#Gates Hero promising to stay with Partner was just sad because at this point I knew what was coming

[eldragon-x]

I don't know how Chunsoft does it but everytime the Hero in a PMD game realizes they have to be separated from Partner, it's been heartbreaking and/or shocking to me

[ashbrea381writings]

Red-Eye to Destiny: Chapter 3, Meeting the Family

Damian frowned nervously as he drove to pick up Marinette and Luka. There had been so many questions from his siblings when he’d told them he would be picking up two dinner guests. 

“Wait, Demon Spawn has friends and he actually WANTS them to come to dinner?” Todd had laughed. “Alfred, I changed my mind, I’m staying for dinner after all!” He called as he walked back to the den for a drink. “I’ve gotta see this!”

“Jason, behave.” Bruce sighed, looking towards the ceiling in frustration. “Damian, are you sure you don’t want to wait until it’s a little quieter around here? We don’t want them to be uncomfortable.”

“I do not believe that will be necessary, Father, they can more than handle it.” Damian had reassured Bruce, but as he drove away, the worry started. They were civilians, and his family wasn’t always good at hiding that they definitely WEREN’T civilians.

Arriving at the address they’d given him, Damian got out of the car to knock. “Dami!” Marinette exclaimed excitedly, opening the door before he’d gotten further than the porch steps. “Come in a minute, we’re almost ready.”

“Hello Marinette.” Damian had gone stiff with nerves and his mind was reeling.

“Damian? Are you alright?” Luka asked from where he was lacing his boots up. “I can feel how tense you are from here.”

“I would like to give you a small warning about my family.” Damian forced himself to say. “All of them are going to be there and they are an odd bunch. I don’t want you to be alarmed if they say something strange.”

“Damian, we’re from Paris, we can handle strange.” Marinette laughed, putting a hand on his arm and squeezing gently. “I can promise that there is nothing, short of them being cannibals or something, that would scare us off. Even if they did, we’d just take you with us.”

“You keep saying that… That you have seen strange things because you are from Paris, but what do you mean by that?” Damian asked, using the question to ground himself in the present.

“You didn’t hear? I thought the Mayor made a public announcement after everything was over?” Marinette frowned before shrugging. “We had our own supervillain for… What, four years?”

“Nearly five before they finally caught him.” Luka corrected, standing and moving to Damian’s other side. “His name was Hawkmoth, Ladybug and her team didn’t announce who he was, just that they’d captured him and his accomplice and that they would be facing consequences fitting to their crimes.”

“At the same press conference that they announced that, Chat Noir -Ladybug’s partner- announced that he would be retiring from being a hero, but that he’d return if asked by Ladybug.” Marinette added carefully.

Damian could feel that they were keeping their emotions carefully modulated, but he couldn’t figure out why. “What did this Hawkmoth do?”

“He would use the power of an ancient magic artifact to take advantage of people when they were feeling negative emotions. He would promise they could get what they desired; the person who rejected them, revenge for some slight, the position they felt was rightfully theirs, that sort of thing. But they were just more of his victims who he used to make more victims.” Marinette sighed. “The only reason that we all survived was because Ladybug was able to reverse any damage done during Akuma attacks.”

Damian looked between his two soulmates, considering the sad but proud look Luka was giving Marinette and the pained look and emotions he saw and felt from Marinette. The same kind of pain when he wasn’t able to save someone. “You two were heroes, weren’t you?” He asked quietly, grabbing each of their hands.

Both were shocked and they exchanged a look before Marinette sighed, “I guess we wouldn’t have been able to hide it from you for long.”

“You know what? I think you will handle my family just fine.” Damian chuckled slightly. “And I cannot wait to see their faces. I won’t tell them, but they might figure it out if you tell them about Paris.”

“Well, shall we make a game of it?” Marinette was full of mischief at this point. “Or perhaps… A bet?”

***

Marinette felt a poke in her pocket, and put a hand there, feeling another on her finger. “Just a minute, I’ll be right back.” She smiled at the boys as she walked towards the bathroom. “What’s up, Plagg?”

“That’s my kitten!” He said excitedly, “I wanna tell him!”

Marinette had never seen him so excited, how could she say no? “Alright, let me break the first part of things, I’ll call you to come out, okay?” Plagg grinned and darted back into her skirt pocket, where she could feel him vibrating with pent-up energy.

Amused beyond belief, she focused her thoughts to just Luka, ‘We’re introducing the Kwami’s.’ At his confirmation, she left the bathroom and wandered over to her boys. “Why don’t we sit down for a couple minutes, we can blame it on traffic or something.” She pointed to the couch, sitting in an armchair.

“What do you mean?” Damian frowned, his confusion obvious to them despite his carefully neutral expression.

“It’s about what you figured out. Us being heroes in Paris.” Luka smiled gently, taking Damian’s hand and pulling him towards the couch. “You weren’t 100% right, but you weren’t wrong either.”

“While Chat did retire, we didn’t entirely.” Marinette began. “That magical artifact that we told you Hawkmoth used? Well, we had them too, just with different powers.”

Luka held out his wrist and pointed to his bracelet. “We still use them on occasion, mostly so we don’t get rusty.”

“So… You guys still run around in costume?” Damian wasn’t sure how to react without giving away his family’s secret.

“Yes. Chat returned his miraculous to me when he retired. I could technically call him back and ask him to take up either the same mantel or a different one, we have a number of them, not just the three. We have the one Hawkmoth used, and his accomplice Mayura. But that’s not even the whole story.” Marinette chuckled. “You see, each one is a Miraculous, that’s the name for them, and each one comes with something else. Tikki, Sass, come out please.”

“These are our Kwami’s.” Luka held his hand out and Sass landed on it, “This is Sass, he’s with the Snake Miraculous. I get the power of Second Chance and can turn back time as many times as I need to within a span of five minutes from the time I set it.”

“And this is Tikki, she is with the Ladybug Miraculous. I can summon an item to help me in battle and return it to fix the damage done in battle if the battle was against another Miraculous. I don’t know if the magic works outside of that, I haven’t tried.”

“Why tell me this now? Why so soon after we met?” Damian stood, walking to the window to look out. His mind was buzzing with information and the knowledge that they somehow trusted him completely already.

“Damian, you’re our soulmate, you were never going to be kept in the dark for long. Besides, there’s someone who wants to meet you.” Marinette said gently, her mind sending soothing thoughts. “Plagg, be gentle, don’t freak him out more than he already is.”

Another Kwami comes out from behind Marinette, floating over to him and settling on the window sill. “Hello, it’s nice to meet you.”

Damian can feel the utter shock of his soulmates, but can’t for the life of him look away from the little black cat in front of him. “Hello.”

“The thing is, some people are more suited to certain Miraculi than others. I’m a nearly-perfect Creation soul with just enough of other things that I can wield other Miraculi with ease, and that was before I ever touched a Miraculous. Luka has the Snake because he’s most suited to its power, and no matter how much I platonically love Chat, and appreciate him for being a good partner, he just wasn’t that well suited to the cat, but we had to have both for us to balance each other.” She explained coming up behind Damian and taking his hand. “Plagg sensed you after we got home, he could tell we’d met you. He said you’re the one most suited to his Miraculous.”

In Marinette’s other hand was a silver ring. “You don’t have to answer right now, but we wanted you to know.” Luka went to the other side of Damian, putting a hand on his shoulder. “Are you alright?”

“Yes. I’m not as unfamiliar with this sort of thing as you think.” Damian took a deep breath, “But that isn’t my story to tell. Thank you for trusting me, both of you. Why don’t you guys hold onto Plagg for now, let me get to know both of you and him for a while before we make any decisions?”

“I can live with that, but only if you promise to visit me!” Plagg announced, flying up to be on-level with Damian’s face, prompting a small smile from him.

“Of course.”

***

The drive to the Manor was quiet, but peaceful. Plagg was back in Marinette’s pocket, as well as Tikki and Sass in their respective hiding places. ‘Why did you discovering that we used to be and kinda still are heroes mean we can handle your family?’ Marinette asked silently, not wanting to disturb the quiet in the car.

‘I’m sure you’ve dealt with your fair share of chaos, and while they’re rowdy and will absolutely be in our business, at least you know they won’t be as bad as some of the villains you’ve dealt with.’ Damian was amused, and his fondness for his family despite his protests shone through the bond.

‘Well, we’ll just have to see who we break first.’ Luka smirked, his rarely seen mischievous side showing a little bit.

‘Break? Are you planning to try and traumatize my family?’ Damian sounded more amused than concerned.

‘If you feel that it takes superheroes to handle them, then we should make sure they can handle us too.’ Marinette giggled quietly, showing Damian that she planned to surprise them.

“This will be fun.” Damian finally said out loud. “I’ll give each of you points based on their reactions.”

“Will we be telling them or let them figure it out?” Luka asked as they drove through the gates of Wayne Manor.

“Let’s see how smart they are.” Damian smirked, taking it slow up the long driveway. “But let’s not sabotage each other like I’ve seen the two of you do.”

Both Parisians blushed and grinned. ‘Where’s the fun in not teasing each other?’ They asked simultaneously.

‘I am so screwed.’ Damian sighed and shook his head, using a phrase he heard from his brothers a number of times. ‘Just, let’s keep the game up as long as possible? We want to see how long it takes them to figure everything out, not give it away because we are being competitive.’

They agree silently and when Damian parks, Luka gets Marinette’s door for her before they walk in. Everyone was there, and the moment they walked in Bruce greeted them with a wave and brief smile on his way to the den. “So, you’ve already met Father, Todd is by the mini bar, Grayson is bouncing over like the nitwit he is.” Damian paused as Marinette giggled a bit at his description. “Cain is on that armchair there, Brown and Drake are on the sofa, and I don’t see Gordon here, but she might be busy.”

“Given what happened at the Gala, I’m going to assume those are your last names?” Marinette asked dryly. When half the room gave a sigh she giggled a bit more and nodded. “Good thing we never told him ours then.”

They went around the room giving first names and Dick stood a little closer than he needed to while looking at them very intently. “Where do I know you two from?”

“Well, we work with Jagged. Luka is in the band with him and I do design for both of them. We’ve been on tour for months, so it’ll be nice to put down some roots here in Gotham again.” Marinette explained.

“Wait. YOU’RE his designer?” Tim sputtered, sitting ramrod straight. “You’re the designer that Jagged works with exclusively, that’s also done work for Clara Nightingale and publicly schooled Gabriel Agrest right before he left the business?”

Marinette and Luka both stiffened when Gabriel’s name was said, and Damian could feel the carefully covered anger before they both smothered it. “Yeah, that’s me.” Marinette’s answer was stiff and brisk, causing everyone in the room to look at her strangely. “Sorry, there’s a reason I was as harsh as I was on Gabriel. I went to school with his son and I cannot say I liked the way Gabriel behaved. He is a rather cold man and I was glad to see Adrien gain a bit more freedom when his father stepped down.”

‘That’s not the full story, but I’ll ask later.’ Damian pointed out silently, feeling them acknowledge the request.

“Dinner is ready.” Alfred called, waiting for them to all go into the formal dining room. Damian ended up at the rear of everyone as he let his soulmates go ahead of him, and was stopped for a moment at the door. “I approve, very much.” Alfred whispered, a small smile gracing his lips.

Damian returned the small smile before schooling his expression and walking to his place on the left side of Luka. ‘Pennyworth already figured it out, but I believe he knew from our meeting at the airport.’

‘Well, he’s more observant than the rest of them then.’ Marinette internally rolled her eyes at the way the others were bickering now that they were all sitting at the table.

“How are you two getting along in Gotham? It can be a little unnerving for new people.” Dick asked, leaning his forearms on the edge of the table. “Are you staying safe?”

“We keep our heads in an emergency.” Marinette nodded, “And we’ve been staying in Gotham off and on for a year or two now, we’re just away pretty frequently because Jagged has been on tour so much lately. Besides, we lived in Paris the whole, what four? Five? Or so years that Hawkmoth was active, so… Yeah, we can handle ourselves.”

“Remember, Mari, we had heroes with magic to fix everything up after the fights, they don’t have that here.” Luka reminded her gently.

“Well yes, but I didn’t have very many times where I got incapacitated in an attack, and I know you had less than most people.” Marinette pointed out, her accent getting heavier.

“Perhaps this is not the time to discuss such things without explaining what you mean?” Damian dryly commented, sweeping a hand out to show the confused faces around the table. “I know we talked about this in the car, but the others here were not part of that conversation.”

“Right… Merde, I don’t know how you guys never heard about Hawkmoth.” Marinette sighed and shook her head.

“Who is this person? A villain?” Tim asked, his voice an intriguing combination of tired and curious.

“Well yes, he wielded a magical artifact called a Miraculous and used it to turn normal people into villains to do his bidding. He chose people who were experiencing a negative emotion, and used his power to corrupt them into villains he could control to get what he wanted.” Marinette explained.

“What did he want?” Jason asked, frowning and crossing his arms.

“Well, the Akuma Victims kept yelling about the Miraculi that Ladybug and Chat Noir used to stop him, so I’m assuming that’s what he was after. There was a lot of collateral damage pretty frequently.” Luka shuddered, Syren flashing through his mind. His family had been spared since they had just unmoored the boat, but seeing all those bodies of people who didn’t get to high ground in time.

That image floated into Mari’s and Damian’s minds, Mari had to blink back tears, recognizing some of the bodies from Luka’s memory. Damian stiffened, and looked at them in concern.

“Collateral damage?” Dick asked quietly, “What sort of collateral damage?”

“Every kind you can think of, really.” Marinette sighed, focusing on warm and  happy thoughts to cheer up her boys. “Deaths, injuries, destruction of property. It was pretty brutal.” She nudged the boys mentally to make sure they were okay. “Thankfully, Ladybug was able to reverse all the damage caused by Akuma battles. Her Cure reversed everything to how it was right before the attack. People, buildings, everything.”

“How did nobody know about this? How did the League not interfere?” Bruce asked, his spine straight and shoulders tense.

“I don’t know, it always seemed like anytime anyone not from Paris left Paris, they would forget about it. The news media within Paris covered it, but it’s almost like nobody paid it any mind from outside of Paris.” Marinette shrugged. “And Ladybug fixed everything, so people would probably think it was a hoax unless they were caught up in an attack and saw it first hand.”

“And now? What happened to all that?” Steph prompted, leaning forward to see them.

“Ladybug and her team defeated Hawkmoth about two and a half years ago. They didn’t reveal who he was, but they said that they were having him punished appropriately and that he would never be a problem again.” Luka informed the room. “And then they said that Chat was retiring unless Ladybug needs him to return, the other heroes were either going back to civilian life or would be on standby, and Ladybug said she’d be around but keeping to herself for the most part.”

They spent the next hour or so eating dinner and sharing stories from different villain fights, both in Gotham and Paris. Damian’s sense of horror grew as he realized how much responsibility was on Marinette’s shoulders the whole time. He did the math and realized that she was 14 when she received her Miraculous, and from what they’d implied earlier, their mentor hadn’t been around much.

‘Damian, breathe, it’s been over for a couple years now, we’re both fine and well-adjusted. You don’t have to panic.’ Luka’s gentle voice whispered in his mind, and he felt like he was being cradled in warmth for a brief moment as Marinette shared a memory of a warm, secure hug to try and calm him.

‘I’m alright now, thank you.’ He responded quietly, still processing but from the perspective of the fact that it was long since over before he even met them.

Just then, Marinette’s phone began to ring. “Oh! I wasn’t expecting…” She trailed off when she saw the caller ID. “I’ll be right back.” She stood and walked towards the den where they’d been before dinner, using the bond as she went to tell the boys, ‘It’s Adrien.’

‘Tell him hello from me, I hope everything’s okay.’ Luka responded, frowning in concern.

“Does she get phone calls like that a lot? Where she storms out to take it?” Jason asked lazily, leaning back in his chair and tipping it onto the back legs.

“The only person she leaves the room like that for is Adrien.” Luka sighed. “We both worry about him given his Father’s behavior when we were younger, and given that it’s… Nearly 9pm where he is and he gets up super early, it’s rather odd that he would call without texting first.” Luka checked the time on his phone and sighed. “Adrien is sort of like a little brother to us both, despite being the same age as Mari and only a little younger than me. We worry about him and check in frequently, but it’s usually at scheduled times or with a text beforehand.”

Both Luka and Damian felt a shock of excitement flash through their bond with Marinette. Exchanging a look with Damian, Luka stood carefully. “I’m going to check on her.”

In the den, Luka found Marinette rapidly gushing in French over the phone at Adrien, who he could hear laughing and trying to calm her down. “Mari? What has you in such high spirits, Melody?” He asked, grinning as he couldn’t contain the happiness that Mari was putting out.

“Adrien said that he and his mom are in Metropolis and he found his soulmate!” She giggled, “He forgot to text ahead because he’s just so excited and wants to meet up sometime soon!”

“Alright, congratulations, Adrien, I’d be happy for us to all meet up, but Melody, we left an entire room full of people we were talking with in suspense.” Luka chuckled and spoke just loud enough for Adrien to hear him.

“Sorry for the interruption! I’ll text you guys with the details!” Adrien laughed and hung up without saying goodbye.

“Come on, Melody, let’s get back to dinner.”

***

Damian felt his phone buzz incessantly, but refused to check it, instead finishing dinner with his soulmates and family, waiting for them to figure out the truth. ‘How long will we leave them in suspense before telling the truth?’ He asked as they moved back to the den for coffee.

‘We could just sit on either side of you and see if that’s a big enough hint?’ Mari had gotten a bit exasperated with how oblivious the family was. ‘Honestly, they aren’t very observant, are they?’

‘About each other within the family? Not at all. With people outside of this house? Ridiculously so. Which is what makes this so interesting.’ Damian smirked a bit and crossed his arms, sitting on one of the sofas instead of his usual armchair.

Marinette and Luka sat on either side of him perfectly in sync, as though they’d practiced it. There were a few moments of silence before Jason started laughing, “I knew it!!!” He doubled over laughing, not even hearing the confusion and queries of his family.

The trio watched him wheeze in amusement, ‘I didn’t expect him to be the first to say something.’ Damian mused, raising an eyebrow.

“Jay, what are you raving about now?!” Tim sighed, slumping back into Damian’s usual armchair before stiffening and sitting up straight. “Wait, since when do YOU sit on the couch?! With people you just met?!”

The rest of the family started to mutter to themselves and Cass began to chuckle, catching the rest of them off guard. “Called it.” Was all she said, looking pointedly at Alfred.

“Yes, Miss Cassandra, you did. Master Jason, please get off the floor, we have chairs.” Alfred set down the kettle of coffee and the cups on a table and began to serve it up. “Miss Cassandra spoke to me this morning that this was a possibility, and I honestly didn’t have the heart to tell her I already knew.”

Marinette began to giggle, “I guess you’re the observant one in the family.”

Cass nodded and gave Marinette a thumbs up, mouthing, -I approve-.

More giggles from Marinette, this time with a few chuckles from Luka before the room exploded with everyone asking what was going on and why half the room knew while the rest didn’t until they all looked down to see that Damian was holding hands with both Parisians.

“Seems it was fate that I had to catch a last-minute flight.” Damian said matter-of-factly. “They are my soulmates.”

[blue-honeycomb]

Learning to Fly [Hawks x Reader]

For @sparkncharge. Merry Christmas! I tried, but I can't promise anything of significant quality. Hopefully the situation turned out well in the end either way.

Summary: Sometimes the only way to teach a bird to fly is to set it free, so that it may always return no matter how far it wanders.

Masterlist

---

It wasn't snowing like the pictures say it should on Christmas, but you suppose Fukuoka has never been particularly scenic as far as the winter season goes. However, even as a child you could see that there were many beautiful sights where you lived, though those sights meant little when your family had only harsh words and harsher stares for the likes of each other. The happiest time of the year and you're spending it hiding in the garden, trying to block out the yells and curses of your family stomping around the house like enraged bulls.

The happiest time of the year. What a joke. All of five years old and you knew this wasn't something anyone would consider a happy occasion.

You're a clever girl though. While everyone was busy fighting you'd packed up the best sweets within reach and a few other goods. Namely, your favorite blanket, your hero plushie and a whole bag of breaded chicken.

So now there you were, tucked away closest to the back of your family's gated property behind the scratchy bush no one ever bothered to trim. Which was just fine by you. It meant you didn't have to put much effort into concealing yourself. You expected the fighting wouldn't stop for some time and you had no desire to spend it crammed into a tiny space with no leg room.

What you didn't expect though, was the tiny face that peeked back at you from the damp, trash-riddled alleyway behind the apartments next to your house.

You startled, landing back on your bottom from your crouched position and nearly crushing your pilfered goods on the way down. The small child doesn't move though, impassive golden eyes staring into your eyes unflinchingly as you catch your breath.

It took a moment, but eventually you recovered enough to straighten yourself out and address the situation properly. "Hello. Who are you? Mom says I'm not allowed to give strangers my name, but you can call me Sparks! That's what all my friends call me."

The boy remains quiet, but he lowers his face to hide it in his Endeavor doll and you realize for the first time that he has bright red wings.

You gasp excitedly, clutching at the gate with both hands with stars in your eyes. "Are those wings? Can you fly!?" The boy shrugs, still hiding his face.

You pout, family drama all but forgotten in favor of interacting with your new friend. "I think you can. Besides, if you fly over the gate, then we can play together!" A smile brightens your face at the prospect.

The boy looks up from his plushie, eyes widening with faint hope, before they dim again and he hides his face once more in the soft red flames of the doll's shoulders. He shakes his head, taking a step back but not moving away completely. You can all but hear the indecisiveness warring in his head even without a mind quirk.

You make up your mind. You start to gather all your things into the blanket, tying it shut at the top and hoising it into your arms. On the other side of the gate you don't see the boy hide his face deeper into his toy, a sheen of tears beginning to shine at the rims of his eyes.

Then you turn to the gate and toss the bundle over the top to land beside the boy, startling him into meeting your gaze. The eye contact lasts only a moment though, because no sooner does the bundle land are you hoisting yourself into the bush, scrambling through the branches like a particularly large and clumsy squirrel.

He watches with amazement as you manage to get all the way to the top, gripping his plushie ever tighter at you lean against the gate and brace yourself on it. Soon, you're sitting at the very top, one leg straddling the gate and the other moving down to find lodging in the gate rings below. By this time the boy has moved forward a bit, torn between wonderment at your bravery and fear at your recklessness.

Either way, he can't help but think that you are the most amazing person he's ever seen. Kind and brave and like a real life hero overcoming impossible odds right in front of him. Even if he knew your heart was beating a little faster with each step you'd climbed, and your breath caught with each foot you pressed down, he'd still think the world of you.

After what seemed like an eternity you were back on the ground, taking only a moment to settle your racing heart before turning to face your new friend, smile widening with triumph at his wide-eyed expression.

"Now let's play!" You laughed, reaching out to take his hand and snatching up the tied blanket as you tugged him along. "We'll play heros, kay? I'll be the hero first, 'cause I call it, and then you can be the hero. I'll be at the very top of the slide, so you have to use your wings to fly up and stop me from taking over the world." You lean closer to his still stunned face and whisper in his ear. "I'll let you use the ladder this time, but one day you gonna fly, kay?" He just nods stiffly, squeezing the Endeavor plushie tightly to his chest to keep his heart from escaping.

A few steps later he asks quietly, hiding his face. "What if I want to help you take over the world?"

You stop suddenly, stunned, the thought having never even crossed your mind. You take him by the shoulders without warning and grin, wild, free and awed in equal measure.

"Then we'd be partners! We could do, like, super spy stuff! I'll be the bad guy and you'll be my spy. Then when the heros think they've got me cornered- Bam! There you are!" You pull him towards you, pressing your forehead to his and his heart tries to escape again. "It'll be the plot twist." You whisper with a pleased giggle, eyes creased and grin stretched wide across your face.

"Partners." He agrees quietly, a red tint staining his ears and his heart thrashing wildly against his chest.

You nod, satisfied with the agreement and march you both to the playground, his small hand held tightly in yours. At some point he squeezes back, and you think that maybe this Christmas won't be so bad after all.

He disappeared 9 months later. No warning, no apologies. Just gone.

He never did fly to you. Not once. That's probably what hurt the most. That for all the happiness you shared together- the smiles, the laughs, the dreams- this place and everyone in it, even you, held him stagnant.

Even as you grew and learned that a caged bird will never learn to fly unless it is set free, it still hurt.

Years passed and you grew. You learned. You accepted and you forgave him and all the circumstances that led to your separation.

Even if he had to leave you behind to learn to soar, you'd like to think you taught him something. Even if only to keep trying.

In time, you learned to fly too.

---

Several Years Later

---

The sky is gray in your hometown, as it usually is during the winter, but you find yourself not as bothered by it as you'd been as a child. The cold, uncomfortable plastic you're sitting on, however, could be improved. Then again there's something nostalgic about this place, even years after your friend disappeared without a word and you moved away to start your own life.

It'd hurt of course, because you two had been best friends, but in time you'd come to accept that it'd been for the best. He was a hero now, after all. Number 2, in fact, and living out all those dreams you'd had together.

You were happy for him, truly. Small and quiet though he'd been, never once had you not seen the potential in him. He was just never meant to stay in this gray and poverty-stricken place. He had always been too bright for that.

You missed him though. Years passed and you grew older, made a life for yourself, learned hard life lessons and forgot others, and still the years kept moving. But never once had you forgotten about him.

You wondered if he remembered you at all. Probably not. You'd only spent a few short months with each other after all, and he quickly grew to do bigger and better things faster than seemed possible. You doubted he had the time to remember his own name let alone the girl who'd dragged him around the playground and fed him smuggled chicken tenders.

Caught up in your memories you failed to notice the slip of red that darted though the overcast sky. You didn't notice as it suddenly faltered high above you, looping around ungracefully to come closer in a last minute manuver. You didn't even hear as a pair of boots-clad feet landed lightly behind you, perched on the spy box at the very top of the playground equipment.

"So, evil doer." Came a deep, smooth voice from above. "Are we ready to take over the world together. Though Christmas sequels are such a cliche."

You could feel your heart suddenly begin to thrash, breath catching as you looked over your shoulder to gaze up at the dashing smirk spread wide across that familiar, unfamiliar face. A great pair of bright red wings stretched under your stunned gaze, all but shimmering against the gray sky. His eyes were piercing in a way they'd not been as a child, but that quiet intelligence hadn't changed and they caught you in their sway.

"Didn't think I'd forget, did you?" He asked with a smile, not accusing but with a vaguely sad undertone. He hopped off the spy box to land closer to you, but still not quite closing the distance. You were just starting to get to your feet, slow and unsteady in your disbelief.

He rubbed the back of his head, smile held on his face but you could still remember how his eyes would hood when he was hiding his true feelings- when he was hurting. As he was now, gazing at you with that smug smile but quietly hurting eyes.

"Finally found my wings."

You take a step towards him, stop. His smile faltered at your hesitance and that was all you needed to throw yourself at him with all your strength. He barely budged, but with the way he tensed you may as well of been hitting a brick wall.

"Stupid." You gritted your teeth hard to hold back the tears threatening to spill over, hiding your face in his jacket. "They'd always been there. You just needed the opportunity to use them."

He embraced you back, wings folding around you both as he leaned into your hold. He smelt of cold air and expensive cologne, but something savory too. "Good thing I had such a pushy partner, right? Never would have even gotten off the ground if someone hadn't shown me the paces."

You snort, but smile none the less. "When did you become such a sweet talker?"

He laughed at that, holding you tighter as his shoulders shook with the force of it. "Have you seen my interviews? Sweet's not the word I'd use "

You slap him on the back with your hand. "And a smartass to boot. You were such a quiet boy. What happened?" You teased, and it was like the years were melting away in the warmth and safety of his embrace.

"I'm just naturally an asshole. You were just too taken by my good looks to notice."

You finally pull back from his embrace, smile sitting broadly on your lips and tears leaving tracks down your face. "More like I was in fear of the cannibalism I was forced to play witness to every time we met." He pouts and the expression is so familiar you can feel the happiness that'd been fluttering wildly in your stomach escape the moment your mouth opens. "I missed you, you know."

He pauses, smile frozen on his lips before his entire expression softens. His eyes glimmer like molten gold as he gazes at you with tender affection. "Yeah. So did I."

He leaned forward, slowly, giving you the chance to pull back. When you don't he presses his lips gently against your forehead, disconnecting only to rest his forehead against yours. "Here's the plot twist. There's no spy. The hero just loved the villian too much to ever let her fall."

You eyes widen, stunned by the bold confession, before a warm smile rests on your lips.

You laughed.

"I can live with that."

[darkzorua100]

I first off like to say that a part of me is disappointed that we didn’t actually get the clash of the titans between Revolver and Soulburner. That duel would have just been so epic and I’m crossing my fingers so hard that they will end up having a rematch in the future. I’m very thankful though that the writers didn’t go the route I seriously thought they would have by having Lightning’s group show up to interrupt the duel just so Soulburner wouldn’t have actually lose because lets be real here, with the way he was acting, Revolver would have kicked his ass so badly if he wanted to. 

No, I’m genuinely surprised how much I enjoyed this episode. Like holy crap, this was amazing for character development and season 1 nostalgia. This is a obvious statement but jesus everyone in this show needs therapy, even those that went to therapy need more therapy!

First off let’s talk about Takeru/Soulburner. This episode really solidified a big character flaw of his. His emotions. When his anger gets the better of him, he really doesn’t not think straight. His dueling, while it might not seem like it on the surface, was just so rash, summoning his ace monster whose effect makes it so much better to summon it in the late game but he summoned it right out of the gate just to have a big beater on the field. And I just love how Flame was the one to address this. He was willing to risk Flame’s very life, when it wasn’t necessary in the first place, just to get his revenge on Revolver. And guess what, he didn’t care. He put his own partner’s existence at risk, not thinking of the consequences of his actions, because all he was thinking about in that very moment was getting even at Revolver for the Hanoi Project and his parents’ death. If Revolver was actually going to be dueling for keeps, he would have destroyed him because Soulburner wasn’t thinking straight at all. He would have lost Flame because his anger got the best of him in that moment. Interesting implications for what this could mean for the future because now that this fatal flaw of Takeru’s has been addressed, it is definitely going to come back to bite him in the ass and the next time this happens, he is going to lose Flame and who knows how Takeru is going to react to that. After all, Flame is the one that has been helping Takeru through all of his problems, the one that has been addressing his problems and helping him find a solution for them. His depression, his lack of confidence in himself, his anger. I’m genuinely worried about Takeru’s emotion state if he actually does lose Flame. It is definitely not going to be pretty.

Now Ryoken/Revolver. Oh my god, and I thought his guilt complex was bad during season 1. It seriously has gotten so much worse during season 2. Now I know the fandom is very divided when it comes to Ryoken/Revolver as a character. You either love his guts or you want to stab said guts. There really is no middle ground when it comes to him. Still, regardless if you hate the guy or love him, you can’t deny his impact on the show. This guy has had a hand in everything that has happen at this point. And that really has not been a good thing for Ryoken’s mental state. This whole duel, Revolver allowed Soulburner to use him as a punching bag to unleash his frustration on because in his eyes, he probably thinks he deserves it as the son of the man who destroyed Takeru’s life. And it is just sad because when it comes to the Hanoi Project, Ryoken did nothing wrong! Yes he was the reason that Yusaku ended up in the Hanoi Project but do I have to restate the fact that he was just a kid! Heck I even went back to episode 43, the episode where we got Ryoken’s backstory, and he even states it himself that he had no idea what was actually going on! So no, you actually can’t blame him for that. If anything, he saved his life! Those six kids probably would have died if Ryoken didn’t do what he did. But as we all know, Ryoken couldn’t feel good about that because life had to guilt him with ever choice he makes. Geez, Ryoken seriously is just the unofficial 7th Lost Child. This single event destroyed his life as well and has continued to destroy it. He became Revolver when he was 13. That just says a lot right there. He is just so obsessed with completing his father’s work that’s lets say he actually does destroy all six Ignises. Then what? Where does he seriously go from there? I don’t know and it is concerning when you remember that he was planning on suicide bombing Link Vrains just to kill the Ignis.

I do like to mention Yusaku/Playmaker role in this whole thing. As good as this duel was for Ryoken and Takeru’s characters, this whole thing probably could have been avoid if he just told Takeru what the heck was up when it come to Revolver. Yeah we know Yusaku isn’t some social butterfly, and in his mind probably didn’t think it was his right to tell Takeru about Ryoken without his permission, but you seriously didn’t tell Takeru anything?! You could have left the detail out about who Revolver actually was, again that feels like something Ryoken should do personally (and holy crap he actually did in front of everyone. That made my jaw drop when he revealed his real life identity to everyone) but you could have at least told him that Revolver was the one to save you guys from the Hanoi Project and inform him that he wasn’t the one directly responsible for it. I feel like this is a trust issue between them that needs to be addressed but isn’t going to be. Yusaku has shown that he’s a bit protective of Takeru after the whole Blood Shepherd’s incident but that doesn’t mean you just leave the guy in the dark when it comes to the same event that you both were apart of. He has a right to know as well, Yusaku. I mean yeah he needed to get that build up anger out of his system but this situation still could have been handled so much better if you just told him the truth. Though with that in mind, I take it he doesn’t know about Spectre being a Lost Child either? Yeah we just need to sit Takeru down and tell him everything huh?

Now for the other half of the episode. The return of the Tower of Hanoi. Holy crap, that was awesome. I love when shows take a symbol that was once used as destruction and turn it into something the heroes can use later down the line. The Tower of Hanoi has essentially been turned into the symbol of the alliance between Team Playmaker and the Knights of Hanoi since they all came together to turn it into a locator for Lightning. That was just the highlight of my week. I also liked how Takeru and Flame had a moment together about this alliance. Ryoken knows that Takeru sucks at coding but he still had him show up, knowing that he was going to be pissed at him, just so he could get his anger out of his system. I just love how in his own way Ryoken cares for each of the Lost Incident victims and wants to make up to them for what his father did. They are still going to have to fight against each other later down the line but I’m going to enjoy this alliance and Ryoken being a big brother figure to the Lost Childen as long as I can. On another note, I find it interesting how in this episode we find out how Neo Link Vrains wasn’t even a fixed up and improved Link Vrains but simply a new version of it. The old was so destroyed because of the Tower of Hanoi that SOL Technologies couldn’t fix it or they simply didn’t even try to. Knowing SOL, they probably didn’t even try. 

The Frog and Pigeon. I love how Revolver wasn’t having any of their crap and just trapped them in a hamster ball and just decided on the spot that “hey I have a frog and pigeon as pets now.” I truly do love this meme lord. He really make this show so much more fun. I do like how he allowed them to come along with him and the others when they were entering Mirror Link Vrains. I truly do think Revolver is going to use them to show the world that the Knights of Hanoi are fighting for a good reason and that the Ignises are a threat to humanity. Don’t think the start of season 3 is looking to good in Playmaker’s favor if he and his team are going to be seen as the enemies in that case for supporting humanity’s greatest threat. 

So a last few things to add before I wrap this up. Playmaker/Ai, Soulburner/Flame, Blue Maiden/Aqua, Revolver, and Spectre are the ones heading into Mirror Link Vrains. Ghost Girl is staying behind to watch over normal Link Vrains should Lightning unleash an attack while everyone is gone. Kusanagi is watching over the boys as always, the rest of the Knights are watching over Revolver and Spectre as while as the rest of the network, and Blue Maiden...well she is a strong independent woman who doesn’t need anyone watching over her. We got to see Bohman and Haru during this episode. Bohman seems to be getting his final upgrades and he thanks Haru for watching over him as a brother during his beginning states but Haru just tells him he did so because of his orders. Interesting how Bohman still see Haru as his brother and I wonder if that’s going to have any effect in the upcoming episodes for the both of them? Bohman did say an infamous line from ARC-V, implying that him and Haru are also going to be joining together at some point and it makes it wonder if he’s actually going to go through with that? Ai finally fulfilled his promise to Roboppy and made her smarter and I’m 100% sure that’s going to have some terrible repercussions. Akira seems to have made a program to protect Link Vrains so hopefully he will be joining Ghost Girl soon in guard duty. Windy...I don’t even know what the heck he is wearing. The tiny cape and eyepatch are just amazing. He isn’t to happy about his new appearance though. Seriously hoping his Origin has a similar design because parallels. 

But yeah a really good episode. I bash on this show a lot but when it does good things, they are really good things. The preview is also looking promising because with what we saw of Haru this episode and what was stated about him in the preview, it really looks like Blue Maiden might actually get the win and get through to Haru. This will be a nice call back if so to season 1 during her duel against Spectre on how she tried and failed to save him because she truly didn’t understand him. Maybe this time she will with Haru? If not, and she actually does end up losing, the fake out is real.

We also have the summary for episode 87 now and yeah Spectre vs Lightning is going to be two parts. Seems that Spectre has taken back the lead but I’m still 100% he isn’t beating Lightning. I am curious now though, after thinking about it, that if he does end up getting killed during this duel, similar to how he felt Earth’s death, will Go end up feeling Spectre’s death because Earth is inside of him? Again I’m a sucker for parallels so I’m very curious to see if Go will be on the cast list for this episode because of this. Also Revolver’s reaction. Lightning has just been going for Ryoken’s throat, trying to wear him down by taking out his allies. If he takes out Spectre, that will be a hard blow to Revolver. If Lightning does have a clone of Dr. Kogami around here somewhere, oh boy here come the pain train. Next stop, Revolver.