#SHE certainly was convinced i was the villian while i was just trying to help my friend

[seawitchkaraoke]

heads up, this is about The Trial everyone won’t shut up about, so skip if you don’t wanna hear it. not tagging bc i don’t want the fans of either side to come running at me

i think y’all need to learn that sometimes things are simply unsatisfying and there are no good solutions and you simply will never know whether ‘‘the good ones’‘ won or not bc you do not know who “the good ones” are (or whether anyone is)

Like. Option 1: He abused her, she now owes him damages for writing about things that actually did happen -> objectively horrible if this is what happens I feel very sorry for her

Ooption 2: She abused him and if he’d lost he would have to keep sitting by while she tells everyone it was the other way around -> also objectively horrible and in this case i’d be glad he won, good for him

Option 3: they both hurt and abused each other, everyone is the worst, there are no innocents -> fuck it i guess, doesn’t matter who won

But like. None of us know the truth. The jury found it “more likely than not” that it’s something along the lines of option 2 (but this is a civil case so no “beyond a reasonable doubt” it’s just “more likely than not” aka like 51%) but they don’t know either. Presumably the two of them know. But idk man, they probably both do genuienly think of themselves as the victim, bc that is how real life abusers work, they usually don’t think of themselves as abusive (source: I’ve met abusers)

And everyone acting like they somehow know 100% what the actual truth is annoy me so much, shut up, you don’t know shit, none of us know. Yes that sucks! Yes that’s really uncomfortable! Yes it’s easier to take a side and simply Be Sure of what Real Justice would be! But you don’t know! I don’t know either! I really don’t like not knowing, I would love to be as certain as y’all are, but I simply do not know and I’m just gonna have to live with that. I highly doubt either of them has enough evidence that they’d win an actual “beyond reasonable doubt” abuse case with how close this civil one was.

Also no, it doesn’t set a legal precedent, that is not how legal precedents work.

And yes if this encourages abusers to file for defamation or discourages victims from speaking out that sucks but like. There was no winning here. That would have happened no matter what. If he lost there’d now be posts everywhere about how this discourages male victims from fighting back or whatever, there is no winning here.  Especially since again, we simply cannot know who the actual “villian” is.

[some-dr-writings]

Nagito and Kokichi x SHSL Therapist during the Killing Game:

Nagito Komeida:

·       “Listen, because I am only going to say this once.” “Ah, the words of the Ultimate Therapist. Of course I will listen intently.” “In a situation like that which we are in now this is stupid, very stupid, BUT bottling things up would only be worse. Open communication is the best, so you do not need to give me an answer or reciprocate. All I’m saying is you certainly have some mental issues that I highly recommend you look to a professional for…” You scribbled down some names, addressed and phone numbers on a little piece of paper before passing it to Nagito. “I know you respect those you see as ‘Ultimate’ and that you likely would not listen to any professional other than myself, but I can’t because I have a crush on you. So listen to me on this, when we get out of her contact one of these people, and LISTEN to them. I know they will treat you well and help you in a way I legally and professionally can’t.” You placed a hand on Nagito’s head, lightly ruffling his fluffy hair before turning around and walking away. “… huh?... w-wait, Wait!” Confused you looked over your shoulder finding Nagito clutching on of your hands and his face flushed a bright red. “Huh, so you have the gall to touch me. Good, you’re already making improvements. Normally you’d say you’re unworthy.” “You like me too!?” “… Ah, so the feeling’s mutual.”

·       Romance in a killing game, and with Nagito of all people was certainly an experience… in that it felt exactly like a normal relationship, even without the threat of death looming in the air. It was a nice escape from it all. Nagito so believed his ‘superiors’ would escape he seemingly didn’t have a care in the world, so the relationship didn’t feel forced or out of place, at least between the two of you. There still was the whole Nagito thinking he’s trash thing, but you could try to boost up his self-worth as his partner, though not going into full out therapy mode was rather difficult for you.

·       …

·       Then he died in that messed up case. You didn’t realize just how attached to him you had gotten till that case… And you hated him. It was not for how depraved he made his killing or anything else, no. It was because you knew him, and you knew he thought you wouldn’t care, being a strong Ultimate and if you did fall into despair because of him it would only bloom into a bright hope. No matter what to him everything would end happily and you were left behind to pick up the pieces. You knew they why and how Nagito’s thinking process worked, but it hurt all the more because you understood.

·       Then when you awoke from the simulation… it took time, and a lot of work but eventually you were willing to give your relationship another shot.

    Kokichi Oma:

·       From the very start, even before you had learned you were to be forced to kill one another in some twisted torture masquerading as a game, you had taken interest in the Super High School Level Supreme Leader. From your first impression of him he was just a jovial guy who wanted to have fun. Even after the… ‘game’ began he kept looking out for everyone, getting Kaede to stop in her escapade to escape through the tunnel when all it was doing was hurting everyone. He was never direct in his kindness likely due to not wanting Monokuma to target him like it had Kaede and her plans. He understood people on a level most others over looked, much like yourself.

·       Even after he began to push others away you still spent time with him, your excuse either being to keep an eye on him or socially isolating him would only unhinge him more so you had to keep him company. Being the Super High School Level Therapist, the others didn’t question how you’d hug Kokichi or hold his hand. They didn’t think twice about you giving him gifts and the like, you always saying you had to be extra affectionate to pick up the slack of others being unwilling to even approach the troublemaker. You even gave them fake reports on his mental well being to further convince them.

·       Though you never admitted your feelings, you both understood what was going on. You both just indulged in the moment, neither of you being sure these feelings would last, but it didn’t matter if they would last or if they just appeared as a means of escapism or self-preservation in this insanity, you both possibly would never escape so… the feelings might as well as have been real.

·       Kokichi tried rejecting you, he truly did, he didn’t want to hurt you, Kokichi wasn’t planning on escaping he knew no matter what SOMEONE would have to die, and if everyone hated him, it wouldn’t hurt… but even he couldn’t lie to himself, he needed some emotional support through all this, and you did just that, through both honesty and lies so at least the others would stay clear of him and still trust you. Every hug, every second holding hands, even just a tender glance given across the room, he cherished every last moment… Yet it also stabbed at him, even if all the others didn’t care for him… he’d still hurt one. The one person he was most attached too on top of that… you would even UNDERSTAND why… it was so cruel, he couldn’t help but laugh every time he thought about it.

·       Then… then when he ‘revealed’ he was the Mastermind, summoning the exisals, you acted like you were in on it all, that you were working with him as a obedient member of his secret organization. He couldn’t call you out or else it’d ruin his whole plan, the others would become suspicious. You had forced his hand, he had to take you along, truthfully it was the smart move, but… he hated it so much… at least he could be with you and not just isolated with an enraged Kaito. The pair of you pretended to be some super villains who had finally taken over the world, like this all was some cartoon… but like any cartoon the villians lose at some point Maki having broken in trying to save Kaito and kill you both. She however more so had her sights set on you, enraged by your betrayal of their trust, HER trust!

·       The trial was true hell, you trying desperately to keep Kaito from ruining Kokichi’s sacrifice, his plan for Kaito’s own self important grandeur or whatever while also trying to not get murdered by an assassin. But the idiot won, it was all in vain, only more deaths and even more pain.

·       After the trial had come to an end, you isolated yourself. You just… needed time to process it all.

[wordupcomics]

Where are the rest of the villains in this AU? :0

So I've actually answered this question before, and was just gonna link you to the post....but I can't seem to find it so....guess I'll be answering this again...(I honestly wouldn't care if there weren't enough villains to fill a college campus 🤦‍♀️)

So a lot of this is repeated from the last post, wherever it is now 😂 but I believe I expanded on several of these villains too.

First let's cover all the villains as a whole. They are all no longer villains! Tobey went good at around 14 and ended up unintentionally inspired a lot of villains to slowly do the same. The last few villains gave up crime when WordGirl retired because they didn't feel like crime would be the same without WordGirl coming to stop them. A few years after Tobey went good, when several villains had already gone good, Two Brains and Tobey teamed up to create the Anti-Villain Association (AVA), which was intended to be a place where former villains and criminals could talk out their issues with other former villains so that they wouldn't turn back to crime. It's still running to this day and they meet once a week at Two Brains's old lair. They don't just keep it to their meetings, they also have fun functions and activities. For the most part the city doesn't think twice about the AVA, but you know there are always those people who don't trust others, and these types of people are convinced the AVA is simply a cover up, that all the former villains are still villains and are gathering to plan a teamed take over of the city or world. The AVA generally ignores these people. Many of each villains' respective weapons were destroyed after going good, but some weapons still remain for different reasons. Some weapons are nice to have for an emergency (Two Brains has rays that don't hurt people, just trap their feet with spray cheese, a nice thing to keep around in the event of a burglary), some weapons have uses in every day life (when making dozens of sandwiches at once, Chuck's condiment ray comes in handy), some felt it was wrong to destroy them for no reason if they weren't hurting anyone or anything (Tobey's robots who weren't destroyed by WordGirl are happily living in a very large cabin DEEP in the woods, Tobey didn't feel right about destroying them, they are practically sentient!) and some the villains felt were too dangerous to destroy (Mr. Big had more advanced mind control tech that he and Leslie were worried would send out a mind control signal if destroyed, rather than take the risk, they simply locked them up under high security.)

Now let's get into each AVA member (well I mean i guarantee I'll forget people, but I'm gonna try and if I missed a specific former villian you want to know about let me know):

Two Brains- The Steven brain was especially inspired by Tobey's actions, and wanted to be a good guy again. However he knew keeping the mouse brain at bay would be a challenge, and knew his only chance of being good was to find a legal way of getting his cheese fix. So Two Brains started making his own cheese. He even made a cheese aging ray to speed up the process. He ended up being able to make more cheese than he could eat, and turned it into a business. Because he doesn't have to spend actual time on the aging part, he can sell quality cheese for a cheap price, and it's a very successful business. I don't have a company name for his cheese business, but the slogan is "Evilly Delicious!"  His henchmen joined his efforts and still help with the cheese factory. One henchmen, the one with no name, had a daughter (also unnamed because I think I'm funny XD) that Two Brains always considered to be a granddaughter to him. She is aware of her family's past actions and is fine with it. She sometimes will help in the cheese factory but generally prefers not to. Two Brains still co-runs the AVA with Tobey.

Chuck and Butcher- Since they went good around the same time and did the same thing, I'm just doing them together. Chuck went for his dream of running his own sandwich shop, which started as a food truck and now is a restaurant, and Butcher partnered with him and helped him. Chuck makes the sandwiches and figures out the recipes, and Butcher helps and supplies the meat. They buy their cheese from Two Brains. Chuck has a better, albeit not perfect relationship with his mom and brother. Chuck also at one point made T shirts to sell in the sandwich shop...the only people who bought any were the other members of the AVA, and that was only to be supportive. The only people who ever actually wear the T shirts are Butcher and Whammer, and again, it's really only to be supportive and it's not very often they get worn. Butcher got married, had a son, and later had a divorce. The marriage was fine, and the divorce was civil, and he's really good friends with his ex-wife and her new husband. His son's name is Kale and he has powers similar to his dad, except dealing with vegetables. Butcher and Kale don't have the best relationship, and this is really on Kale's part. Kale's very prideful and shuts out help when it's offered to him, even if he needs it (which is often) and Butcher's instinct is always to help his son. Kale has a son of his own who he had at a younger age, and who's mother is currently out of the picture. The son's name is Baker, he's 8 and like his father and grandfather (and great grandfather!) has food related powers, his relating specifically to bread (bread, not pastries! Though Baker does like baking pastries!). Baker loves his grandpa and loves spending time with him. While Kale may shut his dad out when he needs help, it's nothing that would ever make Kale keep Baker away from Butcher.

Granny May- Oh yeah, she's still alive. TBH she's probably the oldest person in the city lol. She simply retired crime upon her family's request. She currently is living in an assisted living facility and is still going strong! She's in a scooter now, but still carries a cane with her for no other reason than to whack people of her own volition.

Mr. Big- Big really struggled with going good, despite wanting to. eventually he figured out his problem was greed and wanting money, so he went in the complete opposite direction and became a minimalist hippie. He currently lives in a trailer park, still has a collection of soft bunny toys and uses a walker now. He and Leslie are good friends.

Leslie- When Big went all hippie, he gave his business to Leslie. She, practically overnight, turned it around into a very successful, but also very sustainable and ethical business. Essentially it's Amazon if they had a heart 🙃

Whammer- Whammer loves his job as a professional demolisher! You need an unsafe building torn down? Call Whammer and he'll wham it down! Remodeling your kitchen and need it gutted first? Call Whammer, he'll be happy to wham your kitchen! Snow covering the ground and need the roads cleared? Call Whammer with caution cause he might accidentally pile all the snow against the buildings, trapping everyone inside, but damn those roads sure will be whammed clear!

Amazing Rope Guy- ARG got decent at rope tricks and is now an entertainer. He will certainly not be considered for America's Got Talent but if you want to entertain children at a birthday party and are on a budget, he's your guy! Becky and Tobey used to call him for every one of Theo's birthday parties (to support him) until Theo politely requested they stop. Now he's being hired for Julie's parties.

Lady Redundant Woman- over the years she moved up in her copier place, and eventually had done every position there. Now knowing how to do every position required in a copier store, she opened her own store and her copies are the employees. It's perfect because no matter what, she always has the EXACT right amount of workers, and technically she's the only one working so she can keep all the money for herself or her business (corrupt business people, don't get any ideas!). Dave visits her often and is so proud of her. She hates this. But she sure does love her copy store!

Ms. Question- She got hired onto the police force as a professional interrogator. As you can imagine, she's VERY good at her job. She doesn't even use her powers most of the time. That being said, if it was a severe crime like a murder and the person just wasn't talking or she had reason to believe they were lying or withholding details, she would be happy to use her powers, but most of the time she refuses to use her powers on others.

Learnerer- Is a detective! He watches suspects and learns their habits and can easily detect clues that will tell him exactly who it was if it was someone he's observed. He works with Ms. Question often and they're actually a pretty good team. How's that for a team up?

Victoria Best- When her and her brother were teenagers, they were taken away from their parents and put into a foster family. At first neither of them were happy for obvious reasons, they were just taken away from their parents and home. However, while Victor stayed loyal to his parents' wishes and refused to believe that they should have been taken away, Victoria soon began to see their parents for who they really were, and her own past actions for what they really were. She joined the AVA and made an effort to change, encouraging her brother to let go of their parents' control. She currently has no contact with her biological parents, and sees her foster parents regularly. She has one daughter who she loves deeply and always encourages her to just have fun with things. Try everything and fail with pride. Victoria's daughter sees Victoria's foster parents as grandparents. Victoria visits her brother somewhat regularly for small talk, sometimes she'll try to convince him to join the AVA, but she's learned to not push it. She really just sees him to stay in touch, her daughter has never meant Victor, and while Victoria would love for her daughter and brother to meet, she refuses to let them until Victor starts making an effort to be better. She still has hope her brother will come to his senses one day. Victoria runs a daycare, and did so because she wanted to be able to catch warning signs of poor parenting early in life so the children don't have to suffer in a bad household for as long as she had to.

Eileen- Inspired by, I think it was one of those "The Time I..." commercials Disney Channel used to do, Eileen learned that many people don't have the resources to have as nice birthdays as she does. She felt bad and started donating things to charities so people could have as wonderful of birthdays she always wanted to have every damn day. She currently runs her own charity, and if someone seems just a little too greedy, Eileen goes all hulk on them and turns into the Birthday Girl. People usually listen after that.

Hal- Hal sells his old blueprints for weapons to the cops so they can get a lead, and might even work undercover at times to sell current villains crappy weapons that allow them to get caught.

Coach- Instead of coaching new villains on how to be villains, Coach coaches newcomers to the AVA on the basics of staying good when you just want to commit a crime.

Seymour- Started  a Youtube series called "Can You Spot the Scam?" where he exposes scams around the city and gives advice on how to spot them and avoid them. What he's learned from this is: people are not very good at spotting scams.

Inviso-Bill and Big Left Hand Guy- Married. They got married before going good and before WordGirl retired. AVA members and current villains and WordGirl were all invited to the wedding. They spent a little bit of time as a married criminal duo before retiring. They still don't really know what they should do with themselves as good guys, they both sort of hop from job to job. But they are happy none the less!

Rhyme and Reason- Retired after WordGirl did, just didn't feel right to continue crime without her. They are in a QPR and like Inviso-Bill and BLHG don't really know what to do with themselves, but are happy just to have each other and the AVA

Okay I'm probably missing people, so again if your curious about someone in particular that I missed, let me know!

[liv-of-the-earthkingdom]

azula

from early childhood, azula was already seemingly shaped for royalty, she was her fathers favourite and a fire bending “prodigy.” while no one is born “evil,” azula is a perfect example that a child can be corrupted and became evil through pressure and responsibility. it certainly seems that azula was always supposed to be fire lord and that zuko never stood a chance of becoming fire lord. more evidence backing this up, is the fact that she, not zuko, was named after the current fire lord. while she was in favour of her father, it seemed very clear that zuko was her mother’s favourite and this began to form jealous rifts between the family, which would become a plot point as sibling rivalry between azula and zuko. “my father says she was born lucky, he says i was lucky to be born.”

when we are first introduced to azula, she is a cunning, witty and ambitious leader who goes to great lengths to succeed, yet even as scary as she seems, she still seems like she is trying to constantly impress her father. our first introductory scene of her, is the scene of her practicing on the ship and even one hair our of place is enough to discredit her impressive fire bending she had just displayed as it was not “good enough.” in season two we see her join up with friends mai and ty lee, ty lee who she “uses fear to control” and to convince her to come with her and leave the circus. throughout the entirety of season two, we see her play a steady cat and mouse game with team avatar, while also going after zuko and iroh and turning the dai li against their leader. she takes down aang, proving that she is calm, level headed and extremely smart as no one else made a move to while he was going into the avatar state.  

season three, we begin to see the start of azula’s downfall, especially in the boiling rock episodes. this is a huge turning point for azula, as she loses both mai and  ty lee, but it is more the way she loses them that leaves a larger impact. when sokka and the rest are escaping mai betrays azula and helps them escape, or as she puts it, “saving the jerk that dumped her.” this angers azula and she asks why. mai says “i guess you just don’t know people as well as you think you do. you miscalculated.” for azula, who likes to seem calculated and self-assured a lot, finding out that she was wrong can be very harmful. it is also a parallel from earlier in the boiling rock episodes where she states: “i’m a people person.” mai continues to say: “i love zuko more than i fear you.” which many people have speculated may have been something her mother said to as a child, or may have replicated feelings that her mother displayed to her as a child. it is no wonder that this sparks a tempered, and for the first time, out burst of emotion from azula. “No! YOU miscalculated. You should have feared me more!” which is the first time we see azula lose her unnerving calm. when the girls are preparing to fight ty lee steps in and chi blocks azula. this is very different from mai’s betrayal, because mai was not chosing between azula and ty lee, she was choosing zuko (much like azula’s mother). ty lee was choosing mai. whether or not you ship ty lee and azula or not, you can agree that ty lee plaid an important role in azula’s life, as did mai and their betrayal hurt azula.

now we move on to the final episodes of the series. most importantly the scene between azula and her father. when her father declares that he is leaving alone, azula once again loses her cool. the most fascinating line is: “you can’t treat me like this! you can’t treat me like zuko!” when fire lord ozai yells “AZULA!” the fear on her face is very real and it has been confirmed that she was worried she would face the same fate as zuko, regardless of smiling when he got the punishment. when discovering that she is the new fire lord she seems happier, but not like she would have acted the season prior, almost duller. not the kind of voice that has seem to won and got everything they wanted. 

in the scene where she fires the dai li, she mentions that “sooner or later they all would have betrayed her like mai and ty lee.” is this maybe a sign that she is not as nonchalant and uncaring about their betrayal then she is letting on? this scene is another scene in the same episode where azula is angry, which like afore stated wasn’t at all until boiling rock, because she is cool and unnervingly calm. even the way she’s sitting does not look like she has got what she wants, she looks defeated and empty.

now we move on to the mirror scenes. at first she “prepares her hair to meet its doom” by cutting it off with scissors, this is very far from the girl who wouldn’t have a hair out of place at her debut, considering this is her coronation. 

when her mother appears, azula is very hostile.her mother says she is there to see her coronation and azula says “don’t pretend to act proud, i know what you really think of me. you think i’m a monster.” considering this is azula’s imagination, could this be reflecting how she feels about herself? when her mother points out that azula uses fear to control people, azula says “well what choice do i have? trust is for fools, fear is the only reliable way.” this could be from the fact that the two people she trusted most had betrayed her, or azula has never trusted anyone in her life at all. therefore, confirming she feels she needs to use fear to control people. “even you fear me.” “no. i love you azula, i do.” and despite seeming to want her mother’s love all her life, she smashes the mirror where her mother is standing and falls to the floor crying. which we’ve never seen her do before, and we’ve never seen her this unhinged. 

finally, the final agni kai. the final agni kai, “the showdown that was always meant to be,” one azula had been anticipating her whole life. azula’s fighting type is usually calm and cool and pre-meditated. though, throughout the fight she is brash and not thinking moves through, rather just shooting fire. she is also laughing and seems to be tainting not only zuko, but herself. not to mention that going to strike katara with lightning did seem like a smart and sneaky move, but not really azula’s style, because she knew she was losing. 

in the final moments of the battle, is the final time where we see the complete unhinging and downfall of azula. could this be pent up emotion from trying to be perfect her entire life? we cannot be sure, but it seems highly likely. also to be beat by a mirrored version of herself, both same age and holding considerable power, one having grown up with love, and one grown up with coldness.

azula’s story is truly devastating. but does she deserve a redemption arc? she truly seems at times to enjoy being evil, and she was born and raised with evil and the desire to rule and conquer. she can still be defeated and not need a redemption arc. she is not zuko, she is azula. in the show she grew as a charatcer differently, becoming more powerful, than redeeming. but many people support that mental instabilities reached her to this point, comapring the symptons to paranoid schizophrenia. needless to say, she was a truly broken villian. 

[queerbutstillhere]

For @binarystarkillers , Happy Birthday, you sweet angel!

Tim sighed, watching the sparkle of elegant gowns and the dull tones of black suits, all of them the same except for the occasional bright tones of his brothers'. Dick had picked a blue suit, easily standing out in the rest of the formal wear, Jason was wearing a black suit with a red button down, and Damian, the little shit, had gotten away with a cream suit. Somehow. He looked like a bond villian. Duke had escaped this particular event due to a bad head cold. Cass was somewhere, wearing a gorgeous high-low golden halter top gown. Bruce was also somewhere in attendance, with Selina on his arm, the two matching in their formal wear.

Tim was wearing a gray suit and a white button down, no tie, just a matching vest. He hated the gala's, he always had, but since he had become a CEO, it gotten significantly worse. People tried to smooth talk him, win him over, even seduce him. Hence why he was currently tucked away to the side by thr hors d'oeuvre, pretending he was waiting for someone while his brothers smooth talked their way through the whole party.

He had been allowed to bring a plus one, he always was, and he wanted to bring Kon, he had certainly invited the man, but Kon hadn't shown and Tim was less then amused. It wasn't like he didn't have a massive crush on him or anything. So here he was, alone, as always.

He sighed and snagged one of those little fancy people sandwiches before heading towards the bar. Maybe he could get a mocktail or something. Or convince the bartender that he was over 21 and could legally drink... Either way it'd give him something to do.

"Ah, Mr. Drake," the blonde bartender says, leaning forwards on her elbows with a smile. "The usual?"

Curse this place for hiring the same bartender as last gala. And the one before that. And the one- okay you get the point.

"Yeah," he said with a resigned sigh, stuffing his sandwich into his mouth in one bite.

Bruce would probably give him a disappointed sigh if he saw that.

"Where's your friend? The really buff one?" She asked as she shook his drink.

"Dunno."

"Oh. Did you invite the ginger then?"

"No. I invited Kon."

She hummed.

They had conversations like this a lot. She poured his drink, garnishing it with a little herb and then passing it over.

"Well do try to have some fun, and don't let Jason give you too much alcohol, okay?"

"Yeah."

She left to go serve another person who stepped up to the bar, so Tim turned around, observing the crowds, testing his skills by picking out who was already drunk, putting names to faces, such things.

And then some guy sidled up beside him.

"Hello," said a friendly sounding New York accented voice.

Tim glanced over, smiling in response and sipping his drink.

The person was probably five or so years older then Tim, brunette, but clearly dyed. He had hazel eyes, a five O'clock shadow, and was wearing a simple black suit with a dark blue tie. He leaned against the bar next to Tim.

"Timothy Drake, right?"

"That's me."

Tim switched the hand that his drink was in, turning and holding out his right one to shake.

"Eric Daly."

"Pleasure to meet you, Mr. Daly."

"Just Eric is fine," Eric said with a chuckle.

Tim smiled in response, noting Dick dipping the woman he had been dancing with, giving her his most charming smile. It made him want to gag. So did the heavy cologne Mr. Daly was wearing.

"Can I get you anything?" The bartender asked as she walked over.

Eric ordered himself a drink, as she started making it, she shot Tim a look that clearly said 'say the word and I'm there'. He just smiled back at her.

"How are you enjoying the gala, Mr. Drake?"

"Tim, please. And it's. . . Pleasurable."

Eric chuckled. "So you're bored. Don't worry, I grew up going to these two, I know the feeling."

"Mmm."

"My parents own the construction business in Gotham. I'm sure you can imagine how busy we've been of late, with that Batman and his companions running around."

"I take it you don't like the Batman much?"

"Well I do owe most of my inheritance to him, so I like him just fine, I suppose."

Tim turned his gaze fully to Mr. Daly, trying to decide his angle.

"But you do have to admit, the crime rate has seemed to go up with his appearance."

"You say this as if the crime rate was low before him."

"No, it wasn't, but there was a significant lack of clown themed psychopaths running around."

Tim felt himself bristle in defense of Harley, but he kept his mouth shut.

"Anyway, would you like to go dance, Tim?"

Tim glanced over to see he had somehow already drank all of his drink. So he did his duty and smiled and nodded, setting his own on the bar and adjusting his jacket slightly before following Eric to the dance floor. They danced for a few songs, talking business mostly. Eric's angle ended up being that he was trying to win over Wayne Enterprises to work with his company only, instead of the small contractors Tim had them hiring. And he hated it. He had no idea how many subtle help me looks he had sent at his brothers as he passed, but Damian, when he had made eye contact with the younger teen, had just openly laughed at him.

After about three songs, Tim suggested they go get another drink, to give himself some space from this man, so they made their way back to the bar.

"Well, all I'm saying is, we should have dinner and discuss this a little more fully-"

"Mr. Daly, I do not think you understand," Tim snapped, his harsh tone coming out more then intended. "Wayne Enterprises has no interest in working with your company, you are already stealing work from the small contracting companies, and then buying them out when they inevitably go bankrupt. We do our best at Wayne Enterprises to work with local businesses and help support the people within our city. Your company does not meet those requirements."

Eric's eyes flashed with anger for a moment before he smile politely, gently touching Tim's arm.

"Now, Tim-"

"Tim!"

Tim's head snapped to the side as he heard the familiar voice. He never once in his life felt relief faster. Walking over to him in a casual saunter was Conner Kent, wearing a dark blue suit and a black t-shirt underneath. He looked a little windblown, but still he was here.

"Kon," he said with a grin.

Conner walked over, bending slightly to pull Tim into a hug, his strong arms wrapping around his smaller friend, and immediately Tim felt safe.

"Sorry I'm so late, Lex kept drabbling on and on and kept making me change suits and finally I managed to escape with this-"

Tim chuckled, his chin tilted up awkwardly as he hugged Conner back.

"It's okay. You could've texted me though."

"I... Didn't? Damn. I blame Lex for that."

Conner stepped back, and then his eyes slid to Eric, who suddenly look awkward.

"Oh, hello."

"Oh, Conner," Tim said, neatly slotting himself in against Kon's side. "This is Eric Daly. Eric, this is Conner Kent."

"Nice to meet you," Eric said softly, looking a little intimidated.

Good.

"Yeah, you too!" Conner said in a tone that Tim knew was his false happiness. He squeezed Tim a little tighter against him.

There was an awkward pause of silence, then Conner looked down at Tim.

"I'm gonna go find your dad and let him know I made it, okay?"

"Okay. You owe me a few dances."

Confusion flashed over Conner's face for a few seconds, but when Tim glanced at Eric, he seemed to understand.

"Yeah, of course. Sorry, again. I'll be right back."

Tim grabbed Conner's lapel, pulling him down so he could kiss Conner on the cheek. "You better be."

Conner stared at him, flustered for a moment before flashing a smile and heading away. Tim felt his face heating up, but he turned back to Eric.

"So, drinks?"

"Uh, yeah," Eric said softly.

They walked back over together, and the bartender quickly made their drinks, giving Tim a few questioning glances. No sooner had they been passed over then Kon reappeared.

"I was ordered to keep you out of trouble," he said, leaning against the bar and focusing on Tim.

"Me? Trouble? If B is expecting trouble he should keep his eyes on that one," Tim said, pointing out Jason.

"He is. That's why he needs me to watch you."

"Pftt," Tim said, sipping his mocktail until it was taken from his hand.

"Ew, what is this."

"You know very well," Tim responded, snagging it back.

Eric cleared his throat, and Tim looked back at him.

"Well, it was nice talking to you, Mr. Drake. Have a good evening."

"Oh. You too, Mr. Daly!" Tim responded with a smile.

Eric made a hasty departure. Tim chuckled and looked up at Kon, who was pretty close, but that was normal for Kon.

"Thanks, you got here right in time to save me."

"Me? Save you? The world must be ending," Kon said, but he said it softly, almost sadly.

"Yeah... Anyway, you wanna go dance?"

Kon's gaze snapped over to him, looking surprised.

"Really?"

"Yeah, flyboy. I wasn't joking."

"Oh, I wasn't..."

Tim snagged Kon's big hand and pulled him away.

Fellas, is it gay to slow dance to with your best friend to an orchestra rendition of Always by Frank Sinatra? Because Tim sure hopes it is.

They made it out to the dance floor and Tim turned to Kon, reaching up to put his hand on Kon's shoulder, his other one he left in Kon's hand, just adjusted his hold slightly. Kon put his free hand on Tim's waist and they slowly started dancing, before getting in rhythm with the music and swirling around, getting deeper into the dance floor and further away from the eye of the paparazzi and media.

There was a hint of awkwardness surrounding them. They had had this weird little flirting relationship for a while now, only recently it'd gotten worse. And by that, Tim means Kon's flirting had gotten just slightly more, and Tim had actually started reciprocating. Kon had always flirted with him. Just now he actually felt things when he did it.

"So what did that creep want anyway?" Kon asked softly.

Tim glanced up to him, his face only a few inches away.

"Wanted Wayne Enterprises to pledge sole loyalty to their construction company. I told him to stuff it. Either that or he wanted in my pants. Couldn't tell you which."

"Yeah. I could."

"Are you saying you can read people better then me, Kent?"

Their heads had come together at some point, Tim's temple against Kon's cheek.

"No I'm just saying I'm better with relationships and flirty things like this."

"Are you really?"

"Yeah, Red, I am."

Tim chuckled lightly, feeling Kon's arm tighten a little more around his back and pull him in just that little bit closer. He let his eyes close, letting the music and Kon's presence wash over him. Kon smelled good. He smelled like the coast, and like the vanilla candles at Lex's. He smelled like his shampoo, old spice maybe, and a bit of cologne, and also just pure Conner Kent. And he was warm, not too hot, but warm and comforting.

"So what really kept you."

"Oh, it was actually Lex. I went to him for fashion advice, and while he had me pinned down, he decided to give me another one of his famous talks."

Tim snorted lightly, pulling away to look at Kon. He opened his mouth to respond, but Kon quickly interrupted.

"Don't hit me."

And then his lips were on Tim's.

Tim froze, his hand tightening in Kon's jacket as his body screamed for directions on how to respond. Hit him? Kiss him back? Flip him? No! Don't flip him.

Tim quickly decided on kissing him back, the hand on his shoulder sliding up to his neck. They stopped dancing, just stood there kissing gently. Tim pulled away first, feeling his face heating up, even as butterflies fluttered in his heart. Did this mean?

"Was that okay?"

"Was?" Tim paused, staring at Kon for a moment. "Why didn't you do that earlier, dumbass?"

Kon laughed brightly. Around them, the world went on, rich couples still danced around them, in fact, Tim spotted Dick twirl past, and caught a smirk from him, but he decided to ignore that.

"Guess I wasn't brave enough before."

Tim scoffed. "You, not brave enough?" He asked as he pulled Kon back into a dance.

"Yeah, sometimes I get scared, Timmy. Scared of losing people I love."

Tim hummed as once again his forehead came to rest against Kon's cheek. It was a good way to hide how red his face was. He felt like butterflies had taken residence in his chest, he felt like he was on top of the world, he felt like he could face off with any villian in the world and come out on top. He felt indestructible, because Kon had just kissed him. Which probably meant he liked him back.

They danced for a while before Tim's feet started getting tired. But he didn't want to stop. Kon was a good dancing partner, he never stepped on toes, and he was happy to lead. Happy to let Tim lean against him as they swayed. But Tim had another idea. He snagged Kon's hand and they snuck out, out to the gardens out the back of the venue. It was too cold right now for the gardens to be a good place for people, but Tim was more cold adapted then most people. He glanced around to make sure no one would see them and then pointed up. Kon caught his meaning and picked him up easily, taking him up to the roof. They sat down on the edge of it the cement part, Tim pressed into Kon's side. He closed his eyes and let his head rest against Kon's neck.

"Thanks for coming, Kon."

"Yeah," Kon said, and Tim could hear his smile.

"And for rescuing me."

"From Daily?"

"Daly."

"Right. And you're welcome."

Silence fell over them, but it was nice and comfortable and Tim didn't want to leave Kon's presence.

"How much trouble would you get in if we just left?"

"What?"

"How mad would your dad be if I just picked you up and we went back to the manor?"

Tim considered his options. Stay here with snotty rich people. Go home with Kon. He pulled out his phone and shot a quick text to the family group chat informing them that he was leaving. Kon grinned, and once they stood, he easily picked Tim up again. A quick flight later, they plopped down at the manor front door.

"Is it locked?" Kon asked, walking up and eyeing the door.

"Probably."

Kon smiled and reached out, barely touching the lock, eyes closed for a moment. And then he pushed the door open.

"You know I have a key, right?"

"But Tim, my T-"

"Don't say it."

Kon scowled at him. They went to the kitchen, raided snacks and then went up to Tim's room, ditching fancy clothes and climbing into bed. Tim turned on a movie on his laptop and they just sat there for a while, before Tim glanced up and found Kon's gaze on him.

"What?" He asked softly.

"You're really beautiful, Tim."

"What?" He gasped out.

Kon smiled. "You are. You are absolutely gorgeous."

Tim pouted slightly. "I'm not."

"Yes, you are. From your beautiful skin, to your cute nose, and your gorgeous eyes? God," Kon breathed the last word out, shaking his head slightly.

Tim's cheeks heated up and he ducked his head, pointedly avoiding Kon's eyes.

"Tim," Kon said with a slight chuckle.

"What?"

"Are you getting flustered?"

"No."

"Liar."

Kon pulled on his arm, and Tim squeaked as he was tugged sideways lightly. He went to adjust and made the mistake of glancing up at Kon, who quickly ducked his head and caught Tim's lips in another soft kiss. He found himself adjusting to face Kon fully to avoid breaking the soft contact. His hands came up to cup Kon's face, while the half-kryptonian's landed on his hip and waist.

"So I'm really assuming this means you also have romantic feelings towards me," Kon murmured lightly after pulling away.

Tim huffed and swatted his chest. "Jackass!"

Kon laughed and pulled Tim to him until he was sat sideways in his lap.

"Sorry sorry, I just had to check."

Tim shook his head slightly in amazement at his dumbass friend. "Yes, you dork. I like you."

"Okay, that'd a relief. Because I'm pretty far gone, myself."

Tim scoffed, looking up at him. Immediately a smile took over his face.

"So are you gonna ask me out or what?"

"Oh, I have to do the asking?'

"Yes you do."

"You're the rich kid!"

"Literally so are you."

"Okay but technically I'm not supposed to use Lex's money."

"He's rich, Kon, he probably won't even notice if you don't a million dollars, let alone the like fifty to a hundred dollars it costs to take someone on a date."

Kon scoffed lightly, then shook his head.

"Fine fine." There was a pause. "Tim, would you wanna go on a date with me?"

"I'd be absolutely pleased too."

Kon laughed, and just because he could, leaned down and kissed Tim again.

"I'm glad."

[tsipasce]

Same Difference, ch.03

A/N: so two cute idiots walk into a tea shop...

Chapters: 01  |  02 | 04

AO3 | Fanfic

Shit. Shit, shit, shit, shit, shiiiiiiit. She thought as she shakily sipped the tea she had just made.  It had been an hour or so since she escaped, and the gravity of the situation once again settled on Nanami’s shoulders. She realized just what it meant to have left her purse in his car. If it had just been her phone and cards, she could go and replace them, but what really concerned her was her I.D. If there was any sensitive information he was after, he was certainly going to find it on there. “He knows my address…” she realized aloud.

No amount of SleepyTime tea would be able to fix this. I’m doomed...

It was getting late in the day and without any of her cards or phones, she was stranded in her apartment, waiting for the worst. However, she did have some old pots and pans lying around. It’s not the strongest metal, but it’ll at least make a lot of noise if they’re broken and give me time to escape if shit hits the fan. She broke down the metal objects and reformed them into a considerable amount of deadbolt locks on her front door and windows. As she went to check how things looked outside, she saw it: It’s that same damn car.

Nanami immediately shut her blinds and had a mini freak-out. Why in the world did I think they wouldn’t follow me? Fmllll.

Freaking out wasn’t helping, so she decided to refocus and calm herself by planning and researching her would-be opponent. If he decided to make good on his last threat, she at least needed to know who she was up against. She pulled out her laptop and remembered she was able to check her phone notifications through it. There were no notifications and for the first time she was glad her inbox was so dry. Clearing her mind, she tried to remember details that would tell her who she was up against.

“Overhaul”. That’s what the driver seemed to call him. Is that his villian name? Nanami figured it was worth a shot, assuming she’d probably find some petty criminal’s rap sheet. Though if she was being honest with herself, he was much more intimidating than your average delinquent. She pulled up Boogle and searched the name. She unfortunately got her answer.

… You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.

It was then that all of the hints she had missed before came crashing down as she saw the words “yakuza” and “Hassakai” plastered on her screen. She had to be the unluckiest woman alive, she was thoroughly convinced of that now.

After taking a personal moment to scream into one of the throw pillows on her sofa, Nanami decided to press onward in the hopes of finding out about his quirk. He hadn’t been able to use it yesterday, but she was sure he would try again if given the chance. This piece of information was much harder to find, but not impossible. A couple gruesome articles later and she found what she was looking for. The article read “ His quirk is suspected to involve the disassembly and reassembly of anything that he touches at a molecular structural level upon touching the target with his bare hands.”

She reread, and then reread it again. And again. This is impossible. “That’s my quirk.” Though she had to keep it a secret most of her life, she suddenly felt almost angry that someone else had it, that he had it. She hid her powers, always being careful to understate her quirk, then here comes this asshole using it without a care in the world. The more she thought about it, the more she began to question whether she was angrier at him for owning it, or at herself for rejecting it. Before she could make the existential breakthrough, the Dr. Nanami Watanabe part of her brain brought up the obvious question, rousing her from her thoughts:

“How in the world do two people that aren’t related have the exact same quirk? Has that ever even happened before? What does this even mean?” she had to ask herself aloud. I have to talk to him, she realized, grimacing at the thought.

It would be incredibly dangerous given who he is, but as it stood, he had all her information—probably more considering his connections—and she couldn’t talk to anyone else about it and risk getting them involved. Besides, for whatever reason, he wasn’t able to use it on me the last time. Maybe it was just a fluke, but I have to at least try and find out. Considering this, his behavior (well, some of it) began to make sense. If she were a yakuza boss and found out someone else was walking around with your very specific, and possibly very destructive quirk, she’d probably want to have a talk with them too.

Cautiously looking out the window, the car was still there. It was a long shot, but she hoped they had her phone in front of them so she could send a civil invitation to meet from a distance. She reopened the phone messenger on her laptop and began to type. Nanami had written a lot of serious messages in her life, but this one definitely took the cake.

After rewriting it a couple times she settled on a riveting, final draft:

Dear Overhaul,

I know who you are. Let’s chat.

*send*

Looking at the message, she commented dryly “I should’ve just dropped out of med school and become a writer. Great work, Nanami *facepalm*”. After a message like that, she was sure he’d think she was an idiot and she wouldn’t blame him one bit. He may not respond, but at least she can say she tried. If he agrees, then there’s a slight chance we could come to an understanding and he won’t merc me on sight. Maybe.

Just as doubt was about to rear its ugly head, three dots appeared.

Nanami’s eyes were glued to the screen in anticipation while her ears were still straining to hear if there was any commotion outside her door. The dots disappear.

 “Tomorrow at 8AM.” The text read. She wasn’t sure if it was the man himself, but it didn’t matter. Death threats or not, she didn’t wake up that early on a Sunday for anyone but the Lord himself.

“No can do. Tomorrow, noon, at Matcha Mastery” She replied. If anything went down, she at least wanted to get one last fix from her favorite shop.

The three dots appeared and reappeared at least 4 times. Whoever was responding was being careful about what they wrote.

“Fine.”

Or not..

And just like that, she had a date with the devil for tea.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Sleeping was near-impossible that night. Though she had set a time and place, there was also little stopping him from sending in a couple of his “colleagues” to make a preemptive strike. Thankfully, the night went by without incident, the mysterious car having only left at daybreak. After checking her locks one more time, Nanami set an alarm for 11:00 AM and passed out.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The alarm blared and she woke up with a start, the anxiety from the day before bubbling up to the surface. After going through her usual routine, she went to her closet and stared blankly. She had never been more confused as to what to wear, it was a meeting with a class B villain, after all. Do I wear a sensible pantsuit or a dramatic gown with a fur coat made of dalmatian puppies? Thinking it best to be as inconspicuous as possible, she went for a third option: her favorite sleeveless black turtleneck, some high-rise jeans with a black leather belt and black leather boots. Putting her hair into her signature ponytail, she checked her watch, “11:45, just enough time to walk there.”

Though she’d made this walk a hundred times, today it felt excruciatingly long. She’d say it was like marching to her own execution, but thought it best not to speak something with such a high probability into existence. Five minutes later and she had arrived.

There were only a few other people in the small shop, but she thought it best to sit upstairs in one of the private rooms. She put in her order and headed upstairs to wait and mentally prepare. Enough privacy where they won’t be able to hear our conversation, but public enough that I can call for help if things go south, she plotted internally. Just then, her order was called, and she headed down the stairs. As she took the last step she heard someone else come in and looked towards the door to see him there. He hadn’t noticed her yet and went to order. For a moment, she observed him from afar. He wasn’t wearing his signature mask or jacket, but donned a simple black mask, button-down shirt and slacks with a gray tie instead. She was surprised at how different he looked. Speaking of surprises, he was actually being very courteous to the staff, What a stark contrast to the guy that threw me in the back of a car yesterday… She commented inwardly. Nanami was so focused on her thoughts she didn’t realize that her stare was being returned. She quickly snapped out of it and looked away, feeling a tinge of embarrassment lightly stain her cheeks. He subtly raised an eyebrow, but his expression stayed otherwise the same.

Not wanting to lose her air of confidence so quickly, Nanami poised herself and walked confidently over, reaching past him to get her order, his eyes never leaving her. Without a word, she turned on her heel, returned to the private room upstairs and waited, her heart racing after having been that close. A few minutes later she heard someone walking up the stairs and braced herself for the encounter. Overhaul calmly walked into the small room, sat across from her, and stared. It seemed as if neither of them knew how to start the conversation which she found surprisingly comforting at first, but then she remembered why they were there in the first place.

They sat in that heavy, awkward silence for what felt like an eternity, neither one of them breaking eye contact. Nanami usually wouldn't be this hostile right off the bat, but after their encounter yesterday, she made an exception. His gaze was intense and still borderline homicidal as he studied her, but she knew she couldn't afford to show signs of weakness and look away. While focusing so intently on his eyes, she could swear she saw a tinge of curiosity. Hm. I can work with that. Truces have been made on less, right? She convinced herself, deciding it was time to put a knife to the growing tension. "Alright, let's chat." she began confidently. His eye twitched ever so slightly at this and she could tell he was still contemplating less pleasant, nonverbal forms of communication. "Why were you following me yesterday?" "No. That isn't how this is going to work. I'm questioning you." He replied sternly, almost cutting her off. "You can think that, but I'd like to remind you what happened the last time you tried to corner me with questions. How's your stomach feeling, by the way?" Nanami asked innocently, though her face was smug. At this she could see his face shift to a look of disbelief, then quickly regress to anger and a bit of embarrassment. She could tell he wasn't used to being talked to like this. She was skating on thin ice, but she'd be lying if she said she didn't enjoy watching him react. The silence continued and Nanami sipped her tea, raising her brows at him expectantly. Not being able to use his quirk to shift the balance, he came to terms with the fact that he'd have to answer her at some point. "On Friday you were snooping around Hassakai territory, accosted one of my subordinates. Then you proceeded to destroy construction site materials. It's not odd that I would have to investigate such a suspicious character." He stated matter-of-factly as he crossed his arms over his chest, sure of himself. Nanami looked around dramatically, gesturing, “Am I in the Twilight zone? That's not at all what happened. I didn't accost anyone or destroy anything, I saved him by--" she abruptly stopped, thinking it best not to confirm what he may or may not know about her quirk. Or is it “our” quirk? Gross. She then continued " I saved your subordinate and I get thanked by almost being kidnapped? Make it make sense." "If that's true, then explain how you did it. In detail." He replied, but it sounded too much like a dare. She knew what he wanted to hear but was afraid of the consequences if he got his answer. Overhaul decided to take the initiative and provoke a demonstration out of her, since the explanation was taking too long for his liking. After glancing around to ensure they were alone, he took a napkin, and wiped down her mug. Nanami was watching him intently now. He began removing his glove and she reflexively flinched at the movement, remembering the threats from yesterday. He noticed and moved slightly slower, before removing it completely. He then took her mug, examining it.

A germaphobe who has to touch things to activate his quirk, huh? No wonder he's so grumpy. Nanami thought.

Just as she was about to ask what he was doing, he raised the mug between them and disassembled it, the particles now in free fall. Before Nanami thought, she reacted, placing her hand beneath the soon-to-be mess, catching and reassembling the particles at they fell. She looked at the now intact mug and realized she had done exactly what he wanted. Crap. She hesitantly lifted her gaze to meet his and saw a hint of... wonder? Is he happy about this? She wondered, but the rest of his expression was that of suspicion. "Explain." He commanded in a low voice. She knew it was too late now. No amount of strategy would get her out of this explanation. "I.. I researched you—I mean your quirk— last night, and well… it's the same as mine. Exactly the same." She added the last part clearing her throat, now looking down, her mind going a mile a minute at the declaration. He paused a beat before responding. "It truly is a virus." He said with disgust. Say what now? Nanami had a couple of ideas as to how he'd react, but this was not one of them. "Pardon?" "Quirks. They are the virus of this generation." He continued. Still puzzled, but curious, Nanami prodded, "You mean, literally or in some philosophical, villain-y way?" "Both. Everyone has ascribed to the label of either hero or villain, intoxicated by their own delusions of grandeur. All because they've been given powers by a virus derived from rats. It's filthy." "No, no, no," Nanami mentally switched gears to become Dr. Watanabe, " while I agree hero and villain complexes can be dangerous in equal measure, and they might be a ‘moral virus', quirks are not biologically viruses. They're hereditary mutations," she stated confidently. "Well, you don't look like one of my relatives." He replied plainly, sizing her up. They both knew he had a point. " I.. I can't explain that. But it's widely known that quirks are hereditary." " Known or theorized?" " Science doesn't work that way. Even things we're almost 100% sure of are still sometimes considered theory. Doesn't make it any less true." "One, I know how science works. And two, it also doesn't make it 100% true. You can't ignore data just because it contradicts your beliefs." At this Nanami thought for a moment before deciding they needed to refocus and come to terms on a truce. "Well. What now? I can't have you tailing and threatening me with abduction." "And I can't have someone with my quirk walking around, ready to be weaponized by my enemies…How can you assure me you won't be a problem?" Is he throwing me a bone? "Look, I'm a semi-law-abiding citizen just trying to live a relatively quiet life, and I have no hero license. I haven’t the reason nor the means to cause trouble." "You already have. Yesterday I was...” He cleared his throat, “…unable to execute my quirk." Geez that sounded like it hurt to say… Nanami thought. He continued, "However, you were able to utilize yours against me. There is an imbalance and it must be rectified." "But I have no idea how that happened. It was a fluke!"

" You can't be sure of that." He stated, and she knew he was right. Just as she was afraid of coming the negotiations would come to an impasse, he continued, "But I can. Let me study you." Her eyes shot open wide at that suggestion, " And lock me away in whatever yakuza hideout cell you've probably already constructed for me? No, thank you." "So you're not the least bit curious as to why something you claim is hereditary behaves like a virus? Why you were unaffected by overhaul yesterday?" "You were going to disassemble me??" Nanami asked in disbelief, though her professional and personal curiosity were indeed piqued at the prospect of researching their shared quirk. He looked confused and answered as though she was the weird one," Of course. I was going to overhaul your arms and then return them to you once I knew the threat had been neutralized." " You were going to ‘return my arms’? How considerate of you." She said sarcastically. "But still, the answer is no." "So you're not curious?" He pushed, knowing the answer. "No. I mean yes! But I'm not going to become a lab rat." Just then, an epiphany struck her. It would be a long shot, but it was her best shot at a truce and to get her questions answered. She had to at least try.

"But I would be willing to become a lab

partner,

" she said, raising her eyebrows, hoping he would accept the proposition.

"Excuse me?"

"Well, we could work together to figure this out. We’re both looking for answers so our goal would be the same, I’m a whole ass doctor, and I can tell by how you remove your gloves you at least know basic lab practices. All you have to do is guarantee you won't harm me or anyone I associate with. I should be able to go about my life without worrying about what you might do to me... Do we have a deal?"

He paused thoughtfully, and she could tell he was genuinely considering the proposal. He looked her in the eye, searching for any signs of deception until he finally spoke, "Under one condition," She was both relieved he was going to accept and afraid of what he could possibly ask of her. " You must work in my lab under my supervision. I will also monitor you and your communications."

"Yes to your lab. No to monitoring." Nanami shot back without hesitation.

He looked vexed, and countered, "You must never speak of our arrangement, and we will have mutually agreed upon check-ins."

"... Deal."

" Good."

Nanami knew better than to offer her hand to a germaphobe and instead opted to start their partnership out on the right foot. She gracefully rose, casually brushed off her pants and walked around to his side of the table. Looking at him seriously now, she began " If we're going to be partners, let's do this properly," she then bowed as she would to any new colleague, " I look forward to working with you, Mr. Overhaul."

He was silent, and Nanami was getting nervous, not knowing how he would respond. He stared at her a beat. She couldn’t see it, but he was pleasantly stunned. Recognizing her consideration, he rose in a similar fashion and returned her gesture, "And I you, Dr. Watanabe."

[thesecondcircleofkel]

A First Time for Everything

Young!All Might x Reader 

5.2K 

Request: "Anonymous asked: Hello Circlekel, May I request a Young! All Might x Female Reader NSFW scenario? I would like it take place when he was in America. He saves his new Girlfriend from her villian ex-boyfriend, (she wasn’t aware the ex was a villian and when she found out she dumped him which made him mad 😡 lol) and after All Might saves her he gets rewarded with nice romp between the sheets 😉 (Also if possible have it all take place in Detroit, because the “Detroit Smash” 😆)"

Warnings: NSFW, first time (for All Might), vaginal fingering, vaginal sex, too much lube

Notes: I couldn't quite work out the Detroit aspect of this, but everything else should be in there. And speaking of first times, this felt like my first time writing smut all over again for some reason, so...it might be a bit rough. 

Toshinori wasn't much of a believer in the idea of love at first sight, or at least he hadn't been, until that auspicious day when he moved into his new apartment in the States. Love had been the last thing on his mind at that point in his life, the loss of Nana still so fresh on his heart, the threat of All for One constantly looming in the back of his mind. He had every intent of completely ignoring his social life, of focusing only on training and his hero studies and not putting any thought into making new friends. He'd only put them in danger anyways, he figured, because even with All for One supposedly on the other side of the world, he didn't trust that the villain couldn't pop up at any moment, and even if he didn't, Toshinori was sure that it was only a matter of time before he made even more enemies thanks to his heroics.

Fate apparently had other ideas for him, though, ideas that slapped him in the face as soon as he brought his last of his belongings into his new home. You'd been leaving for work at that very moment, in too much of a rush to give him a proper greeting, but the million-watt smile that you threw at him almost brought him right to his knees. Even as you scurried down the hall away from him, he was frozen in place, mouth agape and no doubt looking like a fool or some love-struck teenager as his heart tried to claw its way out of his chest. The whole thing threw him for a loop; nothing like this had happened to him before. None of the meager crushes that he had had in his youth could even hold a candle to this. He didn't expect it to happen, and it also happened at the worst possible time, at least in his opinion.

But again, fate seemed intent on pushing him towards you. He tried to avoid you, hoping that the infatuation he felt for you, a woman whose name he didn't even know, would fade away quickly when given some distance from its source, but it didn't. It didn't, and he was left with a burning curiosity that he had no business feeling after having only seen you once, and even though his mind told him to stay away from you, his heart made him gravitate towards you. A friendly nod in passing, a 'good morning' or 'how are you today' here and there- each met with that same brilliant smile that got him into this mess in the first place.

It took him about three months, but he finally learned your name, and he felt like it was burned into his very soul once you said it. It felt strange on his tongue, a foreign sound that still somehow seemed to perfectly match the beautiful face that had haunted his mind for months. He had told you his name in return, and that led to an even longer conversation, one that he cherished no matter how simple it may have been, where you discovered that he was studying abroad as a hero. Your face lit up at that new information, fascination and something almost akin to pride in your eyes, only marred by a hint of worry as you wished him the best of luck and thanked him for all of his efforts towards keeping society safe. You probably only said it out of common courtesy, but that didn't stop his mind from running wild with thoughts of how kind and gracious you were.

He thought he'd been saved about a month later, when some casual conversation in the hallway gave light to the fact that you already had a boyfriend. An almost nauseating feeling of disappointment swept over him at that realization, but he knew that it was for the best. You'd be safer this way, with him only being an acquaintance, a neighbor that you had no deeper feelings for so there’d be no reason for anyone to target you. He never saw your boyfriend, but he knew that you wouldn't lie to him, so he yet again tried to snuff out his feelings.

It was harder than it should have been. He didn't have it in him to completely cut ties with you, the joy and sense of peace that being around you gave him addicting beyond all comprehension. That led to a strong friendship budding between the two of you, and you became a constant presence in his life, one that he was grateful for, and one that he doubted he deserved. He eventually met your boyfriend, and even though it was a short meeting in passing, and even though Toshinori was positive that he had gotten a hold on his feelings for you, something felt odd and strangely ominous about the man. Toshinori just attributed the feeling to jealousy; what else could it be? He'd only seen the man face-to-face for about ten seconds, and he was sure that he hadn't met him before, so there wasn't much else that it could have been. That was the only time that Toshinori met him, though, so it was easy to forget that foreboding feeling as time passed by.

He had known you for about a year and a half, his feelings for you still lingering like a bad habit the whole time, when he found out that he should have trusted his instincts. He would never forget the look of pain and fear in your tear-filled eyes as you ran past him into his apartment, your whole body shaking as you held onto him for dear life.

Villain.

The word had never hit him as hard as it did when you uttered it. The man you loved so dearly, the man you trusted with your life, was a villain, and his tastes lied well beyond petty crimes. He was a dangerous man, and thanks to your efforts, he was now a wanted man. Your horrifying discovery of what he had done had brought all of his crimes to light, a fact that your ex was fully aware of. You were scared, and Toshinori would be damned if he wasn't going to protect you with all of his might.

You stayed with him that night, sleeping in his bed while he respectfully stayed on the couch, awake for most of the night so he could keep watch for any sign of your ex. He'd be lying if he said that the thought of you in his bed didn't also keep him awake, but that was hardly important at the time.

You never really left after that. Sure, you went to work the next day (Toshinori escorted you, of course) and carried on with your life as you normally did, but you always went back to him at the end of the day. He tried his hardest not to suffocate you with his presence, wanting to give you some space so you could work through your grief, but that apparently wasn't an idea that you agreed with.

It was like the two of you were glued together at the hip when you were both at the apartment, your own apartment only a glorified storage room at this point, and while he certainly wouldn't complain about having you so close to him, he was still afraid that he was taking advantage of you in some way. You assured him that he wasn't, that you wanted to be around him because he made you feel safe, and Toshinori would never admit to how woozy that confession made him feel. It would be unseemly for a rising hero to swoon in front of the woman that he loved (and yes, he had finally accepted that that was how he felt and that those feelings wouldn't be going away any time soon), but he almost did that day.

At some point, you convinced him to share the bed with you, saying that it was beyond big enough for both of you (and it really was, because Toshinori had long since lost the luxury of skimping out and getting a cheap mattress thanks to his size) and that you were both adults perfectly capable of keeping your hands to yourselves. He felt like he died and went to heaven that first night, your scent surrounding and overwhelming him in the best of ways, and his gut did summersaults for hours after you scooted close enough to him to use his chest as a pillow. He may not have gotten much sleep that first night, but he was pretty damn chipper the next morning regardless.

Toshinori didn't make any arguments against sharing the bed after that, because it truly felt amazing to wake up with you in his arms. He may have only gotten a few hours of sleep, but he still felt like his whole body and soul had been rejuvenated in those few hours. You seemed to be happy with the arrangement, as well, so you both stuck with it.

It was only about a month later when you both finally agreed that it was silly to keep saying that you weren't dating. To his embarrassment, you had been aware of his feelings for a long time. He didn't think that he'd been so obvious about it, but apparently, he was more of a blundering mess around you than he thought. Your confession truly touched his heart, though, claiming that he had helped you to heal from your breakup and that he made you feel safer and more special than anyone else ever had. He was pretty sure that his smile had never been so big and bright before, because it honestly felt like his face was going to split in half at that moment, but he didn't try to hide it. He couldn't, not with how overjoyed he was. He never thought he'd be this happy again after the death of his mentor, never thought that he'd have the chance to be, but you had proven him wrong about that in the best way possible.

He felt like he was on cloud nine for the entire first month that you two were officially together, and if he was honest with himself, that feeling never really went away. He tried to tone things down a bit so he didn't seem so lovestruck, but, well, he had a hard time resisting sweeping you into his arms every time he saw you. He also had a hard time sleeping without you in his arms and having to let you go in the morning felt like subtle torture to him. The smile that you gave him whenever you both returned home for the day made it all worth it, though, and for that short little bit, Toshinori didn't have a care in the world.

Something was bound to happen eventually, though. Nothing could stay so perfect for so long, and in this case, your ex finally worked up the gall to try get some revenge against you.

It started off like any other weekday; you and Toshinori woke up at about the same time, got ready for the day, and then enjoyed a quick breakfast together. You had to leave a bit earlier than him on this particular day, so after a quick goodbye kiss, you set off for the day.

Toshinori had never been so grateful for his instincts before. Sure, he hadn't been in the hero business for very long, but Nana had trained him well, and when that was combined with his natural capacities, his instincts were finely honed even at a young age. As soon as the door shut behind you, it was like a switch went off in his brain, the sinking feeling in his gut so strong that he thought he was about to be sick. Every fiber of his being screamed for him to go after you, so without further thought, he let his instincts take hold of him and he rushed out of the apartment.

He made it down the street just in time to see a hooded figure dragging you into an alleyway. You barely had enough time to realize what was happening before the harsh grip that had suddenly overtaken you was being ripped away, and when you looked back, there was Toshinori, holding your ex up off the ground by the front of his hoody, his usual grin long gone as he glared at the man.

"Are you alright, Y/N?"

You only nodded in reply, probably far too confused and stunned to put anything into words at that moment. Toshinori hummed in response, his grip tightening on your ex's hoody as he fought the urge to throttle the man right then and there. He had to take a deep breath to calm himself, mainly because he didn't want to subject you to something that violent, but also because he was a hero, and heroes always did the right thing, no matter how personal things got.

"Head back home. I'll be back in a little bit."

Part of him wanted to hand the scumbag off to a nearby hero or officer so he could take you home himself, but he didn't want to take any chances on your ex escaping and coming back to try to harm you again later. So, after taking one last look at you to make sure that you really were okay, Toshinori left at a breakneck speed, making it to the local police station in what had to have been record time. He took no small amount of pleasure in seeing that bastard put in cuffs, but once he was sure that your ex was properly detained, he left the station, intent on making it back home to you so he could make sure that you were safe.

He was afraid that you would take this hard, especially given how scared you were when you first found out that your ex was a villain. He was ready to stay with you for as long as you needed, never letting you go until you finally felt safe again, but, well, you always did have an uncanny ability when it came to taking him off guard.

You were sitting on the couch when he walked into the apartment, no doubt waiting for him, but it didn't look like you had shed a single tear yet. If anything, you looked impatient, and that confused him more than anything, at least until you ran to him and pulled him down so you could slam your lips against his. He was only expecting a quick kiss, maybe one born out of relief at seeing him again before you sought out some comfort from him, but what you gave him was something so desperate and passionate that it felt like it burned him to his very core.

You had never kissed him like that before, always keeping things chaste for his sake since he didn't have much experience when it came to romance. Apparently this had been enough for you to throw that caution to the wind, though, because there was nothing innocent about the way that you grabbed at him, one hand kneading the muscles on his arm as the other wove its way into his hair. Toshinori wasn't one to deny you what you wanted, but he wasn't exactly prepared for this, taken off guard and struggling to keep up with you as his hands awkwardly settled around your waist.

Your eyes were alight with something that he'd never seen before as you pulled away from him, a spark of mischief running through them as you looked at his face, no doubt seeing the blush that he could feel burning across his cheeks. The smile that you gave him was one of genuine joy, though, and that helped to settle his racing heart.

"You're my hero, Toshi."

And that just sent it racing again, even faster than before. Those words would have been enough to turn him into a mess on their own, but the breathless way that you said them truly sealed his fate. You gave him one more peck on the lips before tugging on the edges of his jacket, coaxing him to follow you. He went without question.

You brought him to the bedroom, and the devious look that you gave him made all sorts of anticipation bubble in his chest, and he tried to gulp all of that down in order to say something, but you didn't give him the chance, pushing him until the back of his knees hit the bed. He was still so flustered that he couldn't put up any resistance to the motion (not that he would have wanted to anyways), and he fell back onto the bed, his hands immediately shooting up to cradle your hips as you crawled over him.

"My hero."

You barely whispered it this time, and the only reason that he even knew you said anything at all was because he'd been looking at your face right then. The movement of your lips caught his attention, but your eyes trapped him, so full of adoration and so many other emotions that he couldn't even begin to name. It was so soft compared to how heated things had been just moments ago, and the switch was starting to make his head spin in a way that could only be described as wonderful.

Those soft and innocent feelings didn't last long, though, because you pulled him into another searing kiss that put the final nail in the coffin of any complex thoughts that he might have had. He was all primal urges and nerve after that, his hands aching to feel more of you but too shy in their inexperience to actually reach for you. That wasn't a problem that you shared with him, your own hands rubbing along his chest and kneading the muscles that you found there until you finally made to pull him up a bit, just enough to where you could start pushing his jacket off of his shoulders. At least he knew what to do at that point, and he quickly rid himself of both his jacket and his shirt before leaning back against the bed again.

You took a moment to look at him, as if you were trying to memorize every curve and dip of his torso. He would have felt self-conscious if it hadn't been for the sheer desire in your gaze, and then your hands followed the trail that your eyes had scoped out. Your touch was gentle at first, your fingers barely even brushing against him, yet it was still enough to send shivers running through him. And then you pressed harder, kneading again, and without his shirt in the way, he could feel those motions in their entirety. He was embarrassed by the groan that he let out, but it seemed to spur you on, and your massaging moved further and further south until your fingers came to the waistband of his pants, and then you suddenly stopped moving altogether.

"Damn..."

Toshinori's eye shot open (hell, he wasn't even sure when they'd shut), only to see that your own eyes were locked on the bulge that was covered by his jeans. His face really did burn then, and he coughed to get your attention, having to turn his head away when you looked up because he couldn't bear to meet your eyes at that moment.

"Something wrong...?"

"Not at all, big guy."

That cheeky grin you sported did nothing to calm him down.

"I think we're going to need some lube, though."

"...bedside table."

...

"Toshinori, you sly dog."

It was like you wanted him to pass out from sheer embarrassment. You leaned over him so you could rummage through his bedside table, your grin only growing once you found the bottle hidden inside it. You set it on the bed beside you, leaving it there as your hands moved to grip the hem of your shirt. Toshinori's heart pounded as you slowly brought your shirt up over your head, each new inch of bare skin revealing another reason for him to get over his shyness, and when you threw your shirt to the corner of the room, his hands finally moved, trailing up your torso.

Your skin felt impossibly soft beneath his rough fingertips, and even though his mind screamed at him to slow down, one of his hands raised up to palm your breast, even though your bra was still in the way. If you thought that he was moving too fast, you didn't show it, and you even encouraged him by reaching behind you to unclasp your bra, flinging it off to who knows where before you brought both of his hands back up to cup your breasts, moving his fingers around until he got the picture and turned his attention towards your nipples.

At first, he only lightly brushed his thumbs against them, entranced at how they hardened under his touch, before he took one of the peaks between his thumb and forefinger and gave it a light tug. The gasp that you let out had him aching, his erection straining within the confines of his jeans, and it also made him feel just a bit braver. He leaned up enough to where he could place a trail of kisses along your sternum before veering off so he could lave his tongue against your free nipple, his fingers still teasing the other peak.

He briefly wondered if he was doing this right, but little pants were still leaving your mouth, and when he closed his lips around the hardened bud that his tongue had sought out, your hips sharply rolled against his. That was the only verification that he needed, and it also had him bucking up into you. He must have done it at just the right angle, because the sharp moan that you let out was one of the sweetest sounds that he had ever heard and he was already desperate to hear more like it.

"I need you to touch me, Toshi."

He truly felt his inexperience showing at that point, because he didn't have a clue what you were talking about it. Wasn't he already touching you? Did you need him to touch you somewhere else? It wasn't until you stood up and pulled your shorts and underwear off that it finally clicked, and you handed him the bottle of lube as you retook your place on his lap.

"I-I don't-"

"I'll talk you through it."

That made him feel a little better about it, but he was still nervous as he reached for the lube, his hands shaking as he uncapped it and poured some out, although ‘some’ was a bit of understatement since he nearly emptied the previously half-full bottle right then and there.

"That might be a bit much, but I guess you can never be too prepared, huh?"

Well, at least you got a laugh out of it.

"Should I just...?"

"Just go for it and I'll help you figure out from there."

He really had no clue what to do, but it seemed like a good idea to at least spread the lube around a bit. So with that, he lowered his hand to your mound, his fingers tracing your outer lips briefly before spreading them. Even though his fingers were already slick with lube, he could still feel the wetness that already covered you, and the thought that he had such an effect on you made his chest burn with an odd mixture of anticipation, desire, and fondness. It also made him a bit more confident in what he was doing, and he moved his forefinger forward so he could trace it around your opening. He felt your hands moving up to the back of his neck, working their way into his scalp and massaging in a way that was both comforting and encouraging.

"You're doing great, Toshi. Go ahead and put one inside of me."

At any other pint, he would have turned into a stuttering mess because of how lewd that statement was, but at that moment, when he wanted nothing more than to please you, he instead eagerly complied with it. He wasn't oblivious to how big he was in any aspect, so he took his time, making sure that the lube and your own fluids were adequately spread as he slowly drew his finger back and forth into you, working into you little by little and giving you ample time to adjust in case you needed it. The grip that you had on his hair tightened, and he was afraid that he had hurt you for a moment, at least until you started to rock your hips against his hand and a breathless sound fell from your lips.

"Fuck, Toshi, just crook your little finger a little bit and touch my clit."

He immediately followed your demand, his finger bending to where it pressed against your frontal wall and his thumb moving to massage against your clit, just like you had asked. You were apparently content to take care of everything else. You rocked your hips at an angle that had you moaning in seconds, and Toshinori could have died a happy man at that moment with the way his name sounded as you gasped it right then, the sound going straight to his cock. In the hopes of helping you along, Toshinori leaned forward until his lips met your breast again, and as he took your nipple into his mouth, your gasps morphed into moans of pure bliss.

"I need more, Toshi, please!"

He immediately knew what you were talking about this time, and he gently eased his middle finger into you, working it in right next to his other finger. There a bit of resistance this time, but you slowed your pace to accommodate for that, allowing yourself time to adjust before your hips started their frantic pace again. One of your hands had moved down between his shoulder blades, and he could feel the marks forming there as your nails dug into his skin, although it was hardly an unpleasant feeling. And even if it had been, it would have been easy to ignore, especially when your walls started to quiver around his fingers and your hips jerked hard against him, your head falling against his shoulder as you cried out. The sound that you let out was something that Toshinori would remember for the rest of his life, right along with the glazed over, blissed-out look in your eyes that he saw when you finally pulled back to look at him.

"Are you...ready, Toshi?"

Even if he hadn't been right that second, the breathlessness in your voice certainly would have been enough to get him there.

“God yes."

You leaned back and reached down to unfasten his pants, pushing them and his underwear down far enough so he could kick them the rest of the way off along with his shoes. Toshinori couldn't help the choked groan that he let out when you wrapped your hand around his length, pumping it a few times before you settled your hips over his and then ran the head of his length through your folds. You were already making him feel more amazing than he ever had before, and he wasn't even inside of you yet. It was truly mind-boggling, at least while his mind was still working, that is, and that wasn't for very long at all, because before he knew it, the tip of his cock was being engulfed by your wet heat, and the feeling of it was indescribable. His hands twisted into the sheets underneath him as you pulled off of him a little bit, only to sink back down, working a bit more of his cock into you.

It was a bit of a slow process, one that had Toshinori panting and tensing underneath you, struggling to keep from bucking into you, and you had to pause at few points to get used to the stretch of him, but when your hips were finally flush against his, the pleasure that you both felt was beyond worth all of the effort. Your entire body was already shaking from exertion, but before he could even question whether you were alright or not, you slowly lifted your hips until you were almost completely off of him, before you quickly sank back down. The action caused you to throw your head back and moan loudly, so Toshinori could only guess that you felt just as good as he did right then, and he let out his own groan as his hands finally settled on your hips.

"Fuck, you feel so good Toshi. I've never-Fuck! It's never felt this good before!"

He wished that he could have told you how amazing you felt, how soft and warm you were around him, how you squeezed him so perfectly, but he could hardly form a comprehensive thought at that point, much less put anything into words. You were riding him with vigor by that point, and when you started to shake from the effort that your pace took, Toshinori easily supported and helped guide your hips against him.

"You're so damn big, Toshi, I can feel so much of you! I just- Fuck! I love you!"

Toshinori was torn. Part of him wanted to put a pause on things so he could make sure that he heard you right, but another part of him was more interested in what you were doing, because what you were doing was the most gorgeous thing that he had ever seen. He doubted that you even realized what you said, because you looked like you were completely lost in ecstasy, your eyes clenched shut as a tear rolled from one of them, your nails digging into his chest as you held onto him to try to anchor yourself to reality. Your hips slammed against his as your whole body tensed, and you practically screamed his name as your walls clenched him in a vice grip that had him gasping for breath.

When you finally slumped down against him, Toshinori ran one of his hands up your back, trying to soothe you as you came down from your euphoric high. When you finally had enough composure to look at him, a shy grin had taken over your face, your eyes still hazy from the remnants of ecstasy but also holding an uncertainty in them that let Toshinori know you were perfectly aware of what you said, and the thought that you actually meant those words had his heart swelling.

He gently rolled you over until you were lying under him, and a brief look of surprise crossed your face when you realized that he hadn't come yet. He didn't let you think about it for too long, leaning down to give you a searing kiss before he slowly started to grind his hips into you again. He'd wait until later to tell you that he felt the same way, because for now, he was content to show you how he felt about you instead.

[glambitions-a]

falling, but i thought that you would need me.

audrey rose centric fanfiction | post descendants three | canon compliant | part one of ? | rating : teen | warnings : swearing, anxiety | word count : 2521 | masterlist  | part two

   “yes, gil, i promise they won’t make you drop out even if you don’t do your chores.  you don’t even have to do chores anymore.  you know that don’t you?”

   audrey rose was trying her damn best to keep that god-forsaken snark out of her tone.  she was trying because honestly, she did care. she cared so much, in fact, that the blonde had taken it upon her self to see that every single villian kid on that damned isle would be happily situated in healthy and safe homes.  because she owes it to them, doesn’t she?

   doesn’t she owe it to them after the half-ass apology she got from her royal highness, lady of the court, daughter of maleficent?  because she almost destroyed everything, which is enough for her to almost start screaming because she didn’t really mean to.  

    but, it’s not right to dwell on the past, (she can still hear those words coming out of her own grandmother’s mouth, seated in the formal living room on golden detailed sofas, praying the lesson would end so she could go see her future husband ben.)  she can think of old audrey, who’s snarky words were all that she had and held her tongue until one day it slipped loose of her hold. and now she’s lost everything, chad won’t look her in the eye (as he should, best friends don’t curse each other) but then she was queen, dark and incredibly regal so much so that she no longer had just her words, oh no, she had magic then, and she had made them pay (something still whispers that it’s not enough, they haven’t paid their dues, that it was only a fraction of the cost.  she had been cheated)

   sometimes, when those words get too loud, she goes away. for days at a time, its only gone over a week once, which got her in so much trouble with her family, so she’ll never do that again. audrey never seems to remember where exactly she goes, which is certainly nightmarish in every way all things considered. (by all things she really means her little incident not so long ago)

   god forbid she actually feel something out of line, the world would turn upside down should she ever be angry, or passionate.  even mal is walking on eggshells around her, the daughter of an effing villian scared of sweet little audrey rose.  it would be laughable if audrey wasn’t scared of herself too.

   “are you sure? i can..” the boy looked around their surroundings, the calm chatter of the cluster of picnic tables near them drowning out the birds chirping (which audrey has come to find out, uma hates the noise, harry’s indifferent; though his captain disliking it makes him hate it too, and gil just adores it, which makes the other two say that they don’t care even though they were hellbent on making gil happy. this kind of behavior audrey may or may not be jealous of. nobody wants to make her happy, they just want to keep her from exploding, it sounds so tempting to let her emotions run free, however dangerous it is.)

    audrey doesn’t let him finish, putting a soft hand over top his own the table, like ben does.  “i’m very sure.” she says with finality, which makes him beam gratefully causing the princess to smile in return. (”it’s a super power of his” harry had said. “uma coulda’ just lost a battle to mal and if he smiled, we were all doin better already.”)

    but of course all so suddenly, disaster strikes. she can spot dark purple (a new establishment after several critiquing comments from  council members about the blue she had sported) out of the corner of eye and she can tell she visibly pales because even oblivious sweet gil looks at her with concern.  her hand leaves gil’s and goes to push herself off and up the table, heart pumping so loud it thunders through her.

    gil’s face flashes briefly with alarm, before he turned around to discover the almost-queen laughing and waving at familiar faces and he turns back to her, his face soft with understanding (which fires up rage in her heart because he doesn’t understand, no one does.  nobodies ever kissed his boyfriend in front of everybody with no apology.)

    she wants to snap at him, her mind reeling in a response as soon as he looked at her.  but she couldn’t. that was the old audrey, now she is kind and forgiving and gracious. (and jealous)

    so instead she ignores him, (arguably not the best choice, but whatever) and picks up her purse from where it had been laid on the bench.  audrey offers a smile, “i’m not feeling too well, must’ve been something i ate.” she laughs to cover up her bundled nerves but she’s not fooling anybody.

    but then, gil stands up with her and goes over to where she stands, she’s in shock but tries to keep a neutral face on, her eyes following him. normally he always lets her leave because he’s such a pushover sweet friend. are they friends? or is he just here to tell mal she’s not losing her fucking mind? because she is, but if you can convince everybody you’re not falling apart of anger but of sadness, nobody has to tell that your therapist is really just somebody you vent to, and that they don’t actually make your gnawing anxiety go away.

   “audrey, you haven’t eaten anything.” she wants to cry at the way he says her name, like he’s fucking disappointed when he really doesn’t have any right to be.  it’s none of his business, but she really can’t think about it too much because she doesn’t want mal to see her and she doesn’t want to pretend to talk to her.

   “oh,” the little noise she makes is pathetic and she immediately wishes she never made it she can’t let her guard down. “well i have to go talk to uh..” she tries to think of a name, any name that’s not mal bertha almost florian.  audrey realizes how unsure she sounds and she tries again, “i have to go talk to freddie, she wanted me to help her with her goodness 101 homework, it’s funny sometimes i forget i’m in that class too.” i don’t belong there tries to force it way out of her mouth which surprisingly would’ve gone perfectly with that bitter tone the last part was uttered in.

   she tugs her arm out of his grip (she hadn’t even noticed that he had touched her in the first place isle instincts would’ve gifted her so greatly.) “so, i should go.  i’m sorry, i’m such a ditz i can’t believe i forgot!” she offers an apologetic smile and goes to turn but his arm is back, tighter this time, and she knows she isn’t getting away.

  gil purses his lips like he’s in thought, before looking back at her. “i don’t believe for one minute that freddie needs help, mal helps her with her homework.” audrey opens her mouth to say something, whether an apology or an excuse she isn’t sure. “but --” her mouth abruptly closes with the look he gives her. “-- we are going to go with harry and uma and the four of us will do our homework together” he finishes with passion and a firm nod of his head, leaving no room for argument. 

  audrey wants to snarl and say something clever and fiendish like how he is dumb as rocks and really won’t be able to do the homework which isn’t true. she almost sobs at how easy it is to be mean, how quick she would’ve been had she not thought.

  instead, she nods mournfully, like a pathetic pitied princess scolded toddler. she tries to regain her dignity by standing up straighter, which gil adorably tilts his head at.

  the princess looks over her shoulder to still spot purple hair causing her to  frantically drag gil away from the inevitable scene she could’ve caused.  face paced heeled feet carry her far away from the anxiety inducing area and back to the comfort of her own dorm where she could wrap herself up in a blanket and just forget. 

  unfortunately, as she tries to make a break for it, gil notices and he tugs gentle as could be her back in the direction of uma’s dorm.  normally audrey would argue that the library would be better suited, if it was somebody else.  but harry hook is not well known for being quiet or getting along with other students.

  and then she’s sitting on a lazily thrown teal comforter on top of uma’s bed, her book propped up against the foot board and her binder in her lap on top of uma’s feet.

  the princess had finished her homework for the class the sea witch was currently groaning about a long time ago, it was simple and the questions were phrased in such a way you’d think that they were for kindergartners. 

  a pillow hits her shoulder and she is quickly startled out of her studies. “harry!” she cries, throwing it back at him.  it misses, making him burst out laughing as uma leans back off of the side of the bed, causing audrey to grab her ankle in attempt to keep her from falling. uma punches harry on his knee from where he sits next to the bed, and that’s when gil starts to laugh.

   and it stays like that for awhile, audrey trying to study while the so called ‘sea three’ goof off.  it’s so sweet audrey almost doesn’t notice the prickling burning thoughts that start to bubble to the surface after gil says something offhandedly about taking over auradon that even uma doesn’t catch.

   they laugh it off, although audrey’s laugh is a lot less convincing and her face is screwed up, she’s sure it looking absolutely disgraceful but they don’t notice so she lets it be.

   and then she messes up because she lets the thoughts ravage her mind until that’s all she can hear.  so much so she almost doesn’t realize that uma, who had taken a notice at her silence and brown eyes boring into the paper, is calling her name and now sitting up.

   at least, until she does see and then she’s met with fierce eyes and a fiercer face laced with concern which makes her feel angry and comforted at the same time.

   and that’s where things start to worsen for audrey because she could blow off and fake everybody else in the world, but not uma, and not her pirates.  so really, it shouldn’t of surprised her when she tried to make up an excuse and got off the bed when uma pulled her back down.

  “what is going on?” uma’s voice goes in one ear and out the other, truly, because she continues to try and leave.

  “uma, please let me go. i’m serious i have to go.” she tugs backwards only to find a pale hand on her shoulder, and she looks up to meet blue eyes that tell her she’s not going anywhere until she answers them.

   which is fine, because she scoffs and pushes harry’s hand off, squirming through uma’s tight grip on her hand. “i’m fine, please i have to go.”

  her words don’t seem to affect uma at all because she’s still looking at her so sternly that audrey can feel herself shrinking back. “i’m sorry, but i’m fine.” she purses her lips to look up at uma. “ i don’t want you to pity me, i told you i’m not playing this game with you.”  she sneers, and it’s accidental, but uma’s gaze only narrows.

   she remembers the first time they met, when harry had conveniently disappeared and left her alone prime time for pirates ganging up on her, she supposed.  she remembers uma telling her she wasn’t alone. and that was all she had said before taking her back to harry.  

   they were not friends, but they were not cruel to each other. they were kind, even.  it was a mutual respect kind of deal (but did mutual respect include calming audrey down when she’s about to burst or letting her play with her fingers under the desks in goodness 101?) it was nothing more, really.  audrey doesn’t owe her anything. (which is maybe why they get along so well.)

   uma’s glare had turned cold as she let go of audrey’s arm, crossing her own over her chest. “i’m not going to pity you, princess.” uma’s tone matches her gaze and audrey feels as if her heart would shatter.  and it’s especially ridiculous that her heart feels so broken because she wants this, doesn’t she.  all she really wants is to be left alone, away from people who make guilt stir deep in her stomach because it hurts.

   audrey’s is at a loss for words, her thoughts spinning her head around. “good,” she states, tilting her nose up only slightly (a habit) uma hates when she does that, because it makes her look entitled.  but why not hide what is already there. “can i go now? or are you going to interrogate me some more?” interrogation, like when the kidnapped ben for the wand, because they’re pirates. every pirate’s a villian in the end, her grandmother had taught her that at least, maybe this is something she’s right about.

   she can tell she did something because there’s a trace of sadness on uma’s face before it’s gone, she can see uma disappointingly wave her hand at harry and suddenly audrey’s free to go. (it’s pathetic how much she wants to dive into uma’s lap and never leave, to hold on tight to something, anything would be so lovely.)

   she pretends she does not think about staying and collects her things quietly, imagining like she can not feel the three other teens’ eyes burning through her.  her heart is stinging and she’s about to cry. (she can’t cry, she cannot cry in front of pirates, in front of villians.)  but, she would rather be bitter than cry in front of people so instead she gathers her pride and leaves. audrey imagines in her head that they’re running after her, that somebody still wants her even after she’s been a bitch. 

   it’s a ridiculous hope, she wouldn’t want to be friends with herself after all she’s done and continues to do.  she always finds herself alone and mean at the end of the day.  her nightmares are always the same, her lying dead in a room full of adults she once was adored by, her cursing an entire kingdom (and abusing her best friend) and nobody ever saves her, nobody wakes her up.  

   the princess has always had nightmares, she had always imagined it was her mother’s curse, and her own curse had only heightened the fear and realism of them.  once a week turned into every other night, which turned into never having a single dreamless night.  

princess audrey rose never had any peace.

ʚĭɞ | hi there! i hope you enjoyed this lil bit of audrey angst.  i’m not sure if i’ll continue this, it was very fun to have a break of writing my oc fic. it felt nice to write something new.  i hope i gave audrey justice i really love her as a character and i recently did a ‘study’ on her outfits you can find here!  let me know what you think! - rory

[hypexion]

A Pile of Fanwalkers (Part 1)

The setting of Magic: The Gathering is one where you can create as many fun fan characters as you want and it’s feasible that they’d never interact with canon characters. So here’s a bunch of them, escaping from my imagination into this post. There is probably a better way to deliver this information, but efficacy is overrated. But there’s no better time, because it’s “Fan Character February“.

The basic format for each planeswalker will be a Name/Colour Identity/Pre-Ignition Typeline/Homeplane blob of information, a quickish description of them and some “fun“ facts, and then some hits and misses for extra flavour. Also, I’m going to split this into three posts - “Heroic“, “Okay“ and “Villians“, for I believe I have the moral authority to judge my creations.

Also some of these are going to be from fanplanes, which will go undescribed beyond whatever tidbits come out the character flavour. Others will just have a ?, representing a lack of knowledge and/or sufficent worldbuilding. With that out of the way, let’s go!

Heroic

Using a somewhat loose definition of heroic, these are the planeswalkers that when presented with an injustice, will at least attempt to help. Even if it’s against their better judgement.

Alagard - UR, Human Artificer, Orpheri - As a self styled “Mirror Magus“, Alagard has turned his skill for magical analysis into a method of acquiring knowledge that others would consider out of reach. From simple cantrips, to complex feats of sorcery, there’s no spell Alagard won’t try to copy or take apart at least once. When he’s not commiting “theft of intellectual property“, as the Azorius call it, he might actually be doing his job as an Artificer, constructing various tools used to navigate between the realms of Orpheri. Or he might have found himself in a situation that requires some kind of outside intervention and impulsively intervened. It keeps happening, and once you’ve committed, you’ve got to see the problem through, right?

Alagard has white skin and short blonde hair. When working, he wears the traditional artifacer get-up - protective robes, gloves and safety accessories. Otherwise, he prefers a slightly more elaborate outfit, including a fancy blue long coat with a few too many silver frills. He also carries a Mirrorblade, an enchanted weapon capable of shifting into a multitude of other weapons. It’s pretty handy. When Alagard planeswalks, he seems to shimmer away, flaking off small, short-lived pieces of reflective material.

Hits: Finding new magic, solving problems, fancy coats. Misses: The Queen of Fate interfering with his life, mortal peril.

Heru - URW, Bird Warrior, Amonkhet - As you might guess from his homeplane, pre-ignition life for Heru could have been better. This falcon-aven always had a keen eye for detail, a talent for seeing through deception, and a tad more curiosity than was perhaps safe on Amonkhet. However, even with his growing doubt, he followed the path laid out for him by the gods. When the time came, he passed the Trials of Solidarity, Knowledge and Strength. Many from his crop did not. He might even have passed Zeal, if not for Bontu, the worse of the gods. The pointless brutality of the Trial of Ambition brought Heru’s crisis of faith to it’s peak, a thousand quiet doubts awoken by the senseless slaughter. For many, such a crisis had lead to a quick death. But Heru had a Spark, and it carried him far from Amonkhet. Now, inspired by some owl-aven he met after his first planeswalk, he seeks wisdom from across the multiverse, and wishes to create a better tomorrow.

Heru has light brown skin and brown feathers. Despite leaving his home in a less than pleasant way, he still wears the warrior’s clothing of those who take the trials. However, as he visits more planes and encounters new cultures, he has started to replace the gilded symbology of the God-Pharaoh with simpler patterns he finds appealing. Heru weilds a spear as his weapon of choice, and has recently discovered a talent for pyromancy, although he is hesitant to use it. Heru’s planeswalking effect is burst of golden flame, which occasionally leaves behind a few feathers.

Hits: Philosophy, a target from up to 100 meters, Nicol Bolas’ death, the absolute certainty that Bolas is dead, the lack of possibility that Bolas could return in any way, shape, or form. Misses: Bontu, the false God-Pharaoh knows as Nicol Bolas, large bodies of water, his own attempts at self-delusion regarding what he saw on Ravnica.

Locke - WU, Human Advisor, Noyir - Crime is a problem on many planes, and Noyir is no exception. In fact, it’s starting to get a little dire. Demons run the mob, the proliferation of magical weapons is out of control, and the serial killers seem to be especially nasty. Enter one Sebastian Locke, who has the tremendously useful ability of post-cognition, which allows him to view the recent past of places and objects. Armed with this, and a grab-bag of forensics magic, Locke is ready to take on any case, and won’t rest until the truth is discovered. He’s tangled with the Infinite Consortium, the Ozhov Syndicate, and many other sinisterly name organisations, along with a number of the multiverse’s most dangerous killers. He’s also convinced that Dack Fayden isn’t dead, but I suppose you can’t be always right all the time. (Or he knows something the rest of us don’t. Dack was in deep with the Ozhov, after all...)

Locke has black skin and black hair. He has the look of the classic detective, including the whole trench coat and fedora outfit. Since Locke is actually a detective, and visits a tailor, he looks pretty good in the whole get-up. While he keeps to the traditional drab colours on his homeplane, Locke has a rainbow’s worth of alternate outfits, for when he needs to fit in on another plane. Locke also carries a weapon that is certainly not a handgun, because it uses magic. (He’s from the gritty crime drama plane. It’s a gun.) When planewalking, Locke disappears into a swirl of grey fog, which quickly dissippates. Notably, this action takes him less than a second, making it an effective escape tactic.

Hits: Outwitting criminals, unravelling conspiracies, coffee, due process, elaborate crime boards. Misses: Serial killers, assassins, murderers and blackmailers, police corruption (of both the “taking bribes” and “magically becoming a demon” kinds).

Loxy - RW, Elephant Warrior, ? - Needless to say, Loxy’s name isn’t actually Loxy. It’s short for something. But when she points out that humans can be called Hugh, are you going to argue with the Loxodon who’s likely bigger than you, and carrying a war mace? Probably not. Of course, Loxy probably won’t smack your head clean off, provided you’re not some sort of evil-doer. She’s actually pretty nice, if a little over-enthusiastic some of the time, once you get to know her. Loxy is on a crusade against injustice, to right the wrongs of the multiverse and ensure worlds where the peaceful can live in peace. Many cruel and vile beings have met their end at Loxy’s hand, and I won’t mince words: all of them deserved it. Others have decided that reform is the greater part of not getting crushed by a Loxodon, and gone on to be nicer people.

Loxy has grey skin, because she’s a Loxodon, and whatever kind of hair Loxodon have. Loxy can generally be found wearing her armor, which she keeps polished and clean, in order to make a good first impression. As mentioned before, her primary weapon is a mace, but when you’re an almost eight foot tall elephant-person with foot long tusks, you never need to rely on a primary weapon. When not dressed up for battle, Loxy prefers to wear simple robes, just in case a fight breaks out. Somewhat surprisingly, Loxy’s planewalking aura is fairly subtle. She glows for a moment, before disappearing, leaving behind small balls of light.

Hits: Justice, stopping evil, can-do attitudes, the general concept of the Gatewatch. Misses: Injustice, the unrepentant, those who accept an unjust world as “natural“ and so refuse to seek improvement.

Velos - GU, Elf Shapeshifter Wizard, Ravnica - Have you ever head the story of Velos the wise? No? I thought not. It’s not a story the Conclave would tell you - he’s a Simic Legend. Velos has the power to manipulate biomancy to take on any form he wishes, even ones that are “decidedly male”. His ultimate goal was to be able to mantain a form indefinitely, which eventually, he achieved. Now Velos mentors promising biomancers in the ways of shapeshifting. He’s also taken up cataloguing some of the multiverse’s most adaptive species, which rather worryingly includes Slivers. Additionally, he has also pioneered several shapeshifting based treatments, to help those who need their bodies reworked. Velos is, at heart, a healer, and will offer help to anyone he encounters who may need it. He believes that everyone should be able to live their lives in good health, in the form that they find best fits them. On occation, this has brought him into conflict with some Simic factions, especially those who ignore the rather important factor of “informed consent.“

Velos’ prefered form is that of an elf, with pale skin and equally pale blonde hair. Many have noted that this gives him a strong resemblance to the elves of the Selesnya Conclave, although few really care. Those attempting to investigate his background do not get far, as the Combine wishes to focus on the future, and the Conclave would never admit that someone may have left them. Velos does not carry weapons, preferring to save carrying capacity for a portable laboratory, since he can’t take samples back to Ravnica from other planes. He also doesn’t really need any, since he’s long since mastered the art of transforming himself claws, spines, chitinous plating and other offensive and defensive body parts. While he hasn’t reached the fluidity of a naturally born shapeshifter yet, Velos is still capable of rearranging himself to multitude of forms, with very little delay. When planeswalking, he disappears into double-helix of blue-green light.

Hits: Discovering new species, the endless convience of your hand being a multi-tool, trans rights, a kind of tea that only grows on Kamigawa. Misses: Not being able to grow that tea on Ravnica, the concept of a “true form“, walking into things because he shapeshifted in a weird way.

Look at all these nice people. All of them would probably be into Gatewatching except maybe Velos. He’s more into providing medical care, as opposed to the Gatewatch’s more active form of heroism. Next up will be people who are still ‘nice‘, but in a generally more passive or distracted way.

[projectsoleil]

Red Giant || Cella|| MM Trial 6.4||Re: Nate, Tsuki ,Roger

The irritation was speaking again.

"It's a generalization you fool.  Of course I'm trying to save people." 

Why did she think that Nate of all people would understand this? 

"You think that I'm doing this to save just some floating rock in space with water and trees?  Do you think that just because I'd let a microscopic amount of people die to help the greater good that I don't care?  That I don't want to help?  That I believe the entirety of the human race must be purged from the planet?"

She laughs, though it's mixed with anger as she listens more and more to Nate.  She never got along with him, could never understand his methods, or his means, or his simpleminded philosophy.  

"Do you think that I had some horrific trauma?  Some bad run in with a hero or villain like the rest of you?  I do this because I think it's the right and proper solution.  The only means of making sure things work out.  I'm sound of mind, spirit, and body.  I have the conviction and determination to do what needs to be done, unlike the rest of the cowardice world that would rather fester in this sinking society.  I care, and I don't need your approval to prove it."

She might not need their approval, but she sure does hate hearing some of the words coming out of their mouths. 

"Tch...!"  

That comment about her being nothing sure does trike a nerve though.

"What's worse then?  You think you all know better and what have you all attempted to do to remedy anything?  Go on, I want to hear it.  Is it property damage?  Beating up villains to near death?  Or maybe just enough so that they throw in the towel on villainy.  Better education?  Preventive services?  Surveillance?  Truly, I want to hear your soltuion, any solution reasonable long term solution.  I bet you can't though.  I bet that your simpleminded solutions are always what ends up getting someone hurt.  Please, tell me what you would do to stop the world from sinking further?  To stop villain's from destroying cities and killing innocents en masse.  I'll tell it to you straight.  What the fate is of people like you."

"You. Will. Be. NOTHING.  Another battered and ruined bulwark trying to hold off the endless tide of 'people' that you so generously care about that won't care for you.  You and every hero on this planet will either break, die, or turn sides to survive in our crumbling world.  A spent torch that once it's fire has been engulfed in blackness will be tossed away into the pile of refuse."

Now that she got that anger out of her system she's gone back to being sarcastic.

"Oh you're right Nate, when I think catastrophic world ending events I think of a small group of people being forced to kill one another on an island.  Truly, some upstart villian will learn from me and apply this across the entire world one day and I'll have no one to blame but myself.  Get real, the world won't end because someone looked to me and this project, in reality it will be something much simpler.  Someone will want power and they'll do anything to get it, they'll have the means, and then they'll tear the world apart to do it, and they won't have remorse."

"I'm not saying I'll stop crime in total, no one can do that short of literally killing every human on earth.  But I can at least minimize the type of damage done.  That should at least make sense to you don't you think?"

Why is she even asking?  She knows that they won't care, that they won't understand.  So few of them are choosing to understand and yet she still attempts time and time again.  Why bother at this point, these fools just want something to bash their fists and head against.

"Another horrific symptom of this society is the inflated sense of self importance.  Every person suddenly thinks they can take on the world.  For good or for evil.  But everyone meets their match someday, to someone, it's happened here enough times for you to know that as fact don't you think?  But fine, I'll oblige,  you know I've never really been the sadistic type.  But I think I'm going to take great pleasure in watching your futile struggle for awhile, if only so that I can watch you realize how little you matter in the grand scheme of things.  "  

She was already heated, but Tsuki's comments just give her a flashback to those inflammatory comments made by Artemis.

  "..."

She really hates these damn bots.  But she can't let herself lose her cool, even if she really wants to just vent.

"I'm starting to see a correlation between intelligence and how vocal some of you are choosing to be about my supposed failure.  You must think that you're funny, that's fine.  I'm no stranger to fools misunderstanding and mocking me."

"I've told you once, I'll tell you again.  Creating a first of it's kind self sustain space station meant for interstellar travel isn't something that you can just hash out on the first draft, or the first hundred drafts.  You learn how to fix, alter, and improve, as you do with any project as large as this one.  The money doesn't make me smarter, but it does expand the possibilities I can explore and speed up that process.  I'm certain that MHEC will also be helpful in that regard as well."

As for whether the aliens would see them as a threat or not...

"Maybe it was an experiment, maybe it was an accident, but I doubt that if they can give powers like these that they'd be afraid of us.  Chances are they can wield such powers themselves and have had ages to improve and perfect them, longer than we have.  They can't see us as threats, in the same way that you can't see a gnat as anything more than perhaps a small annoyance." 

At least she hopes, it'll be real awkward if her sudden introduction to the aliens leads to them wanting to burn their planet down.

For once he does make a decent point.

  "Well... there's always risk, but one can imagine that their reaction won't be one of fire and fury.  Not at first, and not if we don't give them a reason.  I'm willing to take that risk, after all no one else seems to be willing."

"There are many smart people in the world, and it's true that many of them probably could attempt what I'm doing with less money, more time, and less killing games and if they're truly wise they'll know that seldom can complex creations be made in such few attempts.  You try to shame me for my failures and revisions, but that's the tactic of someone who hasn't labored themselves on such things."

She got mad before, she's not going to get upset again.  She was the person in control here after all.

"You're right, many of the fools here are orbiting around me in cages of electricity.  Truly, there must be many vocal idiots here that must think they know better simply because they can shout rather loudly."

Now that... was the most unexpected question that she's gotten all day.  

"...Hmm, speaking from experience of having immense pressure on you  Well, I'll be honest.  I've never thought once about what the ULF might be feeling as a... 'person' if I dared to even call it that.  It's a tool to me, and a living organism second. I suppose you have a point, if it doesn't want to fight or follow my orders I certainly can't make it.  But I sure as hell can... 'convince' it to do so.  Even the most basic of creatures have a self preservation instincts after all."

"Still, color me impressed that you're more worried for the ULF while some others of you seem intent on fighting it.  Maybe you should try talking it out with it, I'd love to see what the results of that will look like."

[zappuellightninrod]

Sonic Forces: Cosmic Illusions

Death Egg Sentinels rampaged through the city, destroying buildings and hurting innocent civilians. Shadow the hedgehog had been sighted by the Resistance, and now that Sonic the hedgehog was with them, they could finally get to the bottom of why he was working for the mad Doctor. Most of the Resistance members were busy fighting off the armies of the evil doctor, while others were helping civilians. However, two people were investigating something else. Those  two people were Miles "Tails" Prower, and a version of Sonic the hedgehog from another dimension. Or timeline. Or whatever/whenever he's from.

Standing now in between several destroyed buildings was the smaller Sonic the hedgehog. Not seen as the same powerhouse as this dimension's, though still a good soldier during these times of need. He held a confrontational stance as Tails ran up behind him.

"Wait up, Sonic, I can't go as fast as you! Even if you're not the fastest Sonic here!" Tails whined, catching up to the smaller hedgehog. He panted, catching his breath as he looked back to the Azure hedgehog, who's were narrowed as he stood in front of a familiar dark figure.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't the little pint sized hedgehog and his even weaker fox friend." Infinite said.

"You… You're that guy that was with Eggman in Green Hill!" Tails shouted.

"I suppose I am. The doctor did say something about you defeating his Egg Dragoon. No doubt you two were the ones I thought I sensed."

Sonic's fist clenched as he looked at Infinite's chest. The magenta gemstone he wore with such bravado was a sight all to familiar to him. He took a single step back, readying himself to jump at the jackal. He made his move, rushing forwards and jumping as high into the air as he could. However, this dimension seemed to have vastly different physics then that of his home. His jump couldn't reach the floating mobian. Not that it would have mattered much anyways, as he glided out of the way. He lowered himself in between Sonic and Tails before warping close to Tails in an instant. Tails shouted, as Infinite grabbed him by the throat. He was lifted upwards in Infinite's grasp.

"So, this is the sidekick of Sonic the hedgehog. Pathetic. Just like him." Infinite muttered in a threatening tone.

Sonic turned himself around and jumped before turning into a ball mid-air and revving up. When he hit the ground, he dashed towards Infinite at breakneck speed. Not that it mattered to Infinite. His own speed outmatched the Sonic of this dimension. He was more than capable of dodging this attack. He moved quickly to the let, Tails still in his grip. As Tails gasped for air, he got the sensation of lacking oxygen. Much faster than normally possible, almost as if they were being torn from his lungs forcefully. Infinite chuckled.

"Do you feel that? That breathless feeling? The cold embrace of death? It's terrifying isn't it? You should be thankful I'm merely giving you the sensation of suffocation. There are many, many other ways I could be killing you right now."

As Tails listened, his life actually began flashing before his eyes. His mind quickly traveled through his time on Westside Island, his first big adventure with Sonic, him facing the Egg walker, his time on the ARK, his time in space fighting the Metarex, Eggman's interstellar amusement park, the Lost Hex…. Everything was flashing before his eyes. Would this really be where he died?

As Sonic revved up another attack, Infinite spoke, "Oh… What's this? A fallen loved one? Hahahaha, how quaint."

With a single gesture, he threw Tails to Sonic, hitting him and knocking him down. Oxygen returned to Tails' lungs as the fox gasped for air. He surprisingly caught his breath quickly, almost as if he was never actually being choked in the first place. The both of them got to their feet as Infinite floated high into the air. Classic Sonic got into another battle stance, though, this time he was looking around for things he could use. Brute force wasn't something that was viable here. He needed strategy.

"Do the two of you want to know how Eggman was able to amass this army? How the likes of Zavok and Chaos joined our ranks despite being deceased? Why the brooding hedgehog decided to band together with the doctor?" Infinite monologued, offering an answer to the two.

Tails blinked for a second. Shadow was sighted in the city during this attack, and with Sonic here, they could at least capture him and try to get an answer out of him. Then again, Shadow's crafty and could escape. And from what Infinite was talking about earlier with letting Sonic live in their first encounter, he does seem to let his enemies go off easy, even though he could just kill them.

"I was kind of curious how you managed that. And you do seem like the kind of guy who likes telling everyone about his evil plans, so I'm all ears." Tails said with a hint of sarcasm in his voice. A trait he began picking up from Sonic in recent times.

Infinite gave a light chuckle, "Oh,I'd suggest you speak to me with a lot more respect, child. After all, I'm about to bring back someone you never thought you'd see again…"

With the snap of his fingers, a purple and pink mist formed underneath Infinite's floating figure. Digital sparks began flickering around the mist as an entity began to form from the Ruby Mist. Sonic recognized the mist from his home dimension, back from the Titanic Monarch. Tails took precautions, ready for some past villain to come forth from the mist. However, his eyes widened when he began to see who it actually was.

Sonic did not recognize the entity, and could only guess that it was another villian from this universe. Though, they certainly didn't look like a villain. He heard Tails gasp as the figure began to make itself seen. He glanced back to Tails, expecting a look of horror. But he did not get that.

Instead, perched upon Tails' face was a look of disbelief. But not the type of disbelief after seeing a bad guy crawl up out of the rubble being convinced they were dead. No, this disbelief was… a very wide mixture of emotions. Sorrow. Regret. Hope. Love. And many more. To say Sonic was confused would be an understatement. Tials only managed to whisper one word, and one word alone out of astonishment.

"Cosmo…?"

Indeed, standing before the two of them was the green haired girl from space. The very same one that died by Tails' hand. Her blue eyes lit up in the fog. She blinked a few times, rubbing the mist out of her eyes, though she still seemed to be flickering in glitches, "Tails…? Is that you…?"

A drop of water was heard in Sonic's ear. He looked back to where it sounded and saw tears flowing down Tails' muzzle. Sonic grew defensive, looking back to the girl with a determined face, read to protect Tails if this girl mean him harm. Tails however, made a step forwards in front of Sonic, going past his defenses of him.

"Cosmo… Is it…. Is it really you…?" Tails muttered. This couldn't be real. This had to have been some sort of illusion. Cosmo's been dead for so long and Infinite just seemed to just bring her back from the dead.

"Yes, Tails… it's me." Cosmo said, stepping forwards form the mist. Tails broke down, falling to his hands and knees. He began crying and shouting at the top of his lungs.

"Oh, Cosmo, I'm so sorry! I-I didn't mean to shoot you! I didn't' want to do it! Everyone else forced me to! But I did it! I did it and I killed you!" Tails shouted. Sonic's eyes grew wide, looking back up to the green haired girl. She took a few more steps forwards, kneeling down next to him and lifting his his chin.

"Tails… You don't have to worry about that. I forgive you. I made you shoot me… And we're all alive because of it." he said, giving him the gentlest of smiles. The smile he loved so dearly. Tails sniffed before wrapping his arms around her and bawling into her chest. Within his tears of joy, he heard her heartbeat. She felt so soft. So warm. So real. This had to have been some sort of power of the Phantom Ruby. Could it alter reality? Could it bring back the dead? Could it have time travel properties? It didn't matter. None of it mattered. He had Cosmo in his hands, and for that he could never be more thankful.

Of everything Sonic had seen in this strange future dimension, this was by far the one he did not get. It was clear that Tails loved this girl, and that he did something bad to her, but what was it? He killed her? Why would he do such a thing? A lot of context was necessary for him. Though, he supposed that maybe it was worth asking for later on, just in case he and his friends would run into any similar characters in the future. In spite of the heartwarming moment, he looked back up at Infinite, who had not moved from his spot.

"How touching. A reunion of the dead." He said, in a deathly tone. Classic Sonic clenched his fists, ready to fight again. Maybe this Cosmo character could help them out in some way. Not that it would make a lot of sense why he could bring an ally to them. He glanced back down at her hugging Tails. Her face was visible to Sonic, which allowed him to see something shocking.

"Don't worry, Tails…" She said, her eyes opening wide to reveal they had turned from blue to red, "We'll be together forever… I promise."

She sported a toothy grin as she spoke. From her sleeve, a knife jotted out. Classic Sonic's eyes went wide. He was about to rush against her, to save Tails. But then something unexpected happened.

A bright flash of light shone next to them, and a good kick sent the both of them flying. Cosmo landed further than Tails did. Cosmo's red eyes and sharp teeth faded away, back to her original appearance. The both of them got up and looked at who had struck them. Standing before them was the all too familiar sight of Shadow the hedgehog.

"You!" Infinite shouted. Shadow merely humphed in his direction. Not far behind was the Sonic the hedgehog of this dimension, rushing forwards, stopping on a dime at the intersection of destroyed buildings.

"Shadow! I got here as fast as I co-" Sonic's eyes widened when he saw Cosmo laying on the floor not to far off from Tails

"Wait, Cosmo?!" He looked at her and then back up at Infinite. Thanks to Shadow's exposition earlier, he knew exactly what was going on. He growled at Infinite, "You!"

"Ah, yes, hello hedgehogs. I suppose you all know exactly what's going on?" Infinite said, with a smirk under his mask.

" don't have time for this." Shadow exclaimed. In a bright flash of light, he vanished.

Tails, completely surprised by everything that just happened quickly turned back to Cosmo, to make sure she was alright. As she was getting up, Shadow teleported right on top of her, his jet boot stomping on her chest. Tails' eyes widened.

"Cosmo!"

"Tai-" was the last thing Cosmo could say, reaching her hand out to him, before it fell. Her face went from complete horror to shocked and calmed. She ceased to move. A bright flash of light came from Shadow's shoe which firmly separated her life and now death. A burning hole lied there as Shadow removed his foot from her. He gave a hateful glance back to Infinite.

"Shadow!" Sonic shouted. The other Sonic's eyes widened, unsure how to take such violent actions from the black hedgehog. This universe's Sonic looked back up to Infinite with a hateful glare,"You're going to pay for this."

"Oh? Am I? And here I thought I was just reuniting a pair of lovers." Infinite said, fully knowing the dark twist he meant.

"I ought to grab you by your hair and beat you to the ground like I did before." Shadow threatened. Tails sat on his knees, tears falling from his eyes as he looked upon Cosmo's dead corpse.

"Well, that will be hard to do, now with the power of the Phantom Ruby. Besides, you no doubt will be having your own trouble." Infinite said.

"And what would that be?" Shadow said, completely expecting an onslaught of robots or more illusions by Infinite. What he got however, was much different.

Tails' teeth gritted together, a he looked on Shadow in anger. He shouted at the top of his lungs as he ran towards Shadow, straight up punching him in the face. This caught Shadow off guard to say the least. He stepped back from the recoil a bit before Tails tried continue his onslaught of anger.

"You killed her! She was here! She was alie! And you killed her!" Tails shouted, tears in his eyes.

Both Sonic's eyes widened, but only this dimension's sonic spoke, "Tails! No! You don't understand!"

Infinite chuckled, deciding that now was the time to take his leave. He zoomed off across the cityscape at breakneck pace. Shadow got a glance of this and shouted, "No! He's getting away!"

"I don't care who's getting away! You're going to pay for that! For killing Cosmo!" Tails shouted in rage, continuing his attempt at a beat down on Shadow., which might;ve done some damage if Shadow wasn't good at blocking.

"We don't have time for this!" Shadow shouts, as he deflected one of Tails' attacks and quickly karate chopped Tails' neck. Tails' eyes rolled into the back of his head, and dropped to the floor.

"Tails!" Sonic shouted. Both Sonic's ran up to Tails, checking up on him

"Relax. I only knocked him unconscious…" Shadow reassured. He observed how far Infinite got away. Had Tails not attacked him so suddenly, they might have actually been able to beat him.

The corpse of Cosmo began to deteriorate similarly to the Shadow replica Shadow had destroyed sparked Sonic to speak to Shadow, "You could've just said, 'Tails, look out, it's a trap!' you know. Didn't have to go and explode that illusion's chest in."

"He wouldn't have believed me for a second. Had I not intervened, she would've killed him." Shadow explained.

Sonic was about to say something to rebuttal Shadow, but he was stopped by his counterpart, who was nodding to signify Shadow was right. The taller hedgehog merely sighed, looking back to Tails. He picked him up and the three hedgehogs began walking back to base.

"You're explaining and apologizing to him when he wakes up."

"Understood."

[wanderfan2000]

Wander

Wander is, by default, free spirited, easily excited, up beat, happy and optimistic. He is prone to switching gears on a dime, going from laid back and mellow to sudden loud, fast‐talking outbursts of realization. This spiritedness should have a sincere childlike enthusiasm and innocence to it; he should never feel false, phony or insincere. It’s important to avoid casting someone that just does a “crazy cartoon” voice. There should be a warmth and sweetness amidst his manic lunacy.

Friendly/spazzy: WOW! WHAT A NEAT LITTLE TOWN! They got a castle and everything! Is that where the king lives? I never met a king before, I bet he’s nice, he’s gotta be with a town so nice! Friendly/sympathetic: Aww what’s wrong little fella, why ya’ all down in the dumps? Well your pal Wander’s got just the cure for that right here in my hat—OH, OH what’s this?! WELL IT’S A GREAT BIG HUG! Laid back: Aaaaaah! This is the life, Sylvia. The sound of the wind through the trees, the warmth of the two suns on your back and your best buddy by your side—or in my case, under your butt. Righteous: WAIT A CORNFORSAKEN MINUTE! THIS SO AIN’T RIGHT, IT’S DOWNRIGHT WRONG!! Laughing: Ha ha ha ha ha ha!!!

Sylvia

Sylvia does not consider herself a pessimist, she considers herself a realist. Though she’s strong enough, tough enough and capable enough to be one of the galaxies greatest vigilantes, her belief that no good deed ever goes unpunished keeps her constantly mumbling and grumbling under her breath every time Wander finds a soft enough spot in her heart to convince her to join him in an act of do-goodery. This constant state of exasperation does not derive from a source of hatred, rather it springs forth from an overwhelming frustration with the mindboggling idiocies of the universe and a clear idea of how things could and should work. In a world of chaos and nonsense where she adventures with an overly impulsive hero, Sylvia is often the only (and irritated) voice of reason and logic. In order to relate to her, it’s important to capture her frustration and pessimism while avoiding a voice that sounds too harsh or off-putting. Her sarcastic comments should be a source of comedy and not one of disdain.

Irritated/sarcastic: I told you, Wander, I told you this place looked like bad news! But did you listen? No, you were all (imitating Wander) “let’s go look at that neato skull ship! Maybe there’s nice folks there!” What about now? Think they’re nice now? Sarcastically complaining to self while kicking ass: Oh great the idiotic door won’t open when you push the flargin’ button <HYAAA! (kicks door down)> Well would you lookit that, a swarm of <ugh!> (punching) Watchdogs that want to <hng!> destroy me! <ug!> What’s this? THE GROP DERNED, SHIP IS EXPLODING!! HOORAY! Reluctantly giving in: Oh… all right, ya sappy bean pole. You can have ONE more—just stop it with those disgustingly adorable puppy dog eyes before I blorf. Nervous/apologetic: Heh heh. Sorry Lord Hater we’ll find it, promise! Heh, never knew skeletons could loose their skulls so easily, heh. Trying not to laugh: No, no, no, no, It’s not going to work. I don’t care how many hot dogs you can shove in you mout—SERIOUSLY, STOP IT, it’s not funny, IT’S NOT FUNNY!

Commander (Sergeant) Peepers

Sgt. Peeper’s could easily give Napoleon a run for his famous complex. Short, squishy and cute, Peepers would have taken over the universe well before his boss, Lord Hater, did, if it were not for his adorable stature. A brilliant tactician and a ruthless commander, it would have been easy—if only he could be taken seriously. His intelligence, penchant for engineering and inventing, along with his nasally, weasely voice and often nerdy demeanor doesn’t help. To compensate, Peepers has developed a MASSIVELY short temper. He can turn on you at a moment’s notice for only the slightest offense. In fact, he’s so quick to have a coronary, he comes across as cartoonishly bi‐polar. When he’s not on the verge of an aneurism from screaming, he may be calm and calculating, reflecting on the pleasantries of war making, and even congratulating his men on a job well done. The only being spared Peeper’s rage is Lord Hater. With much effort, Peeper’s manages to hold his tongue with his childish leader, holding his hand and coddling him even when he’s making the stupidest calls.

Sly/intimidating: Well, well, well if it isn’t Wander and Sylvia, Lord Hater and I have been looking for you two idiots for a very long time. Losing temper/having a coronary/Bi‐polar: (angry) WHAT?!! WHAT IS IT BOB!?! (to self) Unconquered Planet? How could that… Huh. Whattaya know ’bout that. Thought we got ‘em all. (maniacal) WELL WE’LL SURE TURN THEIR FROWNS UPSIDE DOWN!! HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!!! Seething/trying to hold back temper: Yes, your… royal heinousness. I think that’s a… fantastic… idea. It sure is a good thing that you thought of it and… not… me… I am but your humble… stupid… servant. Commanding: Yes! That’s it my obedient Watch Dogs, that’s it! Keep on the lookout for anything you see that could threaten or strengthen our power!! See what you will see and report back to me and we will continue to be the most FEARED FORCE IN THE GALAXY!!

Lord Hater

Upon first meeting him, Lord Hater fulfills every expectation one would have of the universe’s most loathsome intergalactic overlord bent on total domination. Large, imposing and powerful. Terrifying, heartless and cruel. He wields a deep booming voice that inspires fear and terror in the souls of all who hear it. However, and quite surprisingly, should anyone manage to get under his non‐existent skin, they will find the snarky, entitled heart of an immature, tantrum‐throwing teenager—but with the same deep booming voice. As it turns out, Hater’s bid to take over the galaxy is fueled by a deep emotional need to feel important. Perhaps his mother didn’t love him enough. Perhaps he had an older brother who was a bully. Perhaps in high school the jocks picked on him and the cheerleaders laughed at him for being a walking skeleton—who knows? For certainly all those big, fat, mean jerks have been destroyed by now. Lord Hater’s acting will have to constantly switch between a very believable scourge of the universe to an equally believable (not mocking) overly sensitive, emo teenager. Villianous/self important: I AM LORD HATER!!! The most feared, evil ruler in all the galaxy!! I have mangled the minds of millions! I have tempted forth torrential tides of tears! I have crushed the courage of countless kings! I have reduced the richest of republics to rubble and ruin! And I have done all of this because I am the GREATEST IN ALL THE GALAXY!! Whiny/bratty/tantrum‐my: IT’S NOT FAIR!!! I should have won the trophy! I’m the GREATEST IN THE GALAXY!! You guys are just a bunch of… of… of MEANY MEANERSONS!! I HATE YOU I HATE YOU I HATE YOU!!! Irate/snotty: Seriously Peepers did you see that??!! I mean seriously, they like totally wrecked my ship. It’s ruined! I mean look at this. It’s totaled. I am so mad right now I could just scream!! Insecure/sensitive: Ah jeez, who am I kidding? I’m such a failure. Nobody fears me. Nobody loathes me. They’re just saying that to make me feel better. Grop, I’m such a loser. Evil Laugh: WA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!!!

Found some early designs of Wander, Sylvia, Peepers and Lord Hater and I LOVE ALL OF THESE CHARACTERS SO MUCH!!! 

I wonder if the actors read these when they were cast as the characters... 

These and the descriptions were all found on Wander News.