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#wonder woman fic
five-bi-five-mind · 11 months
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Series:
Maybe This Time  
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onthesandsofdreams · 2 years
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Flame of War
Fandom: Wonder Woman (Movies) Pairing: Diana x Steve Trevor Rating: G Summary: "And why did you chose to be a spy?" She asks. Words: 618 Notes: For @mousedetective​ Prompt(s): 28. "We all have our reasons."  From @fictober-event
Read @ AO3
The sea is calm.
And Diana knows that she should be thankful to Poseidon for being so kind. The faster they reach London, as Steve has called it, the better.
But she will not deny that the man intrigues her. Not only because he is a man, and a man who has seen and knows the world beyond the shores of Themyscira, but for the way he describes his work in the war. A spy. She knows and understand the principles of war, but the way she knows it, all point to traitors who chose to sell their people.
Steve is not that. Instead, he is a man who is fighting against an enemy in its own turf, in its own grounds by pretending to be someone he is not. Such a curious thing. In the end, her curiosity gets the better of her.
"And why did you chose to be a spy?" She asks.
Steve looks at her, gives her a tiny smile. "We all have our reasons," he says. "My own are that I knew I could handle it. I knew that spies were needed and I saw a way to make myself more useful than full on battle."
"You are still doing battle," she points out.
Steve laughs, "Of course I am. But I have always like battle of wits over that of fists. It also helps that I am good with languages."
"Are you?"
"Well, as much a normal person can." Steve corrects himself with good humor. "I am not you, nor someone who was blessed by the Gods. I do what I can."
"Tell me more about being a spy, please."
"It is hard work," he admits after a moment of silence. "There are days where all I can do is bury my nails on my palm to stop myself from reacting. It is hard to see the horrors that the enemy does and pretend that you support them. There are days when I have thrown up and do not make me tell about  what they've done to the few spies that have been uncovered. People are dying and people will continue to die if I do not get this information to the allied nations."
She looks away, she has never known the horror of war. But all the people at Themyscira have. They did, after all, free themselves from slavery. And Steve might not think himself blessed by the Gods, but she is sure that Athena would hold some respect for him, a man who thinks and fights with wits as much as with his fists. "We will get to London," she says. "And you will be able to pass on the information."
"And then, I will take you to the war, as I promised."
She smiles, Ares should be afraid of her. "And I will find a way to end this war."
"I hope you can, Diana. I really do."
And the flame of war that burns inside of her, shines brighter at that with hope. And she hopes that Steve will be there with her, for she finds him to be a good man. Someone who was able to see injustice an do something about it. Someone who risks his life for the people of the world. By the tales of her mother, not any man would do that without expecting a reward. And yet, here Steve was, fearless and bold, but also gentle and kind. He gave her hope, a hope that the stories of her mother were not all true, for surely, all men could not be monsters, how could they, when here was one that was fighting the actual monsters?
"I will find a way," she vows.
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adreamfromnevermore · 29 days
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AU Where the Justice League forms as usual except for one slight difference where Bruce just so happens to have been the one superheroing for the longest. (Excluding Diana, who got up to it in World War 1 and then mostly didn't while she learned about Man's World)
Bruce helps form the Justice League, ignoring all of the comments as they come to the sudden realization that Gotham's baby cryptid story is actually a man in a very intimidating armored suit who can and will break your arm if you cause problems for him. They are unaware that this is not the first team he's led, and actually he's used to teams full of mostly teenagers who also happen to be his children. This should be easier, this team is primarily adults.
He realizes rapidly that he doesn't understand these people.
His kids take bonding activities to mean learning a dozen different ways to break someones leg. That doesn't fly with these people. And that is most of Bruce's ideas, hell when he was a kid Alfred took every opportunity to get him out of his room and mostly that was with the agreement that Alfred would teach him how to defend himself. He's come by it honestly.
This team is not easier. They have more drama than when his house was actually full of kids. It's insane. He doesn't know what to do with it, usually he just sent the kids to their rooms or grounded them from patrol. That doesn't work here.
He comes to a strange crossroads. That falls apart when he forgets who he's working with and snaps at Hal with a full room of heroes that the next person to throw a punch or an insult without a reason too will be sparring with him.
A long standing rule in the batcave that worked two fold to prevent infighting between the kids and too ensure that they were well and truly trained.
It works wonders. No one says a word out of line for the rest of the debrief. Bruce becomes the unofficial mediator of the league over Clark because anytime he walked in on a fight it suddenly became 10 times more civil out of sheer terror of what he'd do to them in a sparring match.
Eventually they actually meet his kids. Well, one kid.
Half way through a mission (one of the rare ones in Gotham) the Bat comes to a complete stop at the edge of an alley. Every single league member on the team comes to a stop behind him. Slowly from the shadows of the alley a man in a red helmet stalks out to greet them.
"You don't call, you don't write"
"Red Hood."
"Don't Red Hood me! We've been worried sick!"
"I was at the cave last night."
"You didn't answer my texts B. You always answer my texts."
Somehow it ends with big and scary following them through the rest of the mission with a running commentary of how much Bats has let him down in his failure to respond in a timely manner to a text send less than an hour before he ran into them in the alley. It only ends when Red Robin shows up.
And even then it only ends because Hood can't keep himself from throwing a punch and Bruce has to snap at him that if he throws another one they're sparring when they get home.
And by god is Jason giving up the chance to punch his brothers.
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lwh-writing · 7 months
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Ghost King Isn't the Only Title Danny Has
Okay, so you how monarchs can have multiple titles? Like how the heir to the English throne is both Prince/Princess and Duke/Duchess of Cornwall? And how monarchs can get titles and epithets that just stack onto their preexisting names/titles? Like "Catherine the Great" or how Daenerys gets her famous list of "Stormborn, the Unburnt, Mother of Dragons, etc."?
Well, there are dozens upon dozens of names for the Infinite Realms. The Ghost Zone might be what Amity Park calls it, but there have been hundreds of names for it throughout history. The Afterlife, Sheol, Heaven & Hell, Purgatory & Limbo, Valhalla, and so on and so forth.
So when Danny finally gives in and lets himself be crowned, he doesn't just become the Ghost King. Oh no. He is crowned "King Daniel Fenton, First of His Name, Protector of the Infinite Realms, Defeater of Pariah Dark, Liege of Fright Knight, Ice Mage of the Far Frozen, and Hades of the Underworld."
And then a few months later when Danny inevitably gets summoned and pops up on the Justice League's radar, there's some serious side-eyeing going on because 'Diana, why didn't you mention your uncle looked like a teenager? Why does one of the most powerful gods like to hang out in teenaged form anyway?'
Just... give me an unknowning Danny accidentally inheriting a niece along with the crown, and that niece just so happens to be Wonder Woman.
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ghostbsuter · 4 months
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The reason Dani was a girl despite Danny being a boy is because Danny didn't exactly go after his own original.
That's right.
Because Wonder Woman is– well. A woman.
Danny isn't.
That's also partly the reason why Elle was hunted down by a very intrigued superheroine, not that Danny ever told her of his own origin, which he should have.
"You have my face." The golden lasso squeezes around her in warning, Diana's gaze unflinching as she studies the younger girl.
"Correction. I have the face of my original."
The lasso glows, supporting her words of truth. It has WW frown.
"Your? Then why..." She slowly cradles the child's head, turning her around and looking.
"I think—" Elle hesitates for a brief moment. "You might be his origin? I don't— know. I just found out."
Another glow and WW hums. "Perhaps."
A thought crosses her mind and she pulls back confused. "A He?"
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The young justice and danny
The young justice were annoyed at the JL for not giving them a proper chance to prove themselves
Their claim that supergirls "too immature" that conner needed to "gain better control over his powers" was BS and their claim that megan needed "more experience" it was all BS
ESPECIALLY SINCE THAY WONT TRAIN THEM
So they decided to go to the watch tower and refuse to leave until they tell them how to get into the JL
Was it immature? Yes but they were tired of their "excuses"
So they spend the next 2 and a half hours harassing different JL members until one of them gave them a way to proove themselves
After a while wonder woman gets a beautiful idea
She tells them to follow her
They arive at a training room to see superman and a black haired teenager
The young justice were immediately pissed, why did this nobody get proper training
So when wonder woman said that if they manager to beat this kid in a sparring match to become official JL members thay were exited
They were even more excited when she said they could all attack at once
.
.
.
Supergirl woke up in the watchtower medbay, surrounded by other young justice members, confused tired and in pain
Thats when wonder woman and the kid from earlier walked in, smirking
:hey there, i think we got off on the wrong foot, I'm danny 15 year old prince of the infinet realms
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p1nkshield · 9 months
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Estranged Uncle Au Part 3!
Jazz sat down with Danny while Clark was finishing up dinner.
“Maybe we can just tell him and he can like adult his way out of it? He is a grown man.”
Jazz and Danny looked to Clark as he seasoned the stew he was making, he turned around, kitten sneezed into his elbow and said. “Gosh! Pepper can really get you! Who are you talking about? Is anyone in trouble?”
Jazz and Danny shared a look. This guy couldn’t hurt a fly if he wanted to.
“We have to tell him Danny.”
“Okay, fine! We looked into Bru-” Danny began, but was interrupted by Clark’s phone ringing.
“Hello? … I’m on my way.” There was a noticeable change in Clark’s demeanor. “Can this wait? I uh.. have to cover one of Bruce’s galas!” Clark really does hate lying.
“I haven’t heard word of Bruce throwing another gala today.” Jazz stated in the same tone she would question Danny when he would poorly lie to her.
“It’s uh last minute! Exclusive! All the more reason to to report about it!” Clark said as he rushed out the door. "The stew will be done in about fifteen minutes!"
Before either of them could do anything Clark was already gone.
"He clearly doesn’t know how to uphold his boundaries! Its like Bruce says jump and Clark says how high! What is he making him do? Why does he feel the need to lie to us?" Jazz was suddenly so worried about an uncle she didn’t know she had like a week ago.
"He's not telling us because were just kids. I don’t know if he really has anyone to turn to but he doesn’t want to worry us. We have to help him."
Clark finished thwarting another one of Lex's plans with Bruce.
"Bats can I talk to you for a second?"
"hn?"
"You know the two teens staying at my home for the time being?"
"Jazmine and Daniel Fenton. Your niece and nephew correct?"
"...yeah they didn’t get the best impression of Bruce Wayne."
"How so?"
"I overheard that they think that Bruce Wayne is a creepy billionaire who isn't who he says he is. They also are the children of my sister who is a scientist of questionable ethics from last I heard."
Bruce cannot have a repeat Tim situation.
"Perhaps Bruce could pay them another visit to smooth things over?"
"That is some really good advice! I'll ask him if he can come over tomorrow." Clark asked facetiously
"I think he can make it. Maybe he could bring some of his kids in order to help them feel more at ease with people their age?"
"That sounds like a great idea."
It was not a great idea.
Danny was Bristling like a cat at Bruce and Jazz had a sour look on her face.
Almost every 'i'm harmless' stop was pulled. Bruce tripped on his way in, and called the kids he brought by their cutest of pet names. Bruce decided to bring Dick, Jason and Timothy. Dick pulled dazzling smiles and showed off his acrobatics in an attempt to entertain. This was met with polite but paltry claps. Jason who had been bribed to be on his best behavior talked at length with Jazz about classic authors and their best works. This headway was halted when Bruce called him Jaylad and Jason took it as a queue to do the who "Dad stawwwp!" embarrassed teenager routine. Jazz responded by becoming pale for a moment and being less receptive to whatever Jason was saying.
Tim was a disaster.
At first he was doing great bringing out all of his gala training. He even noticed Danny wasn't feeling the formalities he dropped them. It was working! Then he fell asleep. Into the snacks that were put out.
"Maybe we should go! It’s already pretty late, and we wouldn’t want to overstay our welcome." Bruce said still smiling as he wiped salsa off of the cheek of a blearily blinking Tim.
"Wha? What happened?" Tim said as he was ushered out of the door.
"You fell asleep idiot!"
"I did!?!"
Clark, Danny and Jazz heard them bicker on their way to the car. I would have been endearing if Clark wasn’t worried sick and Jazz and Danny weren’t convinced that they were in the family business of selling weapons to villains.
"So what do you think?"
"The eldest seems sleazy, the Second seemed nice but gave me a bad vibe and the youngest felt like he was doing everything he can to get Danny to like him and then passed out." Jazz listed.
"Not to mention they all seemed like they were doing everything they could to get us on their good side!" Danny added.
This is not good! Why do they hate him so much? What had Bruce done that was so off-putting?
"Uncle Clark, we need you to sit down."
What is this now? Clark let himself be pushed into a chair. Isn’t this what people do when they say something that might make them pass out?
"We have reason to believe that Bruce Wayne is a weapons dealer."
Bruce? A weapons dealer?
"Danny please show him the evidence."
Evidence?
Danny then showed Bruce the bits and pieces of confidential information.
Clark sat there taking it all in.
"We think that you may be in danger." Jazz said gently.
Him, danger?
"We keep trying to hack him but it's not really working."
"YOU HACKED HIM?!"
"We weren’t traced." Jazz soothed.
"We can get you out of this Uncle Clark." Danny said with much more assurance that his appearance can promise.
"I don't think you understand!" Clark began "I'm not in danger I can't be in danger!"
"Uncle Clark, anyone can be in danger."
Clark's head was spinning.
How was he going to convince two headstrong teens that he wasn't under the thumb of an evil billionaire with out telling them he's Superman?
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night-wilf · 1 year
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Writing prompt 53:
Diana stares the ginger woman standing in front of her. Her lost sister Madeleine smiling as she's come home to see how everyone is doing with her family.
Maddie had left the island suddenly almost 50 years ago and aged with the man she chose to marry. Charmed by his scientific rants about normal things when his family's boat crashed. The stigma if men far behind her as Jack made her realise only a few are bad.
All of their children being welcome on the island due to their bloodline from their mother. Maddie had waited to share he past with her family and figured Christmas was a good enough time to see her sisters again.
The appearance of them all is a shock to the island residents, even more so the fact the two sons are recognised as good friends of Pandora. Jack is a little quiet as Maddie does the talking and doesn't want to risk making her look a fool.
Danny now understands why there is no grandparents on his mother's side.
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rad-roche · 5 months
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post-timeskip nick. unfortunately his trip to acadia is turning into a 'using your own intestinal wiring as an arm sling' kind of week
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ao3sbatfamily · 3 months
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'Jason's Shitty Day' by schrijverr
Author: @schrijverr
“Working,” Jason spits out, having trained with Bruce about being able to answer with truths without giving anything away. He is glad for that training now, but he still can’t believe that he is interacting with Wonder Woman and it’s like this.
“What kind of working?”
“Worming my way to the top.”
“You’re not the leader?” Superman asks, sounding surprised. Jason already guessed that they assumed that, but rolls his eyes anyway. Who goes in without doing any research? Do they not know the importance of intelligence?
“No, does this look like Crime Alley to you?” he shoots back.
“So what are you doing here outside Gotham then?” Wonder Woman asks.
It’s a valid question. And a question Jason can use. He’s obliged to tell the truth, but that doesn’t mean the whole truth, so he answers: “Worrying Batman.”
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onthesandsofdreams · 2 years
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Sunday Six, Wondertrev - Your headphones aren’t plugged in all the way and I can hear your music
The woman who sits next to him, is absolutely stunning.
Steve greets her with a 'good morning' that she returns before putting her headphones and puts the music on. Usually, public transportation is a nightmare, but this time, it might be enjoyable.
The music is from the 50s, and he finds himself smiling at that, and when he casually looks over, he realizes that her headphones are not fully plugged in, he catches her eye and points at it with a smile.
The woman blushes and plugs them the whole way in, "Thank you..."
He offers his hand, "Steve."
The woman smiles and takes it, "Diana."
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flame-343 · 28 days
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PROMPT
Batman AKA Bruce Wayne had some where houses compromised because the LoA are back at it again and being a pain, He can't leave everything in the cave because there is so much of it, back up batterangs, grappling hooks, old cars, gadgets, the occasional Bat-mech or two. He needs to find a secure place to house all of his stuff while he deals with the LoA. He can't trust his children to take care of everything even in smaller sizes. So when Bruce is at a loss, he consults his dad (Alfred Pennyworth) for advice. Alfred says something that makes Bruce shiver to his core. " Why not give the original justice league members the extra things Master Bruce? You trust them with your life on the battlefield, why not with a few boxes of extra tech?". The thought of Hal Jordan with his extra batmobile is enough to make him reel in mental pain. However, this is Bruce's only hope, so he's called an emergency meeting for the original members of the justice league. May whatever higher being up there make sure this goes well
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itshype · 1 year
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New type of Vlad just dropped (DC x DP)
I always say I love redeemed Vlad, and that a great way for this to happen is for Maddie to cross some ethical line and his obsession with her then breaks.
And! I've read some dc x dp fics that if a ghost's obsession is filled or destroyed, they die. Again. But what if instead, they get randomly assigned a new obsession.
Anyways!!! Maddie admits she thinks some ghosts may be sentient creatures and she feels a little bad but she doesn't want to render her life's work obsolete. Vlad looks at her and feels no desire, no love, nothing but overwhelming disgust.
Vlad is randomly assigned Ancient Macedonian Artifacts as his new obsession, and within 6 hours, has uncovered Wonder Woman's secret identity by getting in a screaming match with her over geographical organisation of non-Grecian artifacts in her museum that gets them both so worked up that she goes superpowered.
And that's why Tucker, Sam and Danny are plotting to break into the watchtower. Because hey, Vlad's a jerk, but knowing a superhero's ID isn't actually a crime and the JLA can't just lock him up because they panicked.
(masterpost)
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tiredofsatansbullshit · 8 months
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Fuck, Marry ,Kill. A game that the Justice League, Outlaws and some of the original Titans will never play again - Part 1
Masterlist of fics
Part 2
Summary: Almost the entire hero community know each other's identities. The only group that remains a mystery are the bats. Most know that they're based out of Gotham and they're a team. That's about it - Clark wants the team to play a game for a team bonding exercise, Hal choses FMK, and Batman hates everything.
Clark had been insisting that they needed to do some ‘team bonding’. A waste of time if you asked Bruce, but of course, no one asked him. The founding members of the team sat around the table. No one had a mask on except for Batman, who still hadn’t revealed his identity to anyone.
“So I was thinking, we could do a game or something. You know, one of those where we go around, answering questions or something like that,” Clark sat at the head of the table, smiling at everyone. The grin on Hal’s face could mean nothing good as he leaned against the table, “Let’s play Fuck, Marry, Kill.”
"Excuse me?” Clark frowned, looking confused. Snorting, Oliver said, “What? Are we in middle school?” ”Come on, it’ll be fun.” Barry seems to agree with Hal, wanting to play the game. “I do not understand, what is the premise of this game?” J’onn asked. “So someone will say three names, and everyone will go around the room, saying which of the three people they’d fuck, who they’d marry, and who they’d kill.” “But what if I do not want to kill anyone?” ”Don’t worry J’onn, you don’t have to do anything with the people, it’s fake, just a fun game.”
To Bruce’s horror, everyone seemed to agree to play the game. Pushing against the table he stood up. He will not sit through this. “Batman, this is mandatory for the team,” Clark stopped him. Bruce reminded himself that they were allies. His children wanted him to make friends with the Justice League members. They seemed to think he had no friends. He grunted as he sat back down.
“So we do this with random people?” Diana questioned, seeming into the idea of the game. “Yeah, but I think we should do famous people,” Hal looked very pleased with himself. “Ok, first let’s start off easy. Chris Evans, Jennifer Lawrence and Idris Elba.” ”Oh fuck Idris Elba. Without a doubt.” Dinah said quickly, no hesitation in her voice. “Then marry Chris Evans and I guess I’d have to kill Jennifer Lawrence.” “Gonna have to agree with you on that one, pretty bird,” Oliver nodded his head, a light smile on his face. Clark seemed to really be thinking about it, “If I’d have to, I guess I’d have sex with Chris Evans, marry Idris Elba, and yeah, kill Jennifer Lawrence. So sorry to her.”
“I’m not familiar with those people, could I see a photo of them?” Barry quickly pulled out his phone, searching up each person and showing Diana the photos. “I would fuck this Idris Elba, marry Jennifer Lawrence and kill Chris Evans.” Barry spoke next, “Yeah, I’m going to go with Dinah’s one. Fuck Idris Elba, marry Chris Evans and kill Jennifer Lawrence.” Hal still had that stupid grin on his face, “Fuck Jennifer Lawrence, marry Idris Elba and kill Chris Evans. What about you spooky? Who’d you fuck?” ”I am not playing this juvenile game. I will stay for the team bonding but do not expect me to partake.” Bruce knew way too many celebrities to join in on this game. He was friends with so many of them. So was Oliver, how could he do it?
Barry had a thought that instantly brought a smile to his face, “Ok, billionaire edition. Lex Luthor, Pavel Durov and Bruce Wayne. For me, I’d definitely marry Bruce Wayne. He is so fine and it can’t hurt to be with someone that rich. Kill Lex Luthor without a doubt and fuck Pavel I guess.” Could Bruce call Jason to come and shoot him? Maybe Oliver would stab him if he asked nicely. Diana nodded in agreement, “Bruce Wayne is an attractive man. I would marry him too, fuck this Pavel Durov and kill Luthor.” Maybe Bruce could break one of the windows and jump out. The emptiness of space would be better than this conversation.
“I have done a few interviews with Bruce, he is a good man. His looks are quite impressive and he is one of the richest men on the planet. He uses his money for good, I’d definitely marry him. Um, I do not know much about Pavel Durov, and definitely kill Lex.” Clark seems to have put thought into his answer. Bruce would rather be fighting all of his rogues simultaneously than being a part of this conversation. J’onn spoke, “Yes, I have heard of Bruce Wayne. He is quite an honourable man. I too would marry him, and kill Lex Luthor.” When Oliver started speaking, Bruce rolled his eyes behind his mask. “Brucie is a friend, we’ve known each other since we were kids. I don’t think he’s marriage material though, he has too many kids. I’d fuck him. Kill Luthor, marry the other guy.”
“Sorry babe,” Dinah put her arm on Oliver’s arm as she spoke, “but I would definitely marry Bruce Wayne. There’s just something about him, did you see that recent beach photoshoot? He’s really in shape. Obviously I’d kill Lex.” He could pull out a batarang and stab himself. That seems like a good option. Hal shot up in his seat, “Oh Bruce Wayne, the love of my life. That man is so hot. Marry him because that way we could fuck anytime we’d want to. Fuck Pavel Durov and obviously kill Luthor.”
Bruce cannot do this. Secret identity be dammed, he could not sit through this anymore. He pushed his seat back again which unfortunately attracted everyones attention. Hal once again speaking to him, asked, “I know you said you’re not playing but as a Gothamite, who’s saved Bruce Wayne many times, any comment about how attractive he really is?” Bruce looked right at Hal, staying in his seat. He reached up and slowly removed his cowl. Oliver let out a soft “Oh my gosh”, everyone stared in shock. Hal screamed.
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Fuck, Marry ,Kill. A game that the Justice League, Outlaws and some of the original Titans will never play again.
This is an old-ish fic so ignore the errors and bad grammar. I promise I've improved. Not that this i bad (I still enjoy rereading it) but I can do better now.
Likes and Reblogs are greatly appreciated :)
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faeriekit · 9 months
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Health and Hybrids (VII)👽👻💚
[I can't remember the original prompt posters  for the life of me but here's a mashup between a cryptid!Danny, presumed-alien!Danny, dp x dc, and whatever prompt made the one body horror meat grinder fic.]
PART ONE is here PART TWOis here PART THREEis here PART FOUR is here and PART FIVE is here PART SIX is here and this is lucky number seven baby 💚 Ao3 Is here for all parts
Where we last left off... Martian Manhunter did a Whoopsie. Things are better than they were though, so...success? YJ got in trouble with Batman but Danny wasn't exactly cognizant enough to notice so that got relegated to the tags.
Trigger warnings for this story:  body horror | gore | post-dissection fic | dehumanization (probably) |  my awful attempts at following DC canon. On with the show.
💚👻👽👻💚
The debriefing team meets J’onn in a meeting room not too far from the cafeteria. By the time he makes it to the correct floor, the team has clearly been waiting on him; on the table are a pack of Chocco cookies, a large order of fries, and a ten pack of chicken nuggets. 
J’onn inclines his head. It’s nice to see that his favorite meal is remembered. “Thank you, Batman.” 
Batman’s nod is equally as formal. The human is already most of the way through his italian sub. “No thanks needed. Were you successful in your contact with the entity?” 
Ah. Right to the details, then. J’onn obliges the question with a seat at the table. Black Canary, a chair to his right, gently scoots over to provide him more space. 
In the end, J’onn is relieved to have a prop in his hands. It creates a small, if flimsy barrier between himself and the images the boy had shown him. 
What he knows now…
J’onn sighs. 
The room is peaceful— likely intentionally so, in order to ease the oncoming conversation. Wonder Woman and Black Canary sit beside each other, their individual meals open and half-eaten between them. As the facilitator of the conversation, Batman sits at the end of the table; as the secretary of the meeting, Superman sits beside him, his sloppy joe in one hand and a keyboard beneath the other. 
J’onn quietly tears open the packaging of his pack of cookies. Plucks one from its plastic insert inside. Chews. Swallows.
“The first thing to note is that although the entity's primary language is not known to me, he is extremely familiar with humans— and, likely, with Earth.” 
Superman swallows the rest of his sandwich in one gulp, nods, and begins to type. Batman turns to face J’onn directly. “How so?” 
“He has many memories of flying freely in Earth’s atmosphere, specifically; the stars line up with the star patterns as viewed from this planet. He is intimately familiar with several aspects of Earth’s culture, including the idea of ‘a bedroom’, which he identified as his own, and a childhood toy, which was a scale model of an Earth spacecraft. If I was shown a variety of options, I could likely pick out which craft specifically. He has a mind for detail.”
Superman’s fingers flick rapid-fire over the keyboard. J’onn happens to be aware of the Krytponian’s career, as the local telepath, but rarely is the man's passion so clearly shown; the focus and quick hands certainly project an air of professionalism around an otherwise at-ease debriefing room.
“You’re using he/him,” the Kryptonian observes, making additional notes in the margins of the in-progress report. “How did that come about?”
“He does have an understanding of the most common gender identities of Earth, and has a favored one. How he came about it…” J’onn inhales. It is a very human gesture. “…I do not know his origins for certain, but I have several theories.”
Batman cuts off an oncoming question from Superman with a silent wave of his hand. “Base information first. Questions and theoreticals at the end.”
Superman’s face at the hindering of his professional instincts is perhaps less than completely mature. “Yes, yes.”
J’onn takes a second cookie.
It’s easy to report on certain things; the entity's initial inability to communicate without acute pain, the subsequent reaction of the teenage team, the eventual discovery of clear communication and transference of emotion.
“Not all of his thoughts were particularly clear.” J’onn nibbles on the edge of his cookie. Black Canary pushes aside her empty tray of California rolls to give her pen and notepad space. This portion of the debrief necessitates more of her skills. “Most of the memories that he aimed to show me were value-neutral, or otherwise unrelated memories, likely due to the stress of his current and deeply traumatic situation. He preferred memories that did not have pain or distress associated with them. When prompted—I displayed my own perspective of the crash we had found him in— the associated memories that were brought up implied that not only was he the pilot of the craft, but that he had a hand in building it.”
Superman’s rhythmic tapping undercuts the soft conversation. “So he is sapient, then, despite the difficulties in communication,” Wonder Woman confirms softly.
“More than. There are echoes of formalized schooling and other instruction in his mind, although I couldn’t discern the topics of the lessons.”
“Were there other beings like him? Anyone we could reach out to? Family members, friends…?”
J’onn hesitates. There’s no way to confirm what he saw. However…
“…There are memories that he has of his own person, in which he looks very human. His self-conceptualization is of an adolescent human boy.”
The grief in the room is palpable. J’onn doesn’t have to look up to feel it press in on him from all sides.
“I suspect that…in the same way that Superman has largely spent his life on Earth, this boy has at least spent several years on Earth as well. There are glosses of memories of an adapted human house, though I was unable to safely explore how far back they went. There are humans who prominently play a role in his self-image and expected worldview, although the mental representations of them have scarred over with some form of psychological trauma. Overall, despite his current form, there was likely a time this child felt safe around both humans and human scientists.” 
Silence rules over the room. 
“...Do we know what changed that?” Black Canary asks, without looking up from her notes. Her pencil eraser taps quietly against the table. 
J’onn sets the package of cookies to the side. “Not…so exactly. There were hints of memories threaded throughout the recalled moments that he did not wish to pin down. Claustrophobia. Fear of incarceration. The fear of physical harm done to him— and the psychological harm of knowing with exact certainty that there were those willing to hurt him. …Intimate betrayal.” 
Superman and Black Canary’s eyes quietly close. Batman looks hardly moved under his cowl; if J’onn could not feel the man’s stress spike in the air, he might not have ever known how worried the human was. 
J’onn isn’t actually meant to know Superman’s circumstances as to his arrival on planet Earth, but there are equally few ways that any of the league can hide the entirety of their thoughts from him— especially at the time of his initial arrival into the League, when mental defenses had yet to be erected in a comprehensive manner. This situation smacks strongly of the story of Clark Kent, son of his human parents. 
“There is no way to confirm my guess without further conversation on the topic. However, it is incredibly likely that he lived under the radar, on Earth, for a lengthy enough span of time to acclimate to human society. The discovery of his non-human biology would have spurred further action, and the result would have given reason for his fear of medical professionals, scientists, and adult humans. Likely, the other humans in his memories meant to support him, and were prevented from doing so or injured in the process. The vehicle that had crashed back to Earth would have served as—”
“—An escape route,” several voices overlap together. 
J’onn nods. His fingers steeple together. “There is no way to know how far into space he had gotten, or if his escape was aided by others of his species, or even if the point of origin was in low atmosphere or Earth's orbit. Either way, our patient is alone now, is in extreme background pain, has lost perception in several of his senses that exclude taste, and has reluctantly bonded with the junior team due to a lack of more familiar presences.”
Batman’s emotional presence circles into a silent exhale of frustration. “That would be Impulse’s under-the table operation,” the human correctly identifies, dry as the desert. 
(J’onn is certain that the vigilante will never reveal it, even to himself, but the exhale has its own quiet, microscopic tinge of reluctant amusement.)
“I don’t think it qualifies as under-the-table if you have a running file on his activities, dated and timed by every individual interaction,” Superman points out, not even bothering to glance at the now-slightly-peeved Batman. 
“Hn.”
“Oh, very mature.” 
“It was not league sanctioned.”
“Neither are the majority of your movements,” Wonder Woman points out. The fork from her salad punctuates her sentence with a tease and a wave. “If you informed us your security plans for the Watchtower any earlier than a week after you had already installed the new measures, I would assume you were an imposter and prepare for battle.”
Batman hardly looks put out. He achieves deception with his whole body. J’onn genuinely admires how discordant his behavior and churning thoughts can be. 
“Hn.”
 “Oh, very well-spoken,” Black Canary flatters insincerely, toying with her pencil against her paper. 
It would be very immature of Batman to sulk. Therefore, he does not. 
“Returning to the point of this meeting… Are there any other pertinent details we ought to know?” 
J’onn considers shrugging. He packs three chocco cookies into his mouth instead, chews, and swallows. There are only two cookies left in the pack, now. 
“The biological mechanism utilized for his empathic sense is vibrationally-based. That would be why my initial attempt at communication failed so tremendously; if he does have a neurological center, it is too deeply damaged to interpret telepathic input. He has a fondness for astronomy, can recognize the color red with greatest ease, and likely needs high contrast if we would like him to recognize any materials we provide. He imprinted on Impulse likely because the boy’s presence in the Speedforce mimics the energy readings he expects to see in those of his species.” 
Superman hums. His fingers fly. “So he must have met others of his species before.” 
J’onn makes a so-so motion. “There is no way to be certain. His abilities may be instinctually pre-programmed, or he may have had access to outside materials to teach him.” 
Batman’s arms cross. His sandwich, which had been sitting on the table, is now entirely vanished— wrapper and all. “Was there any evidence as to either particular theory you were able to pick up on?”
“...No.” Hadn’t he indicated such?
“Was there any personal information you were able to pick up on?” 
J’onn has to think about that one. The topic hadn’t come up during their mental exchange, when so much more of the focus had been on creating basic understanding of the Watchtower, his presence within their base as a patient and not as a prisoner, and his current location on the moon. Anything else that J’onn might have gleaned would have to be determined on supposition and analysis. 
“...He enjoys astronomy.” J’onn tries to recall the exact memories he had seen, and only ends up reiterating what he has already said. Perhaps highlighting certain moments will make the narrative clearer. “His childhood dwelling had little stickers on his ceiling. They would stay lit even when the room went dark—”
“...Glow in the dark stars,” Superman whispers under his breath. J’onn exhales. This isn’t a familiar point of human culture for him. He’s glad his description is recognizable. 
“Yes. He organized them to mimic Earth's constellations. He had smaller, handheld versions of rocket ships. Even if he had not known of extraterrestrial origins, he was drawn to the cosmos.” 
Batman coughs. The gesture is a reflex to suppress some welling emotion. J’onn pretends that it works. “Both items are…markers of a young child,” Batman admits. “Indications of a quite young, very human childhood.” 
Ah. J’onn can more deeply recognize the sense of tragedy welling in the air. The items are astronomy-based yes, but they equally highlight his age. 
“When he donned a human appearance, he matched the coloration of the human family who took him in. As fleeting as their acquaintance might have been, he modeled his human form after them— solidly enough and surely enough that, if he feels strong enough to form a mental self-representation, I can see the outline of it in his memories.” No details, beyond vague hints in the entity's mind of his hair and her eyes and their skin.
“Very loved,” Wonder Woman murmurs. 
“Very young, and very loved,” Black Canary reiterates with a sigh. Her notes are a black mess of graphite. “And now he fears adult humans.” 
“Yes,” J’onn admits. The cookies are gone. He sets the wrapper to the side. He reaches for the chicken nuggets. “That said, he has an instinctual familiarity with black and with red hair, will likely experience less fear with a female profile as opposed to a male, and responded favorably when offered the chance to interact with an adult who did not mean him harm. The fact that we have largely indestructible adults at our disposal works to our advantage.”
It is very, very clear who exactly fills that description. Wonder Woman sits up straight, laces her fingers together, and very kindly curtails her smugness. If Superman and Batman would like to be jealous of her current position, they may do so at their own discretion.
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ghostbsuter · 5 months
Text
The Zone is down.
It is a horrible truth, the destruction of home was inevitable and that doesn't lessen the pure hurt he feels during the final moments.
Every life, every death, the memories of many. All seal in a sphere of a fallen sky, in the soft palms of their king.
Their boy king leaves, bringing along his people, infinite in number and all sleeping, none the wiser.
It will take time to re-create their home, nothing impossible, however. The sphere in his hands, pulsing with life and humming with power, the child and successor of the Infinite Realms.
Many lives are lost, many are ended and every single one will remembered.
So when he takes refuge in a strange dimension, he receives care in their base in space, a room and slowly opens up.
It's only then that he allows himself to grief.
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