.

“We should probably sneak inside.”

“Sneak!?” Harley snorted at the Bullet. “Honey, we don’t do that here.”

King Shark growled at her, then he walked straight up to the center of the room.

“Intruder! Open fire!” the soldiers screamed.

“What is that thing!?”

“Just shoot!”

King Shark walked slowly towards those men, and the bullets just bounced off his incredibly thick skin. He held out his hand, stopped the bullets from reaching his face. Then when the soldiers had backed too much away and reached the wall, Shark grabbed them by the face and actually hurled them all the way across the room.

“Time to play!!!” Harley screamed, then she held out her mallet and started swinging it over at the guards.

Killer Frost had the ground frozen over, slipping the guards off balance, then shards of ice rose up from the ground to impale them. Boomerang had a more melee approach but had his trusty weapon to go around when he needed it.

The Bullet. The new, almighty Bullet. She pulled up her hood and mask and took out her AK.

She fired at the dozens of men going after her. Jumping on top of the cylinders, standing on the highest ground, she shot down anyone who came remotely close to her and had their bodies on the floor before they could even touch her feet. Over and over, she changed the magazines, took out more ammo. She let the gun take charge of her hands and head. A lot of the were swarming her, from different directions. Eventually too many of the soldiers were surrounding the pile of crates she stood on and the others started climbing up.

She couldn’t escape. Even if she were able to take them all down.

Until a raging fire shot out like a car-sized flame thrower and took out the guards that were climbing up. The water tank didn’t seem to have been damaged, but the men on it were burnt like a crisp, and they all started to run away. “Jump!” Diablo screamed.

She did, and she landed on the fire as well. She rolled on the floor to put it out before it got to her skin and Diablo helped her up. “Thank you.”

“Just go.”

She nodded, then with her pistol and wrist gun, went on to keep firing.  Frost had a wall of the men being stuck to the block of ice, some completely frozen inside it, then King Shark let out an animalistic shriek before he punched the glass, destroying it into shards and impaling everyone inside.

Harley, on the other hand, just went on spinning around with her mallet, screaming, manically laughing. The bitch was insane.

“A little help here!” Boomerang called out. He was being held back by two men while another was punching at his chest. The Bullet pointed her wrist gun and fired at his attacker.

Even more men were coming. From the doors to the inside.

“We have to keep moving!” The Bullet cried out to them. To the door where the reinforcements kept coming from, she kept firing as she backed away. The whole squad moved, onwards towards the door. Then when they’d all reached it, Frost froze over the door with more than five layers of ice.

There were sounds of bashing and hitting against the icy door, but it should be enough to hold them back. Before them was a long, seemingly endless hallway. It should probably be leading them to the inside of the dome, where the weapon is.

“Ahhh. The Suicide Squad…”

“WOAH WOAH WOAH where the hell is that comin’ from!?” Harley screamed.

The intercoms. Scarecrow was watching them. The Bullet put on her optics, now shining blue light, and looked around.

A camera. Right at the corner. She shot it with her wrist gun.

“And you have the Commander with you.”

“FUCKING SHUT UP!” The Bullet shot another camera hidden away.

“The Commander, huh,” Killer Frost looking at her head to toe. “You work with him before?”

“Shut up.”

“OH MY MOLLY,” Harley placed her hands on her mouth. “YOU'RE the Commander of the freakin’ Arkham Knight!! I remember you!”

“We should go-“

“I have so many questions. Huge fan. HUGE fan. Ya know she’s drove the first Cloudburst?”

Boomerang crossed his arms. “And they sent her to help us? The fuckin’ nerve of this scumbag coming up here actin’ all hero.”

“You watch your mouth, kangaroo.”

Diablo snorted and chuckled. Boomerang held out his weapon. “You want a piece of this?”

“A kid’s toy?”

“Don’t you fuckin-“

King Shark roared at the two with his mouth wide open for a good ten seconds and deafened their ears. The Bullet wiped his spit off her face and scoffed.

Frost led the way, all the way down its halls. When they reached a large gate, she froze it over once more and Shark beat it down with his fists and his foot.

They didn’t know they’d reach the center of the large dome. They thought they had more rooms to cover.

With the building so big, they thought it would have taken so much more time to reach the core.

But already, they were met with a cylindrical glass tank that was almost as thick as an entire building in itself, and it lit up the room in a menacing red light, all around. It was swirling, even boiling inside. And it shot all the way up to the roof, three stories high.

It was the fucking toxin.

The squad backed away.

Dozens of men surrounded them, all around the dimly lit room. And it was larger than any of them could have expected. It was circular, and there was only a suspended walkway that went all around the sides. There was a runway to the center, where there were controls. A man stood by them. A man with a rag on his head.  

All of them with their hands up.

Scarecrow’s voice was on the intercom, and it echoed all throughout the dome loud enough to rattle their eardrums.

“I assume this wasn’t what you’d expected?”

No. Not even a little. This wasn’t what they expected at all.

They didn’t expect to already reach the weapon.

Or rather. Stand on top of the weapon.

The weapon wasn’t a ray gun or a tank or even a satellite. It wasn’t something so small that it would have been easily taken down by a tank or even King Shark’s fist. Even when it was to engulf the whole of America in its toxin.

No. it was none of that.

The Bullet trailed her eyes down the numerous pipes going up and around the walls, through the floor and over to the room where they just came from, where even more of the toxin was stored in tanks and the pipes that went around it.

The Cloudburst wasn’t inside the dome.

The Cloudburst was the dome.

-----

It didn’t take too much time. It wasn’t the first time Barbara had to hack into the American Government. In fact, it was the easier to hack into than some people’s private accounts.

She went into Amanda Waller’s files.

“Here. Finally.”

Dick, Jason, and Tim stood behind her.

“It looks like they’ve already sent out the squad. Just a few hours ago.”

“Who are in the squad?”

The files on Task Force X. Babs took out the profiles on all their subjects.

Harley’s picture was first to come up. Her blonde hair and vicious eyes staring at the screen. “Harley Quinn, of course. We got Louise Lincoln, also known as Killer Frost.”

The boys watched on.

“El Diablo. Captain Boomerang. King Shark. Rick Flag’s being sent out there as well.”

Then she stopped scrolling when Y/N’s picture and profile came up.

Jason’s heart broke. It did every time he does so much as look at a photo of her. And with that one, a mug shot, the mug shot that was going around every news station in town, the brokenness in her face, the darkness in what used to be the brightness in her eyes, how much rage she had for everything around the world, he hitched his breath.

‘Y/FN Y/LN

Age: 23

Alias: The Bullet’

He smiled at her new name. A sad smile. The most painful kind.

He missed her so much.

Setting his head to the side so they couldn’t see the tear that had seeped out, Jason swallowed and shut his eyes.

“Jason…”

“I’m alright. Can you find out where they were headed?”

Babs smiled at him, then went back to her keyboard.

Zooming in on the helicopter footage on the dome, she traced its coordinates.

“Is that-“

“Scarecrow’s base? Most probably.”

“Jesus,” Jason sighed. “I used to work with that guy.”

“This is the weapon, alright. The sensors are through the roof. We should be heading out there.”

“Do we have a plan?”

“Not exactly. We’ll know when we get there,” Dick said.

“We have to hurry. Who knows when that mad man actually detonates his bomb?”

“How? It’s two hours away.”

“Man,” Dick pat his back. “You really have to get used to working with us now that we’ve got Bruce’s old toys.”

Of course.

What else could he have possibly thought? Get there on his bike?

The Batwing was staring right at their faces, almost taunting them with its silent growl. Dick, Tim, and Jason walked up to it side by side.

“You think he’ll be happy with that?” Jason said.

“Not at all. He even threatens to kill us if we get anywhere near the wheel-“

“Which is why I’m here to drive, Master Dick.”

No.

No.

It couldn’t be.

The sweet old butler, came up from behind the computers where there must have been a room for him to stay in, he held out a tray of four glasses of water for them to take. Setting it down on the table, he gave Jason the sincerest smile.

“I’ve missed you, dear boy.”

“Alfred.”

He wanted desperately to go up to him, give him the biggest bear hug until his bones crack, but Alfred held his hand up to him and just handed him his water.

“It’s better if we skip the ol’ reunion. We catch up after we’ve saved your girl.”

Everything was here. Everyone was here.

Clearly, it wasn’t the time to get emotional. And goddamn, he wasn’t the one to get emotional.

And all the more did they look like a family when the three boys suited up. Dick with his black and blue Nightwing suit and domino mask, Tim with his bo staff and red and yellow suit and cape. And Jason, with his hooded jacket and red visor.

Facing each other in a circle, Nightwing, Robin, and Red Hood took in how they were all now in one team, possibly for the rest of their career. No longer will they fight. No longer will they run.

Oracle smiled at the three. “You all look great together when you're not at each other’s throats.”

“You sure you won't let me drive, Alfred?” Robin said to the butler.

“I had specific instructions from Master Bruce that if you were to inherit the cave, no one was to drive the Batwing but me. You have until I die, Master Dick.”

“Awe. Even in his death, Bruce still doesn’t trust us.”

Laughing as they went in, Alfred had the Batwing soaring into the sky. Silently.

They were going to save her. Them. His family. The one he’d left. The one he thought he hated. The one he almost got killed.

He couldn’t possibly have done anything to deserve this.

With his visor up, he went up to Dick.

“Dick…” he choked.

His older brother turned to him, smiling. He knew what Jason was thinking.

And he didn’t let him speak to make things unnecessarily dramatic. He knew he had his brother back. Dick pulled him into a hug. A sweet, sincere hug that tore out every part of him that wasn’t already consumed by that string of humanity he once had left inside him.

“Thank you,” Jason said to him. Dick patted his back.

“We missed you, Jaybird…”

Jason closed his eyes.

When they pulled away, with Tim watching, he never actually got the change to get to know him. But one of these days, he will. And he’ll be a brother to him, too.

Jason nodded at him, smiling. Tim nodded back.

He never, ever would have thought they’d accept him like this, to help him like this.

And if Bruce were here, he’d have no idea what to tell him. But Jason did forgive him. He forgave him before he even knew he did. Maybe, if Bruce were anything like Dick and Tim, he would have accepted Jason back into his house. He would have helped him, as well.

He let himself think that. For his own sake. For his own peace.  

Not long after, they reached the site.

Nightwing, Robin, and Red Hood stood at the Batwing’s exit doors.

-----

Harley must have had the worst of issues for her to be laughing this off, whistling as she marveled over the room. “I have to admit, Ragdoll, you cer’ainly out did yourself than the last time! I remember when all it took was Ivy’s tree to get rid of your toxin!”

Boomerang scoffed. “A tree?!”

“Gag her.”

“Awe, come on! What is it with you people and the gaggi- MMMMMM!”

Held back by a dozen of Scarecrow’s gunmen, with so many of their guns pointed right at their heads, they stood on their knees, hands tied to their backs. They watched Scarecrow walk over to them from his place near the glass. He chuckled, that low, dark, breathy, and utterly disgusting laugh when he went over the squad.

“MMM! MMM? Mmm…” Harley said to him when he passed by her. All he did was glare. When he passed by Frost, he eyed her body and how icy smoke was coming out of her pores.

“Ya know, this ain’t personal. I’d totally be into this. But we got an explosive stuck to me spine here, mate, and I really just don’t want to die,” Boomerang said. Scarecrow ignored him and walked over to Diablo.

She looked over. Diablo had melted away the ropes on his wrists and no one even noticed. He stood still, watching Scarecrow, then the rag-headed man went over to the next one.

The Bullet. The only one who actually hated this man to the bloody core.

Scarecrow looked amused at the darkness of her glower. He leaned over, pulled down her hood and mask with his disgusting fingers before she flinched away.

“Lovely to see you once more, Commander.”

“Don’t fucking call me that.”

“I thought I left you for dead. Turns out you survived your own bullets. Perhaps you're not as good as you thought you are-“

“Go to hell-“

“This is hell, Commander. At least, it will be.” When he stood back, he eyed the creature next to her.

“An animal? They brought an animal to the squad?” Scarecrow laughed.

King Shark roared. The loudest, more nightmarish roar. Then he charged after him with his large mouth littered with almost three rows of teeth on each side. The guards pulled him back, shot a taser to his arm, but it didn’t do much damage.

Scarecrow backed off and immediately he was guarded by his men.

“Kill him.”

“No!” Killer Frost screamed, but even she was held back by three guards.

And it was the most cruel thing they’ve ever seen. The Bullet watched on, as her fellow squad member was shot with three tranquilizer darts. He fell to the ground, unconscious.

Then Scarecrow’s men took out a grenade.

Shit.

They stuffed it into King Shark’s mouth.

And the squad looked away when it detonated not even two seconds later.

His head was blown off. Much like it would have been if Flag had done it himself.

Five of them left.

Against an army of hundreds.

“Now. You all get to watch as the entire country slowly descends into their deepest, darkest nightmares…”

Scarecrow went over to the center, over to the controls where she saw a bright, beeping light coming from one of the screens. She didn’t have so much as an idea about how this was going to blow. Will the building be going along with it? Is everyone going to live through it?

She should know. She was the one who detonated the first Cloudburst.

They were two hours away from the city. And the government already had most of the people in the area evacuate to shelters underground. They didn’t have much else to hide.

The guards around them had masks as well. They were going to sit it through, fight even with the gas all around them.

She had no idea what was going to happen. But all she could do was sit and watch.

Scarecrow pressed the final button, and on the screen, it showed a minute’s countdown

The Bullet closed her eyes.

There was a heat coming to her wrists. Out of view from the guards. A little flame, floating about. It melted away the chains that were around their hands, and suddenly, she could move them around. She looked over at Diablo and thanked him with a nod. Harley and Boomerang were free as well. Frost, on the other hand, rejected that fire and instead froze over the chains herself. They could charge.

But the guards were too many. She couldn’t just attack.

Time was running out. There was nothing they could do.

But they can shield themselves. At the last second when the guards couldn’t react.

“This is… the Cloudburst!!!”

Three.

Two.

One.

BOOM!!!

“EVERYBODY, GET YOUR FUCKING MASKS!” Boomerang screamed. The five of them grabbed their filter masks from their suits and held it against their mouths. Everything was shaking, an explosion large enough to almost take down its walls, then the glass started to break. The gas was leaking on the inside.

Scarecrow didn’t move. He just stood there, amused, all the while his guards started to panic, panting and coughing and tearing the masks off their faces like it only hurt their skin. She ran out of the way before a guard fell to her body, clutching his throat, before he started screaming the ghostliest noises a human could possibly make.

Then their skins. No longer did they look remotely human. They looked like they were burnt out. Their whole body turning into scabs and burnt flesh. The toxin was eating them from the inside. And their eyes. She’s never seen the look on someone’s face like that when they were looking straight at their deepest, darkest fears. Not even when she’d imagine it.

No.

He couldn’t possibly-

No.

These men. These trained soldiers promised with almost million dollars each.

Scarecrow didn’t hire them here to defend the Cloudburst.

They were here to serve as victims for his horrible toxin that turned them into vicious, mindless zombies. And they looked exactly like they would have in their visions of fear, the ones you’d merely hallucinate with his old toxin. This time, they weren’t hallucinations. The nightmarish creatures of the dark, Scarecrow had turned the people’s fears into something real.

The squad, with their masks on, held tightly onto their weapons, watching the horror in front of them unfold.

One of the creatures ran after Harley, so she swung at it with her mallet, crushing his body against the wall. It didn’t even look like it had human bones that cracked when it was hit.

No. No. No.

Everyone started firing at the creatures coming after them. At their heads, at their animalistic mouths. Frost on one side, freezing the incoming animals into an ice block, and on the other, El Diablo, firing at them with an enormous raging fire. They had to get out of here. There was no possible way they could win this here. Not with the Cloudburst looking like it was about to break.

The Bullet fired at everything she could see. With her AK on one hand and her pistol on the other. But the seemingly endless array of lifeless minions came crawling and pouncing right at her. One of them scratched her arm. She hoped this fucking toxin didn’t work through cross contamination.

Scarecrow, he was still at the center, watching it all unfold.

Scarecrow.

Scarecrow.

Fucking Scarecrow.

The Bullet screamed out, even with her mask, then opened fire as she made her way into the center walkway. She ran to him and pushed everything out of her way, blowing their brains out, jumping onto the railing and running on top of it. She took out a grenade and threw it at a crowd.

Jonathan Crane caught her eye. And with the deathly look on her face, he lost his amusement.

Then the coward started to back away.

She growled and tore through everything, running after Crane. He didn’t have much else to go.

So in a split second, she fired at his leg. The Bullet could have easily fired at his head.

But she wanted him to die from a bullet right between his eyes, that were to look right into hers in the last few moments of his life.

Scarecrow was on the ground, crawling. The Bullet walked right up to him and grabbed him by the collar. Then she aggressively slammed him against the glass where his horrible red toxin was leaking out.

“You killed my son…”

“You did that yourself-“

“No,” she tightened her hand around his neck. “No, I didn’t.”

A pistol. Right against his head. She ends this now. His story ends now. His reign on earth. His madness. His nightmare.

She couldn’t hear the bullet fire out of her hand.

But she did feel the blood spatter when it entered Jonathan Crane’s skull. She heard the crack, and the impact against the glass. She saw the look on his eyes, staring right into her. Taunting her. Waiting for her to pull the trigger until it stayed that way until the worms eat up his body.

The Bullet threw the body on the floor.

She was never, ever going to kill another human being again. She made that promise. To Jason and his family.

But if she were to kill just one last time…

She wanted to make it count.

-----

“Holy…”

“Shit…”

“We were too late.”

“Or the squad failed…”

“No,” Red Hood choked. “No, they can't be dead.”

“They might still be alive. Get your masks on. Come on.”

They put on their masks, Red Hood’s under his visor. As they ran towards the enormous mushroom-shaped cloud of smoke that was spewing violently out of the dome. The ground was quaking enough to feel like it would eventually erupt. And if they were to stay, it might actually split open. They ran towards the center.

And before they could go down the pit. They saw them. Right when they stepped into the are completely engulfed in the horrible red toxin.

They saw the creatures.

In army uniforms of what used to be humans, the creatures were screaming, running and clawing their way around the grass and bushes like they were rabid wolves under a full moon. The bodies, or what used to be bodies, looked like undead carcasses that were walking on their hands and feet. When they caught sight of the three, they started going after them.

Someone grabbed Nightwing’s shoulder.

Rick fucking Flag. He had a mask on.

“You kids better stay away. This is our mission.”

“You really want your boss’s goddamn pride to get in the way of actually saving the world? We’re here to help!”

Flag fired at one of the monsters coming right for them.

“Scarecrow’s baited his own men and turned them into these fucking shitbags.”

“Then let us help,” Robin said. Red Hood, on the other hand, was already shooting at the creatures with his two pistols.

“Red Hood!”

“Oh, don’t give me that! These guys aren’t human!” He fired at one almost flying for his visor. “They never will be again even if we destroy this thing! So get your asses here and KILL THESE GUYS!”

Rick Flag had went on to shoot them with his AK. Nightwing and Robin stared at each other, holding onto their escrima sticks and bo staff.

Flag, despite his guns, didn’t see one of the zombie-like monsters that had grabbed him from behind. It started tearing at its face, claws sharper than a cat’s. Robin and Nightwing went over to get it off him, but it was too late.

Rick Flag’s mask had fallen off.

He stared at the two, with his eyes glowing red and bloodshot from how he was desperately trying to hold his breath. He started clutching at his throat, and his mouth looked like it was about to blow up.

Flag couldn’t handle it. He gasped for air.

Then he turned into one of them. Right in front of their eyes. Nightwing gripped on his escrima sticks.

Then he slammed it against Flag’s head, destroying what was left of his skull. The guilt started to eat him away, but Red Hood was right. He wasn’t human anymore.

“Come on,” Robin said.

Then they attacked everything that came their way. They had to go into the dome. Find the Squad. Hope for the best. But the creatures were running out of the doors like they were in need of air. Hundreds of them in a stampede going out into the field. The trees had cleared, blown off from the explosion. Everything was barren and had fallen under a thick red cloud of his fucking toxin.

Red Hood managed to run all the way to the center. He shot one that had wrestled Nightwing to the ground before he slid down the pit, hands and legs outstretched, and even then, he continued to fire. He reloaded his guns and started firing at the ones going out of the dome.

----

They couldn’t possibly take them all.

So as the Squad rushed down the hallways, out into the first level where it had gone complete barren and destroyed, El Diablo continued to shoot his flames from his hands at all the incoming creatures.

Finally, they reached the door and they all raced outside.

Frost barred the door with her ice, as much as she could, and the monsters were pounding themselves against it with their own bodies and heads. The Bullet, facing behind them, fired at the incoming creatures that must have been the reinforcements waiting to be called. Fuck, there were a lot of them.

Killer Frost couldn’t handle it and the creatures had broken her wall of ice. Unnatural strength. One of the side effects of the toxin. Harley screamed her battle cry and started swinging her mallet around. El Diablo with his flames. And Captain Boomerang with, well, his boomerang.

The Bullet, with her machine gun, fired at ten of the creatures in under a second. She flew in the air. She dodged their incoming attacks. She fired directly at their heads and took out more of them than anyone else with a gun. She fired relentlessly until their heads were blown off, their bodies exploding onto the floor.

She climbed on top of a nearby truck, dropped her carbine, then used her wrist gun and pistol to fire at everything that moved.

“WOOHOO! GO NEW GIRL!” Harley screamed. The Bullet smiled, then went on with her alternating shots until she’d taken down dozens of them.

Everything that moved. Everything that moved. Everything that-

A red hood. Red visor. Gray jacket. And a red bat symbol on his chest.

Oh God.

The asshole.

“Jason!!!”

Red Hood turned around.

A wave that had crashed on the shore, violent and forceful, a wave that tore through everything in its way. Every tree. Every bush. Every doubting thought. The Bullet jumped off the truck, ignored the sting up her knees. She ran to him. She ran to him so fast that two of the monsters smashed into each other when they were going after her. Red Hood recognized her and dropped everything he had on him and sprinted to her way.

The wave was there. A crashing, powerful wave. When they landed in each other’s arms so painfully tight she could have almost fallen over if she hadn’t already clung to him with all her might. All that was left of it.

Yes.

Yes…

Everything lit up. Everything was here again. He was everything. He will always be everything.

It was a miracle they lived through it. Red Hood, with his arms shaking as much as the ground was, buried himself into her and didn’t let go until they heard the world calling out to them, demanding that they give them their attention back. But even then, they held on. Not when they thought it could have been the last. Not after they’ve just been apart. Jason pulled away, raised his visor so she could look into his eyes. He wore a filter mask underneath. And if he could see her smile right then, she was sure he was grinning his face off as well. She could tell with the way his beautiful eyes crinkled up.

“I fucking love the suit-“

Then she held out her arm and shot one of the monsters coming for them.

“We should move.”

“Yeah.”

Side by side, having each other’s backs. She knew something felt wrong fighting with the squad. No, she didn’t belong there. She never fought as well as she possibly could when she was with her partner. Now the Bullet and Red Hood, they fired and shot at everything that came their way.

“Throw me!” She screamed at Red Hood. She run up to him, and he grabbed her legs. Red Hood flung her up at the air and she fired relentlessly at twenty creatures hidden behind the truck. She got to the ground.

Then the fucking Batwing flew in and started firing.

“Woah!” The Bullet yelled.

“How cool is our butler!?”

The monsters started running towards the Batwing, and their attentions were slowly taken away from Red Hood and Bullet. Alfred had them covered.

“We have to get that bomb off you.”

“Where’s Flag? He’ll blow up the bomb if he sees me-“

“He’s dead. He can't blow it up. But we still need to get that off of you before Waller does it herself-”

The Cloudburst dome exploded once again, this time a thicker cloud of smoke blew out of it like a bomb. They held onto the ground, eyes shut. Red Hood grabbed onto her and she swore by her life that she was never going to let go.

When it subsided, they stood back up. “Come on.”

The Bullet stared at him dumbfounded, then the Red Hood grabbed her wrist, pulled her to the back where they could find Nightwing.

“Dick!!!”

Nightwing saw them, slammed his sticks into the creature’s guts, then ran towards them.

“I found a chair at the back. She needs to sit down.”

They moved fast. Waller will find out Flag is dead and detonate all their bombs before they’ll have a chance at escaping.

So they put her into a chair, and she gripped onto the arm rests. The Bullet watched Red Hood give Nightwing a pen-shaped device that had a needle on its end. She swallowed. “Hey, hey…” Red Hood leaned in and held her face. “You're gonna be okay… Scream if you have to… It won't take too long.”

She wished she could see his face. It was the only way she could ever be comforted. But his touch was enough. She held his hand, squeezed it, then Nightwing held her neck.

“Ready.”

Alfred kept firing at all the creatures coming after them. They had a few good minutes.

Y/N screamed out into the air as the needle went into the back of her neck and electrified that one spot by her spine. She gripped onto the wood. She forced her eyes shut. She never felt so much pain from being tased down but with it came the relief feeling that bomb actually stop beeping in the inside of her flesh. The shocks were excruciatingly painful, and it made every agonizing second pass by as long as a minute would have taken. Red Hood turned his head away before the look on her face broke his heart even more.

But the moment it stopped, with her body up in light smokes, she felt everything inside her calm.

It was gone. The bomb was gone. She could actually feel it. Red Hood grabbed her and pulled her to a hug immediately.

“You're safe now…”

“I love you.”

“I love you…”

Robin suddenly jumped at them and took out three incoming creatures with his staff. “Come on guys, Alfred can't handle all this by himself!”

Nightwing. Robin. Red Hood. Bullet.

Like they were all made to fight by each other’s side.

Nightwing smashed his weapons against a monster’s head, threw its body up in the air with his knee, then the Bullet fired at it with her wrist gun all the way down to the ground. He helped her up, gain higher ground, then she fought at Nightwing’s side when he took out the ones coming for her back. Robin, with his bo staff, slammed one right at the gut and let it fly through the air until Red Hood slammed its torso with his elbow, before shooting it in the head.

Red Hood shot three with his pistols, but one of them grabbed him by the head. And man, was it inhumanely strong. Nightwing slammed his stick right through its skull, just inches away from Red Hood’s head. Red Hood elbowed it away, then shot it. The Bullet kept covering them, now with her machine gun. She fired at one going after Robin, at another that had Nightwing in a headlock, and another two that were about to surround Red Hood.

So many were coming to surround her. And as the boys fought them off, she fired at them relentlessly with her gun. She jumped to the ground and fired at them with her wrist gun.

The Batwing was above them, swerving around as it took out everything that stood their way.

The Bullet looked back out at the pit, where the squad was. “We have to help them!” she said.

“What?!” Red Hood screamed. “Are you insane?”

“They just want to live! We all want this nightmare to end! You can go back to being enemies after we’ve saved the world!”

The world. Of course. By now the gas should have dispersed out of the state. They had to move.

The Bullet shot off a creature coming for Harley. And another coming for Boomerang. The man was barely holding up. El Diablo, now a raging monster completely made of fire, tore through everything in its way and burnt down all the monsters to a bloody crisp. Frost was still holding up, doing whatever she could with her ice. And the look on her face when Nightwing came along and hit one of them in the head before it could grab her, she couldn’t describe it.

And it was that way for hours on end. The creatures kept on coming. The fires started raging. The Batwing had landed on the ground but kept its bullets spewing out of its guns in a frenzied attack against the hundreds that were still around them.

But somehow, the dome acted as some sort of beacon. Because there were more incoming. From far away. She had no idea if they were still Scarecrow’s men or if they were people from the countryside that weren’t so lucky…

As far as everybody knew, they were dead.

And they were all going after the dome like flies surrounding a light.

Frost had them in a block of ice, then Diablo fried them up like fish. Harley kept with her hammer and almost hit Nightwing in the head. “Harley!”

“Sorry, handsome! Kinda got used to aiming for your pretty head!”

Jason, standing with his back right up against the Y/N’s side. They shot at the creatures with their guns not knowing if their ammo was going to take it.

“Y/N! You think we’re gonna make this!?”

She shot down a foot, an arm, then eventually a head. Y/N screamed. “It’s not looking good but I sure fucking hope so!”

Red Hood grabbed her shoulder and turned her around, firing at one she didn’t see. Y/N got a circular lid off one of the manholes and flung it into three bodies.

“Y/N! MARRY ME!!!”

She could have been grabbed by the head if she didn’t hear it coming from behind. She held out her wrist gun and fired directly behind her.

“I THINK I’VE ALREADY ANSWERED THAT QUESTION!!!”

Y/N used Jason’s body to haul herself up, swinging her leg in a circle around her before she shot all of them on the ground. Jason grabbed a creature’s head with his bare hands and squished it into its bloody bits.

“NO. I MEAN MARRY ME. RIGHT NOW!!!!”

“WHAT?!”

Almost losing her arm, she slammed her fist against its head, throwing it to the grass and slamming her boot onto its face. Jason kept firing with his two guns, faster than he ever could have fired.

“IF WE’RE GONNA DIE, WE’RE DYING TOGETHER!!”

“WHAT?!?!”

Jason grabbed her arms, flung her around him so she could repeatedly kick them down before they got anywhere near them. She fired her wrist gun and cursed when she almost missed. He started handling them by hand, punching, swerving, kicking them down with his awfully strong thighs.

“YOU EVER SEEN PIRATES OF THE CARRIBEAN!?” He smashed drove his gun into a skull and kicked him off. “THE THIRD ONE???”

“JASON, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT!!??”

Y/N pressed her back against Jason, and they didn’t stop firing.

“THEY GOT MARRIED IN THE MIDDLE OF A FIGHT. IT WAS FUCKING EPIC.”

“WE’RE GOING TO FUCKING DIE-“

“EXACTLY MY POINT. I WANT TO GET OUT OF THIS WITH YOU AS MY WIFE. DEAD OR ALIVE. I DON’T WANNA WASTE ANYMORE TIME.”

She leapt up in a backflip over Jason and they switched places.

“THIS NEVER WOULD HAVE HAPPENED IF WALLER COULDN’T LEGALLY FORCE ME TO TESTIFY AGAINST YOU. I’M NOT ABOUT TO LET THAT HAPPEN AGAIN. IF ANYONE WANTS TO KEEP US APART, THEY’LL HAVE TO GO THROUGH THE FUCKING LAW!”

“JASON, YOU'RE INSANE!!!”

Five down in a single shot. Y/N kicked them down, grabbed her grappling gun, then shot it at a crate to haul it over to the monsters incoming. Jason went through the whole row of creatures climbing down the pit, and when he had the slightest window, he raised his visor.

“IS THAT A YES?!”

Y/N faced him. and Jason faced her.

It wasn’t even a fucking question. The beautiful asshole.

“YES!”

As they kept firing, Jason pressed on his communicator. “ALFRED!!!”

He tossed Y/N a communicator so they’d both be able to hear him. The butler was still in the batwing, needless to say still firing at all the monsters that have made a mountain coming after it hovering in the air.

“Yes, sir?”

“YOU STILL AN ORDAINED MINISTER?!”

He could hear Alfred sound confused.

“I do believe that is a lifelong thing-“

“MARRY US. RIGHT NOW!!!”

Alfred took out a bazooka gun on the Batwing, a new one no doubt. He didn’t remember Bruce having that when he was still alive, then stook out a crowd of twenty coming after him.

“I’m afraid I’m rather busy at the moment, Master Jason.”

“THEN MAKE IT QUICK. PLEASE, MARRY US!”

“TIM, YOU HEARING THIS?” Dick cried out into the comms. Everyone could hear it.

“I KNOW. IT’S FUCKING ROMANTIC.”

Alfred kept his calm. Then they heard a sigh.

“Alright. Do try not to get yourselves killed, Master Jason.”

“CAN DO!”

Y/N grabbed Jason’s arm, held onto him as tightly as she could, then they turned to meet each other’s eyes. Not after shooting a zombie coming for his back.

“Dearly beloved we are gathered here today…” Alfred fired another bazooka at the crowd. “To join this man, and this woman, in holy matrimony.”

Her wrist gun on a frenzy, she shot at the surrounding monsters and helped Jason kick one down with his knee. They stuck to each other’s backs, firing with their pistols.

“Jason Todd, Red Hood, do you take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife?”

Jason’s pistol ran out of ammo, so Y/N threw him a magazine.

“I DO!!!”

She grabbed him, hurled him to the side so they’d switch places, then she started firing at a gun powder barrel she found and it immediately exploded.

“Y/FN Y/LN, Deadsh-“

“THE BULLET! I’M THE BULLET!”

Jason smiled at her with his eyes.

“Ah yes, I do apologize. Y/FN Y/LN, the Bullet, do you take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband?”

Alfred fired at the creatures coming up to her just as she spoke. “I DO!”

Endless bullets, flying out of their hands, they fired at everything that came their way, protecting each other, shielding each other from harm’s way.

Alfred cleared his throat.

“Then with the power vested in me by the city of Gotham, I now pronounce you husband and wife.”

“DICK, COVER US!”

“I GOT YOU!” Dick screamed.

“You may now kiss the bride…”

Before they’d die. Before it all ends.

They only had a minute before their lungs would give out.

So they ran into each other’s arms, taking off their masks and held their breaths to the best capacity.

Jason grabbed Y/N’s face, pulling her to his lips. Then an explosion happened in the far-off distance that blew off almost everything around them in the air. All except them.

They were one. They were together. Forever. She was his. And he was hers. For as long as they both shall live.

“IS THIS A FUCKIN’ WEDDING?!” Boomerang screamed.

Harley smashed her hammer. “I LOVE WEDDINGS!!!”

Jason leaned down and kissed her despite his chest starting to twist. She grabbed the back of his neck, pushed him back as well. Never has a kiss been more powerful, more meaningful. As far as they knew, they were alone. They were themselves. They were together. And nothing, not even the world, was ever going to pull them apart ever again.

From their first kiss in the meeting room, to the one at the Batcave, to the kiss in her quarters that one rainy night, to the kiss they shared up on that bridge. Everything had boiled down to now. Finally. Finally.

They were fucking married.

They pulled away, stared at each other, and finally they could see the largest smiles on their faces. The places the masks back on and gasped to breathe.

“Shall we?”

“We shall…”

Not a lot more to cover. The fucking monsters were finally starting to run out. And they moved in a dance only they knew. On each other’s side. Never leaving.

They shot, kicked, slammed, tore through the lifeless bodies coming after them and she cried out as another bomb exploded that she threw from her hand. She fought with her fucking husband and man, did it sound like the most beautiful thing in the world.

Nightwing and Robin came up to them.

“CONGRATULATIONS!!!” they both screamed.

“THANK YOU!”

Then Y/N handed them both guns and they started firing at the creatures.

It worked so well.

Finally.

Twenty left. Then there were fifteen. Then another ten died.

Finally.

Gone. All of the monsters. Wiped out.

The Squad was intact. Thankfully, they smiled at the Bullet and they all gathered to the center.

“I can't believe this,” Nightwing said. “But thank you for having our backs.”

“Don’t get used to it, pretty boy, when we wake up tomorrow mornin’ I’m back to slicing your head off with a-“

“Okay,” Red Hood stopped them. “Now we have to figure out a way to stop this.” He pointed up at the beacon.

“Hood,” the Bullet gulped.

“Yes, wife?”

A few of them groaned at that. Red Hood ignored them.

But the Bullet, Y/N, she didn’t look to happy.

She was staring right up at the top of the pit, shivering.

Everyone looked back to what she was looking at.

No.

No…

It wasn’t possible.

Hundreds more. Hundreds of the creatures. From all over the city. Ones with long, blonde hair. Ones that were as tiny as a small child.

It had reached civilization.

No. they couldn’t possibly handle all of them.

Robin looked at Nightwing, whose look on his eyes definitely lost that glimmering enthusiasm that sparked the hope they needed to go on.

And Red Hood.

Well, he made the right choice marrying her.

Jason held Y/N’s hand, and she took it so tightly between her fingers.

The look on their eyes, watching each other, memorizing the looks on their eyes before they go on to their inevitable deaths.

They couldn’t even see each other’s faces.

Harley slumped to the ground. “Well, this is it, ladies and gents.”

Frost screamed in frustration, releasing a large block of ice and slamming it onto the pit.

The monsters had surrounded them now. All in a complete circle. Trapping them.

And they took their time watching them squirm like worms in a tank full of fish.

This is how they die.

Y/N tightened her grip on Jason’s hand when one of the monsters roared and they all started crawling down to the dome.

“T-Tim?”

Their communicators. It sounded like Barbara.

“Yeah?”

“I hope you weren’t saving that favor for anything special,” Oracle said.

“Favor?”

“You know. That favor with Bruce’s friends…”

“What do you mea-“

Like a lightning bolt striking a tree, their eyes shot up at the brightest flash of light.

A golden, glimmering lasso, coming down from something they hadn’t seen flying in the air. The lasso grabbed onto five of the incoming beings and hauled them up.

Y/N’s never seen her up close.

But goddamn, she was nothing like the pictures.

Wonder Woman slammed against the ground on her knee and her balled up fist, letting the soil ripple at her impact. She didn’t have on a mask, but it barely wrinkled her nose. Her striking beauty was made even more obvious when she smirked up at the four, standing up, then took out her shield and sword from her back. She winked at them.

The four were too dumbfounded to move. As victims exhausted or as fanboys and fangirls watching it all unfold right in front of their eyes. Boom tubes coming from different parts in the air, and out of those circles came the heroes they’ve looked up to their whole lives.

Superman tore through a whole row of that were crawling after them with his powerful laser vision, flying through the sky faster than any of Y/N’s bullets could speed through. He grabbed one by the head, flew up to the sky, then threw it against the ground so hard that dozens of others blew up along with it.

Green Lantern made his own machine gun with his ring. He fired at everything that came close to the dome.

The Flash couldn’t even be seen. All they could see was a buzzing red light, powering all around them in circles and taking down everything that was in his path.

Green Arrow started raining down more than five arrows at a time. Ones from above. Ones from the ground. Black Canary ran up from behind them and let out that famous ear-piercing scream that took out everything that was in front of her. Even the grass.

Aquaman came up with his trident, and with Mera following behind, she let a stream of water pierce through the air like shards and a fucking shark was in it eating the heads of everything the water passed through.

Hawkgirl held her mace up in front of her and let her wings force her through the hundreds in the crowd, smashing their brains out with a single hit.

Shazam slammed on the ground, with sparks coming out of his body, then he screamed at the sky and let the biggest lightning bolt they’ve ever seen clear out a whole patch of the land the beings were standing on.

Martian Manhunter transformed into his true alien form then grabbed the monsters with his bare hands, threw them out of the way, and stomped on them with his feet. Or what looked like feet.

Cyborg. Supergirl. Zatanna. Doctor Fate. Huntress. Hawkman. Vixen. The Atom.

They were all here.

They were all going to live.

The fucking Justice League had come to save them.

Never have they seen them all in action. To them, it might have just been another day. But to them? To Batman’s wards. It was everything they ever wished to become.

It was the best, most beautiful thing they could possibly see their whole lives.

Bruce. How much he would have loved this.

Then the ground started to shake once again. The Cloudburst. It let out another load of the toxin.

They had to destroy it now.

Alfred hovered the Batwing above them and opened up the entry way. He waved his hands for them to come in. Robin, Nightwing, Red Hood, and Bullet ran into the Batwing and took their masks off.

“We can't just run off.”

“We have to go help them.”

“Actually,” Alfred said. “I’ve taken instruction from Ms. Prince.”

“She wanted us to leave?”

“No.” Alfred lead them to the windows and the looked out.

Superman, Green Lantern, Cyborg, and Supergirl were all facing the top of the dome, firing their lasers at the concentrated spot at the center. The heart of the Cloudburst. The whole building had gone up in flames, but it continued to fire up in the toxin.

“The Batwing has one more rocket bomb in its ammunition. When the League has the Cloudburst’s core exposed, we only have one shot at firing right at its center, destroying the Cloudburst for good.”

“I’ll do it,” Dick said.

“No I will!” Tim cried.

“Who said it was your turn!?”

“Who said it was yours?!”

“This isn’t a fucking argument, this is the world’s fate in our hands!”

“Exactly, which means I get to fire the Batwing.”

“Well, who exactly has the best aim in this fucking ship-“

Every pair of eyes stopped wandering around. Then they turned to the woman they called the Bullet.

No.

Fucking no.

“I can't-“

“Y/N-“

“Jason, I can't do this-“

“You can.”

“I don’t trust myself-“

“You never miss-“

“Jason.”

She grabbed his hands that were holding her face, finally she could look up at his eyes and see his lips in a smile.

“The last time I handled a tank, it was the Cloudburst… and I missed.”

“It doesn’t matter. That wasn’t your fault. You have no idea how sorry I am for being upset at that, but I know you can do this. Besides, this isn’t a tank. This is the fucking Batwing.”

“Jay…”

“Please. You're the only one who can do this.”

“I’ve never handled anything like this before.”

“You. Can. Do this.”

Looking up at Jason’s eyes, she saw just how much hope he had for her. Then he leaned in and kissed her.

“Man, is he dramatic today,” Tim said.

“Shut up, they just got married.”

When Jason pulled away, the heaviness in Y/N’s chest had slowly started to fade.

Yeah. He was right.

Her husband was right.

She does have the best aim in the room.

Alfred gestured for her to take the seat at the cockpit.  And with Jason holding her hand, leading her to the front, she slowly took the front seat.

Everything was at her control. It didn’t look too intimidating. She pressed onto the buttons and breathed in. Really breathed in.

Breathe. Breathe.

Jason stood back, but not without squeezing her shoulder.

Breathe.

She opened her eyes.

Flying the Batwing over to the top of the dome, right alongside Superman and Supergirl with their lasers still pointing at the center. It won't be long now.

Everything looked brighter. Everything felt hotter. The center of the Cloudburst, at the dome that was once its protective shield.

Irony. She always thought it was what’s going to get her.

Driving the Cloudburst, using it to take down the Batmobile.

Now she was driving the Batwing to take down the Cloudburst.

Yes. Irony certainly did come out to bite her.

But it was in the fucking best way possible.

Doctor Fate and Zatanna had joined in and fired their magical beams at the same spot at the center. Slowly, after each second that passed, she could see its shield slowly start to fade away. A ball around the glass tank of the toxin collapsed. And finally, it was seconds away from its very heart exposed.

Breathe.

The Bullet turned on her optics.

Further. Closer. Brighter.

NOW.

The rocket shot through the Batwing’s bazooka and it came flying out into the air. She waited for that half a millisecond watching it fall to the very spot she aimed at.

Everyone flew out of the sky before it landed on the Cloudburst.

Then the entire dome exploded like a massive nuclear bomb tearing out into the sky with its violently flying debris. The Justice League and the Suicide Squad had cleared out, and with the explosion it took away all the remaining nightmare creatures, dissolving them into the air as nothing but ash.

Everything was loud. Everything was bright. They shielded their eyes away before it blinded them and hid as the dome continued to explode.

They were so high up in the air that they could see the stars up in space despite it already the morning.

And as the bombing sounds had faded…

So did the toxin.

The once red cloud that had covered the sky had dwindled away to its natural white. Everything fell down in beautiful pink ashes. The same ones from when Ivy destroyed the first Cloudburst. They looked up at the sky, and with tears down their faces, everyone leapt in joy and cheered when everything looked as peaceful as it once was.

On the ground where the dome used to be, a crater of soil was left behind. No more creatures. No more darkness. No more Scarecrow.

Everyone took off their domino masks and visors. Dick took Tim and they screamed in happiness, jumped in the air, hugged each other until it hurt like girls at a sleepover. They took Alfred in as well and gave him the biggest bear hug there was.

“DID YOU FUCKING SEE THAT, BABE!?” Tim said into his comms.

Babs was just as ecstatic as they were. “I’M SO PROUD OF ALL OF YOU!!”

“WE FUCKING SAVED THE WORLD!!!” Dick leapt for joy.

“I THOUGHT WE WERE GONNA DIE OUT THERE.”

“I KNOW. THEN FUCKING WONDER WOMAN CAME IN AND DESTROYED EVERYTHING I MEAN HOW CAN ANYONE GET AS AWESOME AS THAT?!”

“YOU SHOULD HAVE SEEN THE LOOK ON YOUR FACE,” Tim screamed. “IT’S LIKE YOU SAW HER AT FUCKING COMIC CON.”

“ALFRED.” They pulled him in. “TELL ME. DID BRUCE EVER DO ANYTHING LIKE THAT IN HIS LIFE?!”

“Well, other than the ten times he’s defeated Darkseid over at outer space, no I don’t think he has.”

“ WE STILL WIN. WE FUCKING DID IT!!!”

“JASON, DID YOU SEE IT WHEN GREEN LANTER- Jason?!”

They looked around. Jason hadn’t joined them in their little celebration.

Jason and Y/N were over at the back, kissing for what seemed to have been the last ten minutes and completely ignoring everything that went on around them. She was holding his face, and he was hugging her waist. Didn’t even stop when Tim cleared his throat.

Dick, on the other hand, had went up to one of the compartments and had grabbed a bottle of champagne they had stored there for purposes like this.

“Can't believe we almost forgot. CONGRATULATIONS TO THE NEWLYWEDS !!!”

Everyone in the Batwing clapped for joy and the couple finally stopped kissing, turning their heads over to smile at them.

“THIS CALLS FOR A CELEBRATION!”

“CHAMPAGNE FOR EVERYONE.”

Jason thumbed her cheek. “You alright with our reception being held in the Batwing?”

Y/N shrugged. “I mean, I wanted to book a caterer, but-“

Jason pulled her face again and kissed her with their hearts light and their spirits so high up in the sky.

A future. She could see it. It was all flashing in front of her eyes now.

Finally, something good had happened out of the series of darkness.

They drank, cheered, partied in the Batwing while it went in a really slow autopilot on its way back to the cave. They hung out like any group of friends would have. Like any family would have.

Jason held her hand the whole time. And Y/N held it even tighter.

This was the end. And it was beautiful, peaceful, promising.

And above all else, it was fucking epic.

-----

EPILOGUE

As if the world hadn’t already stopped surprising them, they continued to go through that very same day bringing them almost to the brink of a heart attack.

When the grounds to the Batcave descended, when the Batwing parked itself in its spot, when its entryway folded down for them all to walk down to, everyone was still in their high, laughing, skipping when they walked down the ramp and out into the walkway.

“Babs!”

Barbara wheeled right towards them and Tim held her in his arms, pulling her up to his level so he could carry her. They all cheered.

“I can't believe you thought of calling the League!”

Babs laughed. “Obviously, you needed help.”

Everyone started talking at the same time, each of them telling Babs one side of the story and how it happened. Explaining in detail how Wonder Woman did this and how Aquaman did that. Even Y/N was so excited she couldn’t stop talking about how Green Arrow’s aim was something she’d admired for so long. A bubble of noise, happy noise. Kids being together.

Like no time even passed. They continued on and on about everything that happened.

Then Jason looked behind at the computers. He stopped talking. His smile faded away. His heart stopped. His whole body stopped.

Everyone saw the look on his face and turned to look at what he was seeing.

At first, he looked just about as regular as any tall man.

And if you hadn’t been expecting it, like practically everyone in the room didn’t, no one would believe it at first glance.

Black shirt. Basic jeans. A jacket over his shoulders. Hair so long it had gone down to his neck pushed back.

But it was him. So undeniably him.

“Oh my god…” Babs whispered.

Bruce Wayne smiled at all their faces. Jaws on the ground. Eyes so incredibly wideset. He didn’t look the least bit bothered.

He walked on over closer to them, hands in his pockets. He stood a few yards away so as to not startle them.

His children.

“Dick…” he greeted.

The eldest choked on his breath. “Bruce…”

Bruce looked over at the girl with fiery red hair.

“Barbara…”

“Oh. My. God.”

Bruce grinned, then he looked over at the man beside her.

“Tim…”

“You're alive…” Tim breathed.

Then when Bruce met Jason’s eyes, everyone parted to give him his way. Bruce started walking towards him, and Jason swallowed on his tongue.

He hadn’t prepared for this.

Not by a long shot.

He thought he was never, ever going to see him again.

He never thought he’d have the chance to make things right.

And now, he did.

Bruce stood in front of Jason.

“Welcome back…” Bruce said. “My son…”

Jason pulled him into a hug, much to Bruce’s surprise. Much to everyone’s surprise.

But he wanted to skip all the thinking and the doubts and the holding back to everything he’s ever wanted to say to him.

Jason forgave him. Already after two years. And it meant so much that Bruce had forgiven him too.

Bruce hugged him back.

Bruce never hugs anyone back.

But he patted Jason’s shoulder and held him as tightly as any father could possibly hold his son. Jason was crying. Hell, everyone in the room was crying. Even Alfred was shedding a tear. Everyone watched on as they fell into each other’s embrace longer than they’ve had with anyone else.

Eventually, Bruce had to pull away.

“I’m so sorry…” Jason cried.

Bruce held his shoulders.

“Jason…” he said. “You have no idea how proud I am of you…”

Jason realized he’s never heard those words before.

He hugged him again, just because he couldn’t hold it back anymore. Y/N dried her tears with her shirt and met Jason’s eyes from over Bruce’s shoulder.

“Bruce…” Jason pulled away. “There’s someone I’d like you to meet.”

Y/N stood straight up. She dusted off her suit. She straightened her neck.

“This is Y/N,” Jason said with his hand on her back. She stretched out her hand, and Bruce took it.

“I’ve heard of you. Your girlfriend-“

“Wife.”

Her smile was so beautiful when he said it.

“My wife.”

Bruce shot up his eyebrows. “I see. Well, it would have been better if we had a talk-“

“Don’t. Do that.”

“I’m kidding,” Bruce laughed.

Y/N cleared her throat. “Such a pleasure to meet you, sir.”

“Y/N… I know who you are and who you were…”

“Bruce…”

He nodded at Dick.

“You were the Commander of the militia army. You were Deadshot. You took over your uncle’s old jobs.”

“Bruce, you don’t have to-“

He didn’t even look at Jason’s direction.

“And you drove the Batwing today…”

Y/N was scared shitless shivering on her own two feet. It wasn’t because she was talking to Batman, someone she almost had killed. It was because she was talking to her freaking father in law.

Jason swallowed.

“And I also happen to know… that you worked with my sons like a perfectly trained team and singlehandedly saved thousands of lives…”

Everyone’s eyes lit up. Especially hers.

“What do we call you now?”

“The Bullet,” she swallowed. “I’m the Bullet.”

“Well, Y/N,” he smiled. “The Bullet.”

Then he stretched out his hand.

“Welcome to the family.”

 -----

MASTERLIST

THE BULLET MASTERLIST

-----

TAGLIST

@everyartistwas-firstanamateur

@sarcasmismyfirstlove

@damned-queen-of-gotham

@idkmanicantenglish

@wunderstell

@birdy-bat-writes

@get-loki

@everyday-imfangirling

@comic-nerd-dc

@multifandoms916

@icequeen208

@offendedfishnoises

@egdolan

@xemiefx

@arkhamtoddler

@elsenthal

@mythicbitchx

@supremehaunter

@lucy-roo

@roseangel013bf

@loxbbg

@reclusive-chicken-nugget

@l-inkage

@http-cherries

@shadowsndaisies

@river9noble

@zphilophobiaz

@annoylinglyaries

@knightfall05x

@flowersgirl02

@hyp-oh-critical

@satan-s-ass

#Jason todd #jason todd x reader #jason todd reader insert #arkham knight #arkham knight x reader #arkhamverse #suicide squad #floyd lawton #deadshot #the bullet #the bullet series #batarella

[wannabe-fic-writer]

Natasha Romanoff x Reader : Thin Line

Summary: You’re wild and free. She’s strict and trained. You and Natasha are polar opposites and it drives her crazy. Each move you make annoys her to no end. But, there’s a thin line between annoyance and adoration.

Rating: 18+ Violence, Language, Blood, Death, and Smut.

Chapter 8

If you could rewind time you would in an instant. 

You couldn’t put your finger on when everything had gone to shit.

Sure you were there, you saw as the team split in two in the compound, difference of right and wrong and opinion driving a pointed wedge into the bond that had been forged. But still a big part of you hoped things wouldn’t get as bad as they had.

That hope faded the day of the signing.

It had all happened so quickly there was no possible way you could’ve stopped it.

One second you’re meeting King T’Chaka and Prince T’Challa alongside Natasha, then the building is blown up, and the next thing you know, you’re waking up in a medical bed. 

You groggily open your eyes, all your senses fading in. You hear the TV in the room and you sit up quickly, which is a bad move. 

“I’d slow down if I were you, you took a pretty big hit.”

Following the voice, you find Doctor Cho, head of the Avengers med team. She walks closer with a clipboard in hand.

“Can you tell me what you remember?”

You hold up a finger, eyes glued to the screen.

“Bucky?” You find yourself whispering in disbelief.

The news was claiming he blew up the UN in Vienna. Blurry security footage put him at the scene.

You didn’t know much about the Winter Soldier, only what Steve, Natasha, and old S.H.I.E.L.D records had disclosed. He was under HYDRA control, marked dangerous, he saved Steve from drowning after S.H.I.E.L.D went down, and he vanished.

But he’s been quiet this entire time. Not once had anyone been able to find him and he just popped up to blow up a UN building.

Shaking your head, you look away from the TV, focusing on Doctor Cho. You answer her previously asked question,“ everything except coming here.”

“Right, well, you’ve sustained injuries to your torso and head. Nothing too serious, just some bruising on your shoulders and ribs and the cut on your head. Miss Romanoff says the chairs kept the explosion from doing any major damage.”

The lack of Natasha’s presence was the first thing you noticed, and then the TV.

“Am I clear to leave or do you need to run some tests?” 

“No, you’re clear to go, just let me unhook you.”

Doctor Cho makes quick work of unhooking you from the heart monitor and taking out the IV. The second you’re unhooked she double checks your injuries and sends you on your way with a warning to take it easy.

As you’re leaving out you take in the outfit you’ve been put in. Black Stark Industries sweatpants, a plain grey t-shirt, and black trainers.

You make your way through the facility with ease, finding the two heads of your team. Tony was going at it with Steve, with the news report you saw, you already know what chaos is ensuing.

They’re the only two in the room, causing you to look around. Federal agents walk around but your eyes settle on your red headed girlfriend.

She turns to you as you approach and a small smile graces her lips,“ you’re awake.”

“Yeah.”

“How’re you feeling? You threw yourself in front of me the second the bomb went off.” She informs you.

Nodding, you subtly take her hand and she laces her fingers with yours,“ I remember. Doctor Cho says I’m fine though. Just some bruising.”

Her eyebrow quirks and she smooths the thumb of her free hand over the cut on your head,“ just some bruising?”

“I’m fine Pretty Girl.” You assure her with a smile.“ But everyone else isn’t.” You send a glance to Tony and Steve in the glass room.

Natasha sighs, filling you in on everything that’s happened since the bomb. All you knew was that they said Barnes bombed the building. She tells you that King T’Chaka was killed and all about Prince T’Challa going after Barnes. You’re not in the least bit surprised when she tells you about Steve and Sam going for Barnes by themselves. 

You just know this means everything is spiraling down fast and with your number one girl being okay and in front of you, you’re inclined to worry about your best friend.

“Do you have my phone?” 

She narrows her eyes but pulls your phone out and hands it to you anyway.

Giving a gentle smile, you squeeze her hand, before walking away and dialing the compound.

It rings twice before you hear Wanda’s voice.

“Y/N?”

“Hey Wan.”

“You said you’d be back.” Her accusatory tone is laced with sadness.

Sighing, you drop your head,“ I know, and I planned to, I just got caught up in all kinds of things.”

“Y/N, what’s going on? There’s a reason Tony has me trapped in the compound.”

Tony locked her in the compound? Honestly it makes sense with everything going on. But has he really not told her about anything?

“He’s just trying to keep you safe Wan, we all are. Things are really tense between the team and the government right now and we don’t want them finding any excuses to hurt you.”

“They already have excuses.”

“All the more reason that you stay there. We’re doing our best to fix things.”

“Your efforts won’t mean anything to them.”

“Come on Wan-”

“I have to go.”

“Wanda don’t-” But she’s hung up already. 

“Dammit.”

A gentle hand runs up your shoulder, the touch familiar and as calming as it can be given the circumstances.

Your body moves with the heavy sigh you give and when you face Natasha you give a soft smile.

“Did you know Tony locked her up in the compound?” You ask.

There’s no accusation in your tone, you’re just curious.

But when she nods you’re hurt. Why hadn’t she told you? Did she not trust that you’d keep it quiet or did she think you wouldn’t understand?

“Y/N, I know how much you care about Wanda, I wasn’t sure-”

“It’s fine. Let’s just focus on whatever the hell is about to happen to our friends.”

As gently as possible, you take her hand off your shoulder and walk away to the surveillance system.

Tony raises an eyebrow at you but limits conversation to that. You both look to the cameras as Bucky’s interview begins. Natasha stands as close to you as possible.

She knew she’d regret not telling you, but having seen how much you care for Wanda, she went with her gut and kept quiet.

No you hadn’t blown up at her, shouted and accused her of not trusting you. But your silence said more than your words would have.

You have always been willing to talk to Natasha about anything, whether you were upset with her or feeling cheesy and romantic, you used your words to express yourself. Saying nothing at all to her scared Natasha more than anything.

The doctor had spoken to Bucky for all of two minutes before the power shut off.

Tony immediately looked for source of the power outage. One glance back at the now empty glass room, you know Steve and Sam went for Bucky.

Federal agents were running around working to get the power back up and Agent Ross demanded to get eyes on Barnes.

You knew that wasn’t the problem though. It’s definitely a problem but not the problem.

More important than that, you wonder who the hell just questioned Bucky.

Wasting no time, you, Tony, and Natasha hurry upstairs.

“Please tell me you brought a suit.” Natasha says as calm as ever.

Tony unbottons his jacket and answers,“ sure did. It's a lovely Tom Ford, three-piece, two-button. I'm an active-duty non-combatant.”

“And it’s lovely, but also not bullet proof.” You remark, inciting a raised brow from him. You simply shrug.

Sharon Carter hurries by, telling you three to follow her and you do, putting ear pieces in on the way. You end up right at the fight.

With Bucky distracted by other agents you all manage to get into position.

Natasha and Sharon go after Barnes the moment he’s taken Tony down and once Sharon is down you attack as well.

He has Natasha pinned to a table, metal hand choking her when you slide in, kicking his leg and making him let her go.

Your eyes widen as he punches at you with his metal hand, quickly rolling away and jumping up you aim a kick at his side and he grabs your leg, flinging you into a cluster of tables.

Had you not already been injured you would’ve gotten up faster but that didn’t matter, Prince T’Challa seemingly appearing out of thin air, goes for Bucky and they’re quick to leave your like of sight.

Every muscle in your body screams in protest when you start to sit up. Your head pounds a little but your worry shifts to the red head you just watched get choked.

Groaning, you push yourself up, clutching your side in pain, and going over to her.

She’s still breathing heavily, eyes on the ceiling in slight shock.

“Hey, eyes on me Romanoff, you’re okay.” You tell her, free hand gently gripping her shoulder and pulling her into a sitting position on the table.

When she focuses on you her eyes scan your even more injured form but you don’t let her dwell on it, instead turning to Tony and Sharon.

Tony’s still on the ground, a bruise quickly forming on his cheek, but apart from shock he’s other wise okay. Sharon however is out cold.

You squeeze Natasha’s shoulder before going over to the blonde and kneeling down. Her chest moves with shallow breaths so you know she’s not dead but that doesn’t mean she’s okay.

“Come on Carter.” You grumble, sliding an arm under her legs and one behind her back, ignoring every bit of pain you feel.

Both Natasha and Tony watch you as you carry the blonde.

“Don’t just stare at me, get up, come with me to medical.” You nearly snap at the two.

A brief pause, then they’re getting up, and following you. Or at least they start to.

When they see Secretary Ross they follow after him and after you’ve taken Sharon to medical, you go to where they are.

Natasha’s voice is the first to meet your ears,“ what happens when the shooting starts? What, you gonna kill Steve Rogers?”

You frown, eyes instantly snapping to the Secretary as he answers.

“If we’re provoked. Barnes would’ve been eliminated in Romania if it wasn’t for Rogers.”

“Which is better how?” You speak up.“ Had you killed Barnes this would be an even bigger shit show.”

The secretary eyes you,“ there are dead people who would be alive now. Feel free to check my math.” His gaze shifts to Tony.

They go back and forth until Mister Secretary tells Tony you all have 36 hours to bring them in.

Your eyes don’t leave Ross until he’s completely gone.

Tony slumps into his chair, hand running over his chest, mentioning the numbness of his arm. Natasha stands and places a hand on his shoulder.

“You alright?”

For the briefest moment you see him about to say no, but he pulls it together and says always. Before you all launch into a plan.

Natasha and Tony make their plans clear before looking to you.

You heave a sigh,“ I have to go to the compound.”

They both hold uncertain gazes.

“If Steve tries to reach Wanda I have to interfere. If he involves her any further it’s game over for her and I can’t let that happen.”

Natasha steps to you, hand finding your wrist,“ you know it won’t be that easy.”

“Has it ever been?”

********

Fast isn’t fast enough. When you get to the compound there’s an explosion in the distance.

Heart pounding, you race to find Wanda. Eyes darting in every possible direction.

Steve came for her just like you thought her would.

Fear starts to creep in. It plays on every doubt you’ve had about all of this working out and it makes you move faster.

You run into her, and surpisngly Clint, at the entrance.

Looking at Clint, you quirk an eyebrow,“ you know your best friends on the other side of things don’t you?”

He shrugs,“ it’s not often that Nat and I see eye to eye. But it’s good that you two have each other’s backs.”

“Guys,” your shoulders drop,“ we should all have each other’s backs. Forgive me for still singing kumbaya but, there’s still a chance we can fix things.”

They both stare at you, taking in your words,“ you join Steve and this gets near impossible to come back from.”

Clint is the one who replies,“ you know it isn’t that simple.”

“But it is! All of this is making it harder.” Your arms gesture around you, mainly to the smoke billowing in the distance.

The building literally shakes and for a moment you wonder if it’s another bomb, you wonder who else is here. And then you remember: Vision.

Wanda doesn’t meet your eyes when you look at her and it’s clear she did something to him. You know she would never truly hurt him but they got past him somehow and you know it wasn’t Clint.

“Y/L/N get outta the way.” The archer’s eyes plead with you, knowing that if Vision gets to them again they won’t be able to leave.

But you don’t care, you’re goal here is bigger than whatever his reasons are.

Ignoring him, you look directly at your best friend,“ I told you I’d come back. I’m here now Wan and I need you to trust me.”

“I did.”

Your heart breaks at her words.

“Did you know Stark was going to lock me up here? Before I told you.” She asks, clarifying in the end.

Taking a small step forward you answer,“ of course not. Had I known it never would’ve happened. I want what’s best for you but I know you’re not a threat and you’re not a prisoner.” You take another step and Clint raises his bow, an arrow aimed at you.

“Clint I swear if you shoot that thing at me I’m gonna snap it in half with your head.”

Of course you won’t actually hurt him but his threatening action pisses you off. He’s not listening. Neither of them are.

“Don’t you two care about this team at all? Or are you too hooked on listening to Steve’s ideals?” You snap, now standing about a foot away from them.

An arrow is still pointed at you but you know he won’t use it, not yet at least. You’re hoping not at all.

“I just watched Barnes kick the crap out of Tony and Nat, only for Steve to aid in his escape. Steve is loyal to a fault, one that makes him and Barnes look guiltier. He’s dragging you into a fight that doesn’t have to happen.”

Wanda’s green eyes search yours,“ you don’t get it do you?”

“No you don’t get it Wanda!” You’re emotions spike, the stress of everything bringing you to this angry state.“ The second you leave this compound, the second you meet Steve where ever the fuck he asked you to, you become the threat they think you are!”

That familiar fear flickers through her eyes but vanishes just as quickly.

“You’ve done so much good and you’re about to jeopardize that for Steve’s agenda and I don’t fucking understand! Why does that matter more than your freedom?”

It’s with this words that you see you’ve lost her, determination now set in her eyes.

“You forfeited my freedom when you signed the Accords.”

When her eyes glance over at Clint you move out the way of the arrow he fires at you. The end is blunted so you know it was most likely electrified or a net.

You barely make another move when Wanda’s magic wraps around your ankles and wrists, bringing them together and forcing you to the floor.

“Wanda please don’t do this.” Sad, angry tears start to roll down your cheeks but she leaves you with an almost expressionless face.

You call her name until her red magic is no longer trapping you. She’s long gone and you know it.

“Fuck!” Your fist nearly smashes into the wall but it’s stopped by the red synthetic hand of Vision.

The androids eyes look into yours,“ we can still save her.” He tells you.

A huge part of you wants to believe him but you know it’s not going to be nearly as easy as he says.

“Come on, we need to meet Tony and the others.”

*******

Tag List: @uglipotata72829 @jumbojamba47 @fayhar @blackwidowromonoff @natasha-danvers​ @shycucumbersandwich​ @natasharomanoffsbitch-x​ @studywithrosie01 @gorgeyhun69 @imnotasuperhero @peggycarter-steverogers

Tag List: @uglipotata72829 @jumbojamba47 @fayhar @blackwidowromonoff @natasha-danvers​ @shycucumbersandwich​ @natasharomanoffsbitch-x​ @studywithrosie01 @gorgeyhun69 @imnotasuperhero  

#natasha romanoff x reader #natasha romonova #black widow x reader #black widow #marvel x reader #mcu #reader insert #Thin Line

[trashcatsnark]

Ooooh, gimmie those juicy, juicy Johnny backstory headcanons 👀👀👀

Okay, so I always feel kind of bad? I guess, talking about my ideas of his backstory because A) I feel like they’re very cliche, 

B) I know I don’t know every drop of TTRPG Lore, despite that not truly being canon to the game a lot of the time and also the cyberpunk universe timeline is kinda a mess, so i just do whatever i want (like samurai’s starting when he was 15 and also when the war he served in started, like the amount of overlap between the war and samurai’s active years is insane and the game can’t decide when Johnny was a soldier and when he was a grungy rocker)  

C) given CDPR still plans to expand on the game with DLC and stuff, I know it’s fully possible that my ideas will be debunked in the coming months. 

So, take all of these ideas with a grain of salt and as always if your headcanons conflict with mine; that’s cool that’s why they’re headcanons

I feel like Johnny had a rough childhood firstly, cause in the immortal words of Linda Belcher;  “Look at how you stand. People who had good childhoods don't stand like that.” Like everything about him screams shitty childhood. My brain for some reasons specifically imagines, alcoholic abusive father and enabling compliant mother. Which, again, I know is the cliche of shitty childhood backstories, but it is cliche largely because its an unfortunately common reality. I imagine his first guitar is probably one of the only nice gifts he ever got and music was largely an escape. I came up with the idea too of his father having been a blue collar worker who was injured on the job; unable to work afterwards, given barely anything for workers comp and ongoing unemployment. Leaving the family struggling financially. Fucked over by his employers, turning to abusing pills and alcohol to cope with pain and raging at Johnny and Johnny’s mother. Teaching and instilling habits that would follow Johnny too. 

I like the idea of Johnny and Kerry meeting first as kids, junior high to high school. And between the years of at least 13-15, the earliest conception stages of samurai started. And I do mean the earliest, messiest, barebones stages of Samurai; it was basically two teenage boys playing and scream singing their unrefined lyrics in a garage. Cause they were kids and just wanted something to do, something to get their mind off the shitstorm of life. Maybe, i debate internally, they do manage to meet Nancy, Denny, and Henry maybe they all grew up in Texas and with someone more competent even at their young ages, Nancy manages to get them actually going a bit as a young band. A few little underground grungy gigs playing at bars they weren’t old enough to drink in. 

Now again, formation of Samurai and Johnny serving in the war, lead to like the biggest question marks in his backstory because nothing lines up very well. The war he served in started when he was fifteen, albeit that’s not for sure when he enlisted. Given we’ve been told children can in universe be scouted by corps to be their soliders; its not out of the realm of possibility that he served before he was 18 and was drafted as a child. But. Johnny specifically states he enlisted, that he made that choice. I’ve stated before that given how long the war lasted, its fully possible he enlisted at 18, served so much of the last four years of the war then ditched following his friend dying for him. 

However, I have also considered and really do personally like the idea, that Johnny did enlist himself and did so prior to being 18, though not as young as 15. Because, he forged his documents to enlist. There’s incidents and documentation of people as young as 15 faking their birth certificates and high school diplomas in order to enlist. I could absolutely see a 16-17 year old Johnny, frustrated with life and thinking he could have a bigger impact in the world in the military, forging his documents and enlisting. This leads to of course Samurai breaking up for that time. 

He serves around 4-5 years, deserting and leaving around 2009. Spends his month spinning his wheels and staring at the Pistis Sofia. He comes out of his funk and is ready to send his message about the dangers of corps to the world and he knows just how to do it. Fully adopts the name Johnny Silverhand and goes to track down his old friend Kerry. Samurai is freshly reformed. 

Right around that same time, he meets Rogue. (which even this is fucky in canon????? Rogue says lets pretend its 2015 and idk what a bastard you are, Alt died in 2013, he’d already cheated on Rogue by then???? ANYWAY) They meet about the 2009-2010 mark as Samurai is coming back together. Personally, I like to imagine they met while she was on the job. She had to eliminate a target who happened to be at the venue Samurai was doing a gig and Johnny managed to stumble upon her snapping the guy’s neck or something. And she thinks her covers blown, but hahaha Johnny’s into that and is like “hey, you want a drink?” and is then like determined to get with her and they fall into a relationships. Then around 2011-2012 he fucks it all up, cheats, there in my opinion is definite overlap in his relationship with Rogue and his relationship with Alt. 

I also feel like he met Alt at a samurai gig? I can’t remember the TTRPG lore of it, but I feel like in general Johnny met most of the women he had relationships with at Samurai gigs, partially cause he’s a just...a liitle egotistical. Alt however was there as someone who was genuinely into the music, (Rogue at one point in canon condescendingly calls her a groupie and I can’t but feel there’s a bit of truth in thats how it started). But Johnny started to legitimately feel things for her, but being Johnny, he never properly articulated that and always had to keep fucking it up. They fall into a pretty whiplashy toxic relationship over the course of a year or two where they do genuinely feel for each other, but Johnny can’t ever let his walls down enough to tell her that in earnest and is constantly doing things to fuck up the relationship, cause he’s a dick. Until in 2013, well, we know what happens. 

Johnny has to spend some time with nomads, (probably after releasing Never Fade Away, because I do see this man as the kind of guy to postpone going in hiding just to release his song for Alt before doing so) as do Rogue and Santiago after the attack on Arasaka. Because Johnny’s busy trying not to be spotted. They wait for the heat to die down before Johnny comes back to Night City. Him and Rogue rekindle things for a time, but it ultimately is on and on and dies out again, because Johnny is stinky bastard man. Kerry had already been talking about going solo and by the time Johnny’s back in the city he had and Johnny does his solo thing for a while too. But ultimately Samurai reforms for a bit, in 2020, neither Kerry or Johnny quite ready to let it go yet. Somewhere also during this, Spider Murphy helps deliver a message from Alt about her status and asking him to let it go. He does not and joins the Morgan Blackhand mission to attack Arasaka Tower in hopes of saving Alt’s construct in the process. 

Thats the barebones of some of my thoughts and headcanons; Im sure some are not lore compliant, I’m sure my timeline is messy and clashes horrifcally with CDPR’s also messy timeline. But, these are some of my thoughts, headcanons and ideas that will probably be defunct and pointless in a week. 

#cyberpunk 2077 #cp2077 #johnny silverhand #THIS IS PROBAbLY A MESS AND IM SORRY #Anonymous

[wangxiandecoded]

Episode 7 (& Wangxian Meta)

Previous Episode | Next Episode

(Spoilers for the whole show ahead!)

The Chosen Ones

Lan Zhan, if this scene foreshadows anything, it’s that he’s certainly going to become a part of your domestic affair.

There is something powerful about the first and only female Lan clan leader giving them her blessing and saying it was destiny that they found their way to her just as she’s about to fade into oblivion. Wangxian are the archetypal Chosen Ones who have been entrusted with keeping the Yin Iron safe. And if this was yet another straight adventure story that delivers poetic justice, we would expect it to conclude with these two people ending up together - and that’s what The Untamed does in a roundabout way with our heroes.

Nothing to see here. Just two guys tripping over each other because the sacred string of fate pulled them towards each other.

Lan Zhan, I’ll Be Your Secret Keeper!

This episode is full of instances where Wei Ying refuses to tell other characters what really happened in the cave, then turns around to look at Lan Zhan with a proud look that screams, “I’m so good at keeping secrets, aren’t I? We are soulmates! Come on, validate me, Lan Zhan!”

The expression on Lan Qiren’s face when Wei Ying calls Lan Zhan his confidant/soulmate. No words are needed. 

The Yin Iron Secret™ is obviously bringing them closer and they begin to share loaded glances that convey everything they wish to say without actually having to. Thus begins the process of everyone third wheeling Wangxian.

Jiang Cheng thinks Wei Ying should move into the Cloud Recesses since he’s hanging out with Lan Zhan all the time. Lan Zhan hears that and appears to be a tad bit disappointed Wei Ying might never actually do that since their lifestyles are leagues apart. It’s tough being Wei Wuxian sometimes.

The Lantern That Started Everything

We are here, folks! The moment that started it all, the scene that defined Wangxian’s story. Once again, Wangxian are framed in contrast with the two straight couples. 

Lan Zhan and Wei Ying are standing together and look at each other while making their wish, just like Yanli x Jin Zixuan, and Jiang Cheng x Wen Qing.

Lan Zhan says he is used to doing it alone and Wei Ying comments old habits can be changed, which just points to the latter’s impact on the former’s life.

Wei Ying has another accomplishment to cross off his list : Finally made Lan Zhan smile today!

Mian Mian asks Yanli why she didn’t make the lantern together with Jin Zixuan, as praying together is a custom followed by couples that are to be married. And that tells you everything you need to know about Lan Zhan and Wei Ying’s relationship.   

The first of many times that Lan Zhan rushes in to hold Wei Ying back.

Lan Zhan for a second believed Wei Ying finally learnt his lessons and crossed over to the lawful good side.. but come on, you love him precisely because he would never do that. And those ants are cute.

Jiang Fengmian proposes to cancel the troth between the clans to marry Yanli and Jin Zixuan. It is worth mentioning that Jiang clan’s approach to marriage is to never force their kids into a lifelong relationship they are not sure they want as they believe in “following one’s nature”. When even straight relationships are progressive and value happiness above all else, what is to stop the show from selling us a central gay romance that ends happily? Absolutely nothing.

We’ve now seen both the protagonists reject the romantic idea of spending their life with a woman. 

Missing Lan Zhan Hours Now Open

Wei Ying pouting like.. What do you mean we have to leave already? Lan Zhan literally just started acknowledging me as his soulmate. 

Oh no, Lan Zhan.. Why aren’t you including your soulmate on the super secret plan™?!

Wei Ying’s reason for wanting to say goodbye to only Lan Zhan out of all the disciples is, “Why can’t I admire his talents? You’re all losers who can’t fight me and he is my Match (Made In Heaven), I desire for an equivalence (and a meaningful union between souls.)”

The camera moves from the Yunmeng siblings squabbling to Lan Zhan observing them from a distance. Zewu Jun joins him and comments that after Wei Ying’s departure, Yun Shen will be silent once more. Lan Zhan’s face falls a little, understandably because he was getting more than used to Wei Ying’s chaotic presence in his life.

Zewu Jun is worried if Lan Zhan will be alright on his journey alone and raises the idea if he should tell Wei Ying about his quest. But Lan Zhan, our beloved idiot, still needs that extra push to come to terms with his feelings and realize Wei Ying will instantly drop everything for a lifetime by his side if he were to only say the word.

Rabbits Symbolise The Chinese Gay God

Even before the fandom taught me that the Chinese god of homosexuality is literally The Rabbit God, so the inclusion of rabbits is gloriously queer subtext, I could gather that they symbolised Wangxian’s feelings for each other. They both talk to the rabbits when the other is not there, Wei Ying paints a rabbit lantern for them to wish together, Lan Zhan raised Ah Yuan among these rabbits because they reminded him of Wei Ying and after 16 years, Lan Zhan drunkenly admits he likes rabbits (the equivalent of saying he’s always liked Wei Ying), they buy the rabbit lantern together and finally come back to find these rabbits in Cloud Recesses. The rabbits are a part of the Wangxian family.

The reappearance of the rabbits when Lan Zhan and Wei Ying’s dynamics have changed 16 years later is very telling. Their relationship by then has survived death and the miraculous return from death; it’s gone through the whole cycle of the promise of love, the pain of loss, the joy of redemption. The rabbits bring their life full circle to denote the certainty and comfort in the fact that they have each other after the trials and tribulations their romance has withstood. Wei Ying even says he isn’t scared of what happens anymore in that scene. There is nothing that can separate our heroes after this, they just have to brave whatever comes together.

And then there’s this promo picture and scene from a later episode where two rabbits are kissing.

This is how The Untamed screamed gay rights : “We’re not saying the heroes are gay, but the Yunshen rabbits are definitely gay and no one can do anything about it!” Only, the rabbits are such a huge part of this love story. 

Wangxian’s Promise of Love and Honor

When they make the wish together, Lan Zhan looks at Wei Ying with a kind of awe and reverence like, how did I not recognize him from the moment we met? He eyes the pouch containing the Yin metal and realizes they are both more alike than he thought, that this guy is possibly and most definitely his soulmate. This is an important stage in their relationship.

When he hears Wei Ying wish that he wants to eliminate evil and protect the weak in exchange for a life without anything weighing down their hearts - I think it is at this point he begins to see him as more of a life partner with whom he can share everything, than just a friend. Because Wei Ying’s impact on Lan Zhan’s life is so profound it alters his being, tilts his axis and expands his perspective. Wei Ying brought with him a free-spirited, flexible measurement of morality and an ardent quest for truth that no 3000 rules of the Lan clan had ever laid down. He realizes the rules he grew up on are right but Wei Ying, with all his moral complexity, can also be right. Wei Ying’s companionship introduced Lan Zhan to a fluid perception of right and wrong that he found perfectly acceptable. This shows Lan Zhan and Wei Ying belong to the new generation that is here to reform the broken system built by their ancestors. In this moment, by choosing to view him as his unequivocal soulmate, by acknowledging their paths are to be forever intertwined, Lan Zhan liberates his mind from the monochromatic perception of life he was brought up on. By making this wish together, Lan Zhan trusts Wei Ying to always do the right thing from now on and trusts the both of them to lead a life that they are proud of.

He doesn’t know right now that staying committed to this wish is going to demand everything from them in the future, but he does know that Wei Ying is the greatest person he has ever met and the first one who is so compatible with him. And that is a revelation to Lan Zhan because there are easily a million things that set them apart. All the same, he sees his own core values reflected in his soulmate. He decides it couldn’t be the worst thing in this world to stand by Wei Ying’s side especially when he’s doing the most honorable thing they both know to be true. This common ground means something to Lan Zhan, even if we don’t hear him admit that. Because here is Wei Ying telling him he doesn’t need to be alone anymore even though he’s used to it. That he doesn’t have to go through any of it alone as long as he is there: fight for justice, vanquish evil, or even simply go through everyday life. Lan Zhan’s face in this scene is understandably the face of a man who is falling in love.

The promise they make to each other on this cliff was in a way, a promise to follow their own path that ended up operating above the constraints of and reinvented the cultivation world’s jurisdiction. There are going to be many forces trying to convince them it's not the right way, but the path they share, which is both the literal path of justice and their love for each other (they are synonymous, after all) is the one they courageously forge and painfully commit to when their world is unable to go on existing with the faulty principles it was founded on. That is why their romance survives every obstacle in the end. It is founded on a love that runs so deep it recognizes and respects the other in the many lifetimes spent serving their just cause. Their love, and the extents it goes to in order to thrive, is the answer to all the troubles that ail their world. And it all began with this lantern. 

This is why The Untamed is the gay drama and Wangxian are the gay warriors the universe has been waiting for. It staged gay romance in a realm ruled by gentry and the supernatural, giving us equal parts of gore as there is swashbuckling, gut-wrenching drama. Literally never been done before.

In conclusion, Episode 7 deepens the bond between our heroes and sets up the main struggle in their romance as we wait to see what will become of the wish they made together. But one thing is clear : They are bound together forever, not just by their love for each other but also by their common cause. That is why the road they walk on can never be different. It will forever be the single plank road they will always find their way back to.

#the untamed #chen qing ling #mo dao zu shi #cql #mdzs #the untamed meta #cql meta #mdzs meta #wangxian meta #wangxian #wangxian analysis #the untamed analysis #cql analysis #lan zhan #wei ying #wei wuxian #lan wangji #the untamed rewatch #the untamed episodes #cql rewatch #cql episodes #ep7

[twdmusicboxmystery]

The Dominant Template in TWD

Hey Everyone! This is a very over-arching pattern that I pinned down after 10x17 aired. So I reference that episode several times. But I reference plenty of others as well. Hope you enjoy it. It’s a new pattern you can look for!

Let’s just say that watching 10x17 and thinking about how Hershel Jr.’s arc is like Beth’s sent me down a rabbit hole and this is the result.

We’ve seen this template so often, I really think this is the dominant template they use to plan arcs on the show, from minor characters that only last a few episodes to full-season arcs to Beth’s multi-season arc.

And once again, this isn’t super groundbreaking. We’ve definitely identified pieces of this before. I’m just kind of seeing it in a new light.

In each example of this template, these are the step I’ve identified as always present or present most of the time. (And maybe they’re always present but I just can’t think of how in every case.)

Basic Template:

1. New threat to the community arises.

2. TF attempts a preliminary fix to the new threat.

3. It doesn’t work, everything goes wrong, people die, and often, the community itself falls.

4. The group splits into smaller groups for various reasons.

5. These smaller groups include the splitting up of both romantic couples and more platonic relationships.

6. Not sure if this is always the case, but often two people end up in a group together who will soon become love interests.

7. More often than not, in the chaos, someone goes missing and is presumed dead, but they aren’t, and they return at some point.

8. Romantic Reunions – eventually the entire group will come back together to face the threat, but the romantic reunions always happen PRIOR to this.

9. The group solidifies again, coming back together to face the threat.

10. Any familial or platonic reunions that haven’t happened yet happen at this point.

So, let’s look at some examples. It gets complicated and wordy to go through every example of this, and I struggle with the best way to explain it. There are kind of two examples in each season (think of it as one for every 8 episodes, roughly) but they also tend to be related, so you could think of them as Part A and Part B.

S4. The first big threat is actually the virus. So not bad people. But let’s focus on the second big threat: the Governor. This example is better for what I’m trying to explain.

Governor’s Arc:

1. The threat is the Gov trying to take over the prison. The secondary threat that brings the group back together will be Terminus. In this case, they’re pretty much two different threats, but in most other seasons, they’re related.

2. Preliminary attempt could be seen as what they did to defeat the Gov in S3, which ultimately didn’t work. You could also see Rick trying to negotiate as the preliminary action that doesn’t work.

3. It doesn’t work. Everything goes wrong. Hershel dies. The prison falls.

4. The group splits into smaller groups, not by choice but because of circumstances.

5. Romantic couples that split: Glaggie, Richonne (They weren’t canon yet, but I think this was purposeful because the writers knew someday they would be.) Platonic splits: Rick/Judith, Sasha/Tyreese, Maggie/Beth, Daryl/Carol, Michonne/Carl.

6. Obviously the two who will become love interests are Beth and Daryl, but there’s also Sasha/Bob to consider.

7. Missing and Presumed Dead: Baby Judith

8. Romantic reunions before the entire group comes back together: Richonne in 4x09 and Glaggie in 4x15.

9. They all come back together at Terminus.

10. Platonic reunions after Terminus: Sasha/Bob and Rick&Carl/Judith.

I’m gonna skip S5 for a minute. You can use this template as something self-contained within season 5. 5b is a little weird because the “separations” are emotional rather than literal/physical, but it still works. But of course Beth’s arc that follows this template starts in S5 and will end up going between 5 and 10 seasons, just depending on how you look at it and how long it takes to get us to the CRM war, so I’ll come back to this.

Let me give you a couple of other examples first.

Season 6:

1. The threat: the walkers at the quarry. (So the threat is usually a bad person or group, but here it’s walkers, and in 4a it was a virus, just so you can see different ways they do this.) The group will come back together in 6x09, pull together, and eliminate the walker threat.

2. Preliminary action: Well, it goes wrong right at first because the truck falls off the ledge and they have to start before planned. But all of Operation Lead the Walkers Away could be seen as the preliminary action that goes bad.

3. It all goes wrong when the wolves show up and blow the horn. The person that dies is Emery. I don’t think tptb wanted to kill off any main characters in this sequence, so they created his character specifically to adhere to this template.

4. The group splits again, though not by choice. Michonne and co to pet shop, Rick…running, Daryl/Sasha/Abraham, etc.

5. Romantic couples that split: Glaggie again, Richonne, Tara/Denise, you might even count David and Betsy. Platonic splits: uh, you know, anyone who’s not romantic.

6. Romantic reunions before the final battle: Richonne early on when Rick gets back to Alexandria (6x05, I think?) Tara and Denise briefly, before Creepy Wolf Dude takes her. And then Glaggie when Glenn returns and they get Maggie off the scaffold.

7. Missing and presumed dead: Glenn, obviously.

8. Two in same group who later become love interests: Sasha and Abraham. Also Carl and Enid, who are both at Alexandria. Clearly the writers use these sorts of situations to forge relationships.

9. They all reunite at Alexandria, Daryl sets lake on fire, they fight the walkers.

10.   Platonic reunions after: they don’t focus on these in a big way in this season, but we see everyone standing together on the porch afterward, Michonne holding baby Judith, and of course Rick talking to Carl.

Saviors Arc:

I’ll focus on S7 here, as I think we see this template several times throughout S7 and S8, but the Saviors arc really spans like 2.5 seasons, so I’ll keep this brief.

1. Threat = The Saviors

2. Preliminary action: attacking the satellite station in 6x13. They thought that took care of the problem.

3. It goes wrong even though they don’t know it right away. Leads directly to Glenn and Abraham’s deaths.

4. The group splits, not by choice, but because Negan makes them. Rick trying to get supplies for the Saviors, Daryl at Sanctuary, Maggie/Sasha at Hilltop, Michonne on her own, etc.

5. Other than Rick and Michonne not being on the same page, there’s not major romantic splittage here. Glenn and Abraham die of course, but in this template, it’s always that the couple comes back together again, so death doesn’t count. We do have Carl and Enid splitting briefly when he goes to the Sanctuary in 7x07. Platonic splits: again, just everyone in different groups who isn’t romantic. So, Daryl/Rick, Rick/Maggie, etc.

6. Romantic Reunions: Carnid, Richonne when they got on the same page.

7. Missing and presumed dead: I think this would be Daryl. It’s a small thing, but when Negan took him, Rick really didn’t know if Negan planned to kill him.

8. Two who become love interests: Again, maybe Carl and Enid outside the walls together? Just not a huge emphasis on the romance here. Though possibly we could consider Sherry and Dwight too.

9. Again, this depends on how you want to see it. You could see the final battle as the end of AOW in 8x16, but if you want to stick with 7a, then it’s when they all reunite at Hilltop and hug in 7x08. See what I mean about how they use this for both big and small arcs?

10. Platonic reunions in 7x08: Maggie/Rick, Daryl/Rick, Daryl/Everyone, etc.

Okay, I’ll stop there with the examples. This took me a long time because you can go through every single season, even every 8 episodes, and see this same thing. There’s so much going on AOW, I didn’t even want to try to pin this down for S8, but I’m sure it’s there. In S9, this works first for Rick’s death and then for the Whisperers. Whisperers, preliminary action = giving Lydia back, but that leads to pike victims. Hilltop falls. You can fill in the other details. S10 is the Whisperers continued, but the first threat was the satellite falling and the fire it caused. You get the idea.

And I think in this episode (10x17) they’re setting up this same template with the Reapers. What we see in this episode might qualify as the preliminary action. It’s very small, but it might. So we might be seeing steps 1 and 2 of the template, using the Reapers as the threat.

So, back to Beth. I guess the main reason this got me all excited is that it simply backs up other things we’ve already theorized. If you think of this template in an extremely long-game sort of way (many seasons), it makes perfect sense.

Beth/CRM Arc:

1. First threat: Grady/CRM. Because we believe Grady was entangled with them.

2. Preliminary Action: the prisoner exchange at Grady to stop the conflict.

3. It goes wrong. Beth “dies.”

4. Group splits. This one is interesting because the group has obviously split and come back together many times over the seasons. But this has to be on a bigger scale than that. So, not just characters coming back together a few episodes later. It has to be more epic than that. Like, having them separated for several seasons? 

So think of it this way: the only people still alive who knew Beth in S4/S5 are Rick, Michonne, Daryl, Carol, Maggie, and Judith. And who is separated from the group right now and for the foreseeable future? Rick and Michonne. 

We also know Daryl and Carol will leave together at the end of S11. I’m assuming Maggie stays behind then, though we can’t know for sure yet. But if things work out the way I think they will based on other templates (like TWB) then at some point Daryl and Carol will split up, too. So, the splits are definitely there, but it’s much more epic in this case. The splits happen over multiple seasons, rather than all at once. Rick in S9. Michonne roughly a season later. Daryl and Carol a season after that, etc.

5. Romantic splits: well, things may change but as of right now, Richonne, Bethyl, Carzekiel are all split up. Platonic splits: Daryl/Rick, Daryl/Michonne, Daryl/Carol, Michonne/Daryl, perhaps Judith from all of these, etc.

6. Romantic reunions: we don’t know exactly how they’ll play out, but I’m assuming Michonne will find Rick BEFORE the final CRM conflict. Assuming Ezekiel has a death fakeout, I think he and Carol will reunite before the main CRM battle. And of course you know I think Daryl will meet Beth on his way to Rick. The romantic reunions always happen BEFORE the big, final conflict. :D

7.  Missing and presumed dead: right now it’s both Rick and Beth, though Zeke may join at some point.

8.  Two in group who become love interests? I have no idea who this will be. Might possibly even be characters we haven’t met yet. Eugene/Stephanie? Kelly/Elijah?

9.  Final conflict is war with CRM.

10. Platonic reunions afterward: Possibly Beth/Maggie, Judith/Various people, main characters with those back at Alexandria, so like Daryl/Aaron, Rick/Maggie, etc.

I was going to give you the rundown for how this template plays out in 10x17. After reading this though, you’ll probably recognize it right away. There’s a part where Daryl and Maggie’s group splits into two to follow two paths. That’s what got me thinking about this to begin with.

Thoughts?

#beth greene #beth greene lives #beth is alive #beth is coming #td theory #td theories #team delusional #team defiance #beth is almost here #bethyl

[iturbide]

Genuine question here: if Edelgard succeeded in her conquest, do you think she'd turn her eyes on Sreng and/or Almyra? She wouldn't have any real reason to - but then again, she never had any real reason to declare war on the church, and all it'd take is the Twisted framing Sreng or Almyra as their base of operations...

It’s a good question!  Interestingly, though, Edelgard herself brings up her feelings on the subject in CF, specifically after you either spare or kill Claude.  After the attack on the Alliance capital, a paralogue becomes available where the Imperial forces rally at the Locket to repel some Almyran skirmishers; in the aftermath, this is what she says:

Edelgard: The Almyran army retreated.  Their casualties were numerous.  As I understand it, they won’t be attempting another invasion anytime soon.  Still, we must prepare the local troops before their enemy returns. Byleth: They are an irritating neighbor. / Maybe we can befriend them?  Edelgard: That is my hope.  I would even consider a treaty.  Unlike Fodlan, Almyra is not a land ruled by blind fealty to the goddess.  I believe we need only to communicate openly with them and respect the differences between our cultures.  If we do that, we should be able to have a meaningful dialogue with them, one more promising than what we can expect from followers of the goddess.

So by her own admission, Edelgard has no interest in expanding her conquest to Sreng or Almyra.  She in fact has designs toward allying with them, or at least establishing peaceful relations, because she believes they’ll be more reasonable than anyone who follows the Church of Seiros.

(In all honesty I hate the ending of this paralogue because everything she says is pure hypocrisy.  It’s entirely possible that she just got done murdering Almyra’s prince but she assumed that Claude was a “believer in the goddess” and therefore couldn’t be reasoned with, even though he’s one of the very people she could have been working to forge an alliance with.  Way to poison the well, there, Edelgard!)

I don’t think it’s accurate to say that she never had a real reason to attack the Church of Seiros, though.  I actually do understand her sentiments -- I just think that her way of acting on them was completely blown out of proportion, because rather than just focusing her attention on the corrupt church hierarchy -- like the archbishop -- or on the principles it’s built on that end up being so toxic for humanity -- like the bias toward Crests -- she decides that everyone who worships the goddess is unreasonable and needs to be dealt with by force.  No one who holds faith in the goddess can be good in her eyes, which is the kind of horrific absolutism that makes my skin crawl.

As for the reason why she attacks the church, it’s really a combination of factors: first, it’s that she’s part of House Hresvelg, and therefore aware of the “true” history behind the Church of Seiros.  This is part of her pre-battle conversation with Byleth in Chapter 14, aka the battle where Claude can potentially die (and she unwittingly burns her bridge with Almyra regardless):

Edelgard: Professor...do you know the true story behind the legend?  The Relics were created by the hands of mankind.  Seiros collected them after killing the 10 Elites.  Seiros manipulated the people of the world and defeated the all-powerful King Nemesis.  Byleth: I thought he was corrupted by his power? / Why would she do that?  Edelgard: The church maintains the false history that he was corrupted and turned evil; however, it was little more than a simple dispute.  Should the one leading the people of the world be someone with humanity, or a creature that can merely masquerade as a human at will?  In the end, Seiros was victorious.  The Immaculate One and her family then took control of Fodlan.  I know this because this knowledge is passed down from emperor to emperor.  And that is because the first emperor is the human who cooperated with Seiros, allowing humanity to be controlled in secret.  Byleth: ... Edelgard: Perhaps it’s fate that you can wield the Sword of the Creator, just like Nemesis, the King of Liberation.  And that very fate will lead you to use that sword to stand against those who would distort history.

So a not insignificant part of her distrust in the Church of Seiros comes from the fact that she knows it’s been doctoring history which inevitably leads to suspicion because why is it being doctored?  On top of that, though, the entire reason why she was subjected to the Crest experiments that led to the deaths of her siblings and imbued her with the Crest of Flames is because of the ingrained systems founded by the Church of Sieros that so highly value Crests.  The church might not directly tell people to aim for Crests at all costs, but the fact that nobility is more or less predicated on the presence of a Crest has had negative effects on or outright ruined countless lives, including Sylvain’s (his older brother’s hatred), Mercedes’ (becoming a pawn to improve her stepfather’s status), Ingrid’s (becoming a pawn to improve her house’s long-term survival), and Hanneman’s (his sister’s abuse and eventual death). 

(The irony here is that the people least affected by this Crest bias are in the Alliance, where the Church of Seiros has the weakest influence.  The presence of a Crest in the family only seems to determine whether someone can be counted among the Great Lords at the roundtable, which is why Judith von Daphnel -- herself lacking a crest -- gave up her seat to Margrave Edmund following his adoption of Marianne who does.  Judith herself is still held in extremely high regard and House Daphnel appears well respected despite the fact that they don’t have any Crest-bearers.)

With all that in mind, Edelgard really does have a valid reason to go after the church.  Now, if she were being logical about it, she would have been fighting for reform: alter the existing structures to reduce and eventually eliminate Crest bias in the system so that it was no longer a requirement for inheritance of title, potentially leading to the eradication of the nobility/commoner system entirely.  Unfortunately, despite her loathing for them, the influence of Those who Slither likely stoked her negative feelings toward the church into outright hatred, and led to what we get in the game.  The fact that Edelgard routinely interacts with them and has even assisted in their plans (such as Flayn’s kidnapping -- even if she didn’t have a direct hand in it, she did help the Death Knight escape) heavily implies that for all that she hates them, she’s not immune to their influence.

#answered #anonymous #fire emblem: three houses #edelgard #as much as i might find edelgard frustrating #and as much as i might dislike her actions #because imperialism is never the answer #i do understand the underlying logic behind why she does this stuff #seriously though she shot herself in the foot in cf #there's no way there was ever a happy ending there

[pahrak-the-sinnoh-slizer]

Right of Law, Section XXVIII

(The tension mounting in Civitas Magna finally comes to a head.)

“Testing, testing…”

Zaekura looked up to flip a switch on the radio.  “Hear you loud and clear.  Can you read me?”

“Copy.  Alright, we’ll get this one ready for transport.”

She paused to rub her eyes before turning back to the microscope.  Studying the way the sample moved, she flipped through one of the three open notebooks laid out around her, read over a snippet of text, and then reached for a rack of droppers filled with various solutions.

“Testing, testing…”

“Back at you.”

“Copy.  Packing now.”

Keeping her eye firmly on the lens, Zaekura mixed one tiny droplet into the sample. As it began to react, she quickly switched the dropper to her other hand and began writing down the results, slowing only when the reaction appeared to stabilize.  “No way…”

“Is everything alright?”

With a minor start, Zaekura turned to see Charla there.  “Oh!  Sorry, didn’t hear you come in.”

The radio buzzed.  “Testing.”

Zaekura flipped the switch.  “Yeah, you’re good.”

“Testing?”

“Yeah, copy, I can—”

“Testing?”

“...But, you can’t hear me.”

“Alright, so this one’s busted…”

Zaekura put away the dropper and scribbled something down before turning back to Charla.  “Sorry.”

“I just wanted to check on you,” Charla said.  “You shouldn’t work yourself too hard, Zaekura.”

“I’m not, really.”

Charla crossed her arms.

“Come on, testing the radios is mindless, I have to do something else in the meanwhile.”  She went back to the microscope.  “Plus, I think I…”

The sight that greeted her was unrecognizable.

“...Nevermind.  It’s degraded.”

Zaekura sighed loudly as she sank into her chair.  Charla drew closer, placing her hands on her shoulders and saying, “One of the blood samples from the mutated Vorox?  Are you any closer to curing it?”

“Closer...yes.  Done...no. I’ve tried a few different ways to revert the mutation, but they keep spiraling out of control and wrecking the entire sample.  It’s a really delicate balance I’ve got to find, and even with the notes from the Great Beings’ lab, I just can’t find it…”

The radio buzzed.  “Testing, testing.”

Zaekura started to reach, but Charla hit the switch for her.  “Ah, thanks.  I read.”

“Copy.  Back on track.  Could you hear me before?”

“Yeah, I could.”

“So it must be the receiver...”

Zaekura leaned her head back, now able to look up at Charla.  “Alright, maybe I should take a break.”

“I agree,” Charla said.  “Even genius minds need rest.”

“Pff, genius…”

“Well, you are.”

“Depends on how technical you want to get.”

“And if I don’t want to get technical at all?”

“Then I guess I’m a freaking genius.”

“Hehehe…”

They sat in silence for a moment, broken by another radio test.  After a few more moments of thought, Zaekura said, “Hey, Charla...was it wrong of me to send Hewkii to Civitas Magna?”

Charla tilted her head.  “He agreed to go.  In fact, I recall him being quite fond of the idea.”

“Yeah, but with how dangerous it is, part of me kinda feels like I shouldn’t have mentioned it to him in the first place.  Like maybe I planted an idea I shouldn’t have even considered.”  She averted her gaze.  “I was thinking...tactically.  Realizing that scares the heck out of me.  Putting someone’s life in danger—the lives of that whole team—shouldn’t just be a tactical decision.”

Charla waited a moment.  “You’re being too hard on yourself, Zaekura.  I—”

The radio cut her off.  “Testing, testing.”

She flipped the switch, Zaekura saying, “Uh, yeah, copy.”

“And copy.  Alright, that’s all of them.  I’ll get to work repairing the defects.”

“Okay.  Thanks, Nuparu.”

As Charla turned the radio off, the chamber door opened to allow Krika inside.

“Oh, Krika,” Zaekura said, craning her neck.  “What—”

“Vamprah’s in Civitas Magna,” he said.

Zaekura’s eyes shot wide.  Scrambling out of her chair, she said, “Bad, that’s bad, that’s really bad, is everyone ready?”

“Currently marching—I hope you don’t mind.”

“Nope.  Come on, fill me in on the way.  Charla, uh…”

The Rahkshi nodded.  “I will see to it.”

“You’re the best.”  She rushed out the door right on Krika’s heels.  “Oh, I really hope there’s a chance to stop this all from going horribly, horribly wrong…”

***

Dekar locked the door behind him, immediately checking through the blinds. Hewkii flopped onto one of the beds, saying, “Ah, excellent job today, team!  We made it to the finals!”

“So we should start preparing for whatever comes next,” Dekar said.

“First, we rest.  No point in exhausting ourselves further.”

“I’d argue there’s a point to it.”

“Just a little rest, Dekar,” Hahli said.  “It’ll make it a lot easier for us to think.”

Dekar shook his head.  Before he could voice his thoughts, something began to shimmer in the corner of the room. The three Toa leapt to their feet and grouped together, and soon the light faded, revealing two new beings standing there: one a Rahkshi with blue and green armor, the other…

“Onewa!”  Hewkii came forward to embrace the newly-arrived Toa.  “It’s so good to see you!  How have your carvings been coming along?”

“There’s no time for that, Hewkii,” Onewa said, gently pushing him back.  “We need to be quick.”

“Wait, you know him?” Hahli asked.

“I apologize if I startled you all, but this was the only way to speak with you safely.  I’m from Nynrah—I’m here as part of a strategy to further Zaekura’s cause. This is Nik, one of Bitil’s Rahkshi.”

Nik nodded in greeting.  Hewkii said, “Ah, I’m relieved to hear you’re on our side, elder.”

“Of course!  They destroyed my home, killed my neighbors, all for…”  Onewa sighed.  “No, now’s not the time.  Listen: there’s at least one more Makuta here than we were expecting to find, so we came to be sure you have a way out if things get dangerous.  All of you, hold out your hands.”

The three of them complied, Nik stepping forward to drop a pellet into each of their palms.  Dekar turned it around in his fingers, saying, “I guess they really want to be sure we don’t talk…”

Onewa smacked the side of his head.  “Oh, just listen!  Nik has the power to create these—if you’re in danger, crush it, and you’ll be teleported to his side.  We’ll move out of the city, get as far as we can, and hopefully we’ll all be able to make it to Ga-Koro before anyone can catch up to us.”

Hewkii grinned.  “Don’t worry, Onewa: Zaekura isn’t far away.  Worst comes to worst, we’ll be able to fight our way out.”

“Hmm...I certainly hope so.  Just be careful, Hewkii.  All of you. I hope to see you again.”

With that, Onewa and Nik vanished.  Tucking away his pellet, Hewkii said, “There we go: a plan!  I knew things would work out.”

“They haven’t worked out yet,” Dekar said.  “But, I guess this is better than anything we could have reasonably expected…”

Hahli stared at her pellet.  “I didn’t want to interrupt, but...isn’t he the one from the footage?  The one Vamprah attacked?”

Hewkii looked up.  “...What?”

“You haven’t seen?  Just a bit ago, while we were playing, footage began to circulate of Vamprah attacking a Toa of Stone—I’m fairly certain it was Onewa.”

Hewkii took a moment to process this.  “I see...but he looked fine, though.”

“I suppose,” Hahli mumbled.  “It’s just…”

Dekar stepped forward.  “Even if it worked out, it still happened, Hewkii.  Even if we succeed in broad terms, that old Toa got hurt to get us there—and plenty more might still get hurt in the process.  I won’t argue whether the end justifies the means or not.  But at the very least, you should acknowledge those means for what they are.”

Hewkii stared at him.  Turning to Hahli, he said, “Sorry, what were you going to say?”

She fidgeted.  “Well...I was wondering how the people are going to respond to that footage.  When I looked into it, it seemed like it was already getting a lot of attention; at a certain point, the Makuta and the Great Beings will have to respond to it somehow…”

“As if we weren’t already standing in a powder keg…” Dekar said.  He jumped as the roof creaked.

Hewkii said, “It...it’s going to be alright.  Preparations are in place—the plan will work.  Worrying will get us nowhere.”

Dekar shook his head.  “You just can’t stop being optimistic, can you?”

“Is that such a bad thing?”

“Not always.  But at a certain point, you’re just turning a blind eye to what’s in front of you.” Dekar headed for his bed.  “I’m tired of trying to convince you.  When it does finally hit you, all I ask is that you learn from it.”

The conversation ended, leaving the room quiet as the other Toa also sat down to rest.  Hewkii tried to relax, but there was something nagging at him, something that just wouldn’t let go.

Will our success...be built on sacrifice after all?

Up above, the roof creaked again as some invisible body leapt off from it.  It flew to the center of the city, phasing through the wall of Yarion’s tower and finding its way to a chamber that had been fashioned into a forge.  Once inside, Vamprah finally allowed himself to be seen, and waited patiently as Ekimu hammered away at his anvil.  When he finally stopped, Vamprah telepathically communicated all he had heard.

“I see,” Ekimu said.  He then turned back to his work.

At his side, Ahkmou said, “I knew those Nynrahns were up to no good.  We have to take care of them at once!”

“No,” Ekimu said.  “What if someone records it again?  It’d just put more fuel on the fire.  The finals are tomorrow—once those are done, you can do what you want with this city.”

“O-Of course, Lord Ekimu.”

The Great Being paused briefly.  “Hate to admit it...but it might already be too late.  I guess we’ll just have to see what happens.”

Ahkmou shifted as Ekimu continued working.  “Um, if I may, my lord...I find the news that Zaekura is closer than we expect to be rather troubling.  Should we prepare our forces?”

Using his tongs, Ekimu picked up what he was working on: a mask of some kind, similar in shape to a Hau but stretched back, and with additional ridges to its design.  “That’s what I’m working on.”

Ahkmou shuffled back, trying to get as far away as possible from the red-hot mask. “Oh!  I, um, I see...”

Ekimu turned.  “Eliminator.”

The Odinan’s face appeared from the shadows.  “Yes, my lord?”

“I’ll set up a teleportation jammer.  You just focus on your targets.”

“Thank you, my lord.”

“Ahkmou.”

The Toa jumped.  “Y-Yes?”

“There’s a stasis pen on sublevel 15.  Take its readings and report back.”

“Right away, my lord!”  He was gone in seconds.

“Vamprah.”  He examined the still-searing mask, confident the mute Makuta was listening.  “Go get Yarion.”

***

An army at their backs, Zaekura, Krika, and Bitil approached the gates of Civitas Magna flying the flag of Peace.  Clicking his claws together, Krika said, “Must we waste time like this?”

“You’re the one always going on about our public image,” Zaekura said.

“Hrm...I suppose…”

“Don’t lose your nerve now, Krika,” Bitil said.  “The escort we sent will surely keep your artistic followers safe.”

Krika grumbled.  Gesturing to the flag, Zaekura said, “Guys.  Come on.”

They stopped some distance before the wall.  A few guards could be seen poking around, so Zaekura cleared her throat to address them.  She had barely formed a syllable when she saw an Eccentric Boulder being flung over the rampart.  Bitil carried Zaekura back while Krika dealt with the incoming projectile, and with a sigh, the Glatorian nodded.

“Let him know.”

Bitil nodded, turning briefly to the west.  Then, setting Zaekura down, he raised his sword, gave a shout, and led the army in a charge.

Up ahead, Krika vaulted over the wall and fired a spread of light bolts, breaking as many of the defensive weapons setup there as possible before dashing further in.  He cut through the streets blindingly fast, making a beeline straight for Yarion’s tower, stopping only to dodge as something swooped down at him.  Vamprah shattered the concrete where he landed.

“Oh, good—just who I was hoping to see,” Krika said as he took up a battle stance. “I hear you’ve been harming my citizens, Vamprah.  Did you really think I would permit that?”

Vamprah bounded forward a short distance.  When he landed, his long tail whipped forward, forcing Krika to dodge low as Vamprah rushed him.  Krika extended spikes from his fingers, interlocking Vamprah’s own talons, and then grabbed his tail as it retracted, keeping him in place for a point-blank Power Scream.  Vamprah flitted back and shook his head, gliding circles above Krika as the other Makuta watched him closely.

“Nothing to say for yourself?  I suppose I can talk enough for two.  There’s no shortage of things I can say about a monster who preys on the weak and defenseless, twisting it into some game for his own sick pleasure!”

Vamprah scattered small plasma spheres as he circled.  Upon hitting the ground, each sphere expanded exponentially—Krika had to move carefully to weave through the blasts, leaving him little room to dodge as Vamprah sniped him with bursts of laser vision.  He rapidly extended two spikes in an attempt to puncture Vamprah’s wings, but his foe turned intangible at the last second.

“Even if I felt up to it at the moment, trying to reason with you would be a waste of time.  You’ve always loved the hunt, haven’t you—the thrill of violence?  You’d never turn down the chance to hunt new prey!”

Vamprah flapped his wings, amplifying the resulting gust with his Vacuum powers.  Krika flung himself clear, raised his hands to fire back, and then realized Vamprah was already on top of him.  The flying Makuta wrapped his claws around Krika’s head, slamming him into the nearest building, dragging him up its surface as he flew higher; it took Krika a moment to clear his mind enough to magnetize Vamprah’s wings closed. Vamprah angled his fall so that Krika would hit the ground first, and Krika focused his Elasticity powers into his fist.  The impact hurt, but his affected hand bounced up with just as much force, injecting it into Vamprah’s neck and successfully knocking him back.  Krika was too dazed to aim, so he released a volley of Light bolts where he guessed Vamprah would be.

“You know, Gorast may have the worse reputation, but I’ve always felt you were secretly the most cruel of us all.  How eager were you to tear citizens asunder?  I’ll bet you jumped at the order!”

Clarity returned to him.  Vamprah, however, was nowhere to be seen.

“Phenomenal.”

Krika quickly scanned the surrounding area.  It was then he noticed the familiar form of Makuta Yarion approaching the battle.  “Ah, Yarion. Lovely to see you again—it’s been too long.  I wish to have a word with you as well, but…”

He trailed off as Yarion came closer.  Scuffs and grime covered their usually-pristine armor, and in place of their Kakama they wore a mask that looked almost like a Hau yet subtly different. They carried two identical weapons, multibarrel firearms that resembled miniaturized Cordak Blasters, but Krika realized in horror that the guns had been grafted directly into their arms.

“...Goodness.  What happened?”

Yarion silently raised their arms.  The blasters spun to life, releasing a torrent of fireballs that shredded through the nearby buildings.  Krika contorted his body, narrowly avoiding their attack as Vamprah came back into view. He tried to get clear, but flaming rubble was now raining all around him, making it even more difficult to find a safe place to stand for more than half a second.  Vamprah’s attack was precise, nailing him in the chest with laser vision.  Krika stumbled back into the line of fire.  The blasts were just hot enough to overpower his heat resistance, but he managed to free himself quickly...only to be knocked flat by Vamprah’s tail.

As he lay there, Krika grunted.  “Perhaps going ahead was hasty after all…”

While this was going on, the rebel army managed to take the city wall, incapacitating the guards there and making their way inward.  A steady stream of resistance came to meet them.  The Rahkshi busied themselves clearing a path while Bitil stuck close to Zaekura, keeping his eyes peeled; he said, “We just need to reach the arena.  Once we have the team, we pull out.”

Zaekura watched the faces of the people lining the streets.  Many fled in fear, and those that remained looked similarly terrified, watching the Rahkshi march with wide eyes from as far away as they could.  She felt a knot in her stomach.  However, something about it alarmed her.

It’s not as intense as before.  I still feel sick, but not as much.  Why is that? Am I getting used to this?  Should I get used to this?  If I do…

A large screen mounted on a building up ahead displayed a news bulletin, a De-Matoran warning citizens of their arrival and urging them to clear the way. Zaekura’s next step came slower, but then she pushed it from her mind, facing forward again.

“So you’re the one causing trouble.”

Zaekura flinched.  Looking back up at the screen, she now saw an image of Ekimu looking down on her.  Her emotions began to run far deeper.

“You showed up awfully quickly.  From that direction…Artidax?  Is that where you were holed up?”

She said nothing, silently hoping and praying that Charla had finished the evacuation by now.

“The tournament’s almost over.  Can’t this wait?”

Zaekura took a deep breath as discreetly as possible.  “Hey, we offered to negotiate.  Your guys attacked us on-sight.”

“I’ll take that as a no.”  He turned. Zaekura could see the kolhii field behind him, the Hydruka doing their best to take control of the game.  “Guess that prize mask will go to waste.  Unless I can find someone else to give it to.”

“Please, listen to me.  We don’t want anyone to get hurt.  We’re just here to ensure that our people are safe—isn’t that what we all want?”

Ekimu turned back to her.  “What I wanted was to see the tournament.  Looks like neither of us are leaving here happy.”

Zaekura took a moment to glance at the observers: hearing Ekimu’s words, they began to mutter amongst themselves, a confusion subtly taking hold of them. She snapped back as the picture changed. The camera swiveled to show a large cube of blue light, its surface wavering like a stasis field; Ahkmou stood next to it, holding a small electronic tablet.  Zaekura couldn’t make out what was inside.

“Open it,” was all Ekimu said.

Wincing slightly, Ahkmou hit a button on his tablet.  Instantly, the cube disappeared, and a horde of creatures came spilling out.  She couldn’t quite get a good look at them—they skittered past the camera so quickly, obscuring the lens—but soon she heard Ahkmou scream.  Seconds later he came back into view.  Zaekura’s blood froze over.

One of the creatures had knocked his mask off, and now clung to him in its place using its four long, hook-like legs.  Its body was flat and wide, covering his entire face, sporting bony ridges that formed a hideous semblance of a face, complete with two large holes that ran all the way through its body to show Ahkmou’s empty eyes behind it. At his chin were the creature’s own, smaller eyes, as well as sharp fangs that clicked hungrily.

“You don’t want anyone to get hurt?” Ekimu said.  “Let’s test that.  My Skull Spiders can take total control of anyone able to wear Kanohi.  What’ll happen if a bunch of innocent civilians go to fight your army to the death?”

The knot in Zaekura’s stomach grew bigger, reaching out to the rest of her insides and twisting them all into one massive pit of disgust.  “You…!  That’s despicable!  It’s bad enough you don’t care about these people, but you’re even willing to use them like this?!”

“You’ve gotta take full advantage of the tools available to you.  Otherwise, you deserve to lose.”

“Shut up!  People aren’t tools, you sack of trash!  I—”

The screen shut off before she could finish.  Zaekura snarled, and then turned to the Rahkshi.

“New plan!  We’ve gotta contain these Skull Spiders!  Let’s go, let’s go!”

The army stampeded forward.  Zaekura was too focused on their goal to notice the faces of the civilians changing.

“That rotten, no good, heartless son of a—”

Bitil tackled her to the ground.  A bolt of energy lanced through the air, narrowly missing her and blasting apart a nearby wall.  Getting up slowly, Bitil stared into the shadowed alley the attack had emerged from, seeing a purple-skinned face watching him back.

“Ah, great, what now?!”

“Lady Zaekura,” Bitil said, “leave this one to me.  Since I’m able to use Kanohi, there’s a chance I’d be more of a liability where you’re headed anyway.  And there’s something...strange about them…”

Zaekura was back on her feet instantly.  “They’re all yours.”

She rushed off, the face turning after her but stopping as Bitil extended his sword.  “Weren’t you listening?  I’m your opponent.  Makuta Bitil; to who do I owe the pleasure?”

“...My name is Eliminator,” he said.  “I’m who the Keeper sends when other Odinans fail.”

Bitil tightened his grip on his sword.  “Another Odinan...what terrible timing…”

“I’ve never failed to complete a mission, Makuta.  Give up.  If you turn the Glatorian over now, I can put in a good word for you.”

Bitil thought for a moment.

“See?  You’re smart enough to know when you’re beat.”

“You misunderstand.”  Bitil got into a battle stance.  “I was just thinking...the fact that you’d make such an offer must mean you’re afraid to fight me.”  He grinned. “That bodes well.”

Bitil moved to teleport up to his foe.  However, the teleport failed, and he stumbled long enough for Eliminator to strike him with a bolt of energy.  The attack flung him back with tremendous force, half-embedding him in the nearest wall and dazing him for a moment.  When he could think clearly again, Eliminator was nowhere to be seen.

“No you don’t!”

Bitil shot into the alleyway in search of his opponent.  The street was unusually dark, but he was able to spot a crackle of energy up ahead that gave him a target.  Throwing one hand forward, Bitil willed a wall of solid light to appear in Eliminator’s path, but to his surprise, the Odinan continued to barrel forward, darkness seeming to wrap around him, and smashed through the barrier effortlessly.  Bitil grunted.  Activating his Kanohi, he called upon the speed of the Phase Dragon and managed to get in front of Eliminator, knocking him down with a punch wrapped in Light.

“You aren’t getting away that easily, Odinan.  Now--”

Eliminator bounced back with a shadow-cloaked uppercut.  The blow made Bitil writhe, but he stayed on his feet somehow.  Eliminator said, “You’re not worth my time, Makuta.  I’m here to capture the Glatorian first and foremost.”

The alleyway grew darker.  Eliminator took a step forward, energy dancing along his talons, and Bitil held his sword defensively.

“Then again...the shadows really want to watch you die…”

Bitil fired beams of Light from his eyes, landing a direct hit.  Eliminator brushed off the attack.  Dodging the retaliation, Bitil said, “This doesn’t make sense...Shadow and Light are opposites: my attacks should be far more effective!”

He slashed.  Eliminator held one hand out, a force field appearing at his command to block Bitil’s sword.  “Ah yes...that is how it works for your kind.”

Eliminator kicked the instant he lowered his shield.  Bitil avoided direct contact, but the shadows followed Eliminator’s movement, effectively extending his range and leaving a stinging wound on Bitil’s torso.  Backing away slightly, the Makuta raised his sword again, keeping his eyes locked firmly on his target.  He could see now that he had underestimated Eliminator.  If he wanted to survive this battle, he knew he could not do so again.

#Bionicle #Melding Universe #Right of Law #fanfiction