#but he didn't even tried to push her. that was the final showdown and the villain didn't even try to kill the hero

[laststandx3]

That idea the anon talked about sounds like The Wizard of Oz. If the movie WISH had revealed that King Magnifico was just a magician who hoarded magic items, yet had no real magic of his own, would you want him to work alone, or would he have an assistant or two like Mysterio?

confession time i didn't see far from home.

but for what i get from the movie mysterio and co were trying to have a sort of revenge on stark who didn't appreciate them enough. it's not a bad set up but i don't see something like that fitting for Magnifico's character.

first because magnifico is already in a position of power, he's not trying to have revenge or get more famous. he's already a the top. second because if we want to keep enough of Magnifico's original characterization having a team is the opposite of him, at least not a team he can trust on. If i have to parallel Magnifico to another villain who uses magic and has an assistant it would be Tzekel-Kan from the road to el dorado.

if magnifico didn't have his powers seems also likely that he would send others to do the hard work for him (collecting magical items...). he doesn't seem like the character who puts a lot of effort when he can delegate. Magnifico would use his assistant/assistants as pawns and/or as ingredients when needed.

i don't think the magic items hoarder set up works well with an assistant(s) who knows magnifico isn't all-powerful and helps him fool the people of rosa. mostly because such character would've no motivation to help magnifico like that. the assistant could be the queen, she helps him to maintain the status quo and keep herself in power.

but if you want an assistant(s) who isn't the queen you have to give them a pretty strong motivation to have them lie to the kingdom AND to not betray magnifico (if the magic comes from external source there's no reason they couldn't be king themselves). and the motivation could be love, or devotion or fear but still needs to be a strong one.

personally for how i see magnifico's character (who lied even to his wife) it seems more fitting that if he has an assistant(s) he would lie and manipulate them. tell them the magic items he owns he actually keeps them to protect the kingdom etc. they follow and obey the king because they think it's the right thing to do. also in canon magnifico is paranoid about facing a stronger magic and he HAS magic. he wouldn't risk to have his secret out. (nevermind he spilled everything about the wishes to Asha the moment he met her, but that was just bad writing imo, an excuse to set the movie in motion as fast as possible)

[reveluving]

Simu!Ken thought— he beaches off for you after one of the Kens or Barbies makes a mean comment about you. And ofc he wins

a/n: HAHAAAAA anon, your mind!! 😭🤌🏻 I decided to make this with both (mean) Ken and Barbie, and did my own lil 'thing' here ;))) thanks, sweetie!! (open to be read as Ryan!Ken, as usual!)

warnings: fluff! (+ teaching meanies a lesson & strong language!)

» fancy reading something new? check out my full m.list!

It's one thing to genuinely get on Ken's bad side, but it's another if the rest of the Barbieland follow suit. 

Mean Barbie and Ken simultaneously arrived months after your Ken’s departure to find you, becoming the talk of the town in an instant. Though, 90% of the time, it was all for the wrong reasons. 

Mean Barbie was demeaning, having a keen interest in insulting others for their interests and even their appearances. Mean Ken was no better, laughing in the Kens' face and Alan for liking anything that was, in his words, 'too girlish'. 

Basically, they weren’t the best people to vibe with. 

While both Weird Barbie and President Barbie tried their best to be civil with the two, the former was more vocal about her distaste, always giving them the stink eye as though she knew their words only went in one ear and out the other. President Barbie was more subtle, though she made sure to drop reminders about their actions here and there.

So when the mean match overheard the cheers and excitement over the infamous Ken coming back for a visit with his sweetheart, oh, they were not having it. 

But soon, they were going to learn that their actions would, in fact, have consequences.

'Cause as the human saying goes; the more you fuck around, the more you find out.

President Barbie was there to greet you and Ken at the entrance, giving you a motherly hug before giving you a heads up and whispering in your ear about the notorious duo.

Though their behaviour wasn't nearly as bad as what you're used to in the real world, it didn't make them any less unpleasant to be around. Kudos to the Barbies and Kens (+ Midge & Allan!) for trying their best not to leave you alone with the two of them, though!

And it only took your Ken two days to do everyone a favour. 

"Hoo, boy, here we go." Mean Ken scoffed at the sight of your Ken excitedly telling you about the surfboard he oftentimes used back when his whole purpose was to be Ken, "That was the cool guy around here?" 

"Right? And I just don't see what's so special about her." His girl sneered.

"Tell me about it. Should've stayed where she came from like she was supposed to." 

The rest of the Barbies and Kens froze up. They gave Pompadour Ken a quick glance, who was now uncharacteristically quiet.

Oh no. 

Who were they to insult you for being you?  

You've also noticed the two literally talking crap about you, though you were more concerned about Ken.

"Ken," You gently stroked his face, hoping it'll ease the sudden tension in his jaw, "Hey, don't listen to them." 

"Hey, pal!" Mean Ken called out to him, "Wanna show us your lil' beach moves? Maybe tell us what's so special about your girl?" 

Ken didn't speak up. He has millions of reasons why you were extremely special to him, but he learnt from you that losing his cool would be a total win for his opposition. 

But the mean twins didn't take being ignored too kindly.

"Hey, I'm talking to you!" He barked, pushing your Ken. He nearly lost his balance, almost hitting you with the surfboard he was holding. 

It wasn't long before Ken finally lost his cool, swinging the surfboard square in Mean Ken's face. He flew away at an immense height and questionable physics, falling on his back just by the sea. 

Some laughed, others cheered. By now, everyone was watching, even Mermaid Barbie and Ken showed up after hearing about a possible showdown on the Malibu Beach. They shook their heads the way disapproving parents would before waving at you, happy to see a nicer face in town.

"Oh my gosh, Ken!" Mean Barbie squawked, running to her man and shaking his unconscious body a little too aggressively, "What did you do?!" 

"I just gave him what he deserved." Your Ken shrugged, running his fingers through his hair that had messed up when he lost his cool.

"You didn't have to like, punch him!" 

"It was gonna happen eventually," Alan murmured to himself, only to earn sounds and nods of approval from the rest of the Kens and Barbies. Even if Pompadour Ken wasn't the one putting them in their place, someone would've. 

Sure, maybe a dance-off would've been sufficient.

Buuut, then again, it was probably the real-world air that he's been breathing in for so long, so it was only a matter of time before his patience snapped, and it did when they started running their mouths about you.

After all, Mean Ken preferred 'manlier' efforts.

"You're in huge trouble, weirdo!" She hissed, believing your Ken's (necessary) violence could easily banish you two from Barbieland. 

"And what're you gonna do about it?" It was your turn to challenge her, standing closer to her with your arms crossed. You weren't just going to stand there and let her spit venom at your boyfriend, much less at your new friends. 

Just a reminder that your hands were rated E for everyone.

"I'll… I'll…! I'll tell Psycho Barbie!" 

"That won't be necessary." Everyone's heads turned to the side to see Weird Barbie approaching, boots off as she walked on the sandy floor with a delighted smirk on her face, "And that's Weird Barbie to you, missy."

She turned to Pompadour Ken, patting him on the shoulder with a grin, "Good job, kid. Didn't think you had it in you but it's probably that wild human air," She then turned to you with a wink, "You got quite the keeper." 

Ken mirrored her proud smile.

"A little help, doc?" She nodded at Doctor Barbie, who immediately rushed to her side. Weird Barbie pointed behind her with her thumb, "Give that guy a quick scan before the President gets here, will ya?" 

Weird Barbie was no doubt beyond excited to report the two, and with tons of eyes as witnesses. 

"Hey," Your Ken placed his hand on the small of your back, "I'm sorry about that. You wanna head home or…?" 

Ken was less than pleased by the thought of the day being ruined but he'd understand if it had because of the mere presence of the two. Some may call him dramatic, but to you, he was just making sure of your comfort. 

"No, no," You shook your head, resting your head on his chest, "I'm okay." 

The groans and whines of Mean Ken and Barbie respectively as President Barbie berated their actions were just bonuses to the feeling of you against him. Softening him up from what had happened prior like kneading dough ever so gently.

"I recall a certain someone promising to play his guitar around a campfire for me?" You teased him, hoping to lift his spirits.

"I did, didn't I?" He hummed, grabbing his guitar bag that lay on the beach chair before wrapping his other arm around you, "C'mon, I know the perfect place."

He brought you to the spot furthest from the 'busy zone', though that didn't stop his friends from dropping stuff like a blanket, sausages and marshmallows to roast as a thank you for his service. 

All in all, the night ended on a much higher note, with your boyfriend serenading you with romantic and cheesy songs he learnt back in the real world and stuffing yourselves with some good campfire food.

» a/n: not me imagining the punch scene from the Friday movie for this piece 😭

» more simu!ken content here: 1 – 2

» gorgeous rose divider by @firefly-graphics ♡

[fanstuffrantings]

Time to rant about the Alvarez arc and issues I had with it once more now that I've posted some spriggan redesigns. This might be long.

The largest reason Alvarez and anything following Tartaros fall so flat is because you can almost tell Mashima was checked out by that point. That his excitement for the series had dwindled.

I have this theory that Tartaros was meant to be the last arc of the series but there were still things unanswered meaning that he was forced into adding more on. Now I don't say this as someone who thinks tartaros should've been the end, but because none of the villains after this point have any weight to them when honestly they should. All the reveals feel like they're done to surprise the audience more than flesh out the story.

I'm someone who always hated the Irene as Erza's mom plot because we really didn't need it. It was a trend of "villain is a blood relative" twists mashima kept throwing in and by that point it was honestly more annoying than anything. Erza never had questions about her family. She was never focused on her past so introducing her mother felt so out of left field. Irene literally could've just been the person who was in charge of creating the tower of Heaven, maybe she was even the on who corrupted Jellal, and that would've done far more towards making me invested in a showdown between her and Erza than anything in canon.

In general the Spriggan 12 being set up as characters involved in the various arcs would've been so beneficial because it would've given readers actual reasons to be angry or upset. What if Invel was the one who created Deliora and consistently tried to create new ice demons to impress Zeref. What if Layla's death was originally believed to be an accident but as time goes on Lucy uncovers more deaths and incidents connected to her mother that eventually lead back to Brandish. The tartaros group answering to August, who is still devote to Zeref, giving us a more solid reason to believe him as a Wizard king and actual tangible terror at the thought of facing him if tartaros itself would bend to him.

And this isn't even getting into how all their designs seem so slapped together causing them to look more like mid level/filler villains than actual final arc antagonists. Compare them to any of the tartaros characters and it just instantly becomes so obvious which ones Mashima actually cared about. By that point he knew he just had to make the women scantily clad and his die hard fans would ignore everything else. Jacob Lessio is one of the first Spriggan I think of whenever I get angry over how rushed their designs are.

Even Zeref himself felt so disappointing as a villain because any hype built for him really peaked during the tartaros arc. I was sure he'd be the one to appear instead of Mard Geer. It felt like that's what tartaros was building to. But instead we someone new and Zeref was pushed back. We could talk about him torturing Mavis and how Mashima still wanted to paint things between them as romantic because heaven forbid Mavis actually be a human with emotions who gets mad and vengeful when she's hurt, but we'll move on.

Beyond just this, Alvarez kingdom could've been so very interesting to have in the background, mentioned every now and then off handedly by side characters or guild members when discussing the world around them. This idea of it always existing but just never seeming important to our leads who aren't thinking about the political side of things. Us getting Alvarez hints early on and Alvarez only increasing in importance would've been something for fans to hold onto and engage with.

Mashima really dropped the ball on the series following Tartaros from the gray villain arc that amounted to nothing, a 1 year time skip setting up Natsu and Lucy collecting guild members that ended with everyone miraculously back at the guild with no persuasion necessary, to his final antagonists carrying non of the weight he wanted because titles don't create fear. And it makes me so incredibly furious because all it would've taken was actual care and interest in his own creation.

[the-watchpost]

Angel S01E01 City of...

YES! Finally! I knew it! I knew that Angel was the kind of character I would normally love and yet for the whole of his involvement in Buffy I really struggled to even like him and I now 100% blame that on the weird Buffy/Angel thing the writers were pushing since that literally became pretty much his only plot. The soulless Angel part of season 2 was brilliantly refreshing and at one point I did consider whether I just didn't like Angel with a soul but the first episode of this show alone just proves that it was the Buffy/Angel thing. I love both characters individually but together? No thank you.

So yeah, I'm watching Angel concurrently with Buffy. I don't know if this is the best way to do this and I don't know anything about the future of either two shows but we're going for it anyway.

And right off the bat, I love that they have brought Cordelia over to this show. It did feel like they ran out of things to do with her in season 3 of Buffy, following the Xander/Willow and her near-death moment. (I guess that's probably because they knew she was moving over to this show??) They still could have given her something to do other than that Wesley stuff. He wasn't in either episode (Buffy or Angel) so I'm guessing he did go back to England? Anyway, back on track, I'm very much looking forward to seeing how this partnership that she's formed with Angel develops.

With it being a new show, I was kind of expecting a whole flood of new characters. We don't get that and I'm glad; this makes more sense to Angel's character since he is more of a lone wolf than someone who's overly sociable. We do get introduced to Doyle though. He's half-demon, which is interesting and gets these vision things from the "powers-that-be". I can only assume that this is setting up plotlines for the future. Surely they can't just not explain that?

Doyle's first job as an introductory character is to provide the exposition to any viewers who didn't watch Buffy through a weird 'Once Upon a Time' story and whilst I get that the writers had to get Angel's backstory across someway, it just doesn't make sense. Why does Doyle need to tell Angel his own life story? Angel was there when it happened!

Long story short, the episode revolves around Angel trying to save this Tina girl because Doyle had a vision which made him write down her name and where to find her. Ultimately, they fail and Tina gets killed by a vampire named Russell. I spent the entire time up until her death trying to determine whether she would be a one-off character or a regular one so that moment ended that debate.

Russell then turns his attention to Cordelia and invites her to his place. You can't help but marvel at her bad luck. She did the relatively smart thing by getting out of Sunnydale (home of the hellmouth) and yet she still gets dragged into the world of vampires and demons. Cordelia is great in this episode though and that moment of realisation, "I finally get invited to a nice place - with no mirrors - and lots of curtains... hey, you're a vampire!" was perfect. Luckily for Cordelia, Angel's timing was on point. Also loved the moment when Doyle tried to smash through the front gates with the car.

Russell managed to get away which allowed for the cool showdown at the office. The "can you fly?", the shove of the chair out of the window and Russell catching on fire as he fell was a stand-out moment.

One aspect I'm really enjoying about Buffy (and seemingly continuing with Angel) is seeing actors I know from other shows randomly popping up looking so much younger. It catches me off guard every time. This episode had one of those moments with Christian Kane (as the lawyer guy whose name I didn't catch).

Anyway, the episode ends with Angel, Cordelia and Doyle banding together to help protect the city. So I guess we'll just keep watching and see how that one goes.

[schneereggen]

As the Catastrophe at Sixteen manga is now at it's final showdown it made me think again about how this was the perfect ending for the resolution of Guren's two goals:

1) Becoming Powerful

and derived from that

2) Saving Mahiru

And he failed both. But the interesting part is not to know that he did but why and how. Plus, the why is what makes the story such a dilemma.

But first, a short digression to why I highlight those goals and how they slightly change sueing the storyline.

Becoming powerful

It's Guren's initial goal. He want to become powerful to be able to beat the Hiragi clan. He wants to be strong. He despises his weaknesses and hides them in order to become a better leader.

Yet, he doesn't know what becoming powerful means for him. He wants power but quickly realizes that sheer physical strength wouldn't get him closer to this goal. There are many people more powerful than him.

So because of his friends and especially Shinya, Guren finds his strength in human bonds. (Friendship is magic and stuff). Because Shinya reminds him that there is no use in becoming strong without having something to protect. This goal seems to be achieved in the end, because Guren feels strong as he can rely on his friends. But with his friends dead this goal is shattered.

Saving Mahiru

This goal develops throughout the story and is tightly connected to Guren's goal of becoming strong. When he was a child he was too weak to save her. She is the reminder he's weak. If Guren wants to become powerful, he has to save her this time. Guren feels responsible for her and this time he wants to be the one that will save her. If she dies, he would have failed.

This is the reason why he tried to commit suicide with her. When he does with her, he wouldn't have to deal with the regret of failing a second time.

Still, in the end he fails this goal as well nevertheless. Even though he tries everything.

Why did both goals fail?

A goal in a story always needs and antagonistic force. What is preventing the hero from reaching their goal? What is standing in the way?

For goal 1 there were a lot of characters stronger than Guren. Kureto was stronger, Saito was stronger, and Mahiru was stronger as well. On top Guren had to come to terms with his own character to achieve this goal. Still, in the end it failed because Mahiru killed his friends and therefore Guren's strength.

Goal 2 is the more interesting part. The reason why Guren could t save Mahiru was always Mahiru herself. She became his antagonist in saving her. Whenever he tried she set the conditions that Guren didn't wanted to fulfill. She always came close so that Guren thought he could achieve it, just to push him back again. He tried to kill himself with her, she stopped him and survived.

Mahiru is Guren goal and his antagonist at the same time. Which makes it impossible for him to succeed.

So what does this mean for the ending?

Till the end, Guren tried to fulfill this goal. But it was doomed to fail. He couldn't win if the antagonist controls the goal.

What I also love about the ending is, that Guren, till the end, never abandons these goals. We always see him struggling for those things and we want him to succeed. This is why it hurts even more to see both goals failing. We want him to succeed and he always fails, and fails, and even in the end fails. Because it was impossible in the first place.

Yet, with the opportunity to resurrect his friends. Guren gets a chance for a retry for goal 1. There is still the opportunity to become powerful to protect and save his friends. So that he would not have to live with the regret of not being able to save someone once again.

[minty-marshmallow]

Hwarang [Ep 20] Finale

Awww it's so sad, they actually are good friends and care about each other. Moo Myung even tells him that he wasn't able to kill him even though he knew Maek Jong was the king. Now they're gonna be enemies when they meet again and I don't like it. I just want everyone to be friends and be happy. Why can't they work together like Maek Jong said he wished to; why can't they change Silla together?

Yeong Shil is the worst of all I swear, he doesn't give two shits about the people of Silla. He even said they'll lick the officials' boots regardless of what happens to the people. He really thinks he's going to be the owner of Silla but we shall see. Moo Myung is just using him to gain the title of King anyway. He doesn't plan on letting Yeong Shil have his way.

A rebellion you say? I know that Moo Myung wants to change things but won't a rebellion deter his plans; won't innocent people die in a rebellion? I wonder if things can be resolved peacefully. Does there have to be a big showdown between Maek Jong and Moo Myung really?

Ooooh, Soo Ho saw the maid poisoning the tea. Oh, she knew about it the whole time. I don't understand why she still drank it though and let it build up all this time? I guess I kind of understand now why she was always asking for the tea...she already knew.

What is Mak Jong planning exactly, he's using Ah Ro now as a hostage. It's strange that he's telling her that though, I feel like he has a different plan aside from using her to make Moo Myung not threaten his throne.

Maek Jong just assumes he can dominate the Hwarang with his title as King but they don't even see him as a king. Moo Myung called him out on it saying the Hwarang must be free to make a choice "Do you not have the confidence to be chosen?" Ooof; he doesn't though. He knows that.

Well, that was kind of a sad but touching moment with his mother. I mean I still think she's a bitch but you know. Unfortunately, Maek Jong has made his first kill. He demanded the maid be killed, sigh, I don't think he's turning into a King at all. Or at least not one he wants to be.

So are the Hwarang going to be divided? I bet so, obviously, some will side differently. So it's the big day of abdication for the Queen; who will become King. We got 30 minutes till the show ends haha. Oh, actually it appears that all of the Hwarang are supporting Seon Woo., interesting.

And here we go with Moo Myung barging in. Also, the council members said that he should be King instead. So what's gonna happen, a big huge fight? Sigh, I wish things could be resolved peacefully. Aww, they didn't have to have a huge fight. I'm so glad. They all pledged allegiance to him.

Ah, so there was more to that talk when they had that showdown. I guess I was right Moo Myung never wanted to be King but he made everyone, including Maek Jong think so (at least at first). He wanted to push him to be stronger and better.

Oh so she told Ji Gong she was sorry, bull shit I don't think she was for a minute. Plus if it takes you being on your death bed to be sorry you weren't. Pssh and he gonna say he couldn't hate her even though he tried. Well, she died, can't say I'm sad about it. She did a lot of terrible things. Not as bad as Yeong Shil but still.

Maek Jong let Ah Ro go. He knows her heart never belonged to him. This is actually probably the hardest thing he'll actually ever have to do. He loves her so much. However, true love is wanting that person to be happy even if it's not with you.

Aww, Ban Ryu and Soo Yeon are still together. Haha, Ah Ro hasn't changed at all, I love that. Moo Myung is Make Jong's right-hand man. I love the ending of them riding off to protect Silla the main 5, all still friends. I love it!

Overall I think the ending was nice.

[hokkaidossoul12]

I based this drawing from a scene from Helluva boss Striker vs Moxxie at 0:49 except I changed it a bit to fit the events of the story.

(click on keep reading to see the story)

I really wanted to draw what the kidnapping looked like after the key master got their body back, it happens when Dorothy got the left side of her head split open by a group of dangerous bandits who found out that she had a key in her head that unlocked a hidden room in the valley. She had passed out from the injury, Showdown and Penny had found her and ended up bringing her to Doc to see what he could do. When Dorothy came back into consciousness she found that she found that she couldn't see from her left eyes and that the left side of her head was bandaged from her ear to her eye, and she found out from Doc that he had to remove her eye from how much damage her head was in. But as she listened to Doc she found how weak she was because of the impact, it turned out that the bandits managed to rough her up, it resulted in her being too weak to even be able to walk properly. Doc then decided to set up a spare room in mending room/home for her to stay the night, in the meantime Dorothy talked to Showdown and Penny, but the dog-wolf couldn't help but feel nervous about the situation. And as Doc had finally finished setting up the room for Dorothy they noticed that the sun was going down, Showdown and Penny then took their leave and headed back to their homes. Dorothy had quickly settled herself in the room shortly after. She felt worn out and tired, Doc took notice as he watched her settle in and insisted that she have a early night. And so that what she did and Doc left her to settle down while still making sure she was alright, Dorothy had slipped off her grey boot and dark blue gloves to let her fluffy limps air out from the events from that day. Dorothy had then crawled into the soft bed Doc had prepared for her and curled up under the blankets, it had been a while since she had slept in a bed as comfy as this, it helped her to get to sleep quickly. Doc smiled, he then closed the door to give her privacy as well as keeping the room dark enough for her to sleep. Meanwhile, the group of bandits had travelled on horses to get to the hidden room of the valley. They each debated on who would use the key on the door, one of the bigger bandits from the lot decided to do it themself. The big bandit grabbed the key they got from Dorothy's head earlier and went to the door that would lead them to the hidden room, they were quick to slip the key into the key hole of the door and unlock up. The big bandit smirked as they pushed open the door. But, they're smirk dropped when they found only a figure inside of the room, it looked to be a dead body that laid at the back of the room, their clothing seemed to be dirty with dust and bits of rust covering their body. The big bandit grumbled as they turned back toward the rest of the bandits, "well...what's in there?" one of the other bandits spoke, "nothing...all except for a rotten corspe" the big bandit answered. The rest of the group of bandits let out anger groans. But, as they're attention was lead away from the room the seemingly dead puppet that laid on the ground had quickly came to life, the puppet seemed to suddenly become taller and lankier as the rust and dust from the puppet quickly disappear with a magic that the figure had used. "ugh...I knew this would all be for nothing!" one of the other bandits growled, the bandits still not noticing that the puppet in the room stand up and start walking toward the open doorway. The puppet in the room seemed to have extremely sharp teeth with golden yellow cat eyes, the puppet seemed to wickedly smile as they were now half-way toward the door. Then, one of the bandits smirked and chuckled, "well, at least we got to split that mutt's head open, the scream she let out was perfect!" then the other bandits also smiled and laughed, the puppet in the room overhead what they were saying and their smile dropped. "yeah, Dorothy sure was fun to torment" one of the other bigger bandits said with a smirk, but the mention of Dorothy's name in the situation made the figure in the room suddenly become filled with rage and they then made

the rest of the way out of the room, their cat eyes glowing brightly in a sign of anger. Quickly, the puppet pulled the key out from the door with enough forced to shatter it, making a loud sound that caught the bandits' attention. The bandits were quick to pull out their guns and aim them at the puppet from the room. But, as one of the bandit's took their aim on the puppet they saw something about the puppet that made them pause, they then realized who the puppet really was, the bandit's eyes widened in fear as their gun suddenly dropped from their hand. "n-no...it's them!" the now weaponless bandit backed off in fear, the puppet from the room then gave an angry smile. One of the other bandits looked that the weaponless bandit who was cowering in fear, "what are you going on about? who is 'them'?" the bandit asked, raising a brow. The weaponless bandit then looked at the bandit and said, "they're... they're t-the key master!" one of the other big bandits looked back and scowled, "that is physically impossible! the key master died years back and hasn't came back since, this is just one of those stringless puppet! now get over yourself and stop being such a baby!", the puppet from the room narrowed their eyes. "so...you think I'm just 'stringless', huh? would a 'stringless' be able to talk?" the bandits then turned to the puppet, surprised at how the puppet suddenly spoke. Suddenly, the puppet took a few steps forward without any trouble "would a 'stringless' be able to walk like this?", the bandits then held their guns up shakily at the puppet. The weaponless bandit shook and backed away from the others and went into the direction of where the horses were, the puppet saw this and their smile widened, "would a 'stringless' be able to do this?" suddenly, the puppet snapped their fingers and a loud sound like chain crashing against the ground was heard behind the bandits. They then heard the frightened cry of their horses behind them, the weaponless bandit turned to the horses to see them scatter and run from the area. "n-no, our horses!" the weaponless bandit said and the others turned back to see the horses were gone. The bandits then turned toward the puppet again who was now closer to them, this caused the bandits to jolt and hold their guns back up at the puppet, the bandits then could see the puppets face properly. One side of the puppet's face was covered with a mask while the other side seemed to had pointy bumps that were all over the open side of the puppet's face. They then recognized the mask and realized that...the weaponless bandit was right, it really was them, the key master. They also found that the key master was also inhumanly tall compared to all of them, making the bandits now shake as they stared at the key master. Then, the weaponless bandit decided to make a run for it, the key master saw and they suddenly disappeared. The bandit's were then confused and fearful at where the key master went. The weaponless bandit then saw the key master suddenly reappear in front of them, they let out a yell of fear as the key master suddenly grabbed them by their neck and lifted them off the ground. The other bandits then turned behind them to see the event unfold as the bandit in the key master's arm now trembled in fear, the key master then leaned in towards the fearful bandit. The key master's eyes then glowed before they're mouth opened to reveal their sharp teeth, the key master then began to inhaled but...it wasn't the air, the bandit scream as they felt their life drain before them, the key master was sucking the soul from they're body. After a few moments, the bandit screams faded and the bandit's body was left motionless, the bandit's eyes were now completely blacked out, the key master then chuckled before dropping the now motionless bandit down. The other bandit made scared sounds as the key master stared down at them. "tell me...do you think that I'm a stringless?" the bandits looked at each other before looking at key master again. The key master then snarled and lunged toward the bandits, "DO

YA?", the bandits whimpered and shook their heads, too afraid to speak. With a chuckle, the key master began to prowl around the bandits, the bandits shook in their boots as they tried to not lose sight of the large puppet. Then suddenly with a swift motion, the key master summoned chains that tripped the bandits, making them each fall on their rears as the guns dropped from their hands. Quickly the key master swept up the guns and broke them apart without much effort, showing how much strength they really had. The key master then walked towards the bandits and towered over the lot of them. "w-wait! can't we talk this through? I mean...we could help you out with what you need" one of the bandit spoke with a nervous smile, trying to see if they could get out of the situation they were in. Another bandit spoke up, "yeah, we could get you anything, like money, alcohol, stuff like that." The key master looked down at the bandits, seeing them trying to bargain with them, it was rather amusing to watch the bandits struggle to find excuses. But, the bigger puppet didn't care about any of things the bandits tried to offer them, all they wanted was the bandits to suffers for their earlier actions on Dorothy. "Do you really think that your petty little offers are going to save you? heh, I find that quite funny, your all trying to dig your way out the predicament you got yourselves into. But, I don't think you realize the mistake you all had made, so let me make it clear to the lot of you." Then, in a trice, the ground around the bandits began to shake before they felt something snapped around each of their wrists, ankles and necks, they looked to see that chains had come up from the ground around them and now had them all chained in place. Then, the key master suddenly used their magic on the key in their hand to turn the key into a long scythe-like weapon. The bandits tried to struggle against the chains as they saw the scythe in the big puppet's hands, "you had messed with someone that you shouldn't have messed with, you messed with her, you messed with my little pup. You all could've done something else that would've left you danger free, but no...you had to do the one thing that pushed me over, you had to hurt her, you had to hurt...my... DoRoThY. And for that...you will all pay with your LIVES!" the bandits then each let out a loud scream as the key master brought the scythe across each of their bodies, over and over, tearing them apart and ripping their souls from their bodies before consuming them one by one. The key master then felt a serge of power run through them as they took a deep breath in and out. The key master then out a loud cackle as they looked down at the deep bandits below them. "It's great to be me again!", the key master then used magic on the scythe which turned it back into a key again before tucking the key away in their cloak. The key master then smiled, it was then that a possessive side of the key master came out as they thought about Dorothy once more. To touch her again and hold her against them, to feel the soft fur on her cheek as they touched her face, they wanted her oh so badly. They knew exactly where to find her, they knew she was still alive from the bandit's attack as they knew the an injury like how she suffer wouldn't be enough to kill her. But, it also meant that it would make her a lot weaker than saw was. "now, for my little pup~" they snapped their fingers, getting rid of the chains from the bandits before disappearing, going to find Dorothy. The night went on, Dorothy was in a deep sleep on the bed of the spare room of Doc's mending home. She happily snuggled into the blankets where it was warm and soft. But, she was so sound asleep that she failed to hear the sound of a figure creeping around the room, they had locked the door of the room and hid the key. The figure then went towards Dorothy as she slept, the figure brought a hand to the dog-wolf's cheek and gently caressed her face. The figure looked her lovingly, a toothy grin on their face, they knew she was in a deep

sleep. Quickly, the figure pulled the blankets off Dorothy's top half before grabbing her wrists and summoned something into their hands, they were metal fist mitts with a lock on each mitt to keep the mitts connected together like handcuffs. The figure was quickly to put the fist mitts on Dorothy's hands, locking her hands and wrists inside of mitts and putting a spell on them so she couldn't use her own magic to break the mitts. The figure then covered the blankets back over Dorothy to make it look like nothing had happened. The figure then crept around the other side of the bed and leaned in toward her fluffy ear, they chuckled in her ear softly, making Dorothy shiver in her sleep. "Dorothy~ wake up, Dorothy~ Dorothy~", the dog-wolf whimpered as the figure whispered in her ear which made her starting to slowly wake from her deep sleep, the figure then chuckled in her ear again, causing her to wake up in a frightened state. She sat up and turn toward where she heard the figure whisper in her ear but...she saw nothing, she looked around the room to see if there was anyone in the room with her, she couldn't see anyone there. She sighed and pulled herself to sit at the edge of the bed, "hmm...maybe it was just in my dream...or in my head?" Dorothy said to herself, she then went to rub her head with a hand only to feel her arms move at the same time, she become confused and tried to move her fingers only to find that they were tightly confined within something. "huh?" she looked down at her hands and her eye widened, she saw the metal fist mitts over her hands and wrists. Fear welled up inside her as she stood up and tried to break the cuffs with her magic only to find that it didn't work, she gasped seeing that they were magic proof. She then tried multiple times to break the cuffs only for it to fail for her and she let out a huff. Dorothy whimpered, "how is this happening? why can't I get them off?!", Dorothy then heard a deep chuckled behind her that she heard before. "heh, I find it so cute how your trying so hard to break them~", quickly Dorothy turned around and saw the key master behind her. She saw that they were no longer the ghost she saw them as before but they were now a tall, lanky puppet with golden cat eyes, she looked up at them and backed off. "h-how...are you..." she then saw them pull something out from their cloak, she looked at it closely and saw that it was the key that was in her head when the bandits had split her head open. Dorothy shook, "no...n-no..." the key master looked down at her with a smirk before putting the key away and leaning down toward her. "I knew you would you would react like this when you saw me again, so I cuffed your hands to stop you from even being able to do anything~ not even to defend yourself~" the key master purred as they looked down at her. Dorothy then quickly turned toward the door and try to turn the knob even with the cuffs over her hands only to find that the knob wouldn't turn, meaning it was locked. "oh, and just if case you tried to get away, I locked the door to stop you from being able to leave~", in a panic Dorothy slammed herself against the door as hard as she could, "HELP! DOC! DOC!!!" Dorothy cried out loudly, trying to call for Carver. She continued to try this over and over until she felt her body going weak, she continued to cry out Carver's name in hopes that he would come to her aid. The Key Master smiled wickedly and went toward Dorothy, knowing that she was becoming weak, they swiftly wrapping their arms around her and pulling her back, she screamed while squirming in the key master's hold. "CARVER! PLEASE! CARVER! CAR-MMMH!" suddenly the key master brought their hand to Dorothy muzzle tightly, clasping over her mouth and nose. Dorothy let out muffled screams as she continued to struggle against the key master's hold. She then began stomping her feet against the ground as she tried to make as much noises as possible, the taller puppet knew that Doc would be alerted to Dorothy's sounds eventually. The key master then briskly pulled

Dorothy back and away from the door before lowering themself down and forcing Dorothy's feet off the ground, pressing her closer to them so they had more leverage on her. Dorothy was left helplessly struggling against the key master's grip, they were so much bigger and stronger than her so her struggling now did nothing to help her at all. Dorothy then looked down at the fist mitts on her hands, she knew this would be her last hope as she tried to swing them up into the key master's face. She almost was able to hit them so she tried once again but with more force to hit the key master, but...they had seen what she tried to do the first time and dodged her hit, not being phased too much by this. The key master then let out a small, breathy laugh at her attempt to hit them. "heh, smart move~ I should have thought you would've done that, but now it'll be so much easier for me!" Dorothy then went to try and hit them again with the fist mitts only to find that they felt heavy, so heavy that she couldn't even lift her arms. She looked down at them to see a magic aura around the mitts, the key master was using a spell on the mitts where then forced the metal mitts on Dorothy's lap and keep them stuck in place on her lap. Dorothy continued to let out muffled screams while still trying to struggle against the key master. The key master knew Dorothy couldn't do much now so they leaned down close to her face, "shh...don't worry, little pup~ I'll make sure your safe and SoUnD~" they're eyes glowed as they stared down at Dorothy possessively, Dorothy let out a muffled cry as she looked at them, tears forming in her eyes. Dorothy knew now that Doc wouldn't able to hear her now making her muffled scream turned into muffled sobs as she had become weak in the the key master's hold. "that's it~ good little pup~" they said as Dorothy began to stop struggling, she had gave up trying to fight them now, she stopped struggling and just shook in the key master's hold. The taller puppet felt the dog-wolf's tear hit they're hand. They looked down at her and they're smile dropped for a moment seeing her cry, they then brought they're other hand to her face, using they're thumb to wipe her tears away, "aww, little pup...it's ok, don't cry..." they then saw her hiccup a few more tears. The key master then brought Dorothy closer to them, they're hold on her was more loving now as they suddenly changed her position and held her bridal style now. They then saw that Dorothy's eye was closed now and her body laid limply in their arms, she had become unconscious the key master holding they're hand to her muzzle. They then released her muzzled and stood up with Dorothy in their arms. They then went in the middle of the room before the key master had disappeared with Dorothy and to they're mansion. They took her to their bed and placed her down onto it, the bed was surprisingly clean despite not being used for a long time. The tall puppet then pulled the blankets over her to keep her warm. They then took off their cloak, putting it up on the coat rack in the room before sitting on a chair in the room near the bed, they smiled before falling asleep in the chair. In the morning, Doc had woken up from his sleep and once he got himself ready for the day he had gone to check on Dorothy. But, when he did he found that the door was locked, he thought that he must've accidently locked it and went to go find the key when he found it was nowhere to be seen. He then instead found the spare key and unlocked the door only to find that Dorothy was nowhere to be seen. He then saw her gloves and boot still in the room, he then found something on the ground, they were dents in the ground along with big bootprints on the ground. Doc had then realized that she had been kidnapped, and the only one he could think of who wouldn't done it was faceless since doc thought Faceless may have teleported to get to her. Showdown and Penny had come to see Doc and Dorothy a little bit later on, Doc had explained what happened and it was quickly spread throughout the whole valley,

that faceless had kidnapped her. But, when Faceless had been taken in to be question he had no idea that Dorothy was even kidnapped in the first place. But, this wasn't good enough for the townsfolk and folks even tried to get him arrested. This had gone one for two to three days until faceless had enough and he went to search for her himself. Faceless had eventually found out who had actually kidnapped Dorothy and was extremely shocked and surprised, he used to be friends with the key master years back until they fell out with each other once the key master had turned evil. Faceless had then thought of a plan to rescue Dorothy from the key master and bring her back to town. Although, it would be difficult for him to do so since the key master was just as strong as he was and maybe even more than Faceless, but, that wasn't going to stop faceless easily.

[desirexwolf]

Night Before Christmas

Summary: Christmas had always been a quiet affair for the Parkers and when Peter met Tony Stark, he didn't think anything would change about that. Tony proves him wrong.

Word count: 2951

This is my entry for @irondadsecretsanta! I wrote this for the amazing @whumphoarder, happy holidays. <33

Winter had always been Peter's favorite time of the year. Ever since he could remember, December was the time of fairy lights, hot chocolate and May's burnt Christmas cookies. Ben would take Peter to pick out a Christmas tree and all three of them would decorate it afterwards. His uncle always picked Peter up to put the star on top even when Peter was already a teenager.

And then it was just May and Peter.

They spent their first Christmas after Ben's death in a diner down the street after May burnt the turkey, both of them silently wiping away tears. Neither of them really was in the Christmas spirit.

After that, May tried to give Peter a proper Christmas every year. The weeks leading up to the holidays she would take countless double shifts in the hospital to afford at least a Lego set for her nephew. It was different from what they were used to, but they made it work.

When Peter met Tony Stark, he didn't think anything would change about that.

But after the whole showdown with the vulture, the two of them got a lot closer than either of them originally anticipated. Peter regularly went to the compound for upgrades and after a while, he would spend whole weekends with Tony tinkering in his lab.

They didn't spend Christmas together, but they got each other presents and for New Year's Tony even invited him and May up to the compound.

Barely half a year later, Thanos invaded the earth. Then Titan happened.

When he woke up, five years had passed and Tony almost lost his life defeating Thanos. And now, December 23nd, he is sitting in the Stark's living room, surrounded by fairy lights in each corner of the room when a little thatch of brown hair comes rushing in and barreling into his legs.

"Petey!" Morgan climbs up on the spot next to him with a serious look on her face, skipping the greeting to focus on more serious matters. "Gerald needs a bell."

Peter grins. "Oh yeah and why is that?"

"Because someone's got a little bit too deep into the Christmas spirit while shopping," Tony calls. He enters the living room with a bag so huge he has to use both arms to carry it and drops it onto the dining table with a huff. "Isn't that right, Madam Secretary?"

Morgan just giggles.

Peter picks her up and walks over to Tony, sparing a glance into the overflowing shopping bag. "Jesus, how much did you buy?"

"Don't ask me, I just paid for the stuff. But someone else here was very convinced we could not celebrate Christmas without these," - Tony pulls out a box with obnoxiously white and pink Christmas balls - "very beautiful Hello Kitty decorations."

Morgan hides her face in Peter's neck with a mischievous smile and presses her cold nose against his skin. He wraps his left arm around her waist so he can look through the bag with the other hand, pushing through numerous fairy lights, candles and Christmas balls.

"Well, I don't see a bell," Tony quirks an eyebrow at him and Peter shrugs. "The Chef said Gerald needs a bell and I do agree. He does need a bell."

Tony scoffs. "You're supposed to agree with me here, you know?"

Peter just smiles while Morgan throws her arms around his neck in a strangling hug.

"Unbelievable, betrayed by my own blood. Savages, both of you." Tony says and wraps his arms around his daughter, pulling her away from Peter and tickling her sides.

Morgan squeals loudly and wiggles out of Tony's grasp. She slaps his hands away when he playfully jabs her side again. "Can I go look for Uncle Happy?"

"Sure you can. But don't talk him into Juice Pops before dinner, Mom sees everything, you know that!" Tony calls after her, but Morgan was already dashing out of the living room in search of her uncle.

Peter stifles a laugh and Tony turns to the teenager, clapping a hand down on his shoulder. "Yeah, laugh it up. Don't think I'm letting you off the hook, you'll help me unpack all of that."

Peter whines, but starts to take the decorations out off the shopping bag and throwing them onto the dining table. He's at his fourth packing of fairy lights when he speaks up. "Not to judge but, uh, where do you plan to put all of that?"

"The basement," Tony picks up a ginormous, fluffy elk with a Santa hat and examines it with a skeptical frown. "Pepper is going to have a fit when she sees all of that stuff, so let's pick up the pace, kiddo."

Peter grins, but keeps unpacking silently.

To be honest, Peter enjoys the overbearing Christmas spirit the Stark's have going on. And that does include all the unnecessary Christmas decorations, so he actually doesn't mind helping Tony unpack everything. Peter just hopes that May will think something similar when she joins them on Christmas Eve instead of finding it too overbearing. She was at a staff training in New Jersey over the weekend, which is why Happy had picked Peter up from school and brought him to the lake house to spend the days leading up to Christmas there.

"- Hey, kid, you listening to me?"

Peter jerks up, blinking at Tony. "Sorry, what? I- I didn't catch that."

"Yeah, I noticed," Tony smirks, but his smile is soft and his eyes held a fondness that was reserved only for his kids. "I asked how your Spanish exam went. You tired, kid?"

Now that Tony mentioned it, Peter realizes that he was tired. He had been generally exhausted for the past two weeks, but between finals and patrols he had paid that not a lot of thought. Now that he could relax, the ache in his bones became unpleasantly obvious.

"Worn out from finals, I guess." he admits sheepishly.

Tony nods and walks around the table to Peter. "Yeah, you look it." he mutters, running his flesh hand through the teenager's hair. Peter makes a sound of protest but it quickly dies down when he leans into the comforting touch. He reminds Tony of a kitten. "You wanna catch a quick nap before dinner? I got the rest of this. And

don't worry, I'll cover for you with Madam Secretary."

Peter chuckles quietly, feeling drained all of the sudden. "You sure?"

"100%. Now go before I change my mind." Tony says and gives Peter a gentle push towards the hallway before turning back to the dining table.

Peter just gives him a mock salute in return.

He can hear Morgans‘ enthusiastic chattering outside when he walks down the hallway to his room and closes the door behind him, blocking out the noise. He shuts the window for good measure as well and pulls the curtains closed before crawling under the covers. Peter falls asleep as soon as his head hits the pillow.

X

It’s already dark outside when Pepper comes home from work. Tony had thankfully managed to clear all evidence of their Christmas shopping, stuffing most of it into already overbearing corners in the hope that his wife wouldn’t notice that way.

Morgan had claimed the hideous elk they bought as hers though, dragging both Happy and the stuffed toy into the living room to play while Tony prepared dinner.

After hearing his wife greet Morgan and Happy in the room next door Pepper joins Tony in the kitchen, giving him a peck on the cheek. “Where are you hiding Peter?”

“In his room, catching up on sleep before dinner.”

Pepper hums and leans over her husband’s shoulder to peek into the cooking pot. Tony turns around, putting his hands on Peppers waist and gives her a kiss to greet her properly.

“You’re just trying to keep me away from your chili, aren’t you?” she grins up at him, wrapping her arms around Tony’s neck.

“Well, is it working? It’s the only thing I can cook, you know.”

Pepper just chuckles quietly before going in for another kiss.

Tony breaks the embrace first, picking up the wooden spoon from the counter and holding it out to his wife. “Don’t let the food scorch while I go and wake Peter.

He hands the spoon over to Pepper and sticks his head into the living room to tell Happy and Morgan that dinner’s almost ready before heading down the hallway to

Peter’s room.

Tony stops in front of the door and knocks. “Peter,” he calls out. “Dinner’s ready.”

When he doesn’t receive a response, Tony huffs and opens the door. Unsurprisingly, Peter’s room is immersed into darkness, lights shut off and the curtains drawn. It’s only from the faint light in the hallway that Tony can see the bed and Peter, completely hidden under his comforter.

Tony makes his way over to him and peels the blanket away from the heap that is Peter. Woken up from the sudden movement, the teenager blinks up at him owlishly. “Good morning, sunshine,” Tony says and sits down on the edge of the bed. “Dinner’s ready. You want to try and emerge from your cave?”

Peter groans. He sits up and rubs his eyes, curls falling loosely into his face. “I slept. Why am I still so tired?”

“Burden of being a teenager, huh?”

Peter just glares at him halfheartedly and Tony pats Peter’s calf through the blanket. “C’mon, chop chop. Dinner’s getting cold.”

With a sigh Peter moves to get up from the bed and Tony waits until he’s on his feet before leaving the room.

In the kitchen Pepper was already serving the food while Morgan’s sitting at the table. Morgan beams as Tony enters room and he blows a raspberry on her cheek while passing by her seat. She giggles, but is already distracted when Peter shuffles into the kitchen.

“Petey”, she cheers and Peter tries to smile. “You’re awake!”

If you can call it that, Tony thought. In the bright kitchen light the kid looks the worse for wear, two shades too pale and deep bags under his eyes. But even though the kid’s obviously exhausted, he still tries to keep up his banter with Morgan and sits down beside her.

Tony keeps up conversation with Pepper during dinner, she tells him that Happy had to leave before dinner because he was needed in town, but he can’t help glancing back at Peter every now and then. He’s barely touching his food and when everyone else is already finished, not even half of it is gone.

“Didn’t you like it?” Morgan wonders loudly, suspiciously eyeing Peter’s plate.

Before Peter can response, Tony chimes in. “Morguna, why don’t you go in the living room and pick out a movie we can watch,” he gets up and loops an arm around Morgan’s waist, picking her up. “That sound like a good idea?”

“Yeah!” she cheers and Tony presses a series of kisses onto her cheek before she runs into the living room.

Pepper had already begun to collect the dishes and Tony quickly jumps in to help her with dish washing. Peter now gets up as well, bringing the last bowl over to the sink before asking if he can help out.

“Oh no, sweetie, I’ve got it covered.” Pepper assures him with a smile.

Tony goes to ruffle Peter’s hair, but halts when he comes into contact with his skin. He runs his hand through the kid’s hair until he can cup the back of his head and holds Peter in place to put his lips onto his forehead.

Peter balks, but Tony doesn’t pay that any attention and instead moves back with a frown and replaces his lips with a palm to the cheek. “You’re warm.”

“What’s going on?” Pepper asks over the running water, turning her head over her shoulder.

“Kid’s coming down with something.”

“I’m not,” Peter protests, moving back so he’s out of Tony’s reach. “I’m just tired, okay? Finals were exhausting and- and patrols just take longer now because apparently no one got the memo that you don’t do crimes on Christmas and-”

“Woah kid, hey,” Tony interrupts Peter, putting his hands down on his shoulders. “It’s fine. Let’s just take it easy tonight. C’mon, we’re going to sit down on the couch, I’m sure Morgan needs help picking out a movie.”

He guides one hand down to the small of Peter’s back and steers him towards the living room, but not before throwing a subtle look over his shoulder to Pepper. She looks after Peter concerned before catching Tony’s eye and giving him a meaningful look.

Tony gets Peter settled on the couch and tellingly, Peter lets Tony manhandle him for the most part. He’s just opened out a blanket and places it over Peter when Pepper joins them and sprawls out on the seat next to Tony, pulling Morgan into her lap after she chose Nightmare Before Christmas for them to watch. Tony snorts at the irony of that.

Peter curls up onto the couch, rearranging the blanket until it covered most of Tony’s lap as well before putting his head on Tony’s shoulder. Tony moves his arm around Peter and runs his hand through Peter’s curls, discreetly pulling out his phone to check Peter’s temperature.

He rarely uses FRIDAY these days, but for occasions like this he still had her installed in the lake house. Tony didn’t need her to power the suit anymore, so she was more of a convenience than anything else.

Peter’s temperature sits around 99.8 and while that wasn’t exactly a fever, it was an elevated temperature. Tony frowns as he looks down at Peter, brushing hair away from his forehead.

“What?” Peter suddenly asks, almost slurring with tiredness, and looks up at Tony blearily.

“Hm?”

“I can feel you starring at me,” he mumbles quietly to not distract Morgan from her movie, closing his eyes again and cuddling into Tony’s chest. “S’creepy.”

Tony snorts in amusement and lowers his cheek onto Peter’s head. “Go to sleep, kiddo.”

“M’kay.”

Sometime during the movie Morgan had moved to lay on both Tony and Pepper’s laps, snoring quietly and outstretched like a starfish which, to be honest, was pretty impressive given the little space she had. Pepper was leaning against his metal arm, playing with Morgan’s hair in her lap while Peter was asleep on Tony’s chest

Tony was drifting off himself when Pepper leans in. “I’m going to bring Morgan upstairs and then go to bed,” she whispers. “You want me to wait for you?”

Tony glances at Peter, then shakes his head. “No, it’s okay.”

“Alright.”

Pepper gives Tony a goodnight kiss before lifting Morgan up into her arms. She stirs but doesn’t wake and Pepper carries her out of the room, giving him and Peter a

soft smile before closing the door behind her.

X

When Peter wakes up the next morning it’s to a splitting headache.

He opens his eyes with a low moan, blinking until his vision clears up and realizes that he’s, in fact, not in his bed. He’s sprawled out on the couch, curled up to Tony with his head on the man’s chest.

Tony’s still asleep so Peter tries to sit up without waking him, but as soon as he moves pain shoots through his head and he flinches, letting out an involuntary groan.

“Peter?” Tony asks groggily, propping himself up onto his elbow. But as soon as he sees Peter, grimacing in pain, he sits up abruptly and puts a hand on Peter’s back. “Hey, kid, talk to me. What’s wrong?”

“Headache.” he croaks out and Tony puts the back of his hand to Peter’s forehead.

“Shit. Friday, temperature.”

“102.4° Fahrenheit, boss.” the AI answers and Tony pats Peter’s shoulder in sympathy, the teenager whining quietly.

Tony gets up from the couch. “Sit tight, kid.”

He disappears into the kitchen and Peter falls back onto the couch, curling up around a pillow and squeezing his eyes shut.

He must have dosed off again because he startles at the sound of the curtains being pulled shut. When he opens his eyes again, the room his comfortably dark and he watches Tony sit back down on the couch holding pain killers and a glass of water.

“Here,” Tony hands both over to Peter. “How are you doing? You feel like eating?”

“Not really.”

Peter takes the painkillers and drinks about half the glass of water before he puts it down on the coffee table. Tony’s not taking his eyes off him, face set into a worried frown.

“C’mon, say it.” Peter sighs.

“Say what?”

“That you were right and told me that I was coming down with something beforehand”, Peter settles down against the back off the couch and Tony moves to sit beside him. “I’m ruining Christmas.”

Tony ducks his head to meet Peter’s eyes. “You’re not ruining anything, kiddo, okay? I’ll take care of you and you’ll be fine by tomorrow, just wait. We'll make it work, I promise.”

Tony puts an arm around Peter and pulls him back against his side. Peter cuddles up to him again, resting his head on Tony’s chest while he pulls the blanket back over Peter. “You just rest now. I’m not going anywhere.” At the end of the day, Peter is still sick on Christmas Eve. He's running a decent fever and Tony dotes on him like a mother hen, making him broth and massaging his scalp to try and ease the headache while Morgan brings him Juice Pops he can't eat because he's nauseous. He wouldn't have it any other way.

My very tiny, very cute taglist of very tiny, very cute people (let me know if you want to be tagged for future works): @baloobird @toomuchtoread33 @fourleafchloe @gabesgoldwings @starbirks @yepokokfine ​@thatmarvelstan @autisticbabynurse @crytallized @mysterio-is-a-little-bitch @sbiderman-ironcan @iron-damn

[aaronandroberthemmerdalegay]

10 of Emmerdale's best Ross Barton storylines as he prepares to leave for good

It's been a wild old ride.

It's the end of an era in Emmerdale this week as we prepare to say goodbye to the one and only Ross Barton. Actor Michael Parr is bowing out of the soap after playing the dodgy mechanic for the last five years. And what a hectic half decade it's been for Ross!

Having been at the heart of countless hard-hitting storylines – and bed-hopped his way around the village – Ross is finally putting his troubles behind him as he seeks a fresh start with girlfriend Rebecca. (Whether she'll end up going with him is another matter.) Let's hope his new life will be a lot more relaxed, because his time in the Dales has been anything but.

Thanks for the memories, Ross. Here are your ten best bits...

1. His dramatic entrance

Ross took the meaning of keeping it the family to whole new level when he began bedding Debbie Dingle. Not only had he already sampled the delights of her mum, but Debs was also engaged to Ross's big brother Pete at the time. That didn't seem to bother Ross too much though, and after weeks of flirting up a storm, the naughty duo embarked on a hot and heavy affair.

2. His doomed relationship with Donna

After establishing Ross was a bit of a wrong'un, it didn't take long to realise he was also something of a womaniser. His early conquests included bedding Charity, but it wasn't until he secretly started dating copper Donna Windsor that we saw Ross was capable of having a relationship that went beyond rumpy-pumpy.

Unfortunately, the lovers ended getting themselves mixed up in a deadly game of cat and mouse with dodgy club boss Gary North. Ross agreed to carry out a job for Gary in order to protect his family, but it all went terribly wrong.

During a tense showdown on the roof of a multi-storey car park, Donna (who was terminally ill with lung cancer) took Gary over the edge with her, killing them both instantly.

3. His unlikely friendship with April

For anyone who'd written Ross off as a one-dimensional villain, his bond with Donna's 4-year old daughter April was enough to prove them wrong. The unlikely pair's magical friendship was formed when Ross was dating Donna, and much to everyone's delight, continued in the months following her tragic demise.

One of our all time favourite memories of Ross will always be when he dressed up as Captain Jack Sparrow to put a smile on his little pal's face as she faced a painful first Christmas without her mummy. See, there was a softie lurking inside.

4. Who's the daddy of baby Moses?

Just as well Ross was a natural with gorgeous April, as it stood in him good stead for the next child who was about to enter his life. In 2015, the writers created a "Who's the daddy?" plot when Charity gave birth to a son called Moses while in prison. Ross was one of the potential baby daddies, along with Cain, and Charity's former husbands Jai and Declan.

The mystery was finally solved months down the line when Moses needed a life-saving operation and Charity summoned Ross to the hospital to introduce him to his boy. The bombshell rocked Ross's world as he struggled to believe one bunk-up in the back of the chop shop had created a life. The situation was made doubly awkward by the fact Ross was secretly sleeping with Charity's daughter Debbie at the time…

5. Sleeping with his brother's missus

Ross took the meaning of keeping it the family to whole new level when he began bedding Debbie Dingle. Not only had he already sampled the delights of her mum, but Debs was also engaged to Ross's big brother Pete at the time. That didn't seem to bother Ross too much though, and after weeks of flirting up a storm, the naughty duo embarked on a hot and heavy affair.

Debbie seriously considered ditching the dull brother for the dangerous one, but their plans to do a runner were thwarted when Cain revealed Ross was Moses's father. Ross found himself dumped, while Debbie ploughed on with her plans to marry Pete, completely unaware of the death and destruction their wedding day would bring.

6. His fake death

As predicted, some serious shiz went down at Debbie and Pete's wedding. Her affair was revealed over the airwaves during the bride and groom's first dance, then a helicopter crashed into the village hall well and truly brought an end to the reception. When Pete finally caught up with his brother a brawl broke out, with Ross ending up unconscious.

Pete thought he'd killed his betrayer and buried his body in the woods, and we all believed Ross had breathed his last. Even Michael Parr thanked fans on Twitter for their support, saying "it's goodbye from me".

A petition was launched to bring the character back, but just three weeks later it was revealed the whole thing had been a sneaky ruse, when Ross opened his eyes in a hospital bed.

7. Getting even with Pete

No-one does revenge quite like Ross. After initially pretending he was totes fine with the fact that his brother had left him to rot under a pile of leaves, Ross let his real feelings be known. After kidnapping his brother, Ross beat Pete unconscious. His victim awoke to find himself hanging head first over a viaduct by a winch.

Ruthless Ross enjoyed every second of his power trip, gently lowering the winch as his scared sibling pleaded for his life. He even went as far as demanding Pete sent a suicide text to their dad James. In the end, Ross couldn't go through with killing his own flesh and blood. What did we say about him being a softie?

8. Shooting Robert Sugden

Pretty much every single Emmerdale storyline in 2015 centred around a certain RB, and the 'Who Shot Robert Sugden?' plot was no exception. Ruthless Rob was public enemy number one in the village at the time he took a bullet, so there was no shortage of suspects for carrying out the crime. The writers came up with a genius way of revealing whodunit, which broke with their usual style of storytelling – a rewind episode.

During the gripping time warp, which aired on the soap's 43rd anniversary, the audience witnessed Ross enter into a murderous pact with Andy Sugden, as the boys agreed to kill each other's brothers. Ross kept true to his word, by pulling the trigger on Robert (although he lived to tell the tale), but Andy wussed out on his promise to do away with Pete.

9. Who pushed Emma?

Pete wasn't the only member of the Barton clan who Ross seriously considered doing away with. Having always experienced a turbulent relationship with mum Emma following her abandonment when he was a kid, Ross was the prime suspect in the frame for her murder. As well as a general disdain of his mother, there was also the added motive that Em had murdered his father and been responsible for the death of Ross's little brother Finn. Plus, Emma had tried to drown Ross when he was a child.

But despite dragging Emma to the viaduct she fell to her death from, and telling her to jump, Ross wasn't actually the person who pushed her. After the real murderer Moira had scarpered, Ross revealed to Pete that he had returned to the scene to save Emma, only to discover her sprawled dead below the bridge.

10. The horrific acid attack

The writers took Ross on his darkest journey to date in February of this year when he fell victim to a savage acid attack. It was a case of wrong place, wrong time for the mechanic when he agreed to help Debbie get even with her ex Joe Tate. Debs had arranged for drug dealer Simon McManus to beat up Joe, but in a case of mistaken identity, it was Ross who was targeted with a corrosive substance when Simon decided to use acid.

After suffering life-changing injuries, Ross began to rapidly spiral, becoming crippled by an addiction to prescription painkillers to block out the agony over his disfigurement.

Emmerdale airs Ross's final scenes on Friday (November 2) at 7pm on ITV.

Ross Barton says goodbye in Emmerdale

[nuravity]

Night five. The final night. Unlike before, Mineta's Pizza Plex seemed to be closed. It made some sense, though. Today would not be focusing on any Mineta animatronics, but on the mastermind himself, the Baku.

At some point, Ochako would realize that she wasn't in her security guard clothes like usual. She was in her hero costume. The phone soon rang. Who would pick up?

"Hey, Uraraka. It's me."

Thankfully, it was Phone Guy today.

"This is the final push. This battle decides it. Once you defeat the Baku, you'll be free from this nightmare and no one will ever be struck by him again. But fail, and your real world body will never wake up again. We're not going to allow the latter to happen. You'll win this! I know you can.

"There's some time before your showdown, so I wanted to tell you something before then. Out of all the victims of the Baku that I tried to help, you are the first to ever make it this far. But that's also why I'm so proud of you. You succeed where many have failed. Many others have been struck by the Baku that I tried to help the best I can, but each ended in failure. They... All counted on me... And I failed them..."

It was easy to hear Phone Guy's sorrow and regret in his words. One could tell he was teary eyed just from his tone of voice.

"But... I continued to move forward because the Baku made it personal with his first victim. You see, the first person he ever trapped in a nightmare and eventually killed in her sleep was my little sister. She didn't even make it past eight before that monster took her away from me forever. I did my best to help others not suffer the same fate, but it all ended in failure... Until tonight. You forced the Baku's hand. He now has to attack you directly and risk disappearing forever just to take you down. He made the mistake of striking who I believe is a future Pro Hero, and that's his undoing..."

A bell rang. It was different from the normal bell, though. This sounded more like a bell one would hear during a boxing match started. On que, Toy Deku reactivated.

"Hello, Lady Uraraka. I don't know how much help I can be to you when directly fighting the Baku, but I can give you tips on his weak spots..."

The security room door opened automatically, revealing an arena. At the end of it was the Baku, who was standing there with his arms behind his back waiting for his opponent to approach him.

"Whenever you're ready, Uraraka..." Phone Guy said, "Enter the arena and face the Baku."

Who would win? The Zero Gravity Hero Uravity, or the Mastermind of Nightmares, the Baku?

She was once again in the pizza plex but it seemed to be closed and there was no sign of the Mineta robots. And there were no customers either and Ochako wondered if maybe the script had been changed.

Leaning forward in her chair, she then noticed that she had her pressure weights of her uniform on before glancing down at herself and realizing she was fully clad in her hero uniform. What's going on?

Before she could think on the possible answers to her questions, the phone rang and she breathed a sigh of relief when hearing it was the Phone Guy. "I thought the Baku got you," she admitted before listening to what he had to say.

And the part of her possibly never waking up had her feeling worried. "I thought I'd have to start the nightmares from the beginning. This is...obviously worse!" But she tried not to think on that outcome too much and she felt sad for the Phone Guy when he not only admitted to having not been able to save the ones that were struck by this nightmare before but also that the Baku's first victim was his sister.

Ochako remained silent for a moment, anger but also determination making itself obvious on her expression. "We won't let their deaths be for nothing! And what happened wasn't your fault but the Baku's and I'll make sure he'll pay for what he did!" she growled.

Suddenly, a bell sounded before slowly, an arena was revealed to her and she got up of the chair and taking a step back. It was a boxing ring! And the Baku was already waiting for her!

Toy Deku got her attention and she turned to him. "Any tip before the fight would be great! But...if I can use my quirk here, then all I need is one touch and he'll be helpless!" Otherwise...the fight might not be so easy!

She turned back to the phone after a moment of silence. "Staring at him won't let me get out of this dream quicker so I'll better face him! All I need to do is catch him off guard while conserving my energy. Even if I can't use my quirk, I might be able to beat him with my hand-to-hand techniques. Wish me luck!"

With that, she hung up and turned to Toy Deku one last time. "If there is any tip you know, let me know!"

Then, she walked towards the arena and into the ring, glaring at the Baku! "This will be the last time you use your quirk on anyone! I'll take you down!" she growled...before charging at him head-on! Maybe she could touch or strike him once he tried to strike.

[emmerdalesweden]

10 of Emmerdale's best Ross Barton storylines as he prepares to leave for good

It's been a wild old ride.

It's the end of an era in Emmerdale this week as we prepare to say goodbye to the one and only Ross Barton. Actor Michael Parr is bowing out of the soap after playing the dodgy mechanic for the last five years. And what a hectic half decade it's been for Ross!

Having been at the heart of countless hard-hitting storylines – and bed-hopped his way around the village – Ross is finally putting his troubles behind him as he seeks a fresh start with girlfriend Rebecca. (Whether she'll end up going with him is another matter.) Let's hope his new life will be a lot more relaxed, because his time in the Dales has been anything but.

Thanks for the memories, Ross. Here are your ten best bits...

1. His dramatic entrance

Ross took the meaning of keeping it the family to whole new level when he began bedding Debbie Dingle. Not only had he already sampled the delights of her mum, but Debs was also engaged to Ross's big brother Pete at the time. That didn't seem to bother Ross too much though, and after weeks of flirting up a storm, the naughty duo embarked on a hot and heavy affair.

2. His doomed relationship with Donna

After establishing Ross was a bit of a wrong'un, it didn't take long to realise he was also something of a womaniser. His early conquests included bedding Charity, but it wasn't until he secretly started dating copper Donna Windsor that we saw Ross was capable of having a relationship that went beyond rumpy-pumpy.

Unfortunately, the lovers ended getting themselves mixed up in a deadly game of cat and mouse with dodgy club boss Gary North. Ross agreed to carry out a job for Gary in order to protect his family, but it all went terribly wrong.

During a tense showdown on the roof of a multi-storey car park, Donna (who was terminally ill with lung cancer) took Gary over the edge with her, killing them both instantly.

3. His unlikely friendship with April

For anyone who'd written Ross off as a one-dimensional villain, his bond with Donna's 4-year old daughter April was enough to prove them wrong. The unlikely pair's magical friendship was formed when Ross was dating Donna, and much to everyone's delight, continued in the months following her tragic demise.

One of our all time favourite memories of Ross will always be when he dressed up as Captain Jack Sparrow to put a smile on his little pal's face as she faced a painful first Christmas without her mummy. See, there was a softie lurking inside.

4. Who's the daddy of baby Moses?

Just as well Ross was a natural with gorgeous April, as it stood in him good stead for the next child who was about to enter his life. In 2015, the writers created a "Who's the daddy?" plot when Charity gave birth to a son called Moses while in prison. Ross was one of the potential baby daddies, along with Cain, and Charity's former husbands Jai and Declan.

The mystery was finally solved months down the line when Moses needed a life-saving operation and Charity summoned Ross to the hospital to introduce him to his boy. The bombshell rocked Ross's world as he struggled to believe one bunk-up in the back of the chop shop had created a life. The situation was made doubly awkward by the fact Ross was secretly sleeping with Charity's daughter Debbie at the time…

5. Sleeping with his brother's missus

Ross took the meaning of keeping it the family to whole new level when he began bedding Debbie Dingle. Not only had he already sampled the delights of her mum, but Debs was also engaged to Ross's big brother Pete at the time. That didn't seem to bother Ross too much though, and after weeks of flirting up a storm, the naughty duo embarked on a hot and heavy affair.

Debbie seriously considered ditching the dull brother for the dangerous one, but their plans to do a runner were thwarted when Cain revealed Ross was Moses's father. Ross found himself dumped, while Debbie ploughed on with her plans to marry Pete, completely unaware of the death and destruction their wedding day would bring.

6. His fake death

As predicted, some serious shiz went down at Debbie and Pete's wedding. Her affair was revealed over the airwaves during the bride and groom's first dance, then a helicopter crashed into the village hall well and truly brought an end to the reception. When Pete finally caught up with his brother a brawl broke out, with Ross ending up unconscious.

Pete thought he'd killed his betrayer and buried his body in the woods, and we all believed Ross had breathed his last. Even Michael Parr thanked fans on Twitter for their support, saying "it's goodbye from me".

A petition was launched to bring the character back, but just three weeks later it was revealed the whole thing had been a sneaky ruse, when Ross opened his eyes in a hospital bed.

7. Getting even with Pete

No-one does revenge quite like Ross. After initially pretending he was totes fine with the fact that his brother had left him to rot under a pile of leaves, Ross let his real feelings be known. After kidnapping his brother, Ross beat Pete unconscious. His victim awoke to find himself hanging head first over a viaduct by a winch.

Ruthless Ross enjoyed every second of his power trip, gently lowering the winch as his scared sibling pleaded for his life. He even went as far as demanding Pete sent a suicide text to their dad James. In the end, Ross couldn't go through with killing his own flesh and blood. What did we say about him being a softie?

8. Shooting Robert Sugden

Pretty much every single Emmerdale storyline in 2015 centred around a certain RB, and the 'Who Shot Robert Sugden?' plot was no exception. Ruthless Rob was public enemy number one in the village at the time he took a bullet, so there was no shortage of suspects for carrying out the crime. The writers came up with a genius way of revealing whodunit, which broke with their usual style of storytelling – a rewind episode.

During the gripping time warp, which aired on the soap's 43rd anniversary, the audience witnessed Ross enter into a murderous pact with Andy Sugden, as the boys agreed to kill each other's brothers. Ross kept true to his word, by pulling the trigger on Robert (although he lived to tell the tale), but Andy wussed out on his promise to do away with Pete.

9. Who pushed Emma?

Pete wasn't the only member of the Barton clan who Ross seriously considered doing away with. Having always experienced a turbulent relationship with mum Emma following her abandonment when he was a kid, Ross was the prime suspect in the frame for her murder. As well as a general disdain of his mother, there was also the added motive that Em had murdered his father and been responsible for the death of Ross's little brother Finn. Plus, Emma had tried to drown Ross when he was a child.

But despite dragging Emma to the viaduct she fell to her death from, and telling her to jump, Ross wasn't actually the person who pushed her. After the real murderer Moira had scarpered, Ross revealed to Pete that he had returned to the scene to save Emma, only to discover her sprawled dead below the bridge.

10. The horrific acid attack

The writers took Ross on his darkest journey to date in February of this year when he fell victim to a savage acid attack. It was a case of wrong place, wrong time for the mechanic when he agreed to help Debbie get even with her ex Joe Tate. Debs had arranged for drug dealer Simon McManus to beat up Joe, but in a case of mistaken identity, it was Ross who was targeted with a corrosive substance when Simon decided to use acid.

After suffering life-changing injuries, Ross began to rapidly spiral, becoming crippled by an addiction to prescription painkillers to block out the agony over his disfigurement.

Emmerdale airs Ross's final scenes on Friday (November 2) at 7pm on ITV.

Ross Barton says goodbye in Emmerdale