#Nitro the Exploding Man

[cinder-no]

Captain Marvel Vol. 1 #34 (1974) and Captain Marvel: Dark Tempest Vol. 1 #2 (2023) variant cover by Ron Lim. Dark Tempest Vol. 1 #2 made its release on August 9th with 8 variant covers- including this homage to Nitro's first appearance issue cover, only 49 years, 1 month, and 22 days apart!

[roseyodditea]

Insomnia - Lighter x gn!Reader

Summary -> 888 words on the DOT. Lighter helps you fall asleep Warnings -> None. Self indulgent tho. I am so tired and in desperate need for some warm cuddles right now

You shift underneath the scratchy knitted blanket, roll on the mattress pad that was too thin, move the pillow that was somehow too warm even when you flipped it over, trying so hard to fall asleep, but nothing was working. This wasn’t your cushy New Eridu apartment, this was a guest… shack… in Blazewood. You were thankful you were able to spend the night after losing track of time taste testing Nitro Fuel with Burnice. The problem? You taste tested Nitro Fuel with Burnice. It was 3 in the morning, the sun long set, and the chill across the desert settled in comfortably, and your chest hurt. 

You can’t take it anymore, rolling out of the bed and stepping out into cold air. A nice little walk to calm your racing heart and jittery body. You didn’t realize you were just pacing in circles until you felt a hand on your shoulder. 

“You alright?” The low voice asked from behind you, barely above the breeze in the night. 

You practically jumped out of your skin, whipping around to see the large man who had somehow snuck up on you. “Oh! Lighter, don’t scare me like that.” You punched his shoulder playfully and he dramatically rubbed it, acting like you hurt him.

“I am wearing a leather jacket that creaks when I walk. If I snuck up on you, that’s your fault.” He flicks your forehead, his eyes hidden behind the thick sunglasses even if it was the middle of the night.

You roll your eyes and look up to the sky for a brief moment before looking back. “I was distracted. And before you give me the whole ‘you can’t let your guard down in the outer ring’ bullshit, I know. I’m just…”

“Antsy.” He responds, arms holding your shoulders as he watches how your body jitters and shakes. “Burnice get you?” “Yea- Hey wait! Is that why you ran off today!?”

“No comment.” He smirks wider as you huff and pout. “Thanks for taking the fall.” He holds out his hand for a fist bump, which you begrudgingly return. 

“You owe me. Because my chest hurts and I can’t sleep.” You grumble, missing the look of empathy that washed over his face. 

“Back when I was a merc, I learned how to fall asleep anywhere fast. I can give you some advice?”

You try not to smile at the offer. Honestly with how he looks, you often forget how sweet of a man he really was. “That would be really nice, yeah.”

He places his hand on your back between your shoulders and guides you back into the guest house you were staying in. “Get in bed. That’s always the first step.” 

“You’re so funny, ya know?” You scoff and lay down, getting under the blanket, the fibers scratching your skin. 

“I know. Now take a few deep breaths, but don’t move any other part of your body.” He got up and started turning off the lights around you as you breathe. “Just try not to move too much, you want your body to relax, and tossing and turning will make you even more awake.” His voice drops, like he was trying to soothe you to sleep. 

“My heart feels like it’s going to explode. This isn’t helping, Lighter.” You sigh, defeated.

“What normally helps you sleep?”

You think for a moment, only coming up with an embarrassing answer. “Well… With my last partner, whenever they’d cuddle me it always helped me fall asleep faster.”

The silence was deafening, your heart now racing from the awkwardness of the situation, you didn’t even hear the sound of a zipper, buckles, and of leather moving. 

“I know that’s weird but I-” Your words cut off when you felt the mattress dip, a wall of warmth cupping against your back, a strong arm keeping the scratchy blanket off of your skin. “Lighter?”

“I’ve had Burnice, Lucy, and Ceaser hanging off of me for fun for too damn long now. This is nothing.” He said almost proudly. “I’ve got you. You can sleep now.” His voice was softer than you had ever heard it as he moved to place his sunglasses on the nightstand. 

“You’re a lot more soft than I expected.” You roll over in his grip to face him, seeing him in that black, torn up t shirt he wore under his leather jacket, his eyes unblocked for once. “Like… in the emotional sense, not in the… muscles way.” You cough awkwardly and he chuckles.

“Call me overprotective.” He responded and pulled your head to his chest, holding you close. 

“I’m not even part of the Sons of Calydon.”

“Eh. Honorary member.”

“...Can I borrow Red Moccus-”

“No.”

It didn’t take long for you to fall asleep with his hand tracing your spine through your sleep shirt. He was warm, sturdy, and a wonderful rock in the sea of insomnia. Your sleep was the most restful you had gotten in a long time, your dreams peaceful, your sleep uninterrupted. All thanks to Lighter…

**********

…Well… Until the next morning. You were woken up by what you thought must have been an earthquake, or a train somehow passing by with the way the walls practically shook, only to realize it was a loud snoring coming from the chest beneath your head. 

Requests are open btw!

[traincat]

Hi, it's me again, with another comics question 😅

So, I will preface this by saying I really don't know much about Marvel's Civil War beyond the mcu (from what I do know I can gather that the Accords are rather different in comics than in the movie because I fear I'd be team iron man in the mcu but very anti-tony in the comics). Anyways, I know some main points- Peter starting off backing the Accords & revealing his identity, the F4 being against the Accords, Peter eventually deciding to switch sides and being bridal carried™️ by the Punisher.

I really don't want to read through ALL the civil war comics but I guess I'm wondering about the motives behind Johnny & Peter's positions. Why does Peter choose to back the Accords when literally every other vigilante recognizes it as a really not great idea? (Is it the /responsibility/ of it all? Do the F4 go against it as a team or is there infighting there? Do Johnny and Peter ever actually fight each other directly? Do they talk?

I'm so sorry for the bombardment of questions, but I guess they all boil down to: what comics do you recommend for someone (me) that wants to see Peter & Johnny's roles/relationship to the Accords, especially if they interact?

Thank you in advance!!!!!!! (I always appreciate the amount of effort that goes into your responses 🩷)

Okay, let's talk Civil War. Please note it's been a hot minute since I read it, and I'm not revisiting it beyond my refs folder, because I don't respect Civil War as an event enough to do that.

First off, what IS 616 Civil War, and how does it kick off? Let's find ourselves on the map. The year is 2006, and Peter Parker is on the Avengers because Brian Michael Bendis hates me personally. The New Warriors, a team of younger superheroes, have reformed themselves as a reality show, and are filming in Stamford, Connecticut. One of their members, Namorita, confronts escaped supervillain Nitro, whose power is exploding. And the extremely obvious happens.

The problem? In addition to killing Namorita and several other heroes, the explosion also kills sixty nearby school children. The government subsequently passes the Superhuman Registration Act, which would require powered individuals operating as heroes to register with the government and be subject to official regulation. Failure to do so results in imprisonment in a facility built in the Negative Zone. That part is not public knowledge.

So where are Johnny and Peter in this? For Johnny, it's pretty simple. You see, Johnny and Namorita used to date -- it's the first of what I call Johnny's "celebrity" relationships, where I think the appeal for him was being seen with another celebrity as opposed to any genuine attraction. (See: Kourtney, Darla Deering.) Namorita and Johnny broke up a long time ago, because they never spent any time together in the first place.

(FF v3 #55) It's very important to Have A Girlfriend so people know you're straight. What do you mean you should want to do literally anything with her.

The problem is, the relationship WAS incredibly public at the time. So Johnny is very much known as Nita's ex, and the anger surrounding Namorita's actions is boiling. While out on the town, Johnny is violently assaulted and knocked unconscious before he can flame on. The crowd then proceeds to beat him into a coma.

(Civil War #2) He wakes up at some point in here, but Johnny's involvement in Civil War is very limited after this. When Sue leaves the pro-Iron Man (and SHRA) side to join Captain America, he goes with her. That's pretty much all there is to it.

Now, as previously mentioned, Peter has been with the Avengers at this point in time. He's also living in Avengers Tower with Aunt May and MJ at this point, because his apartment and Aunt May's house were destroyed. Long story, only kind of interesting. He and Tony have gotten pretty close. This is where the Iron Dad fanon originally came from -- and I wouldn't ever personally say it's a father-son dynamic, there is an air of mentorship to it. (How in character I find this doesn't matter for the sake of this post.) Suffice to say, during this period, Tony and Peter have become close. And Tony is really going hard for the Superhero Registration Act, so he enlists Peter's help.

(ASM #529) 1) He's going to regret that. 2) Hahaha like Peter promising something means literally anything 75% of the time.

This is when Peter starts wearing the Iron Spider costume, as designed by Tony. It's also when he takes off the mask in front of the whole world and reveals his identity as Peter Parker.

(Civil War #2) He's really gonna regret that.

Things go uh. Bad. See, the thing with Peter is that he doesn't keep his identity secret for his own sake -- it is always to protect the ordinary people in his life. He's promised nothing will happen to them, but obviously as soon as his identity is out, there's a target on their backs. And Peter has a lot of enemies.

(ASM #533) It will.

Going to take a break here and say that Tony, especially from the Spider-Man side of things, does not come off as especially sympathetic during Civil War. I'm not an Iron Man expert and I'm not here to either defame characters or discuss about whether Civil War was particularly in character for anyone, including Tony. That's for other people who have the necessary background to talk about Tony's characterization in depth. I'm just here to talk about Peter's poor life choices.

(ASM #533) "I call you boss because I know it bugs you. Don't start taking it too seriously." A big part of Peter's characterization that I think gets overlooked is that, consistently, since he's been fifteen years old, he has almost always physically been the strongest person in the room, and he certainly believes the smartest. A lot of his interactions with Tony in ASM come with Peter's underlying belief that he could crack open the Iron Man suit like a crab claw.

(ASM #535)

Slowly, through a combination of things, Peter's faith in Tony and pro-Registration side disappears. Again, I'm not rereading Civil War, sorry. Anyway, he switches sides. The problem? He's still wearing that damn Iron Spider suit, which Tony can lock.

Well, I mean. Theoretically, that's a problem.

(ASM #536) This doesn't have anything to do with the main story really, I just wanted to post it because he's hypercompetent, and it's hot. My blog, my rules.

Yadda yadda yadda, Tony sends a team of supervillains to capture Peter, yadda yadda yadda, big fight, yadda yadda. This is where that famous scene of the Punisher bridal carrying absolutely beat to hell Peter comes from.

(Civil War #5) Hi Frank. Also in writing this post I discovered my Civil War refs are a mess.

Anyway, from here on, stuff happens, big superhero fight -- it's not too important from the Spider-Man side of things. What is important is that the aftermath of Peter's decision to unmask leads directly into One More Day, or the infamous Devil Divorce storyline where Peter sells his marriage to Mephisto in order to save Aunt May's life after she's shot by the Kingpin's assassin. I'm not going to go into all of that here, but I am a rare One More Day stan. I actually think it's a stunning piece of Peter Parker characterization -- it just led directly into a whole bunch of other stuff I hate, and the aftermath of it (the erased marriage and associated retcon) has gone on far too long. But that's not One More Day as a standalone story's fault. (People who complain that Peter chooses May over MJ miss the point entirely that Peter DID choose MJ over May, initially and instinctively -- the bullet was supposed to kill MJ, and Peter tackles her out of the way, leaving May in the path. THAT'S the whole thing and why Peter can't possibly make any other choice. Because he already made the choice, and the woman he views as his mother suffered for it.)

As for Spideytorch interaction in Civil War, there really isn't much to say. Johnny's in a coma for a chunk of it and Peter's got his own drama going on. Even when they're on the same side again, they don't really interact. Immediately post-Civil War, when Peter is hiding out in a shitty motel with Aunt May and MJ, Steve does ask Johnny if he can get in touch with Peter, since he's the closest with him.

(ASM #537) But it's Steve who goes to meet Peter, not Johnny. Shame.

As for comic recommendations. Oof. Civil War is kind of tricky -- I think if you're going to read it, it's best to read the main series, Civil War (2006), which is fairly short all things considered and very fast moving. It's basically the first of the big "modern events" which meant they hadn't yet nailed the practice of making it as awful as possible for everyone to follow. For Peter's involvement, I would read Amazing Spider-Man #529-537. (Pacing was different back then, she said, smoking a cigarette and staring wistfully out at the water.) It's not NECESSARY, but I would read from #538-543 just because it's GOOD. (#544 is the beginning of One More Day, and requires a different reading list.) This is where he confronts the Kingpin in prison and it's honestly so good. Top ten Spider-Man scenes of all time.

(ASM #543) I think about "it takes three seconds" all the time. Sidenote but JMS really has the perfect Peter voice, the best out of every modern Peter writer. Look how well the dialogue hits here, and the rhythm of it. No pointless joking, no rambling. Just beat, beat, beat.

I also think Civil War: Frontline is very good if you want Peter Civil War content. It's more Bugle-focused, which is really fun if you enjoy that set of characters.

Like I said, Peter and Johnny really don't interact during Civil War, and beyond getting violently assaulted in the first issue of Civil War #1, Johnny's not majorly important to the plot. Which is, uh. Very typically Johnny. Hey, at least it wasn't actively a homophobic hate crime this time, right? (Looking at you, Zodiac (Dark Reign). Don't read it, just know that's literally what happens.)

Here's a cute panel of him playing board games with Franklin and Val though.

There is significant infighting with the FF, where Reed sides with the pro-Registration side and even designs the Negative Zone prisons. Sue switches sides shortly after Johnny's recovery, going to Steve's side, and Johnny goes with her because that's what Johnny does. Ben, on the other hand, takes a neutral stance for the majority of the event.

If you do want to read anything for Johnny from it, there's a really good issue of Fantastic Four set while he's in a coma, though it's mostly a Ben character piece. (And a very good one.)

(FF #538) Listen, the only sensible person during all of Civil War was Ben, who was Team France. He went to France.

[miscretis]

Discord Mod!Ronin x Discord Kitten!Reader (G.n) [PART 2 OF A CRACK FIC TAKEN SERIOUSLY]

WRITER'S NOTE:

Here's the awaited part two of a crackfic taken seriously! I hope you guys enjoy!!

CW:

- Mentions of Murder

- Cringe

“Breaking news: 3 new dead bodies were found at the Purgatory, an alleyway that the known Serial Killer, The Butcher, roams in. The government has sent out a notice for all citizens to go home safely with another friend.”

Clickety clack

You spiral down the world of words through the immersive writing of your serial killer novel. However that concentration was then interrupted by a ‘ding’. You stared down at the notification from goreboy.

This is my chance. My time to shine.

I swiftly slid into his DMs.

<goreboy> rise and Shine darlin’, How's The Server?

<User> morning to you too, the server was really something to get used to (TvT)

My hands quickly retracted away from the keyboard after sending that text. I felt elation welling inside of me, soon exploding out with a big laughter.

I can't believe it, I did it!

<goreboy> that seems Good, Hope to See More Outta Ya

<goreboy> so don't Disappoint me

Oh, he seems to not care about the typing style, I need to step it up to a level.

Maybe I need my profile to be more ‘discord kitten’

At this time and moment, I'm already mentally rolling on the floor with absolute joy filling me up with giggles. I reached for the mouse, quickly changed my status to add cute emoticons, and put my profile picture with a catfishing selfie and placed a picture of Cinnamoroll as my banner. Now I'm officially a discord kitten, ready to tackle Ronin!

<User> alright!!! I won't disappoint ÙwÚ

<goreboy> alright then, i expect More than just Bark.

One month quickly passed and you were having a blast writing your novel. You managed to craft a perfect serial killer protagonist. Brash, charismatic and manipulative. It was pretty obvious who it was based on. During your past time, you would lurk around the server, occasionally replying to some texts.

You decide to slide into Ronin’s DMs.

<User> hi ronin!! OwO

<goreboy> oh look Who's Here, it's our server's Enigma.

<User> yeeeppp! It is I, the server’s enigma! ÙvÚ

<goreboy> how amusing You Are. Well, let's play a game.

You raised your eyebrow.

<User> what game?

<goreboy> You'll see

@goreboy is calling you!

You picked up the call with no hesitation. Right in front of you was a man with wine red hair, a devil beanie and piercings. He also wore a black jacket over a skull printed shirt. He looked young— but definitely not ‘teenager young’. He looked like an adult, possibly in his mid 20s.

<User> sorry my mic is broken.

Ronin’s piercing eyes stared across the screen, his smirk crept up his face, stifling a laughter.

“Oh please! To speak the truth! I know you're trying to be a discord kitten. It's honestly so amusing to see how pathetic you are.”

“As expected of the devil, you find amusement in me trying to be a discord kitten.” You scoffed as you leaned back on your chair, “So what is this?”

“We'll be playing truth or dare. Now, pick your poison and we shall see.”

“Dare.”

Ronin leaned back on his chair and starting chuckling loudly, the audio glitches a little.

“Alright darlin, I want you to tell the server that you're in love with me.”

You felt the heat rush up to your cheeks

You tried to hide it but failing to. This made Ronin chuckle again, “What is it darling? Cat got your tongue?”

You sighed as you replied, “ Alright, bet.”

You toggled off the calling screen and went to the main channel, typing in…

<User>I've danced with the devil and now I'm obsessed.

<hitmeuppp> Omg does that mean…

<Angelic> …

You went back to the call just to see Ronin’s expression twisting in absolute euphoria.

“Alright then, my turn but I'll play it in my own way. Truth or dare.”

“Heh…dare.”

“I dare you to send me nitro and make me your discord kitten.”

Ronin smirked again, “That's two in one!”

You frowned, “I said I'll play it in my own way. It's counted as one sentence. One sentence, one dare.”

“You're one feisty little kitten. Alright darling, I'll send you some nitro.” his shit setting grin still on his face.

A second later, you received nitro from goreboy. You were surprised that he even did it however it brought joy to your heart. You could finally customise your profile to the fullest extent and use emojis from any server you're in.

“Well, thanks for that I guess.”

“Okay, my turn. True or dare.”

“Dare.”

“I dare you to give me a kiss.”

“Bet, sending you air kisses.”

You pout up your lips and fanned your hand towards the screen. Now that's an air kiss. Now it was my turn, I felt a little bolder.

“I say…dare.” Ronin leads back to his chair again.

“I dare you to tell the server that you're OBSESSED with me.”

Ronin lets out another shit eating grin and after a bit, he replies, “Done and dusted.”

You check the main channel…

<goreboy> im Obsessed with @user

<Angelic> what?

<hitmeuppp> OMG ITS TRUE

Oh my gosh, their reactions are priceless.

At this point, you were thoroughly satisfied with the outcome of the game. You decide to save the rest of the fun for another day.

“Well, that wraps it up. Bye Ronin.”

“Heh, well then. Cya soon, my darlin’ kitten.”

To be continued...

[maukree]

Masterpost with all parts Yay, here we are. Part 2 of my *not quite Civil War (616)—The Messiest Divorce in Superhero History specifically (or Civil War, which is mostly actual Civil War just for this part, with very little winteriron)—where everything gets dark, painful, and incredibly shippable for so many ships. Not gonna lie, the whole point of these posts is for me to catch up before I start working on my MTH fill for the 616-canon-heavy winteriron fic, and also to have a convenient resource to link to if MCU-only fans actually choose to read it and want to know what happened in canon versus what is complete bullshit for my writing pleasure. That said—this event is a goldmine for all kinds of ships. So I’ve snagged the juiciest bits for your reading (and thirsting) pleasure because every ship is valid, and I don’t discriminate. (Though, I have my favorites, so they’re gonna stand out.) Now—Tumblr has a 30-image limit per post, and I am not about to split Civil War into multiple parts here, so there is a lot of ground to cover in this. There will be more parts after this, so you get one post for Civil War specially, with as much crammed into it as I can, laid out as simply as possible—for me, and hopefully for you too. P.S. While my cover image lists the overall timeline and which series I discuss in terms of winteriron, Civil War and this part here hits the fan right smack in the middle of Captain America and The Invincible Iron Man (they each get a few issues inside), but there’s a lot of other crap happening too elsewhere. I’m not about to unpack every superhero’s massive tie-in series here in equal detail, but I will mention others before the first BIG fight and how they pertain to Tony, Bucky, Steve and Peter—because, obviously, that’s who we’re here for, and Peter is in the middle... 'cause he is kind of important here. If you want the full, issue-by-issue breakdown of every tie-in, crossover, and emotional kick in the nuts that happened, and you didn’t like the five-hour video I sent you to in Part 1, Marvel’s got you covered with their Complete Guide to the Civil War Event (or which order to read it at, which I am following here, sort of.) *visuals are after each arc/issue covered. Fair warning: this has a lot of food for irondad or starker, but this is canon, so just deal with it. K, click that Read More button, and let’s goooo into “holy shit, why are they like this?”

If you read this part you will know where Tony, Bucky and Steve are just after 616 Civil War is won by one side.

What triggered Civil War for real / Was used as an excuse for registration? Basically, the U.S. government has been side-eyeing caped vigilantes for years—tolerating their sometimes helpful, sometimes catastrophic crime-fighting because, well, they weren’t technically employees. Things had been escalating for a while, but the final straw was when a group of young, reality-TV-era superheroes (The New Warriors) tried to do their thing, and—shocker—it went terribly. Some guy called Nitro (not part of the New Warriors, just a villain doing villain things) exploded next to an elementary school during a fight with that chirpy young group, killing over 600 people, including a lot of kids. There was a national outrage, and nothing gets the government’s attention quite like untrained superhumans causing massive collateral damage in broad daylight that people complain about. Suddenly, Congress, the media, and your grandma had an opinion on whether superheroes should be running around unchecked, which has resulted in the Superhuman Registration Act (SRA or, sometimes SHRA)—which most people are probably more familiar with from the X-Men movies and whatnot (where it was basically “Mutants, go register”), or as the comic book equivalent of the Sokovia Accords in the MCU. The SRA demanded that all superheroes:

Register with the government.

Reveal their identities.

Undergo training.

Operate under official oversight.

Which… totally sounded reasonable to some people. But only some people. Sure, about half of the superhero community saw it as necessary law and order, but the other half saw it as the death of personal freedom. And that is how this Marvel Civil War came about in the comics. (They did have a second one waaaay later, but I am not getting into that.) The easy comparison with MCU here is:

Team Pro-Registration (led by Tony).

Team Anti-Registration (led by Steve).

Where it gets VERY different:

It has very little (nothing, but he's around) to do with Bucky.

It's long.

A lot of people are involved.

Fighters on each side die.

It gets twisted and very much downhill from here as far as Tony's bromance with Steve goes (or on the up, depends on how much you like your angst). And, yes, there is a possibility some of the characters would've remained alive (but, like, a lot of Marvel characters die and come back even more often in the comic books) if Tony and Steve had just fucked it out, honestly. The Amazing Spider-Man (1999): Mr. Parker Goes to Washington (#529-531) (Not actually released in 1999—the series itself started in 1999. Marvel’s way of naming shit and constantly renaming it will break your head, I swear.) This specific three-parter covers Tony dragging Peter into the most emotional relationship drama to ever drama. For clarity (and because I think I’m too funny and can’t resist commenting along), while Civil War is gearing up, Tony starts making deeply emotional decisions under the guise of strategy, and his first move is to recruit Peter and make sure he is on his side. Because obviously, if you’re about to start a massively controversial government-backed superhero initiative, the first person you want in your corner is the kid with no money, another tragic backstory, the worst luck in the history of caped crusading, but a very good sense of right and wrong. At this point in the timeline, Peter is living with Tony in the Avenger's tower, Tony is already acting like his chaotic billionaire stepdad while Peter is hitting it off with the Avengers on the daily. For real, Peter even calls him “Dad” once or twice, although mostly, he calls him “boss” and, what, do you know, he is actually his intern. MJ is staying with Peter, but you can ignore that. So what actually happens here relevant to Civil War beginnings: Tony takes Peter to Washington, D.C., where he’s testifying before Congress about superhero accountability. While in D.C., Tony gives Peter a new version of the Iron Spider suit (like two days after another new version ’cause he can’t stop spoiling him or, like, gearing him up for war or something, idk...) and starts laying the groundwork for making him his right-hand. There are a lot of father/son vibes, mentor/protégé vibes, and if you’re reading this through a Starker lens, well—Tony spends a lot of time complimenting Peter, and putting a hell of a lot of emotional weight on his presence.

Fact: Tony genuinely cares about Peter in here (not looking at it through starker lens right now, trying to think winteriron long game here), but he’s also desperate for allies as the political pressure builds. Because Peter is not just a good boy for Tony but good in general, he is clearly conflicted from the beginning about the government stepping in to control superheroes, but Tony reassures him that it’s the right thing to do and that he is actually working on stalling it and making sure it stays under control (he is being hella shady). Peter also trusts Tony implicitly (big mistake, buddy), and because this is the road to Civil War and not just Fun Congressional Trips With Tony and Pete, we also get some early signs of how badly this is going to go for everyone involved. So, Peter backs Tony up (as Peter, hiding his identity and later as Spider-Man, refusing to reveal his identity at the meeting), showing loyalty to Tony despite his own lingering doubts. This whole arc is really about Tony starting to make moves to secure the Pro-Registration side, and Peter—bless him—doesn’t fully grasp what he’s getting into yet. This is an awesome arc to read for anyone who likes Tony and Peter in any capacity, but it’s so clear that Tony doesn’t just care about Peter here—he needs him. He is also the guy who will, very soon, break Peter’s heart, and it’s very gutting. Like, they kick the whole event off with this, and you can feel your heart bleed in advance. Why this Matters for Civil War: Tony starts Civil War with Peter at his side, which will make it all the more painful when it inevitably falls apart. Peter’s trust in Tony is absolute at this point, and that will change—violently. Tony also secretly hires a bad guy to attack them in D.C. to make a point, and this should really be one of the many signs on how seriously Tony's starting here from the very beginning.

In Fantastic Four #536-537, Thor’s hammer crash-lands on Earth. This is a big deal because, at this point, Thor is 'not around', but everyone is trying to get their hands on his nutcracker. Naturally, Doctor Doom shows up, because if something cool falls from the sky, he’s contractually obligated to try and steal it. The reason the hammer is important is because Reed Richards is around for this, so while he’s not fully immersed in Civil War beginnings yet, he’s about to be. Also, Thor and his hammer specifically play a massive part in Civil War (stick a pin in that mental note). Doom doesn’t get the hammer, obviously, it just chills there because nobody can lift it. Following the Fantastic Four issues (but also technically happening before them—just go with it), we have New Avengers: Illuminati (2006) #1, which is basically a bunch of rich, powerful men sitting in a room and making decisions that will screw over everyone else. This issue gives us the Illuminati’s response to the SRA, aka a lot of self-important posturing. The Illuminati (Tony, Reed Richards, Namor, Doctor Strange, Black Bolt, and Charles Xavier) gather to discuss how this whole registration thing is about to go down. And—shocker—they do not agree. Everyone except Reed and Tony, who tend to agree on more things than people give them credit for, thinks that the SRA is a massive disaster waiting to happen. T'Challa is there too, and while he loves being complemented on how pretty his country is, he still tells them to fuck off. Politely. Namor flips off Tony too and nearly drowns him. It's a cool action sequence. So, nothing too exciting, but good to know. That said, this is side content I don’t personally care about, but will splash in here and there for basic understanding as needed, and not spend image limit on it (unless it extra cool).

Civil War (2006) #1 This is where things aren’t just leading to the breakup of Tony and Steve—this is where everything fully hits the fan. I’ve already covered the tragedy and the public outrage/last trigger for SRA, but let’s talk about a lovely parallel happening in the aftermath. During the funeral for the folks who died, Tony gets spit on. A grieving mother blames him personally for the deaths of all those children, since he's kinda bankrolling Avengers and stuff, and while Tony was not even remotely involved in this paticular Nitro-exploding and killing kids mess—just the cleanup—he takes it HARD. (Yeah, remember how badly he took everything in the movies? It's worse in the comics, and the woman is aggressive about it.) And regardless of whether it’s comic books or movies, if there’s one thing Tony cannot handle, it’s being told that his inaction led to innocent people dying. This is where his shady, kind-of-sorta “leaning” into supporting registration cements itself into a full send. Unfortunately for both sides of this war, Fury is nowhere to be found to smack some sense into people, because he pissed off the U.S. government (again) and is currently persona non grata. So instead, Maria Hill is running S.H.I.E.L.D, calls in Steve for a little chat, while a bunch of other heroes are off in various places having their “Should we let the government own our asses?” powwows. Hill, naturally, expects Steve to be the poster boy for the Superhuman Registration Act, because, you know, Captain America = America, right? Big mistake. Huge. I don’t know if it’s the way she talks to him in her “I’m in charge now, shut up and do what I say” tone, or the fact that she basically says, “Hey, so here’s the deal—there’s a new law coming down. You’re going to help us enforce it, and we’re going to use S.H.I.E.L.D. to make sure every superhero signs up. Cool? Cool.” Either way, Steve's response is HELL NO. Hill, in her usual charming manner, reacts to being blown off by trying to arrest him. Which is hilarious. Steve then proceeds to beat the crap out of some S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, escape the Helicarrier, and go underground. But not to hang out with Fury who pops up at a later stage. Just underground, officially becoming the face of the Anti-Registration movement. Now, I’m probably not being fair to Hill (I actually do like her), but I am also Switzerland when it comes to comic book Civil War (and MCU Civil War), because both Tony and Steve are being absolute fucking idiots about literally everything in either canon. Frankly, Bucky is the only smart one when this takes place, and mostly 'cause he’s nowhere to be seen yet after ghosting Steve in London. He’s out there somewhere, probably drinking whiskey in a safe house, brooding about his past crimes, cleaning his guns, and for now busy NOT giving a single fuck about what's going on. While the love of his life that he hasn’t met yet (reminder: this is a winteriron timeline) is going out of his way to become the most hated man in the superhero community. Sad.

She-Hulk (2005) #8 is mostly a pointless tie-in to Civil War in the context of what I am trying to do here, but we do get a peek at Tony’s methods and how he’s running his “Collect ’Em All” campaign for Pro-Registration allies. Jennifer Walters (She-Hulk), has a bunch of things going on somewhat related to the main event, but the only one you need to know here is that Tony makes an appearance to give her information she needs for a case she is working on—“for free, not asking for anything, no strings attached” of course (which, lol, sure, Tony). This is a good look at how Tony operates. He’s not exactly strong-arming people right away, but you’d have to be blind not to pick up on the “Pick a side or get picked for one” vibes. In general, his methods vary through the Civil War, but you have to give it to him, he is very creative and approaches each person in a wickedly unique way. Crafty. He's crafty. In Wolverine (2003) #42, Logan is seen catching some heat and getting the “You’re not welcome here anymore” treatment from randoms, demonstrating how the baseline folks are reacting to what’s going on (although, when does he not get this heat, honestly?). He gets into a few debates with fellow supers about how the SRA is giving Nazi vibes, all while side-eyeing the Sentinel parked outside the X-Mansion pretending to be a lawn ornament and suspecting it’s not actually there for their “safety”. Wolverine isn’t my favorite in general, but he slaps in this, because instead of sitting around and yapping about whose side he’s on, he’s one of the few people actually making sense and decides that Nitro—the asshole who kickstarted this and exploded all over the place, killing all the people—hasn’t been rolled over by an avenging tank yet and it should probably be done. Right? The man has a point. Avengers. Tony tells him to drop it because “we have bigger problems”, but Logan is like “Yeah, nah” and sets off on a mission to gut Nitro with a fork (or, well, six of them), since someone here has priorities and actually takes being an Avenger (which he has been for a few months only tbh) seriously. I am not gonna talk about Wolverine much after this, so feel free to hunt down his issues on your own.

Amazing Spider-Man (1999) #532 This is one of my favorite issues, honestly, because this is the moment Tony asks Peter for everything, and Peter realizes what his loyalty to Tony actually means. In short, they visit the White House together (Tony brings him along to all the cool places, as you can see), and Peter’s life as he knows it gets irreversibly fed. This issue is a massive turning point because Tony wants a lot. And I mean, a lot. Up until this point, every time Spider-Man’s identity has been revealed, it’s been because a villain unmasked him—never voluntarily. But now, with the SRA officially getting signed by the president, the rules are clear: If you don’t register, you and your entire family become fugitives. Your assets will be confiscated, your safety will be gone, your life will be over, etc. AND if you do sign up, you might also have to snitch on others and hunt them down. Like… tough. Very tough. Tony, being the dramatic bastard that he is, casually admits to the President that he is Iron Man right there in the Oval Office, while Peter is completely missing this historic moment because he’s looking for a bathroom, checking out Secret Service agents, and admiring priceless art. (I respect his priorities.) Then comes the Big Ask. Tony wants Peter to do the same—to stand beside him and publicly reveal that he is Spider-Man to the world. Peter, reasonably, is not down for this plan at all initially, but Tony, ever the master manipulator with a heart, leaves Peter with a choice. (Sort of. Which is really no choice at all, if you think about it, since, if Peter refuses, his entire life crumbles.) MJ and Aunt May (especially May) help him process the decision, and while they ultimately support him, Peter himself is still torn right up until the last second. Even when he’s about to go to Tony with a YES, he still considers running. He even makes the arrangements to run, but doesn’t. The issue ends with Tony and Peter standing side by side at a podium, about to make this announcement. This issue slaps for both irondad and starker, honestly.

Civil War: Front Line (2006) #1 While superheroes are busy picking sides, Front Line follows the journalists stuck in the middle, trying to cover this mess—specifically Ben Urich (Daily Bugle, professional shit-stirrer) and Sally Floyd (indie journalist, professional snarker). The two of them are trying to make sense of the SRA fallout, tracking how the government is spinning the Stamford disaster (all those dead kids). In the same issue, Speedball—one of the good guys who accidentally got a school full of kids blown up when he was fighting Nitro—gets arrested, which is awkward as hell and also the first time on the page where someone flashes their S.H.I.E.L.D. badge to start arrests, signaling that things are starting to get really serious. Speedball has a VERY bad time after his arrest and is often used to remind us all that the places where supers who didn't fall in line go are not a spa. At all. Since this is essentially a press room issue, it ends with the reveal of Tony’s identity—that same press conference where we last left him with Peter. And LOL, DUDE, you do not begin this shit with “Hello. I am Tony Stark, and I am an alcoholic.” This. Is. What. He. Says. YES. While Peter is next to him, shaking in his boots and waiting for his very private life get gutted into pieces to support Tony's agenda.

Civil War (2006) #2 Following the first arrest, things are properly rolling downhill now. More arrests, the first betrayals, and the first real punches are about to happen. Tony, still fully committed to the government’s golden boy arc, is working with S.H.I.E.L.D. to form his superhero task force to hunt down the noncompliant capes. Steve has been AWOL since flipping off Hill but there is a resistance going on. I mean… it sounds good, right? For now, Tony looks like a total dick, and Steve is the hero. As a note, however, Tony is not being a complete blind asshole here, and does struggle with hoping they are doing the right thing just before SRA officially becomes law. Because comics don’t release in a neat timeline, the end of this issue is also where we get some lovely art of Peter unmasking during that press conference (the art shifts between comics, enjoy it and deal with it).

At this point, Civil War is fully spiraling, and the “oh shit, this is getting worse” moments are stacking up. In Thunderbolts (2006) #103, Tony and his team sign up the Thunderbolts—a group of villains-turned-government-enforcers (not to be confused with the MCU version, and no, Bucky is not here yet). And what is their job is to hunt down villain holdouts and then recruiting them to hunt down more holdouts. Yes, the plan is literally “let’s get criminals to enforce the law.” Things are just getting plain weird and scary and in Civil War: Front Line (2006) #2, the press and civilians are starting to get real nervous about how Tony is taking down people who used to be on the side of good with very little prejudice for not complying. Essentially, the whole “this is about protecting people” argument is starting to look flimsy AF when actual normal people are watching buildings collapse and their heroes get thrown into Superhero Guantanamo. Nobody is having a good time at this stage, but, to lighten the mood, Peter gets fired from the Daily Bugle via headline: “YOU’RE FIRED!”

New Avengers (2004) #21 is where we properly get into Steve’s headspace, and IT IS HILARIOUS. This issue is basically Steve being alone and sad after flipping off Maria Hill and instantly regretting everything, including his own existence. He angsts for most of it, because of course he does, and at some point, Bucky makes a 0.5-second flashback appearance, because it wouldn’t be a Steve issue if he wasn’t feeling sorry for himself and reminiscing about people he’s lost. The vibe here is “I should draw my feelings or write a book” (multiple panels on him trying to do that), but instead of actually dealing with his trauma of being a fugitive, which he is very upset about, he just… keeps brooding. Then S.H.I.E.L.D. sends Dum Dum Dugan to bring Steve in, and that’s when the paranoia kicks in. Suddenly, Steve is feeling betrayal from all angles (fair), and even Falcon catches some suspicion, even though they are best buds in this, since Bucky is out there gallivanting somewhere, not getting involved yet. After Steve and Falcon reunite, they set off on a noble quest titled: “Let’s Make Civil War About Peter Parker, Because He’s the First Pick for Everyone.” They gently stalk Peter to see if he’d be down to join Team Cap, but they are very late. Steve is devastated, because Peter once called him cute, and now Peter is already firmly on Tony’s side, kinda-sorta-but-actually-yes. And if that wasn’t enough betrayal for one issue, Hank Pym tries to help S.H.I.E.L.D. to arrest Cap, which really just solidifies the whole “Steve is having the worst week of his life” situation. Maybe if Steve had actually talked to Peter instead of stalking him, Peter would have called him cute again, and Civil War would have ended right there, since our sunshine babydoll can make everyone see light. But alas.

As you probably picked up on already, Peter is right smack in the middle of this, as mentioned about 10,000 times. In Amazing Spider-Man (1999) #533, they fully cover how much his life went to absolute shit after that press conference. It wasn’t just getting fired. Everyone wants a piece of him now. Some people want to kill him, a lot of people want to fuck him, and the internet is absolutely losing its collective mind. (For real—his unmasking breaks the internet, including the porn sites. FACTS.) At the same time, Peter is deeply uneasy about everything, and Tony is “comforting” him while simultaneously sharpening his betrayal knife. The same knife where Tony does not ASK Peter if he wants to be part of his superhero-hunting strike force and instead, he just signs him up publicly without permission. Peter, already on his WTF is going on subplot, doesn’t even get time to process any of this properly before Tony cranks the drama to 11, piling on on top of his little 'favor' to reveal his identity and says: “Hold my beer, meet your new teammates, and get ready—because the dying is about to fucking start tomorrow.” Whelp.

Things don’t actually escalate to full-on hero-on-hero-we-give-a-crap-about murder aka THE BIG WTF MOMENT just yet (patience), but people are getting hurt just for trying to not pick a side, and crime is skyrocketing because, shockingly, when heroes are too busy planning on punching each other, villains thrive. In Fantastic Four (1998) #538 Johnny is in a coma because a mob beat him within an inch of his life just for existing as a super, the Fantastic Four are already crumbling and even Reed’s own family thinks he’s being a dick. (And they are correct.) He is so firmly on Tony’s side that it’s almost embarrassing, and I suspect some consensual touching is involved to be this stupidly on board with Tony, but I digress here too, since I don’t even know if this is a ship. There’s some setup happening for later events, but we’re not going Mariana Trench deep here, so let’s move on. Oh, someone does pick up Thor’s hammer. I wonder who that is. Over in Civil War: Front Line (2006) #3, the press is still deep in the trenches, and there is a lot of talking happening. Everyone is talking. Some folks are being interviewed. Nobody is doing shit. It's getting... boring. It's also getting very confusing.

BUT.

We are FINALLY, at least in this ‘brief’ (ah, who the fuck am I kidding here) recap, at the stage where I am mentally prepared to talk about The Great Civil War Standoff (aka, Please, Just Start Punching Already) and promptly skip to HOLY FUCK NOT THIS MUCH PUNCHING, boooooys, what are you doing??? (I rock myself in the corner.) As mentioned, the whole thing sorta stalls while each side is staring at each other with deep, unspoken yearning, waiting for the BIG fight, while smaller fights start breaking out all over the place. And because event comics are an actual nightmare, I am going to stop talking about the tie-ins here. I’ve set the scene, now just assume there’s a TON of random skirmishes happening, Cap and Spider-Man have already thrown hands (yo, this pretends to be a winteriron timeline, go look for your shippy business elsewhere, I am hungry), a bunch of unimportant extras are getting hurt or worse, and at this point, it’s just Tony vs. Steve and their twisted moral compasses playing an extremely violent game of chicken. I know, I know—I am taking a big skip after I just dropped an obscene amount of lore on you. But listen. Event tie-ins, and I cannot state it enough, are so messy and out of order while… being in order, sorta. You get to one good bit, and then Marvel chucks another 2,000 issues between you and the next good bit, and suddenly, you’re sitting there, waiting for the cliffhanger to be explained while trying to remember why the hell you should care what Quicksilver was doing five minutes before it happened and why you can’t just skip ahead to the yummy shit. Headache material, honestly. So, anyway. The scene has been set. Yay. Civil War is in progress. What we know now and what I am desperately trying to remember here:

Bucky is still in the wind.

Steve’s resistance is being annoying and resisting, but occasionally making sense, gaining traction, and also getting innocent people hurt left and right.

Tony is entering his “I am a very scary man” era and is also getting people hurt left and right, both physically and emotionally.

Peter is still with Tony but is having a minor existential crisis every five minutes on the account of emotional hurt, and barely any other Marvel issue in this timeline doesn't have an opinion on why he is still with Tony, is he sucking his dick or what, 'thought he was the good guy'/'ah yeah, this is why Tony needed him', etc.

The X-Men are staying out of it, mostly, because they’ve seen this movie before.

Deadpool and Cable, as well as about a gazillion other supers, have their own shit going on, but I refuse to get into that.

The Thunderbolts are being shady, surprise surprise, and they only get an honorable mention here ‘cause I’ve mentioned them earlier to demonstrate Tony’s spiral into being not just a bit of an asshole but very much an asshole.

Reed is so into Tony that he’s about to do something crazy. (I don’t even know if the touching is consensual at this point, since he is absolutely whipped by Tony, and it stinks of Stockholm syndrome.) So, now that we have decided on where we are and had a cup of tea/smoke, let’s have a look at the actual Civil War issues as they proceed, Captain America Civil War issues and Iron Man issues, skip a bunch of other important shit after, but ultimately, get to where we need to be before Part 3 of me posting (some other day) because I want to talk about Tony and Bucky and not about Civil War.

Civil War (2006) #3 Alright, we are finally here, because Civil War #3 is where shit gets real. Tony, being the tactical genius and emotionally constipated mess that he is, decides that it’s time to spring a trap on Team Cap. He and his Pro-Reg team set up a fake distress call because Steve is Steve, and if there’s even the slightest chance someone needs saving, he’s gonna show up. Boom. Steve does, of course, and Steve and his Underground Resistance walk straight into it. This finally gives us the most tense superhero standoff so far, with S.H.I.E.L.D. hovering overhead, a ton of supers on both sides locked, loaded, and ready to throw hands, and Peter right in the middle, not knowing how the fuck he got stuck with this lot. Tony, to his credit, tries to be the adult here. He actually reaches out, extends an olive branch, and tries to talk some sense into Steve before this escalates into full-out war (okay, okay, he tells him to chill the fuck out and comply, in slightly different words, but there is an actual amnesty Tony has worked out if Steve goes willingly, so he did try). Steve, being the absolute icon of stubbornness that he is, nods. Agrees to talk, at least. And immediately tries to take Tony down using some sneaky tech. Which gives us Tony vs. Steve, and it is GLORIOUS. These two beat the absolute crap out of each other, while everyone else on their respective teams also starts brawling (dozens/hundreds), with caped bodies flying, punches being thrown, and Peter still mostly blinking, but also fighting, while being upset that he failed to mediate between his two extremely stupid super dads and is not enjoying the whole “exhausted child of divorce” role they’ve been trying to pin on him. The fight between Tony and Steve is brutal, but Tony actually has an edge, since he’s Extremis-enhanced, a tech genius, years ahead in strategy, bla-bla-bla—so Steve is struggling. It goes on for a while, this fight, and then, the cliffhanger to end all cliffhangers. Because Thor (codename “Lightning”—this is important) shows up to backup Team Tony. Which shouldn’t be a big deal, right? We suspected it, since hammer and all, but... christ.

Civil War #4 is where we go from “Oh shit” to “OH FUCK NO.” The Thor that shows up at the end of Civil War #3 is not… actually Thor? Only in comic books, folks, since he’s a clone that Tony, Reed, and Hank Pym cooked up in a lab. While Team Cap is a bit shook, (they take Thor being a god of thunder seriously, he’s also been presumed dead for ages), Tony is trying to get Steve to give up, but Steve is having none of it. It seems largely (ha!) in favor of Team Tony right now, until Goliath (a massive giant person, can shrink down, used to be buddies with Thor, actually) shows up for Team Cap and Thor… kills the fuck out of his nice buddy, making everyone, Tony included, freeze in a “what the actual fuck just happened?” terror, since innocents getting hurt and extras getting hurt are sorta… whatever, but this is one of their own, technically, biting it. Team Cap calls for a retreat, very shook, and Reed’s Sue Storm is the first important superhero to straight-up bail on the Pro-Registration side right this moment because she is DONE with this bullshit and with Reed, who has been such an asshole to Fantastic Four, honestly—not giving a crap about Johnny being in a coma and possibly (at the very least emotionally) cheating on her with Tony. Sue is so done that she shields Team Cap long enough for them to get away, and after the fight writes Reed a dramatic “I’m leaving you, please feed yourself, there’s oily fish” note, and takes Johnny (who is no longer in a coma, yay!) with her to fight the good fight, or a fight, as long as it's not on Reed's side. And on both sides, folks on the sideline are starting to really question leadership and what kind of fight it really is. Peter is actually asking, “Wait… are we the baddies?” having massive doubts about Tony, and Steve doesn’t seem to give a shit how many of his friends get hurt, and it’s all very fucking gutting and not even a little funny. In general, this looks bad for both Steve and Tony, because Steve is throwing his side against Tony’s like cannon fodder and doesn’t seem to listen to anyone’s opinions on the fact that amnesty is at least worth discussing at this point, and Tony is after causing massive (ha!) death with a faulty clone, so a lot of superheroes are—if not outright bailing and changing sides now—at least considering it. Tony actually pays for Goliath’s funeral, since he was a cool guy and didn’t shrink down after dying. Had to buy him a massive amount of plots because, well… giant. Has a gutting interaction with his widow that tries to remind him what Tony is doing this for to begin with. For me this is a very important issue for Tony's character in this. He pays for Goliath’s funeral, because that’s who Tony is—he genuinely does care. But instead of acknowledging that this is the moment to stop, to rethink, to pull back, he keeps going, because, sadly, caring doesn’t stop him from marching forward and getting deeper and deeper into this.

Captain America (2004) #22 – The One Where Steve Gets Laid (and Sharon Gets Therapy for related reasons)

While Tony and Steve are busy emotionally wrecking each other on a public stage, we take a brief (very) detour into the mess that is Steve Rogers’ love life. Hill, who has been on a power trip ever since Fury went underground, decides that since Steve is still out there resisting like a stubborn bastard, someone needs to bring him in. And who better than his kinda-ex, kinda-current, definitely-in-love-with-him S.H.I.E.L.D. agent girlfriend?

Sharon is not thrilled because she’s really not here for the double standards. Like, Tony liaises (👀) with half of the superhero community, according to her, and the better half of S.H.I.E.L.D and nobody gives him shit, but the moment she has a little love crisis and starts questioning where her loyalty actually lies, suddenly, it’s a whole thing.

But fine. Mission accepted.

Sharon sets out to “bring Steve in”—by which I mean she tracks him down, immediately bangs him, and then quotes dead presidents at him in the post-coital glow. And because it's also Steve's love language, he also starts quoting dead presidents back. (If you’ve ever wondered what Steve’s pillow talk is like, now you know.)

Now, in case you were still wondering whether Sharon is truly down bad for Steve, let’s talk about how she sabotaged her own mission by giving the strike team (cape-killers) the wrong address. On purpose. So she could a) bang Steve and b) display her undying passion for those dead president quotes.

And this is why Sharon is in therapy. Because, as it turns out, this is how S.H.I.E.L.D. traditionally deals with traitors.

For those who remember what I talked about in Part 1 of this pre-civil war, here is something: Red Skull and Lukin are still out there, watching all of this unfold like it’s their personal Netflix binge, and they are THRIVING. They love that the heroes who should be stopping them are too busy punching each other instead. And because they are absolute dickheads, they are also actively manipulating Sharon’s emotions to make her feelings for Steve even stronger.

(Which explains the banging. Though, let’s be honest—she was into it.)

Amazing Spider-Man (1999) #535 (and half of the next Spider-Man-specific issue, sorta) – The One Where Tony Officially Breaks Peter’s Heart (And Ours) Alright, kids, this is it, and you should be thankful I made you crack a smile over dead presidents (hopefully), because this is crying-level shit.

This is where Peter starts realizing that maybe, just maybe, signing up with Tony was a colossal fucking mistake— and not just sorta feeling it.

Tony, still deeply entrenched in his “I Am the Government Now” phase, still has a soft spot for Peter (awww, tragic) and when Peter demands to see where the prisoners he is bringing in and not loving it are kept, Tony decides that it’s time to give Peter the full tour of the Negative Zone prison (a very dodgy place, tbh).

And our science nerd, all-around good guy, man with a conscience—takes one look at the absolute nightmare Tony has built and goes, “Wait. What the actual fuck is this? You can't be serious.” Tony: “Oh, yeah, this? This is where we’re locking up heroes who don’t register. Indefinitely. Without trial. In a literal alternate dimension, so no lawyer can ever get them out.” Peter, blinking hard, possibly resisting the urge to throw up: “…Excuse me?” Peter tries to confront Tony about it, he does, but very quickly catches on that Tony is not above implying he can do the same to him. Which is… whelp.

The whole conversation goes something like this, if you want a slightly longer version (see visuals for the full one): Peter: “Hey, Tony, quick question—what the fuck?” Tony: “Ah, Peter, my boy, don’t worry about it, this is for the greater good.” Peter: “The greater good? Again, what the fuck?” Tony: “You’re being dramatic.” Peter: “Am I? Am I though?” Tony: “Peter…” Peter: “Dad?” (happens) Tony promptly tries to ship Peter off on some other business to get him to cool off, but Peter is finally on board with the fact that this man has cracked, and he no longer feels safe around him. He doesn't even trusts MJ and Aunt May with Tony anymore (threats have been made) and tries to take them and go on the run. And then… He and Tony end up exchanging punches. God, it’s so bad and upsetting, you have no idea. I have no jokes for this, and ship it, don’t ship it, but this is the ultimate betrayal on Tony’s part. Peter is falling apart after, barely escaping, not knowing where to go, and Tony… is also feeling heartbroken, equally as gutted. I’m gonna leave this here for now, since we need to go into some other issues before we continue with this plotline. But you get me, yes? I need tissues when I think about this.

Captain America (2004) #23 - BUCKY!

Alright, everyone, take a deep breath. We are finally getting to the Bucky part of this winteriron timeline.

Bucky is officially entering the chat, and he is looking DAMN FINE while doing it, got a new hair-dew + arm and everything. He also has a lot of feelings while breaking into a S.H.I.E.L.D. facility to pull some spy shit for Fury, because of course he is, and I am devastated I am running out of image limit here soon.

He’s absolutely judging Steve for leading a resistance movement and somehow not inviting him... and sorta doing it the way he's doing it.

He’s also side-eyeing Tony for being a government stooge, even though that’s neither here nor there, since they don’t actually know each other at all (yet), but awareness is awareness, and it still doesn’t stop him from forming an opinion.

Bucky is, in fact, just generally pissed. And sexy. Always sexy. But the best part—and why Bucky really should be shaking hands with Peter here (another shoutout to winterspider)—is that Bucky is watching Steve and Tony’s breakup in real-time and judging both of them.

His basic thoughts on the matter boil down to “Wow, I left you two alone for five minutes, and this is what happens?” since while Steve and Tony are out here making Civil War everyone’s problem, Bucky is off-screen, forced into being hot and competent, actually doing something productive by hunting real villains.

He has zero actual desire to get involved in the war itself, though he does seem to be more pro-Steve, obviously, and is way more concerned about Red Skull and Lukin than he is about whatever the hell Steve and Tony are doing.

Speaking of villains, Red Skull, who we find out is using Doom’s tech but not actually working with him, is under the impression that the whole Civil War was his big, evil, successful plan. (It wasn’t, everyone contributed, but let’s humor him.)

On the slightly more angsty side—because Bucky never misses an opportunity for angst, picked it up from Steve—he does blame himself a little bit for Civil War, since some of the shit he did when he first got defrosted was cited as part of the long-ass list of “Why the SRA Needs to Exist.” Not that he’s spiraling over it, but he’s self-aware enough to recognize he helped fuel the fire. But mostly, he’s doing what Bucky kicks ass at—being hot in shadows, judging everyone, avoiding Steve’s nonsense, avoiding Tony’s nonsense, and handling actual problems. God, I want his babies.

Civil War (2006) #5

Where we swing back to Tony being a massive dick about almost everything—except for the fact that he loves Peter, one way or another.

At this point, they are sorta in the process of arguing/fighting (there is some timeline overlap), Peter is trying to run away from him, and when S.H.I.E.L.D. is about to take it too far, Tony absolutely panics because he cannot see Peter hurt.

But Peter is now technically a fugitive, and Tony’s side has recruited some deeply unhinged people, so it’s open season on Spidey, with very specific instructions that Peter is to be brought in alive and unharmed—no matter what.

That would have been great… except Peter is now running on pure panic and heartbreak, immediately realizes he is completely fucked, ends up in a stinky sewer, and gets his ass kicked into next week.

He almost dies but gets saved by Punisher of all people, who promptly brings him to Steve and the Resistance (where Sue and Johnny are pretending to be a married couple for a mission, which is weird—let’s not talk about it).

Meanwhile, Tony is spiraling. Again.

His entire strategy is falling apart, Sue Storm has already dumped Reed over this bullshit war, Steve is still out there leading his resistance, and now his own protégé—his son in all but name—has turned against him.

Tony is visibly wrecked over Peter’s defection, but since he has the emotional processing skills of a brick, he just channels all that heartbreak into “fine, let’s get Daredevil arrested next” energy, which he does—for which he is given a piece of silver and called Judas. (Brutal.)

That’s not to say Tony doesn’t care. He very clearly does, and this issue makes it obvious that he still sees Peter as a kid who needs protection, even when Peter himself doesn’t want it. But his way of showing it is, unfortunately, locking up Peter’s friends in a pocket dimension and putting a hit out on him (technically), so, uh… yeah.

Meanwhile, Steve is also getting more extreme, starting to questionably recruit people he normally wouldn’t, and letting Punisher into his little rebellion. (Which is definitely going to end well. Totally.) He is also over the moon Peter is on his side now and announces it to the others while... Peter is still unconscious. Now tell me both Steve and Tony are not simply fighting here over who gets to read him a bedtime story? Come on.

The Invincible Iron Man (2004) #13 & Amazing Spider-Man (1999) #536: (Tony’s Possible Career Change & Peter’s “Fuck You” Tour)

Alright, so The Invincible Iron Man (2004) #13 is technically Tony’s first solo Civil War issue, but fuck all actually happens.

It’s mostly a lot of “Tony, what the fuck are we doing?” meetings, brooding with some old friends, chatting to Happy while being deeply unhappy, and simultaneously spiraling, yet still, and committing war crimes in the name of national security. (Multitasking, sure.)

But one major thing does happen here, and while it’s just an offer at this point, it’s HUGE:

They start floating the idea of Tony taking over as Director of S.H.I.E.L.D.

At this point, S.H.I.E.L.D. is still running itself into the ground under Maria Hill’s special brand of leadership, but someone suggests that maybe, just maybe, the guy who is single-handedly running the actual show anyway should just be in charge of the whole thing.

And while that doesn’t happen just yet, it changes EVERYTHING for what happens post-Civil War. When it finally comes, is going to be a game-changer for his relationship with Bucky later on. (Yes, we are keeping our winteriron priorities straight, thank you.)

So, while this is happening and I am yawning 'cause Tony's first issue is so fucking underwhelming, in the Amazing Spider-Man (1999) #536, we pick up from Peter’s dramatic escape and near-death sewer experience, and things are finally coming to a head.

Peter, now officially 100% done with Tony’s bullshit, does something that could not be a bigger middle finger if he tried.

He digs out his old, classic Spider-Man suit (because fuck the Iron Spider, fuck you, Tony, I called you Dad unironically, you were my family, WTF), goes on national TV, and gives a full speech dragging the entire SRA, the Civil War, and Tony himself.

And as a helpful reminder here… Peter is not a “friendly neighborhood Spider-Man” in these comic books—he is a fucking legend, a bright, shining beacon of good for so many people (while still a menace to others, of course), and what he says actually matters.

For all of my shippy jokes and the subtext, there is a real reason why both sides want him. And it’s not just because he’s hella adorable and can kick things really hard.

When he talks, people listen. And when he does start talking, he absolutely obliterates the SRA, calls it unconstitutional, publicly calls out the people supporting it, and tells the world that he refuses to be part of it anymore. Tony loses his shit.

Okay, okay, some food for thought here, for once not related to ships I see everywhere (I have a sick mind and you are somehow still reading this, so don't ask me what's wrong with me and I will not ask you what's wrong with you).

Now, before anyone grabs their pitchforks, this is not me defending Tony’s actions (man makes a LOT of mistakes, obviously), but it is also worth remembering that he’s not a total monster here. He genuinely believes that what he’s doing is necessary, and unlike in the MCU where it’s all “let’s get a leash because one building blew up and we might have destroyed a country” the 616 version of Tony actually has a more thought-out (if deeply flawed) reason for being on the Pro-Reg side.

So, what is Tony trying to sell people on here?

Superheroes need to be trained. The trigger event for the SRA was a bunch of untrained, reality-TV-era heroes going up against a villain way out of their league, and as a result, a school full of children exploded. From Tony’s perspective, this was preventable. If these heroes had been properly trained, those kids (and some other people, but I mostly say kids, this is me not being nitty-gritty accurate about everything) wouldn’t be dead. This is not entirely wrong, but his method of fixing it is basically turning superheroes into government employees and locking up anyone who doesn’t comply, which is… less great.

The public has lost trust in superheroes. And Tony, unlike Steve, actually cares about public perception, comes with his brand and all. He sees this as a way to restore faith in the superhero community by offering transparency and accountability. The problem is obviously the way it’s being enforced is, again, deeply flawed and increasingly authoritarian.

The alternative, in his mind, is worse. He is absolutely cracked as far as Peter is concerned (fair), but here’s where Tony’s futurist brain actually screws him over—because he is not wrong when he says that if the superheroes don’t regulate themselves, the government will do it for them, and it’ll be worse. He thinks he’s getting ahead of the inevitable, but instead of negotiating and making sure the law is fair, he enforces it like an actual jackbooted stormtrooper.

So yeah, Tony is still a mess, and he’s still doing a lot of fucked-up things, but his core reasoning isn’t as evil as some people paint it in here and maybe even not as bad as I paint it overall in this recap.

He truly thinks he’s saving lives and making the world safer. He’s just doing it in the most morally questionable, emotionally compromised way possible, and at some point, even he knows it’s spiraling. That doesn’t excuse the Negative Zone prison or bounty hunting his own allies, engaging in shady business and, Jesus Fuck, cloning Thor, but it does explain why he started down this path in the first place. Tony is also on the side of the law and, for the most part, public opinion here (mostly, since actual normal public is scared AF right now). The problem is, the law isn’t always right, and Tony, in all his genius, somehow keeps forgetting that.

Now let’s hop over to Steve (“Oh No, Babe, What Are You Doing?” should be the title of his entire movement) and talk about how his ideals are great but his execution is a trainwreck. Look, Steve is not wrong—but he’s also not right in the way he thinks he is. And the biggest issue with Steve in Civil War is that his entire approach boils down to “Fuck No.” That’s it. No. No compromise. No alternative plan. Just hardcore, unwavering, freedom-loving NO. Steve’s Core Beliefs in Civil War:

"This is about freedom." Steve believes heroes should have the right to make their own choices about when and how they act, and he fundamentally rejects the idea that they should be forced to register. (Fair point, buddy, but maybe think of a Plan B? No? Cool, cool.)

"If the government can force us to do this, what’s next?” Steve has read a history book before and is fully aware that government overreach never stops at just one bad idea. And considering how mutants have already been treated (X-men and mutants are a very persecuted group here), he is not about to wait around and find out what comes next.

“I will not be controlled.” Instead of seeing if there’s a way to meet halfway or at least slow things down, Steve immediately goes, “Fuck this,” ditches his government job, and starts an underground resistance movement.

Which brings us to Steve’s biggest flaw in Civil War. Where Steve Screws Up:

Steve doesn’t even TRY to negotiate. Tony, for all his shady billionaire manipulation tactics, at least pretended to be open to discussion. Steve refused outright. Instead of using his influence to propose a better system when he still absolutely can, he straight-up vanishes into the night like Batman with extra patriotism.

His resistance is a mess. Unlike Tony, who is (somewhat) organizing a structured system, Steve’s team is basically “whoever wants to punch the government in the face” with no real plan beyond “resist.” He takes Punisher in, for crying out loud. There are no rules, no real discussions about alternatives, and no clear path forward with Steve's movement at all. This means his resistance is a bunch of scared, desperate heroes who are putting civilians in danger while trying to evade capture and kinda... all want to go home.

He is willing to let people get hurt for his cause. People are getting hurt left and right, not just his own team but also civilians caught in the crossfire. Instead of adapting or trying to find a smarter way forward, Steve just keeps doubling down, because this man went all-in on a bad bet and refuses to walk away from the table.

He does not listen. To anyone. A lot of people would have been on his side if he had actually tried to talk about a solution instead of running headfirst into a guerrilla war. Even when his own people start to question him, he digs his heels in and refuses to budge. Fuck them and the horse they rode in on is basic response to any "Emm... dude?"

Steve vs. Tony: The Real Tragedy

Steve sees Tony as a sellout, Tony sees Steve as reckless and the reality here is that they’re both kind of right.

Steve is fighting for freedom, but his method is chaotic and ultimately very dangerous. Tony is trying to prevent chaos, but his method is authoritarian, ruthless, and deeply problematic. And this is why Civil War is what it is. And why it is a lot more fun than the MCU one, if you properly get into it. At the end of the day, comic book Civil War isn’t just about laws and the SRA—it’s about two men who genuinely believe they’re doing the right thing, both completely incapable of seeing the middle ground. And, well… it all ends in disaster, obviously.

Captain America (2004) #24: In which Steve takes a page out of Bucky's book and punches the right people (for, like, 5 whole seconds) for a change. Finally! A break from all the Civil War emotional trauma to remind us that, yeah, Steve is a hero first, war criminal second. I am gonna guess it’s because we’re getting close to the finish line here (you are nearly free, yay!), so they just had to show Steve fighting someone other than his own friends for once. Progress. For… reasons.

He’s still knee-deep in Civil War Resistance mode, but he remembers for one night that there are actual bad guys in the world and focuses on a real threat: Hydra. (Or Hydra-adjacent assholes. And explosions. Lots of explosions.)

So, in this quick issue, Steve teams up with Sharon, who is now secretly working with Fury (who is still underground being an off-brand James Bond with a cigar budget, doing his own resistance thing much better), and together, they take on some good ol’ Hydra goons. Well, Steve takes on Hydra goons by blowing them up (probably killing them, but let’s just say “off-screen unconsciousness” for the sake of the PG-13 rating), and Sharon rolls in with her flying car to rescue him from S.H.I.E.L.D.

And, oh yeah, Red Skull is still lurking in the background, thriving on the fact that the Civil War is keeping everyone too distracted to stop him. He’s over here cackling like a Scooby-Doo villain, making sure Steve and Tony stay too busy ruining each other’s lives to notice he’s playing puppet master behind the scenes. (Smart move, honestly. Props to him for being the one guy who actually planned his shit out properly.)

Look, the details might be fuzzy (it’s getting late for me here), but the core takeaway is this: Cap is actually being Captain America again for an entire issue—stopping real threats, foiling evil plans, and protecting people instead of just yeeting his side at Tony’s.

The Invincible Iron Man (2004) #14

A good Tony issue following a good Steve issue… I wonder why that is. Not a good issue in the sense that Tony’s thriving—oh no, this man is drowning in consequences—but good in the sense that we finally get a proper deep dive into the emotional wreckage that is Tony Stark, destroyer of friendships, king of bad decisions, and certified government tool (actual fucking tool, honestly, but I love him and he can have Bucky’s babies, though I am not into mpreg).

This issue is actually packed.

Happy is dying in a hospital bed, Steve is still actively resisting arrest, Peter is on a fugitive road trip, and Sue Storm is ready to rip Tony’s head off for ruining her marriage. The government is still offering him more power, because sure, let’s give the stressed-out man on the verge of a breakdown full control over the most powerful intelligence agency on Earth.

Anyhow… not to go into too much detail here, but Tony cannot resist one last chance to talk things out with Steve and arranges a stadium meeting with Cap. You might think, “Oh, good, they’re going to try reasoning with each other like adults!” HAHAHA, NOPE.

The meeting lasts about five seconds before it devolves into a fight, which Steve… starts again. The emotional tension is through the roof, Peter is there too (aww, hurts), and they’re not just fighting over the SRA, they’re fighting over their entire broken relationship. If someone played “It’s Time to Go” by Taylor Swift over this sequence, it would fit perfectly.

Though Tony actually mostly fights with Peter here and still manages to pay him a compliment in the process, giving us hope that not all is lost, which we desperately need. But overall, the whole thing is still a disaster. Life is fully kicking Tony's ass from all directions, the temptation to drown it in whiskey is creeping back in, he is considering hitting the bottle, and… Tony is at a crossroads. He’s losing everyone who ever mattered to him, his side is looking increasingly shady, and the weight of everything is crashing down on him. We actually get some raw, human, vulnerable Tony, instead of just “mustache-twirling villain” Tony. So yeah, finally, a good Tony issue.

In case you were wondering, Peter is in fact fully on team Cap now, not just for the stadium fight, and in the Amazing Spider-Man (1999) #537 still has his morals intact (bless him), and this issue is about reinforcing that.

So, Steve—who is now basically Peter’s new/old father figure, 'sits' him down and hits him with the big speech.

And, my GOD, does he deliver it.

He drops one of the most iconic Captain America monologues in all of comic book history:

“Doesn’t matter what the press says. Doesn’t matter what the politicians or the mob say. Doesn’t matter if the whole country decides that something wrong is something right. This nation was founded on one principle above all else: the requirement that we stand up for what we believe, no matter the odds or the consequences.”

And you just know this wrecks Peter emotionally, because this is exactly the kind of moral backbone that made him idolize heroes in the first place. This is the moment where Peter fully solidifies his stance. He’s not just on Team Cap because he got burned by Tony—he believes in what Steve is saying. Tony is having an emotional crisis over Peter leaving, which I completely understand, and... Peter also throws some flirty one-liners at the Cap, since our babe can't help it.

Civil War (2006) #6 and we are at maximum endgame (ugh, still hurts) mode now.

At this point in the war, neither side is even pretending to be civil despite moments of personal growth, slash remembering who they are, and both Steve and Tony have fully committed to their respective roles as Head of the Underground Resistance (Steve) and CEO of Government Overreach Inc. (Tony).

We start off with Tony and Reed in full villain arc, sipping coffee and talking about how crime rates are dropping (I have no idea how, since all the superheroes are busy beating the shit out of each other instead of fighting crime, but never mind me), and immediately move on to the Punisher deciding today is the day for homicide.

He sneaks into the Baxter Building (as one does) to steal information on “Number 42” which is not Tony’s latest suit model but instead the name for his prison in the Negative Zone where they’re throwing unregistered heroes indefinitely and that caused Peter and Tony to block each other on Facebook.

Totally normal, non-dystopian behavior, nothing to see here.

Sue Storm is out here making power moves too, pulling up to Atlantis and trying to convince Namor to get off his fishy ass and help Team Cap. Namor, in true “I am too sexy to care” fashion, basically shrugs and says, “Surface problems? Sounds like a you problem,” before dramatically flipping his cape and walking away. (Sue, girl, I admire the effort and only mention it, cause you are one of the very few truly likable characters in this Event.)

Back at Team Cap’s HQ, Steve unveils his master plan: an all-out raid on the Negative Zone prison to free their captured allies. The team is hyped, ready for action—until Punisher casually murders two villains in cold blood right in front of everyone because they dared to ask if they could help. Steve, who may be a war criminal but still has standards, absolutely loses it and beats the hell out of Frank before throwing him out of the rebellion.

Tony on his end is having an emotional meeting with Miriam Sharpe (aka, “Tony’s #1 Fan Who Also Made Him Feel Like Shit at That Funeral”). He throws some cash at a pretty garden with angels for the dead kids, she thanks him for all his hard work but also makes it clear that, yeah, this war is costing him everything. (Gee, thanks for the reminder, Miriam, I’m sure Tony didn’t notice he’s lost literally all of his friends by now.)

The issue ends with Steve pulling a classic Uno Reverse Card on Tony. The Pro-Reg forces think they’re about to stomp the rebellion once and for all, but—surprise, bitches!—Team Cap knew there was a mole in their ranks (Ragnarök, I’m looking at you, you Dollar Store Thor knockoff), and they had Hulkling impersonate Hank Pym to sneak in and free all the captured heroes before the fight even starts. So, yeah. Big-ass battle incoming, and I can nearly go to sleep.

Civil War (2006) #7 You’ve made it! (I low-key question if anyone actually did make it this far, but I am very into this now, so…)

This is the big one. The final battle. The moment where all this superhero divorce drama comes to a head, and oh my God, it is so much.

So, after about a million issues of emotional devastation, betrayal, and Peter collecting father figures like infinity stones, we finally get the massive all-out brawl between Team Cap and Team Tony. And when I say massive, I mean half the Marvel Universe is throwing hands in the middle of New York City. Superpowered beings are crashing through buildings, explosions are going off everywhere, and don't ask me why they thought “protecting civilians” and “obliterating the city” were compatible ideas.

Steve and Tony really do go at it like two exes who just found out they were sleeping with the same person (Peter, doll, what are you doing? Kidding, kidding).

Steve is beating the absolute shit out of Tony, and Tony—who is running on the fumes of guilt and exhaustion—lets him.

Because Tony is ready to die. That’s right. Tony, who has been holding onto control like his life depends on it (because it literally does), just gives up, drops the metaphorical gloves, and basically tells Steve: “Go ahead, finish it.”

And Steve almost does.

(Not to draw parallels here, but Bucky tried to pull the same move with him and proceed with murder-kill when he was brainwashed. What's Steve's excuse here?)

Like, Steve almost wins. The Resistance might not have, but Steve does. He is seconds away from beating Tony to actual death in the middle of the nightmare they’ve caused—but then. Civilians. Regular-ass, non-superpowered, completely terrified people tackle Steve to the ground.

They’re not protecting Tony (maybe a little, it's up for debate, see the panels)—they’re stopping Steve. Because holy shit, Steve. Look at what you’ve done. Steve does. Look. And finally sees it.

The destruction, the sheer chaos, the city that’s half in ruins because of this war. He sees the fear in their eyes and realizes that this isn’t about freedom anymore. He’s lost the plot. They’ve all kind of lost the plot, and someone has to give up, and he will not let Tony beat him to it.

So, Steve. Fucking. Stops.

He takes off his mask, drops his shield, and says, “It’s over.” He turns himself in. He turns Steve Rogers in specifically, essentially following the law, and Team Cap officially loses the war.

At the end of this, Tony—bruised, in desperate need of a good fuck (hey, Bucky, where you at?), and still internally monologuing about how the fuck his life turned into this—is appointed Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. And this is how, after so many words, christ, the Civil War officially, techically ends, and the winteriron timeline can properly begin. Happy tears, I am crying happy tears right now.

So, Part 3 of this ‘brief’ (lol) timeline is coming ASAP, and it does deliver on some juicy Bucky and Tony interactions—actual on-page moments, not just me connecting the angst dots with wishful thinking, promise.

And if you’re thinking things might slow down now—oh, my sweet summer child. We are only just getting to the fun part, since Captain America essentially becomes Bucky’s comic book. The stakes are different, the players have shifted, but Tony and Bucky finally start existing in the same space.

If Civil War was crazy, what happens next is the part where we go off the rails entirely in the best possible way.

To confirm, where we are:

Bucky is in the wind but possibly smoking cigars with Fury.

Bad guys who were ignored for this Event do have some plotty evil planned.

Tony is in charge of S.H.I.E.L.D. and he still has to keep hunting down anti-registration supers.

Steve is alive and in jail. For now.

And Peter—oh God, I have to mention this, because I must, and this just further confirms that some of the editors were shipping Peter with someone other than MJ.

So, Peter is an absolute disaster, thanks for asking. And if you know comic books and reading this just to laugh at me getting shit wrong and are wondering, “Wow, does she about to mention One More Day?”—yes. Yes, I am. And I don’t want to talk about it. But I will, just for a second.

One More Day (2007) is Marvel committing a crime against humanity.

It’s a four-issue arc where Marvel editorial decided Peter was too happy and needed to suffer more, so they erased his marriage to MJ from existence. (Ah, yeah, he was married to her this whole time, in case I didn’t mention it, but I was too busy pushing Starker on people if the winteriron angle didn’t work out.)

Basically, after Civil War, Peter’s life goes to absolute hell. He unmasked, so every villain with a grudge is coming for him, Kingpin puts out a hit, and Aunt May gets shot.

Peter, being the absolute hero of a man that he is, tries everything to save her. He begs Tony for help (doesn’t work). He tries to make a deal with Doctor Strange (doesn’t work). And just when it looks like May is going to die, the literal devil (Mephisto) shows up and is like, “Hey, Pete, what if I saved your aunt, but in exchange, I erased your marriage to MJ from existence so you two never got married and will never be happy together?”

And Peter and MJ actually say yes. BOOM. Years of character development and one of Marvel’s most iconic relationships is GONE, conveniently removing all that pesky guilt when Peter flirts with older men.

So, Aunt May lives, but now Peter and MJ were never married, and no one remembers he unmasked during Civil War. The comic book fandom hates it. The writers regret it. Everyone pretends it didn’t happen. Marvel did make a movie about this though, kinda. Also kidding. But for real, it’s one of the most infamous and universally despised retcons in Marvel history.

And on that cheerful and very nerdy note, thank you for reading.

Masterpost with all parts

[bluelocksource]

Shidō Ryūsei’s trivia (source: twt & Egoist Bible 1 & 2).

"What I’m doing on the field isn’t just ‘soccer’ but ‘life’ itself.” (EB1)

"My soccer instincts are exploding, and my muscles are alive!" (EB2)

☆ Character's colour: Shocking pink.

☆ Weapons:

Scoring ability, Penalty Area Perfection. (EB1) Penalty Area Perfection, Dragon Drive (Ryūsei's direct shot). (EB2)

☆ Nickname: Explosion Demon.

☆ Birthday: 7th July.

☆ Current age: 17 18 (3rd year of high school)

☆ Zodiac: Cancer.

☆ Birthplace: Tokyo.

☆ Current height: 185 cm.

☆ Dominant foot: Both are nitro (spectacular/explosive).

☆ Blood type: AB.

☆ Motto: "All for the explosion."

☆ Team before joing BLUE LOCK: - (Unaffiliated)

☆ Favorite food: Yukhoe. “Because I’ll feel more like a carnivore.”

☆ Disliked food: Bean sprouts. “They look weak and withered.”

☆ Favorite animal: Dinosaur, especially Velociraptor. “I like the scene where they eat the humans in ‘Jurassic Park’ movie.” .

☆ Favorite season: The beginning of summer. ”My cells gets excited.”

☆ Favorite football player: Zlatan Ibrahimović.

☆ Favorite song: “Hide’s music, especially ‘Pink Spider’.”

☆ Favorite manga: “Lately, Chainsaw Man.”

☆ Favorite movie: A Clockwork Orange.

☆ Mushroom shoots vs Bamboo shoots: Bamboo shoots. “They have strong and tough form.”

☆ What goes best with rice : Soy sauce and butter. “Why don’t you try wrapping them with nori? It'll tastes so good!”

☆ Hobby: My explosions.

☆ What makes him happy: A pass (soccer pass).

☆ What makes him upset: Players who won’t explode.

☆ Best subject: Art and P.E.

☆ What made him cry recently: “I cried because I thought of maybe one day, I won’t become anyone.”

☆ Usual sleeping time: 7 hours.

☆ What he usually ends up buying from convenience store: Baby Star Ramen. “At times, I crave for it.”

☆ Place he washes first when taking a bath: Neck.

☆ What will he do if received 100 million yen: Divide the money into 100 pieces and use them as dominos.

☆ What age he stops receiving presents from Santa: “Isn’t it fun getting yourself a present than by some old, red and white, fat man?”

☆ What was his last wish from Santa: “A world where Santa disappears.” .

☆ How he spent his holiday: “Break free from everything and do nothing.”

☆ What will he do during his last day on Earth: “Watch the outcome of the Earth reaching it’s end.”

☆ Favorite historical figure: "It's you, the one reading this. Life is equally beautiful and ugly for everyone. Since we were born in the same era, let's enjoy it!"

☆ If he hadn't encountered soccer, what will he be doing: "I would be into art. Being a painter would be nice, and so would sculpting. I'd create shiny and overflowing works!"

☆ If he could only take one thing to a deserted island, what would it be: "I'd bring a lot of pink paint. I'd paint everywhere and make it my island! Oh! I’ll mix in some blood-red color too ♪"

☆ If he had a time machine, would he go to the past or the future: "I'd go anywhere. No matter the time or place, I would still be me!"

Last updated: 31/10/2024

* The crossed words are the changes made from twitter’s answer to the answer from Egoist Bible.

note: i want to apologize in advance for any mistake made in the translation!

[ask-marygoore-bos]

Okay well your balls are no longer yours so I will explode them. It's been done already/j

-Nitro

(GUYS WHY ARE WE DISCUSSING THIS MAN'S NUTS???)

Shit, man. Fuck. I'm ruined.

Also you've all talked about worse, it's fine.

-Mary

[multiverse--wanderer]

You Are My Quarter Mile | Dom x Brian (Fast and Furious) [ENG]

[Fan-fiction based on the OTP between Dominic Toretto and Brian O'Conner (Fast and Furious) With gasoline in their veins and living life on the road on the wrong side of the law, Dominic Toretto's life will take a complete turn with the arrival of Brian O'Conner. When the heart comes into play, there's no possible handbrake for the soul.

...

REMINDER:

This story has been written in Spanish, which is my native language. This story has been translated to the best of my ability, although it is possible that it may have mistakes.

This is just a way to transport my writing to a common language for the rest of fans like me. For a better immersion, I recommend reading the story in its original version.

You can find this story on Wattpad and Archive of Our Own.

Thank you so much for reading me and see you in the stars.

...

Chapter 1 - The Buster Brought Me Back

┗━━ ⊰ 𝐋𝐨𝐬 𝐀𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐬 / 22 - 06 - 2001

—The nitro!

Dominic's cutting scream was the last thing Brian heard before the chaos. Reverberating through his ears like a steady, distant echo, he fell flat against the the asphalt under the older man's protective shove. A frantic repetition that faded under his blunt weight by way of painful protection. A deafening rumble announced a blue fireball that exploded and climbed into the starry night sky. Soon, the rain of pieces of the stationed vehicle fell like menacing comets near the bodies of both drivers. The blond closed his eyes beneath Dominic's muscular frame as he felt the heat, as he felt each destroyed piece of the police-loaned vehicle falling around him. Barely aware that he had Dominic on top of him with the sole pretense of protecting him from further harm, he could only feel his cologne intoxicating him completely. It blended perfectly, almost as if that was the formula, with the smell of gasoline and fire. That was her scent. A scent he would remember and associate with for the rest of his life.

Dominic Toretto had saved his life after that explosion of the "nobody's car" as well as the encounter with Tran. However, as he moved his arms as all the chaos of the explosion ceased, he noticed the fierce splintered crystals embedded in his skin. The stabbing pain of the chrysalises only added to the sense of reality that he was still alive under Dominic's body and protection. He opened his blue eyes, finding himself hidden under the older man's neck, and could see parts of both of his arm's bleeding in subtle tears of blood. His baggy jeans had managed to cover him to prevent his legs from suffering the same fate.

He felt the elder's body rise under a groan, and it only took that movement to focus his gaze on his protector. Silently, they both rose beneath the chaotic scene and surrounded by vehicle parts that were barely recognizable. The burning smell soon replaced the scent Brian had been immersed in, and that caused him to frown in noticeable displeasure.

Dominic turned to take in the scene. Almost safeguarded by some angel, he noticed that no heavy or, consequently mortal, piece had fallen on them. He seemed to thank heaven as Brian got lost in Dominic's wounded back.

—God, Dom, your back.

His voice broke out without realizing it. It wasn't too serious, but it was shocking to see so many crystals reduced to fake knives stuck in his broad back. Dom tried to look over his shoulder, and then he understood where the sharp pain in his spine muscles was coming from

—It's nothing.

Lied. His black T-shirt barely concealed the delicate blood that wept on his skin.

—Let me help-...

He barely moved forward with his fingers stretched out when Dominic began to walk without looking at the blonde.

—Let's go home first —he interrupted—. We're not safe if the Tran guys are still around.

The blond closed the corners of his mouth and the tension in his fingers vanished in a sigh. He decided to obey, for the first time in a long time, the words of an older.

After walking away from the chaos zone and deciding to take a taxi to back home (which they tipped the driver so he wouldn't ask questions about their condition), they chatted during the trip about the confrontation between Dominic and Johnny Tran. Apparently, it had been a botched deal, a shattered relationship with the oriental's sister, and an unwanted turf war.

Brian wasn't sure if Dominic had invited him to his house that night because he felt indebted to him after getting him out of trouble with the police, or if there was something else behind it. A driver like him didn't invite just anyone to his home, to his safe place. Be that as it may, time was of the essence. His superiors wanted answers about the merchandise thieves and overtime as an undercover cop was piling up.

They got out of the cab and Brian could see the other person's home full of people and music. A party was going on inside. There were a lot of the cars Brian saw at the illegal race rally a few hours ago.

He walked a couple of steps to stand on the edge of the sidewalk as Dominic made his way to the porch of his house. He was surprised that the blond wasn't following him, so he had to call him by shaking his head.

—Come in. I'll give you a beer.

...

CONTINUE READING THE FULL CHAPTER HERE:

[wave-man]

Best Robot Master from each line?

be nice to me its based on the most emotional attachment or how much they rotate in my brain

1 - fire man (love win)

2- metal man (very very very close is crash man)

3 - magnet man dont even have to ask huh 😭 (but i love the whole linesooo much)

4 - skull man (veeeeery close is pharaoh man)

5 - for some reason the hardest theyre all so silly... despite being tumblr user wave-man i gotta say napalm mans pretty high up there...

6 - centaur man (his hooves :])

7 - spring man (SILLY!!!!!!!!)

8 - again really tough they all got a special place in my heart... i will give it to grenade man for cute bombs

& bass - burner man (tengu and astro do not count bc unfair but i kiss them on teh head. i also kiss burner on the head but when i pull away my eyebrows are gone)

9 - hornet man (so predictable but one of two transgender icons ok. inthis game)

10 - nitro man (sheep man very close second just for looking like that)

11 - tundra man (predictable............)

bonus lines under the cut for fun and wanting to not shut up a little. giving some other guys some love ok

MKN - punk (fun shape)

V - jupiter (bird <3)

WWN - buster rod g (mmm. monkey)

DOS 1 - dyna man (hes so awkward looking he almost has borzoi energy to me)

DOS 3 - shark man (coolest looking compared to everyone else being simpler edits of pre-existing bots)

Dimensions / Rockman & Forte - clock men (two of them!! komuso is close hes cute)

Strategy - scorpio (SCOPIO!!!!! cutest)

Xover World 12 - very little info abt xover in gen esp these guys but oro s (HATSUNE MIKU gold edition)

Pachislot - coin woman (look at herrrr... she deserves better than being somewhat obscure)

Dreamwave - express man (all those bots deserved better he got EXPLODED)

staring at a certain comic. looks away. yeah i think that might be everybody

i feel like you might not have been expecting that many oopsie sorry i got a chance to make a long post and took it happily even tho i didnt talk much abt them just naming them off and saying something silly

[marvelousmrm]

Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man #55 (Stern/McDonnell, June 1981). Pete resorts to chemical warfare to disable Nitro the Exploding Man. Yikes!

[cinder-no]

Nitro - Fallout 76

Face Cheeks: Wrinkled (31%) Ear Type: Lobeless 3 (28%) Eyebrows - Full: Low Eyes: Shifty 5 (100%) Eye Color: Pale Blue Bloodshot Face: 01 Facial Hair: Lazy Morning, alternatively None or Lone Wander Forehead: Wrinkled (55%) Hair Style: Beatnik Hair Color: Bleached or White Mouth - Full: Prominent 1 (56%) Nose - Full: Handsome 3 (66%) Skin Tone: Sun-Kissed Extras Makeup: None Markings: None Blemishes -Lip Color 01 -Cheek Creased (39%), alternatively (100%) -Eyes Gaunt (28%) Damage: None Sex Male

[waitingforwinterwinds]

A Clash of Kings - 52 SANSA IV (pages 678-688)

Sansa gets her first period.

-

Sansa dug her nails into her hand. she could feel the fear in her tummy, twisting and pinching, worse every day. Nightmares of the day Princess Myrcella had sailed still troubled her sleep;

*recalls Sansa vs. nightmares of the bred riots (tv edition)*

Oh dear. I don't think that's fear in your tummy, sweetheart.

They had hemmed her in and thrown filth at her and tried to pull her off her horse, and would have done worse if the Hound had not cut his way to her side. (...) Try not to be afraid! he said.

Stop making me like you asshat! Ooooh, that's cheating! Sorry, I just, really like that he said try not to be afraid rather than don't be afraid. It just feels more comforting and less demanding on an already stressed young girl.

"Give your Florian a little kiss now. A kiss for luck." He swayed toward her. Sansa dodged the wet groping lips, kissed him lightly on an unshaven sheek, and bid him goodnight.

I'll give you a "kiss" *hefts steel chair* come here >:3

Turning back to the stair, Sansa climbed. The smoke blotted out the stars and the thin crescent of moon, so the roof was dark and thick with shadows.

I know I've been having fun with 'interpreting' the visions and dreams and stuff the past few chapters, but we do all (myself included) need to remember how hind-sighted visions are. In a narrative it's easy because the author often wants the events to tie together in a certain way, but even then there is always room for different interpretations.

Take for instance this chapter. We are being reminded multiple times that King's Landing is being bathed in smoke. King's Landing which is on a salt water coastline. Born of smoke and salt could now fit basically anyone in or around King's Landing at this point in time.

Case in point: Sansa has been weeping a lot (extra salt for the salt checkbox) because she's getting her first period (if I have my chapters and events correct) which is a "gateway" to womanhood in many cultures, and reflects more viscerally the idea "kill the boy and let the man be born" train of thought. If we wanted to do some crack takes, we could use this to say Sansa is Azor Ahai Confirmed.

She's not, probably, but we could say it.

Hell, Cersei could be Azor Ah-hoooo my gosh someone find a fic author and make that happen! X'D Azor Ahai!Cersei XD

... and just like that Sandor's made me dislike him again. He's so grumpy. And not in a fun way.

...Damn that's a violent period dream. For a second there I was kind of reminded of Dany's first vision through the doors, it was the "Women swarmed over her like weasels" I think, but the phrase from the vision described the men as "rattish"

Gods, Sansa is so terrified. First periods are always scary, even when you know what's going on because it's this change that you can't really wrap your head around until after, and for Sansa it's more than just that, it's another layer of illusionary safety being violently torn away from her.

Also, just as a point of interest, Blood is a Protein Stain. Cold water and a cake of your normal hand soap will remove most fresh stains from clothing and sheets, don't use hot water, warm to hot water actually makes fresh blood stains set. For older stains, glycerine can help to break them up, just dab a bit on the stain and give it a light scrub before washing with cold water and soap.

And when I say glycerine, I mean the stuff from your first aid kit for wound care, also called glycerin or glycerol. not the nitro for exploding stuff.

Queen Cersei laughed. "Wait until you birth a child, Sansa. A woman's life is nine parts mess to one part magic, you'll learn that soon enough... and the parts that look like magic are the messiest of all."

Not super looking forward to Cersei's POV's, cause I've heard things, and I would like to pretend she actually has some intelligence a little longer. Look at this scene. My gosh. For a moment there I almost thought Cersei gave a shit and was commiserating.

This woman has some opinions, and not all of them are complete trash, but damn she needs some therapy... but damn everyone in this series needs some therapy.

"Joffrey will show you no such devotion, I fear. You could thank your sister for that, if she weren't dead. He's never been able to forget that day on the Trident when you saw her shame him, so he shames you in turn. You're stronger than you seem, though. I expect you'll survive a bit of humiliation. I did. -"

So first of all, I understand that had Arya not been in the wrong place, doing the wrong thing, the situation would never have been possible BUT, consider for a moment, that it ALSO could have been avoided if Joffrey hadn't been such a piece of shit! So really he brought that shit on himself then made it everyone else's problem by being an insufferably self-absorb, overly entitled, rich little white bo-

... Joffrey isn't just a dude bro. He's Elon Musk with a violent streak.

I need a moment...

...

Where was I?

Second of all! Oh look, Cersei is Pro Cycles of Abuse. "I suffered so every one else should suffer too. It's equality UwU"

*Kicks Cersei off a tower* This. Is. SPARTA!!!!

[teameveryonebutironman]

Iron Man Vol. 6 Issue #15, in the Korvac Saga, Tony Stark got Cosmic Powers.  While Fighting Korvac, AN ENTIRE PLANET full of sentient Aliens got DESTROYED. Collateral Damage.

Remember, Civil War guys??? The Stamford Explosion in the comics, and in the MCU  the Bombing in Lagos.  ALL PRO TONY FANS whined and whined about the Collateral Damages, and how TONY AND THE ACCORDS WAS RIGHT, because blah blah collateral. And guess what, the same Pro Tony Pro Registration lunatics are ALL SUDDENLY SILENT about this little GENOCIDE. NO ONE is talking about this horrible incident. The same Prop Tony fanboys who wrote pages upon pages justifying the SHRA and the Sokovia Accords suddenly got nothing to say when their precious HERO got an entire planet destroyed as collateral damage. 

Behold Tony Stark allowing an ENTIRE PLANET BE DESTROYED. After that planet was destroyed, ONLY AFTER THAT did Tony punched a whole to another universe so that they can fight “SAFELY”.  And, after Korvac got arrested by the Living Tribunal and the rest of the Cosmic Entities, Tony did NOTHING to restore the Planet “Draconius”,. His Cosmic Power could have totally restored that planet and all its inhabitants, but NO. He doesnt care that billions of sentient lives was just lost when he fought Korvac, lives that didnt even had to be lost if Tony just sent them both to another universe BEFORE the planet was destroyed. 

So he went back to Earth, calling himself the Iron God,… and this genious thought he could solve world peace by giving EVERYONE genius level intellect. But he just put it on Trial Version in New York as an experiment. EVERYONE in NY became geniuses… including greedy CRIMINALS. so, ya know, that caused chaos.

So some of his friends wanted to stop Tony. Tony felt BETRAYED, so he killed them. Melted Silver Surfer, boiled Frogman alive, snuffed the Human Torch, turned Gargoyle into stone and shattered him, and broke Rhodeys neck. But he felt bad so he ressurected them all and said Sorry, No Hard Feelings…. he said sorry so I guess hes improving…. and then he removed his Cosmic Power and went to rehab…. but Planet Draconius is still destroyed and billions are still dead but hey, its Tony, hes immune from consequences.

When the New Warriors failed and Nitro EXPLODED and killed alot of people in Stamford, that sparked the Civil War. Speedball, Robert Baldwin, one of the New Warriors survived, and was arrested, SUFFERED in prison and he Registered. Speedball was BLAMED and hated and PUNISHED SEVERELY even though Nitro would have exploded regardless of who was stopping him. But Tony got an ENTIRE PLANET destroyed, BILLIONS DEAD, and he wasnt punished at all. How the heck is any of this fair? 

[yetanothercomicbook]

The Big Blow Out

The Spectacular Spider-Man #55

Smart.

His daughter gets Nitro, the Exploding Man, out of Project PEGASUS. First thing he does? Robs a bank to go after Captain Marvel. Luckily, Peter Parker is in that same bank.

Life is running true-to-form for poor Peter here. His rent is due, and he didn’t get enough sleep. He also showed up early to work on the wrong day. Plus, this villain seems unbeatable. And - SPOILER! - even when he wins, he feels really bad about it. That’s the Spider-Man we all know and love.

On Sale Date: March 24, 1981.

Roger Stern (11 of 18).

9/10

[neos-ultra]

SAGA 1: ACT 4: FLAMES OF THE PHANTOM

-another day strikes your eye.

-and, as has become standard, your terminal beeps out wildly.

nitro: "BEEEEEEEP. EMAIL. BEEEEEP. WAKE UP IT'S MORNING. AND EMAIL. BEEEEEP."

geo: "i'm up i'm up!" you shamble out of bed and pick your terminal up off the floor, checking the email... it's from sho-co!

sho-co: "YO DUDEZ WE GOTTA DO LIKE, TRAINING STUFF AFTER SCHOOL WE DIDNT GET TO YESTERDAYS WE GOTTA OR WE'RE GONNA EXPLODE FOR REAL TRUST ME LIKE XO <- FACE"

-it's a compelling point put ever so elegantly. and she's right, you've got to go to school! in fact... you're a bit late!

geo: "AW MAN!"

-you start getting ready, jamming a bit of toast in your mouth as you rush out the door.

-but in your rush, you end up slamming into someone and falling back! right outside the school gates

geo: "OH-OH M-M-M-MAN I'M SO SORRY I-IBAJKA- SORRY!" you quickly rush to pick up all books they dropped, stacking them but they fall over again. you're about to start stammering out another apology but your mind is stopped dead in it's tracks as you feel a strange warmth in your chest when you finally look at them.

???: "it's alright it's alright, i'm guessing you go here too?" their voice is soft and calming like a gentle song

geo: "i-i-i... yeah... i-i'm geo solar" you try to stand up but almost fall over again, they let out a soft chuckle.

???: "geo huh? i guess i'll see you later" they take the books and walk into the school. you're left stunned for a few minutes. completely still...

sho-co: "yo nerd! why are you frozen?" you turn around and see your friend sho-co behind you! "i just got here whadda hell"

what do you say?

-i think i just became gayer

-i got stunned by an evil spider

[creators-novel]

“I am… your time to fall.”

The mysterious man holds out his hand and fires a beam of unstable energy at Nave, but Exisite jumps out at the perfect moment at shoves him out of the way, letting the energy hit a nearby tree instead.

“You-! …You saved me-?”

“Sorry-“

The stranger watches the two curiously. Sensing he’s about to attack again, Exisite springs up and attempts to slash him. But, to his surprise, the menace counters, revealing he also uses claw gauntlets like him. The dark presence smirks as he pushes back against Exisite, “How interesting… you seem surprised, and yet you were scared of this even happening.”

           Delta tries to call in on his walkie talkie but it’s no use. There’s too much interference for them to get through, but they can hear everything going on.

“Castor-!? CASTOR!? DarkClaw what’s happening over there!?”

“I don’t know what’s going on but we’ve got to find out! NITRO!”

Another member of the team, Nitro, leans against the wall. He’s a very old friend of DarkClaw’s from back in his military days, they were both members of the same cybernetics program. He has gray hair, and piercing red eyes, and wears an intimidating green and black uniform.

“I heard every word. Let’s do it.”

           Meanwhile, Exisite and the stranger are locked, claw to claw, neither of them giving up the push against the other. “It’s like you dreamed about this encounter…”, the man hisses. Exisite grits his teeth, “Just- who are you!?” The man laughs and begins putting more pressure on Exisite, as he does the surrounding area begins to shake.

“Come on now… doesn’t the name Vyz ring a bell?”, he looks at Exisite dead in the eyes, his physical form now fully taking shape.

“You’re…!”

“Yes. I’m the one you heard in that ‘dream’… quite convenient that your friends led you right to my resting place, isn’t it, child?”

“Kid-!”, Nave backs up a little, now getting an idea of the extent of Vyz’s power. But Exisite refuses to pull back. As a result, Vyz’s power now explodes out, slowly turning this once beautiful and lush forest into a dry, open field. And this becomes noticeable by everyone.

Indigo sniffles and holds back tears as Selena hurriedly carries her away from the fight, “Our old home…” Selena shakily reassures her child, “It’s ok, sweety. Castor’s got this-!” The mother-daughter-duo run into DarkClaw and Nitro who were speeding their way over toward the battle. DarkClaw skids to a stop, “Sele-! What’s going on?!” Selena catches her breath while keeping Indigo close, “A metal version of your boy showed up and opened a tomb… and what was inside is putting us all in danger!”

DarkClaw, not being surprised by anything anymore, simply sighs, “…Yep.”

           Meanwhile Ex, Uriel, Ajax, and Xenos spot the commotion from another part of the city. “Woah… that- doesn’t seem right”, Ex observes. Uriel points towards the source of the destruction, “Let’s check it out!” “Are we really gonna go over there?”, Xenos asks, with a mix of curiosity and worry. Ajax puts a hand on his little brother’s shoulder, “It looks pretty collateral. We have to.”

Back at the base, Delta clutches his walkie-talkie close, hoping for any sign that his hero friends are ok.

           After a few minutes, the whole team meets up and makes their way into the fray. They’re also joined by the local military branch; headed by Wraith, another cybernetic soldier. The group steals their nerves, summons their weapons, and with DarkClaw at the front, charges in as one unit.

“EXISITE!”, DarkClaw calls out. “Huh-?!”, Exisite’s concentration falters, allowing Vyz to push him away but Nitro catches him, “Gotcha, rookie.” Vyz grits his teeth and grumbles at the sight of more do-gooders trying to get in his way, “Tsk- more stains on the universal carpet…” He turns to face his tomb but his gaze is caught by someone in the crowd. He pauses for a moment, then laughs under his breath. “Well…”, his eyes fully meet with Ex’s, “Who knew that in the time I’ve been caged up… I would remember your face.” Ex grimaces, “You sure you know me? ‘Cause I’m certain we’ve never met.” Vyz shrugs, “Well I’ve certainly met your parents.” “He’s just trying to manipulate you!”, Uriel shouts. He just tilts his head and smirks, “Am I really? … Think. About it. ‘I never knew where my parents went, they just vanished!’ … Don’t you want to know what really happened, Exodus?” Ex’s face goes cold, “Don’t call me that. Ever.” Vyz smiles, “And there’s the stricken nerve!” The rest of the team watches on in confusion, ‘Exodus’? Why didn’t Ex tell them about any of this? He was never open about his past but- why does his family have a connection to this monster!?

There isn’t much time to ponder the specifics.

“ENOUGH OF THIS!”, Wraith calls, “MEN, OPEN FIRE!” “NO- DON’T BE STUPID!”, DarkClaw barks. Wraith’s soldiers fire away at Vyz but nothing they throw at him affects him. Our heroes stand stunned. “Don’t bullets normally…work?”, Xenos asks. Vyz simply sighs and flicks his hand, causing all of the military personnel and their weaponry to be blown away.

“Wastes of space.”

Uriel clenches her firsts and stands tall, “You are a threat to this world! Be gone at once or we will be forced to use other measures!” Vyz scoffs, “Adorable. Children wanting to play a game of ‘saving the world’”. Ex crosses his arms, “We’re pretty capable of it, I wouldn’t judge a book by its cover.” “Well?”, Vyz bows, “Make it happen.” Ajax readies his sword, “Challenge accepted.”

“SO BE IT!”, Uriel flies into the air and calls down a barrage of golden lightning bolts. Vyz looks up, and with a quick flick of his hand, releases a wave of destructive energy that nullifies all of it. Ajax charges forward, “You’re going down, freak!” He slams down on Vyz with his blade but he just catches it as if it were a twig, “Interesting… This weapon is unnatural to this reality… even so, I’ll still crush you.” Xenos, rushes to Vyz’s side and shouts, “Leave him alone!” Vyz turns and grabs Xenos by the face and lifts him, “Children really do think so highly of themselves these days…” and he tosses him aside. Ajax tries to strike him once more but this too does nothing to faze him. Uriel helps Xenos up and scatters lightning bolts toward Vyz while the others begin to charge in. Vyz watches the group begin to close in and for a brief moment, time seems to stop as fury and frustrations fill the eyes of our heroes!

And Vyz laughs.

“I’m surprised! Most of you may not be as dumb as you look. But allow me to humor you all.”

           Vyz stands up straight, bows his head, and thrusts his arms out. Everyone else skids to a halt and stops their attacks as the portal in Vyz’s tomb once again sparks up with malicious energies. From within, dozens of creatures begin to pour out. They appear humanoid but they shamble on their hands and feet like wounded animals. They speak with pained gurgling noises and leave behind a trail of black and dark purple muck in their wake. Their faces only carry an expression of violent intent, and it’s directed right at the band of saviors; the only people standing in the way of a total invasion by Vyz and these Stygian nightmares.

           “(These are the same creatures from my dream…!)”, Exisite thinks. He stands there, not fully processing what’s happening. For him, everything feels like it’s in slow motion. Why is this happening!? HOW is this happening!?

As I said, there was no time to think about the specifics.

“Slay them.”, Vyz commands. The beats charge forward and everyone dives in to take them out. Wraith commanding his small battalion, Uriel calling down a mighty storm of electrifying magic, Ajax and Xenos defending themselves and working together with Nitro as backup, and Ex, DarkClaw, and Nave working together for the first time in what felt like years. And all poor Exisite can do is watch as more and more of the creatures scuttle in from the portal. Vyz catches his eyes and tilts his head towards the young man, “Really shows how much we’re connected. Doesn’t it, Castor?” Exisite flinches and readies himself for another attack, “H-How do you know all of this about us!? What ARE you?!” Uriel jumps back as she zaps more of the Stygians and calls out to Exisite, “Don’t pay attention to him and focus on the fight! He’s just playing mind games with us!” Vyz chuckles,

“Just like the gods who command you?”

And in a flash, he appears right in front of Uriel, whose expression goes blank. Realizing his friend is in danger, Exisite runs up and strikes at Vyz from the side, but he quickly turns and clashes with the young prodigy. “Think about it, Exisite? What has the path given you other than discrimination?” Exisite jumps back, what Vyz was saying wasn’t incorrect. DarkClaw, quite literally, made him to be a hero, a successor to some sort of greater good. But it seemed like ever since he was ready to take on missions, his presence was always met with negative responses from the public. The life of a “hero” isn’t easy, but nobody ever said it would be this frustrating! If only he could just- “STOP THIS!”, Uriel screams as she dashes behind Vyz and lands a hit on his back. “Hm-! False god following PUPPY.”, he turns and sucker punches Uriel in the face, knocking her back. She gets up and angrily wipes blood from her upper lip, “How…how DARE YOU!” “URI!”, Ex jumps up and hones in on Vyz, but he just catches him and flicks him away, “This is all the Shade family has to offer now? …It’s pitiful. Even back then, your parents offered more of a challenge.” Ajax and Xenos try a dual attack at Vyz’s legs, but of course, he just counters and kicks them away. Exisite’s breathing begins to quicken, “(They’re all getting hurt… and I can’t stop him-!)”

           By this time, a helicopter from the local news station had begun hovering outside the perimeter of the battlefield. Everyone in the city watches with bated breath to see if this new villain will be defeated. Delta, now joined by Indigo and Selena at the base, don’t take their eyes off the television.

Vyz takes a moment and stretches, rolling his shoulders and popping his neck. “You know, Castor…I’ve seen you grow into what you are now. But you could be so much more. Let me show you.” With a snap of his fingers, the portal…reverses!? Instead of releasing more monsters, it begins to pull Exisite in like a vacuum. Everyone at home watches as the news broadcast shows him holding onto dear life on a tree branch for a moment before he loses his grip. He yells in fear but DarkClaw catches him; they both try to hold on but it’s no use as the strength of the portal slowly starts to pull them closer. With the others occupied by the Stygians, Uriel flies over and tries to pull them back but nothing works! They’re not strong enough! Ex, Ajax, Xenos, Nave, Nitro, Wraith, and all the citizens of the city breathlessly watch as the trio is yanked through the portal. Vyz gives one last smile to Ex before following them in. The team yells out in disbelief as they continue to fight for their lives, not at all knowing what their dear friends could be facing on the other side.

Whatever they were thinking, what was about to happen would be so much worse.