#meanwhile the JL are pulling their hair out

[puppetmaster13u]

Prompt 105

 A cult summons the ghost king. Except they don’t. Instead they get these tiny white-haired triplets of toddlers blinking at the summoning circle looking confused. 

 They’ve gotten the ghost princes and princess instead. 

 The very young princes and princess who are none too pleased and going to cause problems on purpose for both rogues and heroes alike. As godlings de-aged into their ghost age are like to do. 

 Meanwhile in the Realms, Pariah is staring down at where his trio of ghost toddlers that Clockwork had handed him when he had first woken up and was still groggy just disappeared from. He looks over at Fright Knight, his dearest brother, who looks just as shocked. 

 Clockwork is going to kill them both if they don’t get the kids back now. 

[im-totally-not-an-alien-2]

Halloween prompts no. 17

Danny had to borrow Pandoras box to fight and seal away a giant evil space monster. After defeating it and sucking it up into the box, he takes the time to nerd out about fighting a space monster in space, not only that but another dimensions space! That opens up so many questions about other space anomalies such as wormholes and-

Unfortunately for him he failed to consider two crucial details.

1. The box does not judge what is good or what is evil. Thats the boxs users job.

2. The sun is close by.

All it took was Danny waving his wands around in his excitement from talking to himself for the boxs lid to open up just a crack.

Then the sun was gone.

Danny felt himself go pale. Knowing the people and creatures of Earth (and potential aliens from Mars) required the sun to not, ya know, freeze to death, he panicked hard and pulled all his power to teleport then entire solar system into the Infinite Realms.

Having such a sudden massive drain to his energy right after a taxing fight caused phantom to pass out from exhaustion and he was dragged into a hiding place by the little blob ghosts who were familiar with him and wanted to repay his kindness.

Meanwhile the people of Earth and Mars were wigging out like there's no tomorrow. Thier atmosphere was in tact but a odd green force field was around each of the celestial bodies, preventing anyone from leaving. Thankfully it kept most of the monsters from whereever this place was from entering either. Well, all but these tiny little blobs. But they seemed rather harmless and mostly just stuck to people seemingly at random.

Batman, however, wanted answers and started with inspecting the little blobs. He discovered that they tent to group in places where traumatic events happened and on people who have unresolved trauma or deeply negative emotions. Needless to say his family is swarmed constantly. Damian keeps feeding them snacks, Tim has taken to wearing a pseudo space helmet equipped with an automatic windshield wiper so he could see (he gets swarmed constantly and by far the worst), Jason had run from the swarms at first but has slowly come to except them. Then he found out a group of them had killed the Joker after the clown killed on of thier own and now Jason loves them, Dick somehow managed to convince them to hold little flowers and he made a flower crown using thier squishy moldable little bodies. Cute. Duke has to wear sunglasses all the time because these things make his eyes hurt, Cass surprisingly only has a small following, Steph has them in her hair all the time wether she wants to or not, Barbara has some playing on her wheelchair and and clinging to her arms and Bruce...well let's just say its hard to be intimidating when you're covered in tiny squishy balls of smiling creatures that squee happily at every movement. If he puts on his cowl some will race to the top of his head between the bat ears and claim it as thier nap spot before the others can. They're like children.

The Justice League come together to discuss this issue and how to solve it. They debate on either they should break through the force field to see what the outside is like, but that idea is quickly scrapped due to the giant monsters and the fact they don't know if the force field is whats keeping the atmosphere in tact or if it would be effected if it was broken.

No one on the JL or the JLD knew what this place was, how they got here, or how to get out, but normal people were suddenly able to see things like ghosts and demons which is leading to whole new crisises.

Superman really doesn't like how similar this world looks to the Phantom Zone and he needs to be careful since this place has no sun

Danny does eventually wake up over a week later and has GZ food and water basically shoved in his face by his little friends. The thing about blob ghosts was that they were basically the clean up crew of the place. They absorbed negativity and neutralized it before releasing it back into the area. Many ghosts kept them as pets due to making them feel better and helping them overcome trauma.

Danny really loved the little guys and was currently sticking some onto himself while trying to give himself a pep talk and go ask Pandora how to return the sun to its proper place so he can start figuring out how he was going to send an entire star system back to its home dimension. He doesn't even know how he brought it here in the first place!!!

All Clockwork would say is, "All is as it should be."

[wolfverse-stories]

Dreams aren't always pleasant

(Falling in Reverse Au/Reverse Batfam)

Chapter 6 (Final Chapter)

     "Back so soon?" Jason asked standing across the rooftop.

     "Afraid so," Damian said stepping forward "I'm-"

     "Not from this Earth" the redhead smirked "Oracle brought me up to speed"

     "I need you to do me a favor," Damian said meeting his gaze.

Timeskip

     "Who is this?" Tim looked over at Jason suspiciously.

     "A friend," Damian said walking over to him.

     "I didn't know you had frie-Sorry force of habit.." Tim trailed off sheepishly.

     "Don't worry I have three brothers I'm used to it" He reassured Tim "So you're sure this will get me home?" Tim gave a nod "Thank you" he turned over to Jason "Remember our deal?"

     "Yeah yeah," Jason said rolling his eyes "You are so much chatter than our wing"

     "Not as cold thought" Tim observed.

     "Yeah that's thanks to a couple of people I know" Damian answered 'including you'

Timeskip

     "Hello?" As soon as he walked into the living room two sets of footsteps came racing down the stairs.

     "Dami!" Dick practically tackled him.

     "Where have you been?!" Jason crossed his arms.

     "Nice to see you too Jay" Damian rolled his eyes getting up "Where are the others?"

     "Cass and Tim are out looking for you" Dick answered still hugging Damian.

     "Bruce had a JL emergency so Wally is 'babysitting us' " Jason explained.

     "And where is West?" Damian looked at his younger brother suspiciously.

     "Jay put a tranquilizer in his food then locked him up in the bat cave" Dick grinned.

     "He wouldn't stop ruffling my hair!"

One week later

     Damian stood in the kitchen where he was supposed to be getting popcorn for his siblings, instead, he was deep in thought. He had gotten back a week ago and one question had been eating away at him.

     'Had I acted out of love or guilt?'

     "Did you get lost?" Tim smirked leaning in the doorway.

     "Lost in thought" Damian replied finally pulling out the popcorn.

     "Something wrong?" Tim asked letting his arm drop.

     "Tim, do you think this is all just guilt?" Damian frowned.

     "What?" Tim stared at his older brother with confusion.

     "Do...do you think that maybe I don't really care about anyone I just feel guilty about what happened to you?"

     "Of course not" Tim scuffed.

     "But I treated you like trash before you died and not that other eart-" Tim cut Damian off.

     "Is that what this is all about?" He moved closer to Damian "Yes when I first got here you hated you beat the heck out of me but before I died you did start to treat me like a brother"

     "What about the others am I just trying to make up for how I treated you?" Damian asked

     "I've seen how you are with Cass and the baby birds and it's not guilt" Tim smiled softly  "You genuinely love for them"

     "Are you sure?" 

     "The fact that you're even worried about this proves you love them" Before Damian could realize what he was doing he had his arms wrapped around Tim in a tight hug

     "Thanks" Tim's body stiffened  from the surprise attack hug "You know I love you too baby bird?"

     "I know," Tim said relaxing "I love you Big Bird"

Meanwhile

     "Wow" Jason mused staring at the large computer set up "You're a seriously little nerd aren't you"

     "It's designed after the bat computer Only with a few more tricks" Tim grinned turning it on.

One year later

     It had started out as a 'favor'. He works with Tim and Damian wouldn't expose his identity. Pretty soon it stopped being a favor. Jason didn't work with Tim because he had to but because he wanted to. Tim was like his little brother and there was no way Jason would let anyone mess with his little brother.

     So when the court sent a Talon after Tim of course Jason was going to track him down and make him sorry.

    "Skywatcher any signs of your attacker," Jason asked into the comm.

     "No so far, be careful Hood these are professionally trained assassins"

     "Don't worry little brother" Jason replied in a mocking tone.

    "I'm technically older than you" Tim snapped back.

     "I'd still be bigger than you without magic" Jason chuckled "Seriously you need to eat"

     "I've put on five pounds" Tim shot back.

     "Yeah sure you-"  a noise started Jason

    "Hood? What's going on?" Tim asked over the comm

     "I uh..." Jason stared at the small figure in front of him "I found a baby talon"

Prev. / More stories

[ggomos-maribat]

[55/?]

original prompt | complete masterlist

Thank you to @tinybrie for the idea!

Since the big revelation and confrontation, Ladybug has been invited more frequently to JL meetings. Marinette and Bruce are well aware of this change. The rest of the League, however, are still in the dark about what happened. The heroes only assume Batman had softened towards the Parisian heroine. 

One day, Ladybug decides to take advantage of the situation. 

Batman is giving his report and updates when she pulls out an entire bowl of cereal to munch on. Superman gives a dubious look. Wonder Woman pales. Green Lantern is ready to have a heart attack. Ladybug pays them no mind and starts eating the cereal. 

Flash looks back and forth between Batman and Ladybug, seemingly expecting the former to lash out and yell at the latter. 

But nothing happens. Batman continues his presentation. Ladybug continues her mid-meeting snack-fest. 

Then she ups the ante. She starts chewing loudly while consistently maintaining eye contact with the Big Bat. This time, Batman pauses to look back at her. 

And Ladybug knows. She knows what the other League members expect. They expect a war. A full-on match. A head-to-head. The vigilante throwing his Batarangs while Ladybug attacks with her yoyo. The tick on Batman’s jaw or his passive-aggressive tone. 

None of that happens. 

“Ladybug.” Batman’s voice is soft. “Can you eat quietly?” 

Aquaman’s jaw drops. Black Canary gasps. Ladybug hides her smirk. ‘Can you eat quietly?’ Not even a ‘put that away’ or ‘please leave’ or ‘be quiet’. Batman is in his father mode and Ladybug can’t enjoy it more. 

“Sorry,” she says unapologetically and continues eating.

—

She strikes again in the next meeting. 

“Batman, why don’t you remove your cowl?” she says out of the blue. 

Heads turn towards Batman, who grunts. “I’d rather not.” 

Ladybug’s smile turns sickly sweet. She knows what’s under that cowl, since she became a witness to the diabolical plan of Timothy Jackson Drake and Jason Peter Todd. She will not stop until she unveils the monstrosity. 

Meanwhile, the League members present are astounded by her audacity.

“I thought you trusted the whole League with your identity already.” She examines her (gloved) fingernails casually. 

“Yes, but not you,” Batman mumbles as a futile defense. 

She grins. “What do you mean? You told me last week! The cowl, pretty please?” 

The universe knows Batman will never deny his dear daughter of anything. Grumbling under his breath, he pulls down his cowl to reveal his bright pink hair littered with sparkly glitter. 

The League is silent after choking on split-second laughs. No one tries to make a sound. They’re too afraid. Too afraid of both Ladybug and Batman. 

Batman continues his report with his cowl removed. Ladybug leans back, giggling and listening. 

Taglist:

@tinybrie @sinoffalsejudgement @its-maemain @kamarallil @toughluna @golden-promises @whatamoodhoney @trippingovermyfeet @m4ster0fnone @alexizlazy @plz-excuse-my-inner-gay @maybeanalien0-0 @imchaotic-dontmindme @ev-cupcake @flowers-n-fandoms @crusherccme @ji-nk-ies @depressed-bitchy-demon @duskyashe @multplelifes @authorpendragging@iloontjeboontje@thatonecroc@user00000003@paradoxaloccurance@kking13@laydeekrayzee@chaos-inperson@astol07@the-coffee-fandom@nerd-nowandforever@nightmarewasteland@certainmuffinbagelcalzone@the-hospitality-of-knives@stainedglassm@talia-scar123@trying414@starling218@buginetye@ascetic-orange@myazael@child-of-the-clouds@ladythugs@adrestar@therealkotlc@blueneko9314@kinda-craz-fan@kitsun369@talia-scar123@ghostdoodlen

[lex-munro]

[Suicide Squad Scrap] Princess pt. 18

self-indulgent batjokes-flavored SS/BvS/JL, installment 18. in this modern age of jacked super-heroes, i do wish they’d picked someone with a more convincing physicality for Wonder Woman (like some of those hella-ripped ladies playing assorted other amazons…i hated the Warrior Princess two-piece costumes until i saw the hammer-bearers smashing the stone columns, and then i was like ‘ohhh, it’s so we can see those rippling muscles’), but i adore Gal Gadot; her earnestness in the first movie really sold me on her, even if WW84 had…a lot of issues… i digress.

the piece as a whole is rated Mature for pervasive language, varying degrees of violence, use of controlled substances, sexual references, questionable ethics, and themes of mental illness. set from Flag’s POV, with references to Birds of Prey, but not compliant with The Suicide Squad.

***

It happens so quickly that Flag only understands the chain of events when they’re at a stalemate.

The second the plane’s rear hatch opened, they tased Joker and got a noose around his neck. Naturally, Flag and Lawton drew down. With Jones stepping to shield Ratcatcher, and Digger cowering with Turner (who at least has the excuse of being cuffed and unarmed), nobody had a clear advantage, so now they’re all yelling threats and staring at gun barrels and waiting to see who breaks first.

Waller slowly steps out with her finger on the killswitch for Joker’s collar.

“This gaddamn asshole,” Lawton growls as he and Flag holster their weapons.

Joker laughs until the guy holding his noose tightens it on him and chokes him (“Harder, big boy!” he manages to croak out, the contrary bastard). Belle Reve guards strap a muzzle on him first, then yank his coat and holster off.

“He can fuckin’ well get changed on his own!” Flag yells.

“Leave him the fuck alone!” Ratcatcher shrieks from behind him.

They strait Joker, every single strap cinched down tight.

When one of the guards reaches up, Flag grabs the guy’s hand and twists. “Don’t touch the hair. He will fuck you up over the hair. This is a guy who once waited four years to stab a mob boss’s son after the kid called him, quote, ‘a stupid little clown-ass fairy fuckboy.’” The guard pulls free with a resentful scowl.

Meanwhile, they’ve taken Joker’s shoes and got his ankles cuffed up.

“This is bullshit!” roars Croc. “You fine lettin’ us walk out here to go die for you, but now you got a problem lettin’ us walk back home?”

“I’m making a point,” Waller says mildly.

“What point? We save your life, we keep workin’ for you, and now your ungrateful ass gonna hogtie us and stuff us in a can?”

She shakes her head. “Just our little princess here. Let me make it clear to you and your squad, Flag, since you still haven’t figured it out… We stole Jay right out from under the Bat—he’s our leverage against Batman, not the other way around. He probably figured that out himself by the second visit. He’s been playing us all, ever since he saw that I’ll let him have pretty much anything he wants, as long as he gets Daddy to break down and ask for it. Hell, I’ll give him five star meals and luxury lingerie if he can get the Bat to debase himself by asking. The Justice League has definitely heard what a successful mission you just had. I give Batman the official call, and he’ll come running, especially when he sees that racy little scene in the lookout perch. Our drones had a great view.”

“Sick bitch!” Ratcatcher yells.

Waller slowly blinks at Joker. “I’m impressed, though—you’ve played your part impeccably, and you were almost a challenge. Be a good boy, and it’ll just be your old Arkham beddy-bye mix this time. But if you struggle, I’ll gas you with something really nasty. Our leashed mad scientist calls it his ‘fear toxin,’ and says it makes anybody who breathes it hallucinate very vividly about their worst fears. After all those downers, I’m not sure what it’ll do to that skillet scramble you call a brain.”

“Sounds fun,” Joker taunts behind his muzzle. “I’ll take what’s behind door number two, Satan.”

“Strap him in good,” Waller tells the guards. “Wouldn’t want him to hurt himself…I’ve seen people rip their own faces off after they puffed this stuff.”

Joker laughs as they get him into the transport chair, tied in from top to toes with padded leather straps. He keeps laughing as Waller holds up a little aerosol and sprays a hefty cloud in his face.

One of the guards is too close—he immediately starts screaming and gibbering, swatting himself and pleading for someone to ‘get them off.’

Waller rolls her eyes. “Better tranq him if you want him to live,” she tells the guard squad’s sergeant.

Joker is still laughing, but now he’s struggling against his restraints.

“Thing of beauty,” says Waller. “Prey respond to fear by running…predators respond by attacking. He wants to tear apart everything he’s seeing right now. That should be familiar territory for the lovebirds.”

“You’re treading shaky ground again,” Flag warns her.

“Bitch, please,” she scoffs. “If we successfully snag the Bat, your squad’s up for another major reward. Floyd, how’d you like to see your daughter more often? Digger, I know you must be missing that monthly sex toy subscription you had. Croc—Puffy has a new lounge wear line that would look great in your closet. Arcee, you could have all the pizza and peanut butter you and your furry friends can eat.”

Lawton glares at her. “You just trussed up and roofied the only guy who’s never lied to me or tried to use me, and then you admitted you’re doing it to get your claws in his boyfriend. But it’s all good, right? ‘Cause you’d let me see my little girl who I wouldn’t be able to look in the eye. ‘Yeah, sweetie, I know you begged me not to hurt Batman, so I just let my evil-ass boss do it for me.’”

Waller snorts. “Pussy. Stay in your cell, then. Anybody who’d prefer some more benefits, we’ll need some muscle on standby for this. The Man of Steel won’t sully himself by having anything to do with a freak like the Joker, but Wonder Woman has a soft spot for Batman, so there’s a possibility she might tag along, if they’re at their little secret clubhouse. His little birdies certainly won’t lift a finger for the clown after what he did to the second one.”

“Gotcher muscle right here,” Ratcatcher mutters under her breath, middle finger surreptitiously raised.

Flag can’t see a way out yet. Ratcatcher and the boys don’t have collars anymore, but Joker does.

Then again, it’s a double-edged sword…Batman makes a move, Waller kills Joker, Batman breaks all her bones but still has a dead boyfriend. It’s a really fucked up game of chicken. Who’s bluffing and who’s got the balls to follow through? Is the satisfaction of the deed enough to balance out the messy end Flag and his crew would give her?

“Task Force X, fall in,” Flag says.

“Are you for real?” Ratcatcher asks coldly.

“We got a job to do,” he replies. “Either we do it, or somebody who doesn’t give a shit about Jay and the Bat will do it.”

Lawton leans in. “I’m one job away from free-and-clear. I sure as fuck hope you know what you’re doing, Boy Scout.”

“Me too,” he whispers. “If shit goes down, they’re gonna need backup. I’m sick of not being there when Jay needs us.”

“Man, don’t you go getting us all killed ‘cause you feel guilty about Jay pulling a James Bond earlier. He handled it.”

“You haven’t seen what else she’s done to him to piss off Batman. And you ‘n I both know that piece of shit was gonna do it whether Jay said yes or not.”

Lawton leans away again. “Whatever, man, I’ve told you my reservations.”

��And they have been noted,” Flag answers in a louder tone.

They camp the courtyard around the cell. In the halls just out of sight, two ARGUS field teams have guns at the ready.

Boredom and hunger have just barely set in when they hear what sounds like a VTOL jet overhead.

Wonder Woman comes down on the cage like a cannonball, bending the bars with just the impact. She really is…extremely impressive. She stoically hammers her way in (heedless of arcs of electricity as the guards try to power up the bars) while Batman slides down on a rope.

“Oh, wow,” says Ratcatcher.

“Holy fucking ‘ell,” Digger mutters in awe.

(“I think I might be a lesbian now.” “Same.”)

“Jay,” Batman says, and Flag can hear the strain in his voice even through the modulator.

Joker screams, then laughs, struggling despite the straitjacket.

Batman gets the muzzle off him. “It’s me—I’ve got you. This is just a sedative; your pulse is too high.”

“Task Force X,” Waller’s voice booms over the intercom. “Move in.”

Flag curses himself for an idiot developing a hero complex. They go in through the gate, weapons ready as they surround the cage.

Wonder Woman assesses them all calmly; she doesn’t look worried. Why would she? She could snap most of them in half, and then turn Croc into a purse.

Batman looks at Flag sidelong, Joker wheezing and giggling his way into unconsciousness in his arms.

Flag curses himself again, and turns. “Sixteen Agency goons, twenty-two Belle Reve guards, potentially sixty-three inmates. The collar on Jay’s neck is rigged.”

And maybe he’s not the only heroic idiot on the squad, because the other four have pointed their guns outward, too.

Waller strolls out into the light. “Playing hero suits you buffoons about as well as a jellyfish running a popsicle stand. You think I give a damn if I have to shoot you? Think again.” And she gives the signal to fire.

Flag has just enough time to see a blur of red and blue and realize he shouldn’t pull the trigger—

Wonder Woman neatly deflects five shots meant for Flag, each one taking out a gunman.

“I can do this all day,” Wonder Woman says calmly. “I can kill everyone who attacks us. Or…you can let us walk out of here.”

“These aren’t heroes, Ms. Prince,” Waller tells her. “Most of them aren’t even decent human beings.”

“That doesn’t justify what you’ve done. Even the worst of humanity deserve humane treatment.”

Waller sighs and holds up a remote for the collars—Joker’s picture is clearly visible on it, along with the buttons for ‘stun’ and ‘kill.’ “All right, so we’re doing this the hard way. Batman stays, or I pop the top on his little toy clown. I won’t lose even an instant of sleep over that psychotic mass murderer, and neither should you. There’s a tattoo on his left arm of a knife through a Bat-symbol—commemorating the time he almost killed Batman. There’s another on his right arm of a dead bird—that’s for the time he killed a bunch of kindergarteners to lure out Robin and subsequently torture and kill him. And that’s just what he’s done to the Bat personally. Maybe ask yourself what kind of man falls in love with that kind of monster.”

Batman slowly turns and moves to the inner door. “Croc, take him. Wonder Woman, thank you for trying to help. Please get them out of here.”

So Croc breaks the door and takes the unconscious Joker over one shoulder, eyes still locked on Waller.

“I’ll stay,” Batman tells Waller. “But only if you let them go.”

“Deal,” she says. “Men, disarm him.”

“Up the rope,” Wonder Woman says to Flag.

“Digger, Arcee,” he says, gesturing with his chin but keeping his rifle trained on Waller. “Then Croc and Jay.”

“I’ll go last to cover us,” says Lawton.

“I’ll cover us,” Wonder Woman asserts. “Unless you know how to deflect bullets, perhaps?”

“No, ma’am. Second-to-last it is.”

They board her craft (or is it Batman’s?), some fancy thing with optical cloaking. When they’re all up the rope, she jumps in and closes the hatch.

“We appreciate what—”

“I’m doing it for Batman, not you,” she says, reaching over and breaking Joker’s collar like it’s made of cheap plastic. “The League has files on Deadshot and Joker. If the rest of you have a trail of bodies that wide, you really aren’t decent people. But I meant what I said down there—Batman showed me his visits, the way she’d clearly been toying with Joker, drugging him and mistreating him, psychologically torturing him. No one deserves that. If he’s truly so evil as she says, get it over with: give him a clean death. I don’t believe in her sort of wasteful malice.”

“Then I, at least, appreciate your assistance even more, ma’am.”

She nods. “You’re welcome. Where should I drop you?”

He hesitates.

“What’s the plan, Flag?” Ratcatcher asks.

“Yeah,” agrees Digger. “What’re we gonna do?”

Flag clenches his jaw. “You guys and the gear I’m wearing are all the resources I got that Waller can’t get her hands on first. Anybody else?”

“I got weapons drops in Coastal, Gotham, and Blüdhaven,” says Lawton.

“I’m in your boat, Flag,” says Digger.

“Same,” adds Ratcatcher.

“I am a weapon,” Croc says proudly. “But Jay here owns half of Gotham, so that could be useful.”

“Gotham City it is, then,” Flag tells Wonder Woman.

.End.

[angstymdzsthoughts]

wow im loving this new ask layout.

it was post canon and wwx has been living with his husband and son in cr for a couple years now. jc is still somewhat reluctant to talk to him but he understands. jl comes by to nighthunt with his friends regularly. one unlucky day wwx had a mishap with resentful energy during a nighthunt accident and lsz died in the process.

everyone was heartbroken but wangxian were absolutely destroyed. they stayed in seclusion for months. wwx couldnt stand the guilt and had no face to see his son's friends and the other lans. even when lwj finally had to come out for sect duties wwx chose to stay in seclusion. he abandoned his regular cultivation and swore off demonic cultivation forever. in an effort to cheer up his husband, lwj persuaded him to go on a trip to worship the gods to pray for sizhui's death anniversary.

they came across a small temple, old and rickety and overgrown, and out of kindness they cleaned up and left a small offering. wwx just wanted his family back. lwj wanted a chance to start all over again. it suddenly stormed heavily that evening, so they had to take shelter in the temple for the night, taking caution to ask for permission from the resident god.

when they woke up, they were at the cloud recesses. lwj woke up in his old bedroom in a body that felt too small. wwx woke up startled in a guest bedroom in cr with jyl sitting by his bed.

"a-ying? did you have a nightmare?" wwx choked back a sob and just hugged his shijie for comfort. only then did he notice that he felt too small, and too soft. he looked down at his hands, then at his body. he was somehow a girl.

then jyl's presence in his room would make more sense. girls and boys dorms are separated in the cr. wangxian woke up as an alternate version of themselves with their original memories as well as the memories of their new body. lwj was still lan er gongzi. but in this body, she was just wei ying, a senior disciple of yunmeng jiang.

wangxian met each other again in class and wy took caution to not vex lqr too bad this time, lest he disapprove of their inevitably impending union. jc eyed lwj furiously when he approached wy after class to talk privately. it seemed that the two of them were the only ones reborn.

the first thing lwj did after that was ask his uncle to send a formal betrothal request to ymj for wy's hand. which to lqr was weird, but lz wouldnt budge. he thought lxc could still marry a more proper wife, so its fine.

they spent the rest of the year courting, lwj was in such a rush to marry wy. wy wasnt /actually/ jyl's little sister so it was no issue if she married first. meanwhile, jyl's betrothal was broken. this time by her own brother who punched jzx so hard he broke his nose. wangxian got married a year after they finished studying in gusu.

everyone was overjoyed when wy got pregnant. even mdm yu was happy for her. when their son was born, lwj recognized his soul to be their a-yuan, and wy cried her lungs out in joy. their little son had his old nose, lwj's nose, but now the rest of him look like them too. his hair was midnight black like lz's but with wy's playful curls. he had wy's ears and little constellation of moles on his skin. he even had lz's light eyes.

lqr wouldnt let go of his grandnephew that lan huan had to bargain with his uncle to be able to hold his nephew. after a-yuan could walk, they went to visit lotus pier. the toddler /adored/ jiang cheng, laughing and squealing loudly in his arms. he loved getting head pats by jyl and kept demanding attention from mdm yu by pulling on her skirt or hugging her leg and crawling into her lap. he wasnt so fond of jfm, however, only looking away in disinterest or reaching out his hands to his parents. for once jfm felt left out in his family.

wangxian wracked their brain trying to stop the sunshot campaign from happening, but wrh's power ran deeper than they thought and they could only postpone it, not prevent it completely. the wens attacked lotus pier first, burning it to the ground and killing jc's parents. the jiang siblings ran to cr, but it only served to bring the wen dogs sniffing at cr's door.

wy is talented in cultivation, but having sworn off resentful energy and having to protect the sect's children as well as her own, she could only do so much while her husband was taken to the nightless city.

lwj eventually managed to escape and jc with the help from qinghe nie managed to gather the survivors of his sect. they all went to war and the sun was finally shot. lwj came home to wy just in time to tell him they were expecting a daughter.

this time there was no yin hufu for jgs to fight over, just the remnants of the wen sect. knowing llj would abuse the war prisoners, lwj spoke up and ppl listened when he proposed the wen remnants go to qinghe for trials. civilians are left to themselves while criminals are sent to labor. the resouces belonging to the wen sect was distributed to other sects both big and small depending on how much casualty they suffered under wrh.

jzx fell in love with jyl during the war and got married as soon as it was over. jin ling was born not too long after a-yuan's little sister lan yuyan. together jyl and jzx forced llj to give out resources for jc to rebuild his sect.

3zun still became sworn brothers and wangxian didnt exactly know when jgy got married, so he still married qin su. jgs had jgy kill nmj, and when jgy wont agree to spy on gusulan he had another one sent. lwj sent nmj a missive not to trust jgy with calming and avoided his death.

it took a couple years, but when jgs thought he was ready he even imprisoned jzx and his family in koi tower, depriving them of any communications and arrested disciples that are loyal to jzx.

llj was gearing up to war once again, this time against everyone else. jgs had, unbeknowst of everyone, gotten the note on core melting hand technique and had xue yang learn it.

wangxian reached out to nhs, trying to find a way to kill jgs. realizing that jgs was fully prepared to kill lxc, jgy turned his sights over to jzx, admitting his faults and teaming up to kill jgs. jgs had jzxun attack qinghe, but it was easily defended against. xue yang led the troop against cloud recesses.

xy aimed at the main lan family and injured a-yuan. in a desperate attempt to save his family, lwj jumped out and xy destroyed his golden core. meanwhile, he still sent spiritual energy towards saving his son. distracted by his victim, wy managed to cut xy's head off. back in llj, jgy along with jzxuan and jc attacked jgs's forces in koi tower. jc beheaded jgs and with that this new war was over.

thanks to lwj, lan yuan was fine and his injury was stabilized. however the destruction of lwj's golden core not only take away his cultivation but also mangled his meridians. wy could do nothing but weep with her daughter in her lap while lxc and lqr played healing for her husband.

lwj died in his sleep that night, finally exhaling his last painful breath while wy fell asleep from crying. his funeral along with those fallen during the attack was held a few days after. wy didnt look like herself in the mourning clothes she wore along with the children.

wy was inconsolable and kept apologizing the the children. especially a-yuan. fate had been so cruel on him that he couldnt grown up with two parents twice over. it seemed that in this life too he would be named sizhui. wy refused to move and kept sigil by lwj's coffin.

suddenly su minshan came out of nowhere and started yelling at her. calling her a jinx and an unlucky bitch that shouldve prevented her husband from dying. lqr yelled at him to leave. two and a half year old lan yuyan tried to shoo him away, punching at his knees. but the adult man just kicked the little girl away. jc couldnt stay silent anymore and wrapped zidian around sms's neck and pulled, making sure his neck broke when hitting the floor.

wy didnt say anything. she just took her crying daughter and left. after making sure lan yuyan is alright, wy locked herself in her room for 3 weeks. she didnt even open the door when her kids come knocking and begging.

it broke lxc's heart to see once again two children waiting on their mother's door. he asked jyl for help in persuading wy to come out. when they came in, wy looked like a ghost still in her white mourning robes with a whole head of white hair and her eyes so weary from weeping. she fainted soon after opening the door.

they checked on her only to find out she was 2 months pregnant. the tears start anew for wy and jyl asked lxc to take wy back to lotus pier so she can recuperate with her sworn siblings. lxc and lqr reluctantly agreed and wy came with jyl and jc back to lotus pier. jzxuan became the new sect leader and severely punished jgy along with his father's men while his wife and son stayed in yunmeng.

wy made a promise with lwj once to never let their children be orphans like they were. even if only for her kids, wy tried her best to get better. she stood out in her white mourning robes in lotus pier. wy was constantly surrounded by kids, all wanting her attention. she ate jyl food with the kids and watched jc teach her kids and jin ling how to swim. after a couple months, her dark hair came back and she got healthier. her second son lan shun was born in the middle of the hot yunmeng summer in lotus pier.

after lan shun turned 1, they came back to cloud recesses. wy had some time to accept her loss, but kept thinking abt lwj. after hearing from other lan disciples, lan yuan asked granduncle to teach him inquiry. the first time lwj responded to a-yuan's guqin strings, wy broke down on her knees. wy has been wearing lwj's headband on her forearm, so lwj attached parts of his soul in it. some of it went to bichen, which lan yuan inherited. some went to lan yuyan who inherited wangji guqin. lan shun never knew his father so he didnt want anything belonging to lwj.

for now, wy had to be content with inquires to lwj. for now they had to be content with waiting for each other on the other side.

.

[queerbutstillhere-writes]

Day 5: Quarantine

- You can't come over tomorrow.

~ what do you mean? "Can't"?

- Gotham is on quarantine. Mandatory. Only medical personel allowed out. Hell, even the JL grounded us.

• I'm seeing can't, but hearing "help me please"

- guys. This is serious.

• for you, maybe. Timmie, we can't get sick from Covid. Kon is alien, and my metabolism is just too fast for it.

- Bart..

~ he's right, Tim.

- Do not encourage him, Kon.

- you two are not allowed to come.

Tim sighed, staring at his laptop monitor. He’d been stuck in quarantine for several days now. Alone in his apartment. He could probably suit up and hightail it across town to get to the manor if he wanted, but being quarantined alone sounded far more appealing then bring quarantined in the manor with his siblings. Dick would probably drag him into nightly board (read: bored) games, Bruce would be constantly trying to bond, Damian would probably never stop insulting him. Duke and Cass would probably be fine, but Duke was easily roped into Dick's shenanigans, and Cass had that habit of creeping up on you.

No. Tim would survive being stuck alone, working on case files and reading news headlines. Today's news was singing the praises of Wayne Enterprises for their massive donations to research centers, the city, and for them paying for housing and healthcare for homeless. They were also praising Bruce for personally paying for the Covid testing and for paying for food and housing costs for those who couldn't afford it. Bruce had enough money to do so, so he might as well, right?

Amusingly, Tim had seen a headline from Star City about Red Hood and Arsenal highjacking a supply truck full of toilet paper and medical supplies and redistributing it among the poor and homeless, as well as stealing from some stores and making care packages for the homeless.

But now, his idiot boyfriends, severely upsetted by the fact that their Thursday date night had been cancelled, were texting and calling him non-stop, trying to convince him to let them come, finding out if he needed anything ("do you have food?" "Yes, Kon." "I'm talking real food, Tim. Not some Rice Krispies and a few boxes of cereal." "Conner."), and constantly fretting over him. Did he mention they kept whining about missing date night? Well they did. Even the suggestion that they could still hang out with each other didn't appease them. ("But we need our Robin! Our birdie!")

Tim Drake was a smart man. He was a good detective. If he had been at the manor, he'd probably be working with Bruce to develop faster testing, or figure out cures. But what Tim forgot, is how truly, truly, dumb his boyfriends are.

So he really shouldn't have been surprised to hear his door open on Thursday evening.

But yet, he was.

He shot up off his sofa, spinning towards the door. He hadn't changed in a day, and probably hadn't showered in three. His apartment was a mess and honestly he didn't remember what he had for breakfast that day. But yet he grabbed the nearest thing to him, an empty metal waterbottle, and brandished it as a weapon.

"Oh, I'm so scared," a chipper voice said, with a laugh.

"Bart?!" Tim exclaimed, half in shock and anger.

Standing in the entry way of his apartment was Bart Allen and Conner Kent. Conner was carrying several bags of groceries, and Bart had a couple jugs of milk and juice.

"What are you two doing?!" Tim hissed, glaring.

"Uh, visiting, duh?"

Bart zipped to the fridge, putting up his jugs, and then dumping a backpack that Tim hadn't noticed earlier onto the floor.

"Bart," Tim said, his tone dropping to his more commanding, Robin voice.

He noted Kon was also carrying a duffel bag. The man just smiled and then turned to walk into the kitchen.

"Nonono, I know what's going on here, you two aren't staying."

"Why not? We can't get it, and you're just gonna . . ." Bart motioned at the messy living room. "Besides, what if we quarantine ourselves with you."

"Well, because! Because. . . " Tim scowled at him.

He was starting to lose his energy to argue. And he was getting pretty lonely. And this . . . He wasn't wrong either. They could just quarantine together. . . 

"And also, now if you need something, one of us can just zip over to metropolis and pick it up, or go do laundry at Clark and Lo's," Kon called from the kitchen.

"And if you do get sick! You'll have us to look after you!" Bart exclaimed, zipping over and kissing Tim before he could protest.

Tim glared at him from just a few inches away, then at Conner, who had moved to the doorway. They both just grinned at him.

"Fine. Fine! You can stay!" He exclaimed, defeated.

Bart whooped and kissed Tim again.

"Okay, first things first. You need to take a shower, man," Bart told him, wrinkling his nose. "Or else no cuddles."

Tim, touch starved as always, found himself immediately hating that idea.

"Also, we need to clean this place up. So, you go shower and brush your teeth and shave and stuff - or don't shave - and Kon and I will clean up and start supper!"

Tim huffed at him, but obeyed, heading towards the bathroom, stopping by Conner first to give him a quick kiss. Kon just grinned and pulled him in close, tweaking Tim's nose before kissing him. Then he shoved Tim towards the bathroom.

He went through the bedroom first, snagging some clean clothes, and then went into the bathroom. He quickly stripped and showered, making sure to clean his hair thoroughly, he shaved when he got out, and quickly brushed his teeth as instructed, because frankly, he didn't remember the last time he had done that and didn't want to make his boyfriends deal with that. 

When he got back out, admittedly feeling a little better, he noted Bart and Kon's bags on his bed. He just sighed and shook his head, walking back to the main room. He could already smell the tomatoey scents of Italian food, and wondered what all those two had actually brought with them. There was some form of pop music playing, and he could hear Bart happily singing along to it, Kon chiming in occasionally with the choruses. Tim chuckled and looked around the living room. 

They had cleaned up trash and dishes and fixed the pillows on the sofa. The curtains had been opened, and a candle was burning on the coffee table and all the glasses and mugs and plates had been removed. Tim walked over and leaned against the kitchen doorway, watching Bart dart around and cook, while Kon washed dishes.

"This that hot girl bummer anthem. Turn it up and throw a tantrum~" Bart sang, doing a little dance as he darted from the fridge back to the stove, throwing a few things into a sauce.

"What are you making?" Tim asked softly, but they both heard him.

"Hey! He's clean!" Bart announced cheerfully. "And I am making lasagna! Max's special recipe."

Tim hummed in response, grinning back at the speedster.

"So are you two going to eat me out of house and home by the end of tomorrow, or?"

Kon shot Tim a smirk. "Depends."

"Ugh, Kent! I meant food!"

Conner laughed, rinsing one last dish before drying his hands, walking over and pulling Tim up against his front.

"I never said that wasn't what I meant, did I?"

"No. . . But with you there's always some kind of innuendo."

Kon huffed in mock annoyance, before ducking his head and gently kissing Tim a few times. Tim tilted his face up and obliged, wrapping his arms around Kon's neck.

"I missed you," Kon mumbled lightly, his hands sneaking up Tim's soft cotton shirt that may or may not have belonged to Kon at some point.

"I missed you too," Tim responded instinctually, not really realizing exactly how true that was.

"Then why didn't you let us come sooner?" Bart's voice asked and then he was slipping between their arms, sandwiching himself between them.

Tim laughed, giving the pouting Bart a few kisses, turning him from pouty Bart to smiley Bart.

"Because I didn't want you guys getting sick."

"Tim we literally can't."

"Did you confirm that?"

"Yeah. I called Lex and asked. And you know as well as I do that Bart can't get sick from these things."

Tim sighed, looking down at Bart, then up at Kon. "Well either way, it's too late now."

Once the lasagna was in the oven, Bart made Tim help him finish cleaning, sweeping floors and dusting things, meanwhile Kon just sat by and gave unhelpful commentary and got occasionally whacked with cleaning supplies. Once the apartment was properly cleaned, and feeling much better, they decided to properly move Bart and Kon into Tim's room, even though they had stated they'd probably be leaving to get more clothes and such. And probably their dogs. 

Tim sat on his bed and watched them unpack bathroom supplies and clothes and other various personal items. Phone chargers got plugged in his few remaining wall outlets and things got shoved into previously neat areas.

"Were you really gonna stay here all by your lonesome?" Bart asked, flopping down onto the bed next to Tim and idly bumping his thigh with his knee.

"It wouldn't have been forever, Bart. I was probably gonna go to the manor eventually."

"Ew, and be around your brothers?"

"They are my family, Bart."

"I know but still. . . "

Tim chuckled and shook his head fondly, moving to lay partially over Bart and softly kiss him.

"Wait, is Keystone even in quarantine yet?"

"Uhhh." Bart grinned sheepishly.

"Bartholomew!"

Bart just giggled a little. "I'm sorry, but I wanted to come too!"

Tim just shook his head and then dropped it to Bart's chest, laying on him and listening to his breathing.

"Hey, this looks like a cuddle pile in the making."

Both of them groaned when Kon flopped - gently - on top of Tim. 

"Kon you big lug! Get off!" Tim whined, pushing up on his hands and knees, trying to dislodge Kon, who didn't move.

"Why, I thought you liked cuddle piles?" Kon giggled out, nuzzling at Tim's neck and causing him to squeak.

"Not when I'm being squished!"

Kon gave an over dramatic groan, but moved, rolling and pulling them both on top of him. It took a bit of squirming before they were comfortable, one on either side of Kon, heads on his shoulder, hands clasped on top of his stomach. They laid there and chatted idly, with no concern for anything that might interrupt their lives.

"Bart the oven is going off."

And just like that, Bart was gone. A couple seconds passed, then he was back, snuggling right up against Kon again.

"Where were we?"

Both Kon and Tim just started laughing.

Once dinner was ready, they sat on the sofa and binged a couple episodes of Broadchurch before settling into another cuddle pile. Their default form was cuddle pile. Then eventually Bart got bored with sitting still, so they turned on Mario Kart, played a few normal rounds to watch Kon and Bart suffer, then Tim turned on the mod he had made to make the game go super fast. 

He had learned not to watch the screen while this was happening. That's how you got eye damage.

"I'm gonna go do a little patrolling," Kon said, standing after Bart had beat him, again.

"Oh. Okay. Be careful, give a call if you need any help," Tim said, looking up from his laptop.

"Yeah, if I need anything, I'll call Bart."

"Kon."

"Hey, you're grounded, remember?"

Tim sighed, stretching up so Kon could kiss him. Kon chuckled and did so, then bent over the back of the sofa to kiss Bart, before disappearing into the bedroom to change. Then he called a goodbye on the way out the window. Tim and Bart looked at each other.

"So what are we doing then?"

Tim shrugged vaguely and looked back at his laptop.

"Well I'm gonna keep playing my game then."

"Okay."

Bart left him alone for a solid twenty minutes, which was a bit of a record for him, then he was tugging on Tim's laptop, trying to steal it.

"Yes, Bart?"

"I wanna cuddle."

"Cuddle?"

Bart's silence cause Tim to look over, and found he was pouting. Tim chuckled and saved his files, setting the laptop on the floor, then moving so his back was on an armrest, and opened his arms for Bart. Bart practically dove forwards, laying between Tim's legs, head on his chest, arms around his stomach. Tim chuckled and adjusted a bit for his own comfort, then let himself relax with Bart.

Eventually they turned on a movie and just laid together, idly chatting. There would be plenty of time for work later, Tim decided. But for now, he'd spend time with Bart. He may be stuck with these two for months before restrictions laxed, but he would take every moment he could, just to spend time with them while he could.

Kon got back after a few hours, stumbling back through the window, and giving them a grin, but he didn't come over, just walked away into the bathroom, leaving the scent of soot and acid in his wake.

"He's stinky," Bart remarked, still laying on Tim's chest.

"Hmmn, stinky boy."

Bart sniggered. Tim had, at some point, set his laptop on Bart's ass and was still working. Was it the most effective or romantic? No. But Bart didn't mind and it was keeping Tim from getting bored. 

Then his phone started ringing.

"Bart, grab that for me please?"

Bart quickly grabbed the phone from the coffee table before immediately settling back into place.

"Yello?"

"Hey, Timmy."

"Hi Dick, what's up?"

"Nothing, just wanted to check in and see how things were going with you."

Tim glanced down at Bart.

"I'm okay."

"Yeah? Just hanging out and working on cases, I assume?"

"Yeah, I'm working on that March case."

Dick hummed from across the line.

"Well, are you sure you don't want to come to the manor?"

"Yeah, I'm sure. Honestly I'm surprised you're there. I thought you'd be with Wally?"

There was a pause. 

"I was going to, but he got directly exposed the day before he was supposed to come down, and he didn't want to risk it until he discovered if speedsters could actually catch it."

"Hmmn, I have it on good authority they can't."

"Is that so?"

"Yup."

"They're there with you, aren't they?"

Tim just grinned, even though Dick couldn't see it. His brother laughed.

"Tim, you scoundrel."

"Listen, I told them no, they wouldn't listen to me, and then when they showed up, it was too late because Bart like, immediately kissed me."

"Hell yeah I did."

Dick just laughed again. Tim could envision him fondly shaking his head.

"So, I'll let you go then, I'm sure you guys have some catching up to do, if you know what I mean."

"Oh my god, shut up," Tim laughed out, even as he started playing with Bart's hair.

"Just speaking the truth!"

"Goodbye, Dick."

"Bye, Timmy! Love you, stay safe!"

"You too!"

Tim hung up the phone and let it fall to the ground beside the sofa.

"Oh good, you're off. I didn't want to come do this with your brother still on the phone."

Tim tilted his head back to see a shirtless Kon standing over him, grinning, hair still dripping slightly from his shower. He bent down and deeply kissed Tim. Tim gave a surprised noise and reached a hand up, resting it on Kon's jaw. When he pulled away, leaving Tim breathless, he just grinned mischievously, then moved so he was closer to Bart.

"Bartie."

"Hmmn?" When the ginger picked his head up, Kon kissed him the same.

Bart just grinned at him after, and put his head back on Tim's chest.

"Do you guys want a snack, because I'm starving."

Tim watched Kon walk away, and just had to laugh.

It was lucky the three of them were huge cuddlers, because otherwise they would not have fit in Tim's queen sized bed. Not with Kon's huge shoulders. After their snacks, Bart had to literally steal Tim's laptop, and then Kon decided to carry him to the bathroom to get ready for bed, instead of just letting him walk.

As the three of them laid in bed, a few minutes later, more focused on lazily kissing then actually sleeping, Tim decided that if he was going to be quarantined anywhere, being in his apartment with his amazing, dumb, loving boyfriends couldn't be the worst solution. And it was, by far, preferable over going to the manor. So he would happily keep his mouth shut and let them fret over him. Because he loved them. And they loved him.

@core-disaster-week-2020 originally written for @unknownunseenunheard !!

[mischiefandspirits]

Titanic Beginnings

Part of the Six for the Age of One AU

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dick was excited when Bruce helped form the Justice League, babbling on about Bruce’s new friends and begging to meet them. Damian also wanted to meet the JL, but to appraise them to see if they were worthy of his father’s time and ensure they were capable of watching Batman’s back.

Not wanting the boys to get involved in the more punishing missions the JL faced, Bruce continually denied their requests.

That was ruined during a meeting a month later when Superman sheepishly admitted that his sons had also been badgering him and his wife to meet the other JL members and asked if he could bring the boys to the next meeting.

Green Arrow, Hawkgirl, Green Lantern, and Martian Manhunter appeared as resistant as Bruce. However, Wonder Woman adored children and agreed before any of them could speak up. She even offered to bring her young sister to keep them company. Aquaman agreed as well, mentioning that his apprentice could use the land experience. Flash and Black Canary were fine with it, which left the League at an even split.

At a nudge from Canary, Arrow broke the tie by reluctantly agreeing to bring his protégé.

Any ideas Batman had at keeping his boys out of it were dashed when Lantern turned to him and asked if he would also be bringing his kids. Superman sent him a look that clearly stated he would invite the boys if Batman didn’t so the Gotham vigilante nodded after giving Lantern a fierce glare.

Batman, Robin, and Serin were the first ones to the temporary headquarters the Justice League were using while Batman, Arrow, and Lantern finished the work on the space station they were retrofitting.

Before they arrived, Bruce had reminded Dick that, allies or not, only Superman knew the Bats’ identities and it was to remain that way for the time being. He had also negotiated with Damian. The boy wouldn’t challenge anyone to a fight and would abide by sparring rules with anyone who challenged him, no matter what abilities they may have. In return, the boy could assess whoever he wanted. He also allowed the boys to bring their dogs, hoping that would help keep Damian from going too far.

Titus (or Birdhound as Dick insisted despite Damian’s arguments that Great Danes weren’t hounds) had swapped out his red collar for a yellow one that matched Serin’s belt and had a tag with Serin’s logo on it. He also wore a grey ballistic vest with dark coral straps and handle. Haley (or Bitewing, a play on a character from Dick’s favorite story in Bruce’s extraterrestrial files) had a green collar with Robin’s logo hanging from it in place of her usual blue. Her vest was red with canary straps and handle.

Robin and Bitewing immediately went off to explore while Serin and Birdhound stayed at Batman’s side as he got things ready for the meeting. The boy kept an eye on the meeting room’s door, so he was the first one to notice the Supers’ arrival.

Superman was talking to his foster son when they walked in, his younger son flying over them with wide eyes. Superboy (aka nine-year-old Jonathan Kent) nearly looked like the spitting image of his father with his blue-black curls and neon blue eyes that didn’t quite look human, though his nose and lips were shaped a bit more like his mother. Meanwhile Hyper (aka fourteen-year-old Christopher Kent) only shared his foster father’s physique, his skin not having that same natural sun-kissed look while his hair was a dirty blond and his eyes were a bright amber that was just a little too close to yellow to be humanly possible. Superboy was wearing jeans, red high tops, and a Superman costume shirt that had a small red cape attached. Hyper was even more underdressed in just jeans, black tenner shoes, a yellow and blue flannel, and a black shirt. A black band wrapped around his wrist, appearing to all the world like a watch though, having helped create it, Batman knew it was a device to help Earth’s newest kryptonian keep control of the powers he’d developed on arrival.

Robin reappeared suddenly, dropping down onto Superman’s shoulders. “Heya, Kal!”

“Hello, Robin,” the man chuckled.

The twelve-year-old did a backbend so he could hold a hand out to the older boy. “Hi! You’re Hyper right? Kal’s told us about you.”

“Oh, yeah. Or K’Riss. Uh, K’Riss-El, but just K’Riss is fine,” Hyper said, accepting the hand.

“And I’m Jon!” Superboy said, dropping down in front of Batman and Serin. He smiled up at the man before holding his hand out to the other boy. “Dad’s told us about you too. Nice to meet you. I like your dog. Can I pet him?”

The eleven-year-old looked at the hand, then glanced over Superboy’s outfit. “No. What kind of attire is that for fighting crime?”

The half-kryptonian looked down at his clothes and shrugged. “I thought it looked cool.”

“It offers no protection.”

“They’re kryptonians,” Robin pointed out as he stood up on Superman’s shoulders so he could pet Bitewing, who was leaning out of a vent on the ceiling. “Their skin is better armor than the stuff we wear.”

“What if they were to lose their abilities? A shard of kryptonite would easily pass through that flimsy shirt.”

Superboy frowned and glanced back at his dad, which gave Batman time to give his son a reprimanding look and hold out his hand.

Serin scowled and palmed him a small lead case.

The Supers didn’t notice the actions, distracted by unsuccessfully trying to get Bitewing out of the vent.

“Neither of us really dressed for fighting crime,” Hyper said over Robin’s soft cackling, pulling away from the vent. “Jon’s too young for that stuff and I’m still getting my powers under control. Our superhero names are more honorary than anything.”

Clicking his tongue, Serin crossed his arms. “Heroes or not, we are in the base of a team of superheroes. You should be prepared to be attacked at any minute by any of the members’ various enemies.”

Superman aimed an incredulous look at Bruce, who shrugged.

His son wasn’t wrong.

“Hello there!” Wonder Woman called as she walked in with a teenage girl in red and black Amazonian armor.

The girl looked exactly like a fifteen-year-old version of her sister with her curly brown-black hair, warm olive skin, and dark green eyes. She gave a smile that looked a bit more forced than her sister’s, which quickly dropped away when she noticed Superman still near the vent with Robin clinging to his back. “Why is there a dog up there?”

“She likes it in there,” Batman grunted when Wonder Woman looked like she was going to try to help as well.

“She’s Robin’s,” Serin added, which did explain it if you knew Robin.

“Dogs shouldn’t be inside vents,” Wonder Woman said pointedly.

“And children shouldn’t nap in chandeliers,” Batman muttered, earning snorts from Serin and Superman. Accepting that the issue wasn’t going to be dropped, he gave Robin a look.

The boy pouted, then gave a sharp whistle. Instantly the pitbull sprung from the vent, hopping off superman’s chest, then Hyper’s shoulders, before landing on the ground as gracefully as her boy despite her missing limb. Robin dropped to the ground next to her and scratched her neck before grabbing the handle on her vest and going over to greet the Amazons.

Wonder Woman introduced her sister as Troia, who had recently left Themyscira so she could learn more about Man’s World at her sister’s side.

After respectfully greeting the sisters, Serin turned to Superboy. “See, the Amazons wear armor.”

“Well, they aren’t quite as durable as us,” Superboy shot back.

“They also don’t have a well-known weakness to a rock, yet they still understand the necessity to be prepared for battle.”

“So that one is definitely Spooky’s,” Lantern joked as he walked in with Hawkgirl.

Robin did a cartwheel into a backflip, landing in front of the two with Bitewing racing to stay by his side. He gave the heroes a wide grin, leaning cutely against the alert dog. “Hi, I’m Robin! It’s so nice to meet B’s friends! I like your wings, Ms. Hawkgirl! They’re very pretty!”

“Thank you,” she said, bemused.

Lantern gave Batman a smirk as he shook Robin’s hand. “You sure this one’s yours and not Supe’s or Wonder Woman’s?”

Robin’s grin turned sharp, then he pulled away.

A green flash lit the room and Lantern was left in just a black tanktop, Flash sweatpants, and mismatched fuzzy socks. The man yelped and looked down to find his ring missing from his hand. His gaze shot up, but Robin and Bitewing had disappeared with the light. “What the heck!?”

The boy’s laughter echoed around the room, seemingly coming from everywhere and nowhere.

“Okay, maybe he is yours.”

“Why is Lantern in his sleeping clothes?” Martian Manhunter asked as he and Aquaman came in with a young Atlantean.

“Robin stole his ring right off his hand,” Hawkgirl answered with poorly hidden laughter in her voice.

The test pilot scowled and held out his hand. His ring shot out from inside Batman’s cape. As it slid onto Lantern’s finger, returning his suit in a flicker of green, Robin and Bitewing poked their heads out of the fabric. He pointed at the smug boy. “You won’t do that again.”

“Unless I want to.”

“Kid -”

“Hey, my first idea was to come up and throat-punch you so be glad I just stole your ring,” he snickered, slipping back into the shadows. “Can’t talk bad about my family if you can’t breathe.”

“It seems the Bat’s family are as entertaining as he is,” Aquaman joked. He set his hand on the young Atlantean’s shoulder. “Speaking of family, this is my mother’s ward and my apprentice, Aqualad. Lad, this is the Justice League and their young companions.”

The boy appeared to be around fifteen with alabaster skin that was edging towards grey. His eyes were plum-colored and his hair was long and pitch black. With teeth slightly sharper than a human’s, he smiled and gave a small bow. “A pleasure. You may call me Garth.”

Baring the Bats, the group all greeted Aqualad cheerfully. Batman grunted and nodded with Serin copying his actions while Robin’s hand poked out of the cape to wave.

Before anyone could introduce themselves to the newcomers, Arrow and Canary entered with a grumpy thirteen-year-old.

Speedy had fair skin and pale red hair, alongside eyes hidden behind a domino mask like the ones Robin and Serin wore. Batman knew from his day-life that Speedy’s backstory wasn’t too far off from Robin’s. He’d gotten Oliver Queen’s attention during an archery contest so when the boy’s adopted father died, Oliver took him in.

“Are we the last ones here?” Canary asked.

“We’re still waiting on Flash,” Wonder Woman answered.

“As per usual,” Hawkgirl joked.

“Well, in the meantime,” Arrow set a hand on Speedy’s shoulder, “this is Speedy.”

“‘Sup,” he said, giving a sarcastic salute.

Introductions went around. Robin took the distraction as his chance to slip out and greet Aqualad and Speedy properly. As the time for the meeting grew closer, the group got the kids settled in a room near the meeting room. Just as they were about to leave for the meeting, a steak of red shot into the room.

“Sorry I’m late,” Flash said, rubbing the back of his neck.

“You’re actually on time,” Superman said. “Though you’ll have to wait to meet the kids until after the meeting.”

“About that…”

A second streak came into the room, which turned out to be a red-headed teenager. The boy was tan and freckled. When he pulled up his goggles to smile at the group, his eyes proved to be a grassy green. “Hi, there! I’m Kid Flash!”

The group turned to Flash, who was pinching the bridge of his nose. “My nephew became a speedster last week. I’m training him how to use his powers.”

“Then I’m going to be his sidekick!”

Batman held back a snort at the imploring expression Flash gave him and Superman. The kryptonian patted the speedster on the back and led him out of the room with the others following.

Behave, Batman said with a grunt, giving his boys the kind of glare that would have the JL flinching back and the criminals of Gotham fleeing.

Robin batted his eyes innocently and Serin gave a half-hearted nod.

When the meeting was through, the adults returned to find the room worse for wear.

Robin and Kid Flash were sitting cross-legged on a battered table (one of the few remaining pieces of furniture) with Bitewing draped over their laps. They were both fidgeting with the dog’s ears and tail as they happily talked about a fight the Bats had recently had with Penguin.

Serin and Troia were standing off to the side near some cracked flooring, talking about the Amazonian knife she was showing him. Superboy was sitting on the floor next to them, though he appeared more focused on the pets he was giving Birdhound.

The last three boys were standing next to a hole in the wall. The older two were inspecting the hole with guilty frowns while a snickering Speedy patted Hyper on the back, looking more relaxed despite the bruise on his cheek.

“What happened in here?” Arrow asked, all the adults except Superman and Batman looking shocked at the destruction.

“Sparring competition,” Superman answered, proving he’d kept an ear on the kids throughout the meeting.

“We locked a bunch of superpowered and vigilante children in a room together. I’m just pleased the room’s still standing,” Batman added.

Robin and Kid Flash laughed while Speedy bit down his own laughter at a look from Arrow.

Lantern slapped the archer on the back. “Lighten up. As much as I hate to admit it, Spooky’s got a point. We should have known the kids would screw around and set them up somewhere a little less fragile. So, who won?”

“Troia, technically, since Robin was disqualified after the tournament was over,” Kid Flash said.

Batman turned to Robin, who gave a wide grin. “I don’t want to know.”

“I would have won had I had my full arsenal,” Serin said petulantly.

“He was eliminated because Superboy managed to bear hug him right at the start of their go and he couldn’t squirm free before the time ended,” Robin explained.

“You utilized kryptonite in your spar with a kryptonian so I do not see why I couldn’t!”

Superman gave Batman a look and the vigilante sighed, holding out his hand.

Robin skipped forward and dropped a lead case into his palm. “For the record, I brought blue kryptonite.”

“Was that why you were disqualified?”

“No.”

I will be having a conversation with both of you when we get home, he said with a grunt and put the case in his belt.

“And how did you fare?” Aquaman asked his apprentice, coming over to set his hand on the boy’s shoulder.

“I won my match against Kid Flash, but Robin proved too formidable an opponent.”

“I lost first round to Troia,” Speedy said before Arrow could ask as he and Canary came up to the teen.

“His close combat abilities could use some work, but his skills with a bow are comparable to some of our best archers,” Troia argued. “Had our arena been larger, the fight would have been much closer.”

“Yeah, Arrow’s not too good at close range either,” Canary said, earning a huff from her boyfriend. “Don’t worry, kid. I’ll show you a few tricks.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

If you're wondering why I put Donna in armor instead of one of the suits she wears in the comics, I ask you this: Why the flip would she want to wear some spandex suit when she could wear sick Amazonian armor? This applies to Cassie too.

And yes, Dick's treatment of Hal is a reference to a certain movie and a certain TikToker. Thanks for asking.

[leslieannefusco]

The World's Finest

Superman drafts Batman into the League of Superheroes when he suspects there is a traitor among them. Batman ferrets out the traitor, and the reason for his treasonous behavior. It all comes down to a one-on-one battle between Batman and one of the greatest heroes of all time.

Batman must go up against the traitor within the JL ranks, which will have lasting repercussions on Batman, and the JL itself.

JLA The Avengers United They Stand New Line Cinema Premiere Movie Theaters Warner Bros Pictures Presents Universal Studios Bruce Timm Comic-Con International San Diego Intercompany Crossovers Comic Book Publishers In North America Film Adaptation Exploring Modern Hollywood’s Leading Genre Amalgam Comics Archie Comics Boom Studios Comics Dark Horse Comics DC Comics Dynamite Entertainment Comics IDW Publishing Comics Image Comics Marvel Comics Oni Press Comics Valiant Comics Superheroes ToonZone.Net AnimeSuperhero.Com A TimeWarner Company Collectible Ticket IMAX Super Friends (1973-1980) Justice League Action The Tender Box The Spectacular Spider-Man Animated Series

In Metropolis, tourists gawk at the Justice League Unlimited watchtower. Within, Micron, a JLU member who can shrink and grow, fights a training robot, then answers a call from an unknown source. There's a monorail out of control! Micron hurries to the scene. He rescues the driver of the monorail, then rushes to engage the brakes and turn the train from its path. That done, he goes to leap clear in the textbook last-minute escape, but a force field goes up over the door, barring him in, so he's inside when the monorail derails and crashes. Meanwhile, in Gotham City, Inque has stolen an experimental airplane and the Batmobile is in hot pursuit. Batman shorts out the plane's electronics, and it goes down in a pond, but Inque escapes. She fights Batman, gets the worst of it, and then takes a bystander hostage. However, the bystander starts spinning around at incredible speed, scattering Inque to the four winds - it's Superman! The Man of Steel sports a stark black and white costume these days and has some gray hair, but he's still pretty tough.

Superman goes with Terry to the Batcave, where he asks Bruce if Terry can join the League. Bruce says it's not up to him; it's up to Terry. But Bruce wonders if he's supposed to be a replacement for Micron. Superman says no, Terry has what the JLU needs.

At the JLU Watchtower, Barda, an amazon from Apokolips, is angry with Superman for bringing Terry in without consulting his fellow Leaguers. Warhawk, an armored guy with wings, agrees. The new Green Lantern, a hovering bald child, says they shouldn't get angry, but Aquagirl agrees with Barda -- they don't know Terry, and Superman should have treated their opinions with more respect. But Superman tells them this isn't up for discussion -- Batman is staying and that's that. Terry is a bit dismayed and suggests this might have been a mistake. But Superman says he needs someone he can trust. Micron is still clinging to life, but even with the League's high technology, it was a very close call. Superman wants Batman there to spy on the others, because he suspects one of the Leaguers had something to do with Micron's accident. Aquagirl apologizes for the others, invites Terry for a swim, and then leaves him to study. Barda and Warhawk practice in the battle room, while Green Lantern meditates in a parklike chamber. Terry watches Aquagirl dart in and out of underwater hoops, then calls Bruce to tell him he doesn't like spying on heroes. When Aquagirl's monitor goes black, he instantly leaps to find out what's wrong. The water in her tank is boiling! He tries to unlock the tank, but the door is too strong even for him, so he rushes next door, steals Barda's Mega-Rod weapon, and blasts the door. Water gushes out, just in time, as Aquagirl has already passed out. Warhawk and Barda chase him and see Aquagirl rescued, but they suspect he was behind her accident. When Aquagirl explains he wasn't at fault, they blame him for not calling for help. They just don't like him. Terry finds a vital part burned out in the tank controls. Superman confirms that there's a traitor in the League; every circuit in that part was fused solid. Later, the Leaguers send Batman out on patrol while they handle an emergency. Bombs are exploding across the city, and the League rushes to the rescue -- except Batman, of course, stuck on patrol.

Superman catches a falling cargo container off a sinking ship and pulls buildings off victims, as does Green Lantern. More bombs set a large building on fire, but Green Lantern catches the falling building with green hands. Aquagirl summons dolphins and a whale to save shipwrecked sailors. Superman sends Batman to help Warhawk rescue people from the roof of another building. Although flying ambulances are on the scene, they don't quite get everyone before the fire reaches the roof. Batman saves the last two people, but then Warhawk gets an emergency call and takes off. Batman didn't hear any such call, but takes off anyway, after him. Warhawk tells him to scram. Since Superman told Batman to stick with Warhawk, that's what he's trying to do. A missile comes arcing in from above, and Warhawk goes after it, redirecting the missile back into the air. Then, all at once, it explodes, and Warhawk's cracked helmet slams into the Batmobile's windshield. Barda lands and accuses Batman immediately -- after all, Warhawk heard a call on the JLU frequency, but nobody else did, and they only have Batman's word that there ever was such a signal. Superman tells Barda to back down, but it's obvious Terry's not real popular at the moment.

Paul Dini and Alan Burnett, the shining stars of the WB's Superman and Batman shows, have been lobbying for a JLA series for years. Each time, the suits told them no -- do more Superman and Batman. So now they've finally snuck the League in, under the umbrella of Batman Beyond!

Although two Leaguers bite the dust in this episode, it's hard to believe they're just going to throw the concept away after the current two-parter concludes. It's also hard to believe Superman is really a villain. The killer has used two fake JLU messages, a force field and a sabotaged computer -- we're clearly looking at a master technologist here. So why couldn't he fake up the image on the Batmobile's computer? That would make it a master technologist with a grudge against Superman. Hmm ... Lex Luthor, perhaps, or Brainiac? Sure hope so -- for all this show's dark, adult-oriented tone, it would still stink out loud if Superman became a bad guy.

The JLU comprises six members: Micron, who can shrink and grow; Aquagirl, daughter of Aquaman, who controls fish and can swim acrobatically; Green Lantern, with all the powers of the Green Lantern ring; Warhawk, who has an armored battle suit and wings, and a Hawkman motif; Barda, the wife of Mister Miracle, who is super-strong, can fly with jet shoes, and carries a Mega-Rod which can emit energy blasts or duplicate various tools. Superman appears to have the same powers as always. There wasn't a body when Warhawk blew up. Think he's really dead? This critic suggests that Warhawk is the most likely villain, if indeed it is a traitor in the League, although I also think it's more probably some outside villain. We'll see!

In part one, Superman asked Batman to join the Justice League Unlimited to ferret out a traitor in their midst who almost killed Micron. And then Terry and Bruce jointly discovered that the traitor was, in fact, Superman himself! This week, Batman and the rest of the League spot Superman fiddling with the controls for Micron's medical tube as he floats unconscious. Warhawk accuses Superman of being the traitor, and Superman angrily says it's not Warhawk who's the traitor, but all of them, working together! Aquagirl tries to defuse the tension, touching Superman on the chest, and something under his shirt squirms away from her touch!

Superman lashes out with heat vision, which Green Lantern blocks. Warhawk tackles Superman and gets beaten down; Barda fires her mega-rod, but Superman puts Warhawk in the beam's path, then throws him at the others. Batman is knocked sprawling, but Micron escapes from his cell and grabs Superman, giving Batman time to get a box from his belt. Barda blows Superman through the wall, and he flies off. Terry calls Bruce. He had the kryptonite (supplied by Bruce) but hesitated to use it because, well, it's Superman, the first and best superhero of them all! The League concludes that Superman probably went to his Fortress of Solitude -- fortunately, Bruce knows right where that is. So they're up in the Arctic Circle when Barda boom-tubes them in. They can't hope to surprise him (the Boom Tube is awfully loud) so they stay together and search for him. They pass though a huge space zoo of space creatures; one of the cells is open, and has been for a while. Superman attacks them, but it turns out to be a Superman robot! Then some more robots buzz them, only to be shot down by Barda and Green Lantern. The real Superman snatches Batman's swinging line out of midair and hauls him in like a fish, but Batman whips out the kryptonite. Superman sinks into unconsciousness. Warhawk wants to finish him off, but instead, they pull off his shirt, revealing a huge starfish-shaped parasite on his chest. It's bonded to his skin, and they can't get it off without risking harm to Superman. Aquagirl contacts the starfish telepathically and discovers it's a form of marine life, captured from a world of water by an alien collector who preserves species by picking up the last of any world's life forms on his big zoo-starship. Eventually Superman was captured by the collector, and escaped, as did the starfish. But the starfish saw how strong Superman was, and determined to use that strength for himself. One day, in Superman's alien zoo, the starfish jumped him and took over his nervous system.

That was years ago; Superman's been possessed for years! But the starfish wasn't done there. It planned to take over the world, breeding countless copies of itself to enslave every being on the planet! And all that remains is to release them from the water tanks under the Fortress into the Arctic Sea. The heroes discover the tanks full of starfish, and boom! The fish are all over them, possessing everyone except Batman, who electrifies his costume and shocks the fish off him. Now he has to fight the rest of the League, including Superman, whom the other possessed Leaguers revive! Barda hurls the Kryptonite shard away from Batman, and the League closes in. Batman uses a flash grenade to cover his escape, and the Batmobile arrives, sent by Bruce. Unfortunately, Superman's after him! Superman tears the wing off the Batmobile, and it crashes. Terry staggers out, gets close to Superman and electrifies the starfish on its chest. It's considerably less invulnerable than Superman, and it falls off him, restoring Superman's mind to his own control. He doesn't seem to remember much. Superman and Batman take on the rest of the possessed Justice League; they've almost opened the door to release the starfish. Superman shoots Green Lantern's fish off his face with heat vision, and Batman frees Barda with electricity. Aquagirl dives to open the door, and Batman dives after her, but crowds of starfish cover him up until he shocks them loose. Superman starts heaving big rocks into the water, hoping to block the passageway at the bottom of the pool before the starfish get to open water. That means Batman and Aquagirl will be crushed, but he knew the risks. Batman manages to lift a huge rock off Aquagirl and haul her to safety, then remove the starfish from her face.

Then Aquagirl reads the fishes' minds, discovers where they came from, and Barda uses a Boom Tube to send them back to the planet where they came from. The Leaguers all want Batman to join the League full-time. Even the old Batman, they say, never made it past part-timer. He wasn't what you'd call a joiner. Terry says that goes for him, too, and declines permanent membership.

Permanent League membership apparently means residing at the Watchtower and not doing private adventures; it would effectively transform this series from Batman Beyond into Justice League Beyond starring Batman. I have trouble seeing this as a bad thing, but WB is famously unwilling to do a JLA series, so perhaps they wouldn't let Dini and Burnett do it. Still, the League can now show up whenever they want, so this is one step closer to a real League series, and the future setting helps by removing continuity shock issues. It makes no sense at all for the starfish creature to bring Batman in to locate a traitor when it knows full well that IT is the traitor. So let's not mention that any more. Remember last week when I said it would stink for Superman to be a bad guy? Well, he was and he wasn't. We got to fight Superman without the serious reservations I'd have about Superman being genuinely evil.

The starfish creature, though never named in the episode, is Starro, the first enemy the Justice League ever fought, back in Brave and the Bold #10. Does Paul Dini love the League or what? When Superman is chasing the Batplane, there's an echo of the music from the Superman TV show, which is doubly chilling now that Supes is a bad guy. The collector of life forms is from the Superman episode "The Main Man," who captured Superman and Lobo as the last sentient forms from their respective worlds.

Madame Web and the Beyonder transport Spider-Man to an alien planet where no evil exists. As a test, the Beyonder introduces evil into the planet and tasks Spider-Man with choosing a team of super-heroes to fight alongside him against the growing evil in the once peaceful planet.

Ah, "Secret Wars." Often the subject of a love/hate relationship of the show's fans based merely upon its title. And the complaints? It's nothing like the real "Secret Wars" classic Marvel crossover! Where are all the villains? Why is Spider-Man the leader? Some questions are left for the episodes themselves to answer others are left to the apparently not-so-common common sense. It's a translation of "Secret Wars" comic arc in a Spider-Man show. Spider-Man. It's only logical they would use his villains. It's the same answer as to why he is the leader. This show did guest stars very well, because it managed to find a great balance between developing the guests' respective characters and having the story take place in Spidey's world. Take the Daredevil episodes, for example. Spidey's villain were used, but were given connections, and in turn, the guest had a connection to Spidey, as he was Peter's lawyer. I especially liked the somewhat slower pace of the episode. Whilst it's true a lot of the episodes had a lot crammed into them, taking a breather is always appreciated. I was especially impressed with The Beyonder's explanation of his fascination of good vs. evil. I loved Spider-Man selecting his team. Whilst there were a lot more people in the original "Secret Wars" line up, most of them were horribly underdeveloped, and came across as horribly two-dimensional. I can understand why he chose whom he did. Since this line up is often the subject of much controversy, I thought I'd go though each of them. The Fantastic Four - As Spider-Man himself explained, he has never faced, or even met, Dr. Doom. Knowing how dangerous Doom is, Spidey would've been foolish to ignore the FF, as he put it, they've fought him and won. These episodes did a fairly good job with the FF. The designs were pretty cool. Spider-Man: The Animated Series changed things up for their designs here, taking a more modern root with their costumes. The Thing was slightly jarring to look at, and Johnny Storm's flame was orange instead of his bright red, but overall, the Fantastic Four worked here. Iron Man - The weirdest choice, as there was no real specific reason for Iron Man to be here, other than the fact there were friends. Perhaps Spider-Man felt he needed someone he could trust, especially since he wasn't sure if the FF would help him or not. The armour design is the same as the one in "Carnage," but still looks really cool. A nice detailed design that actually looked good every single time it was used. It's also worth nothing here that the animation in this episode was on par with the first season. There was some really beautiful stuff here. Captain America - Again, he helped Spidey defeat Red Skull. It's also obvious from the previous "Six Forgotten Warriors" arc that Spidey considers Cap something of a legend. Hell, he even got him out of the vortex that held him prisoner. His design was fine, both here and in "Six Forgotten Warriors." I would've preferred the colours to be a little brighter, but well ... it could've been worse. Cap also became an interesting foil to Spider-Man and The Black Cat's relationship, I especially enjoyed their little would be romance. Storm - The hardest to justify, as Spidey's experience with her in "The Mutants Agenda" was brief, to put it bluntly. It was pretty odvious she was only used here for her powers. She was the only X-Man to be used, because her voice actress was available at the time (that's it, yup), whereas the rest of the X-Men actors were Canadian and would've had to be flown in to L.A, which proved too expensive for Fox. As you've probably gathered, I really enjoyed "Secret Wars." I love part one, but dig part three just that little bit more. On to the next episode...

Spider-Man, along with Iron Man, Captain America, the Lizard and Storm teleport the Black Cat to the alien planet where she reveals her origin. As the villains grow stronger, Spider-Man and his new allies gather the rebels of the alien planet and prepare for an all out attack against the evil forces plaguing the planet!

Whilst it's true that part two is easily the weakest part of "Secret Wars," it's still entertaining. One odd point is the beginning of the episode with The Black Cat, Blade and Morbius. I wasn't expecting to see them here (the voices must have already cost a fortune!), but thankfully the extended cameos were important to the plot, as Spider-Man used the last of the machine's power to transport The Black Cat to Battleworld in order to help him and his team. Speaking of The Black Cat, she does get a neat, small scene with Captain America while they are heading to their next battle. There's a neat discussion between the two and their connecton with the Super-Soldier Serum. That said, it was a little annoying to sit through an extended retelling of her origin. For an episode which bridged the beginning and ending of arguably the biggest story the series, I don't see the point of telling that story again, especially as time is limited. Surely the time could've used on something anything. Despite the fact there was a hell of a lot of characters to animate, this was a very nice looking episode, as were all "Secret Wars" episodes. The designs of the aliens were a little generic and tall robots built by Alister Smythe seemed as generic as they could possibly be. As much as I love this show, I don't think I could stomach more Slayer-bots. The original Spider Slayers were the best, the rest of them were dull, generic robots, most of them defeated far too easily. The guest stars were still handled pretty well, specifically Iron Man, who revealed a little about himself. Despite the fact I'd seen all of season one of his own 1990s animated series at the time, I knew relatively little about him, as none of the writers of his show bothered to develop him. I was a little disappointed we didn't see the Fantastic Four, but they were basically the stars of the next episodes, so it made for it. Spideybeing the leader is a little unnatural for the character, but it works so well here, even with Captain America's logical arguments and actually added some growth tot he character so late in his own show. Whilst this episode did waste some of its runtime, and was nowhere near as entertaining as part one or it's conclusion, it was still an entertaining endeavour.

Spider-Man and his newly formed team of heroes travel to New Latveria and find a civilization ruled by a just and fair Doctor Doom. While there, Doom offers Ben Grimm a device that allows him to switch from his Thing form to his human form and gains his trust. However, Reed is unconvinced and begins an attack against the Latverian ruler but is stopped by Doom's robots, and is held for treason along with the rest of the heroes. Left with no choice, Spider-Man and the Thing launch a campaign to free their friends only to find that Doom has gained new powers.. the Beyonder's!

  The final part to "Secret Wars" ends the arc on a high-note, ending better than it began! It's not all that faithful to it's comic book counterpart, true, but it's actually more entertaining, in my opinion. As with all "Secret Wars" episodes, the animation shined. I especially like The Lizard here. It's no secret that he was a stand-in because they weren't allowed to use The Incredible Hulk, but I found that it was pretty convenient as it allowed the story to bring in more characters from Spider-Man's world and help ground Peter, even though they were fighting on an alien planet. The main villain of the piece is finally unveiled - Dr. Doom! Spider-Man: The Animated Series treats him better than most other animated series. His voice, his design, his character - all of it is simply so much better than his appearances in other animated shows at the time. It's a shame we never got something of a follow-up. I'd love to see "Spider-Man vs. Dr. Doom - Part 2!" Even though it was only a small moment, it's worth noting that this is, to my knowledge, the only time Spidey and the Human Torch have had an animated team-up. There was something odd about the FF here, they seem nothing like they are in their own cartoons, but that makes sense since John Semper has stated that he wasn't fond of their previous animated appearances. That said, Sue and Johnny have great designs, but Reed and Ben not so much. "Secret Wars, Part Three" also has some of my favorite quotes in it: Spider-Man: "Hold on Doom. We're not your pawns. Under that metal suit, you're just a very disturbed human being. You can't possibly control the God-like abilities you've stolen. You might place us all in great danger if you don't give that power up! Dr. Doom: Do you take me for a fool? Who amongst you has ever wanted to give up your superpowers? Spider-Man: I have. Because I've learned, time and time again, that with great power, there must also come great responsibility. Unfortunately, as it's the case with this show sometimes, it's followed up with a really silly scene in which the heroes are about to be crushed by a mountain. It's almost embarrassing to watch, quite frankly. Thankfully, we can push that out of our minds knowing that, all in all, the arc hits the landing here in the conclusion. Plus we get a great cliffhanger of what's to come!To know all that we've just watched was merely a test for Spidey made me wonder what was coming next when I first saw it. And it doesn't disappoint, I'm happy to say.

Create superhero characters inspired by Wonder Woman, Supergirl, Catwoman, Lois Lane and others, in the vintage comic book style of the 60's. She can be fighting for truth and justice, or on the contrary she can be a jewelry thief or a vixen! To delete an item from the accessories page, if there is no X button for it, simply click the item twice.

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[albinohare]

Donald Crowhurst: The fake round-the-world sailing story behind The Mercy

The mysterious and tragic disappearance of the single-handed sailor Donald Crowhurst more than 50 years ago continues to fascinate. Nic Compton explains why…

Hailed as a round the world single-handed hero, Donald Crowhurst in fact never left the Atlantic during his 243 days at sea. Photo: Alamy

It was while I was researching my book about madness at sea in 2015 that I first heard a movie about Donald Crowhurst was in the works. Several websites published reports of a high-profile British feature starring Colin Firth and Rachel Weisz, and a few surreptitious photos of the cast filming off Teignmouth had been posted online. It seemed a lucky coincidence, given that my book would inevitably feature the Crowhurst story, but I assumed the movie would come out long before my book was ready.

Over the next couple of years, however, the release date for the film was repeatedly postponed – so much so that it became a running topic among Hollywood gossipmongers, who speculated that Crowhurst’s widow Clare had delayed progress, or that it was being held back to tie with the 50th anniversary of the events, or indeed that it might never be released in cinemas and go straight to DVD instead.

Meanwhile, I carried on writing my book, Off the Deep End, which was published in 2017, and the movie, The Mercy, was released in February 2018. There was never any doubt the tragic story of Donald Crowhurst would have to be included in any book about madness at sea.

Colin Firth stars as Donald Crowhurst in the 2018 film The Mercy. Photo: Studio Canal

Of all the stories I researched, it’s the one that has caught the public imagination most. Long before the latest Hollywood offering it inspired movies, books, plays, art installations, an epic poem and even an opera. Whereas many stories of adventures at sea seem to leave the general public cold, the Crowhurst tale continues to fascinate more than 50 years after Teignmouth’s most famous sailor vanished without trace. And yet, despite the thousands of words written about him, we really know very little more about him than we did 50 years ago.

It all started when Francis Chichester made his historic single-handed circumnavigation in 1966-67 – not the first to do so, by any means, but certainly the fastest up to that point, completing the loop in 226 days with just one stop, in Sydney, to repair his self-steering. Even before he’d docked at Plymouth there was a general realisation, which spread like osmosis throughout the sailing world, that the next step would be to sail around solo without stopping.

The challenge was turned into a contest by the Sunday Times which, in March 1968, announced two prizes: a Golden Globe trophy for the first person to sail round the world via the Three Capes single-handed and non-stop, and a £5,000 cash prize for the person to do it in the fastest time. The only stipulation was that competitors had to leave from a British port between 1 June and 31 October 1968, and had to return to the same place.

Article continues below…

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Nine skippers eventually signed up for the race: the famous transatlantic rowing duo Chay Blyth and John Ridgway, who had by then fallen out but were sailing near-identical 30ft glassfibre production boats; Bernard Moitessier, already something of a legend in France for breaking the long-distance sailing record on his steel ketch Joshua; Moitessier’s friend Loïc Fougeron; Robin Knox-Johnston, an unknown British merchant navy officer sailing a heavy wooden boat called Suhaili; two former British naval officers, Bill King and Nigel Tetley; the experienced Italian single-handed sailor Alex Carozzo; and Donald Crowhurst.

Out of the group, Crowhurst was by far the least experienced, the odd one out. Born in India in 1932, he went to Loughborough College after the war, until family nances and the death of his father forced him to cut his education short. He joined the RAF in 1948 but was chucked out after six years because of some high jinks with a vehicle; the same thing happened when he joined the army and he was forced to resign after he was caught trying to hotwire a car during a drunken escapade.

Persuasive character

Crowhurst with his wife Clare and their children Rachel, Simon, Roger and James, circa October 1968. Photo: Getty Images

Next he got as job as a travelling salesman for an electrics company, but was again dismissed after crashing the company car.

Ever-persuasive, he talked himself into a job as chief design engineer for an electronics company in Somerset, and in 1962 set up his own company, Electron Utilisation, to manufacture electronic devices for yachts.

The company got off to a good start, selling a simple but well-designed radio direction finder which Crowhurst dubbed the Navicator. Pye Radio invested £8,500 in the project, before getting cold feet and pulling out.

It quickly became clear that while Crowhurst was a charismatic personality and brilliant innovator he didn’t have the business acumen to run a successful company, and Electron Utilisation was soon in financial trouble.

Crowhurst managed to persuade local businessman Stanley Best to invest £1,000 to carry the company over what he assured him was a temporary lean period.

It must have been obvious to Crowhurst that he was heading for another failure. By now 35 years old, he could see the same pattern repeating itself, of high ambition thwarted by petty practicalities. Only, by now married to Clare with four children and living in a comfortable house outside Bridgwater in Somerset, the stakes were higher than ever.

His response to failure was to reinvent himself yet again. This time he would become a record-breaking sailor, a seafaring hero in the vein of Chichester: he would sail around the world single-handed – even though he had until then only dabbled in sailing, mainly on board a 20ft sloop called Pot of Gold. First, however, he needed a boat.

After failing to persuade the Cutty Sark Committee to lend him Gipsy Moth IV for the voyage, he decided a trimaran would be the ideal craft – despite having never sailed on one. To get the funding to build his dream boat he achieved perhaps the greatest coup of his life.

With Electron Utilisation going down the pan, his backer Stanley Best wanted his loan repaid, but Crowhurst managed to persuade him the best way to get his money back would be to fund the construction of the new boat.

A replica of the 41ft Teignmouth Electron used in the filming of The Mercy. Photo: WENN Ltd/Alamy

The crux of his argument was that he would use the trimaran as a test bed for his new inventions, and the publicity gained from entering the race would catapult the company to success. The sting in the tail was that the loan was guaranteed by Electron Utilisation, which meant that, if the venture failed, the company would go bankrupt.

To understand how he managed this turnaround you have to go back in time. Photos of Crowhurst make him look geekish and uncool to the modern eye. With his sticky-out ears, high forehead, curly hair, tie and V-neck jumper, he appears the epitome of the eccentric inventor.

But all the contemporary accounts describe him as a charismatic, vibrant personality, the sort of person who lights up a room when they walk in – as well as being extremely clever. In fact, his cleverness was his problem. He had the gift of the gab and, once persuaded of something, could talk anyone into believing him.

“This is important,” said his wife Clare. “Donald had this definite talent. He would say the most amazing things, but then no matter how crazy they seemed, he’d be clever and ingenious enough to make them come true. Always. This is a most important point about his character.”

Crowhurst’s widow, Clare, holds the last photograph taken of Donald with his family. Photo: Guy Newman / Alamy

Slow off the mark

So Crowhurst got the money for Teignmouth Electron, which was built by Cox Marine in Essex and fitted out by JL Eastwood in Norfolk. It’s a measure of how far behind he was that by the time the Cox yard started building the hulls towards the end of June, Ridgway, Blyth and Knox-Johnston had already set off on their round-the-world attempts. In the event, complications meant the launch date was delayed and even when Crowhurst finally set off on 31 October – just a few hours before the Sunday Times deadline expired – his boat was barely complete.

None of the clever inventions he had devised for the boat were connected, including the all-important buoyancy bag at the top of the mast, which was supposed to inflate if the trimaran capsized. His revolutionary ‘computer’, which was supposed to monitor the performance of the boat and set off various safety devices, was no more than a bunch of unconnected wires.

Worse still, he had had to borrow yet more money from Best to finish the boat, and had mortgaged his home to guarantee the loan. Crowhurst made a desultory figure scrambling about the deck of his trimaran as he set off on his great adventure – only to turn around within a few minutes to untangle his jib and staysail halyards, which were snagged at the top of the mast.

It was just the start of his troubles. After two days at sea, while still within sight of Cornwall, the screws started falling off his self-steering and, not having any spares on board, he had to cannibalise other parts of the machine to replace them.

A leaky boat

A few days later, halfway across the Bay of Biscay, he discovered the forward compartment of one of the hulls had filled up with water from a leaking hatch.

Soon, other compartments began to leak and, as he’d been unable to get the correct piping for the bilge pumps, his only option was to bail them out with a bucket. Then, two weeks after leaving Teignmouth, his generator broke down after being soaked with water from another leaking hatch.

“This bloody boat is just falling to pieces due to lack of attention to engineering detail!!!” he wrote in his log. A few days later he made a long list of jobs that needed doing and concluded his chances of survival if he carried on were at best 50/50. He began to think about abandoning the race.

But Crowhurst was in a triple bind. If he dropped out at this stage, not only would his reputation be destroyed but his business would go bankrupt and, perhaps worse of all, he and his family would lose their home. For all these reasons, giving up was not an option.

It soon became clear his estimates for the boat’s speed had been wildly optimistic: he had estimated an average of 220 miles per day, whereas the reality was about half that, on a good day. There was no way he was going to catch up with the other competitors or win either of the prizes, unless something extraordinary happened.

And so, just five weeks after setting off from Teignmouth, Crowhurst started one of the most audacious frauds in sailing history: he began falsifying his position. From 5 December, he created a fake log book, with accurately plotted sun sights, working back from imaginary positions.

To make it look convincing, he listened to forecasts for the relevant areas and wrote a fictional commentary as if he was experiencing those conditions. It was quite a feat of seamanship, and only someone of Crowhurst’s brilliance could have carried it off convincingly.

The great deception

After a few days’ practice he felt sufficiently confident to send his first ‘fake’ press release, claiming he’d sailed 243 miles in 24 hours, a new world record for a single-handed sailor. In fact, he’d actually sailed 160 miles, a personal best perhaps, but certainly no world record.

And so the great deception began. As Crowhurst slowly worked his way down the Atlantic, his imaginary avatar was already rounding the Cape of Good Hope and heading into the Indian Ocean. Gradually, partly through misunderstandings and partly due to the spin added by his agent back in the UK, Crowhurst’s positions became ever more exaggerated, until it looked like he might win the race after all.

Meanwhile, the real Crowhurst was pottering around the Atlantic – ‘hiding’ in exactly the same area he had, only a few weeks earlier, jokingly suggested a sailor might hide to falsify a round-the-world voyage. To make sure his radio signals weren’t picked up by the wrong land stations, he maintained radio silence for nearly three months, from the middle of January until the beginning of April, which he blamed on his generator breaking down again.

Teignmouth Electron was found drifting in mid-Atlantic, 700 miles west of the Azores, on 10 July 1969

Unbelievably, he even put ashore in a remote bay near Buenos Aires in Argentina to buy materials to repair one of the hulls, which had started to fall apart. Despite being greeted and logged by local officials, this rule-breaking stop remained undetected.

On 29 March he reached his most southerly point, hovering a few miles off the Falklands, 8,000 miles from home, before starting his ascent up the Atlantic.

Finally, on 9 April, he broke radio silence and exploded back into the race with a telegram containing the infamous line: “HEADING DIGGER RAMREZ” – suggesting he was approaching Diego Ramirez, a small island southwest of Cape Horn (in reality, he was just off Buenos Aires).

By this time Moitessier had had his ‘moment of madness’ and had dropped out of the race and was sailing to Tahiti ‘to save his soul’. The only other competitors left were Knox-Johnston, who was plodding slowly up the Atlantic and on track to be the first one home, and Tetley, racing in his wake to pick up the prize for the fastest voyage.

Rachel Weisz plays Clare Crowhurst in The Mercy

It seems likely that Crowhurst was planning to finish a close second to Tetley, which would save him from financial ruin without drawing too much attention to his fraudulent log books.

But his reappearance in the race had a dramatic effect on the course of events. Already nursing a broken boat up the homeward leg of the Atlantic, Tetley worried he might lose the speed record to the resurgent Crowhurst, and started pushing his trimaran faster towards the finish line. Some 1,100 miles from home, the inevitable happened: Tetley’s boat broke up and sank, and he had to be rescued by a passing ship.

Suddenly, the spotlight shifted to Crowhurst, the unlikely amateur who’d apparently come out of nowhere to beat the professionals. The BBC had a crew on standby to record his homecoming and hundreds of thousands of people were expected to throng the seafront at Teignmouth to welcome him home.

It was everything Crowhurst dreaded. As one of the winners, his books would come under much closer scrutiny – and indeed there were already some, including race chairman Francis Chichester, who suspected something wasn’t quite right.

In the middle of June, Crowhurst reached the Sargasso Sea and, as the tradewinds died and his boat slowed down, he descended into a mental quagmire of his own. It was as if all his previous failures had caught up with him in this one grand, final failure.

Teignmouth Electron on Cayman Brac in 1991. The wreck has deteriorated considerably since. Photo: Geophotos / Alamy

And this time there was no way out, no way of reinventing himself. Instead, he gave up ‘sailorising’ and resorted to philosophising instead. Over the course of a week, he wrote a 25,000-word manifesto that described how mankind had achieved such an advanced evolutionary state that it could now merge with the cosmos. All that was needed was ‘an effort of free will’.

He ended his journal on 1 July with this desperate appeal: ‘I will only resign this game / if you agree that / the next occasion that this / game is played / it will be played / according to the / rules that are devised by / my great god who has / revealed at last to his son / not only the exact nature / of the reason for games but / has also revealed the truth of / the way of the ending of the / next game that / It is finished / It is finished / IT IS THE MERCY’

There then followed a countdown, ending at 11:20:40 precisely. It’s not known what happened next, but it’s generally assumed Crowhurst jumped over the side of the boat to his death. His empty yacht was found by a passing ship on 10 July with two sets of log books on board: the real and the fake.

It was left to Sunday Times journalists Nicholas Tomalin and Ron Hall to piece together what had happened and to reveal to the world Crowhurst’s elaborate hoax. With Crowhurst and Tetley both out of the race, Knox-Johnston, on his slow wooden tortoise of a boat, was the only person to finish the race and was duly award both prizes – though he subsequently donated the £5,000 cash prize to Crowhurst’s widow.

Huge public interest

The Golden Globe race generated enormous public interest at the time, and the discovery of Crowhurst’s boat was front page news. It’s a fascination that has continued almost unabated to this day. The French film Les Quarantièmes Rugissants, based on the Crowhurst story, was released in 1982, while at least five plays have picked up the theme, as well as the 1998 opera Ravenshead.

There have been several books published about Crowhurst and the race more generally, although none of them add anything substantial to the story told by Tomalin and Hall in their 1970 book The Strange Story of Donald Crowhurst.

In 2006, the acclaimed documentary Deep Water incorporated contemporary footage of the race, including some shot by Crowhurst during his voyage, and in 2017 director Simon Rumley released his own stylised take on the story, called simply Crowhurst.

The Mercy, then, is only the latest take on the Crowhurst saga – although with Colin Firth and Rachel Weisz on board, it is the most high-profile. So how does it compare to previous efforts?

As you’d expect of such a mainstream movie, the focus is firmly on the psychological drama rather than on the sailing – which is probably just as well considering how often films get the details of sailing wrong. There are some minor errors – Chichester wasn’t the first person to sail around the world single-handed, and the prize for the first competitor to finish the race was a trophy, not £5,000 – but the sailing scenes are generally quite convincing.

More importantly though, The Mercy is a captivating psychological drama, which shows how, through a series of small steps, a person can box themselves into a corner from which there is no escape. It’s this humbling of a deluded but essentially well-meaning man that gives the story such resonance and has inspired artists and writers for more than five decades. For, as anyone who has sailed out of sight of land knows, the sea has a knack of bringing out our inner demons. There is a Crowhurst in us all.

First published in the March 2018 edition of Yachting World.

The post Donald Crowhurst: The fake round-the-world sailing story behind The Mercy appeared first on Yachting World.

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[mischiefandspirits]

Colony of Gotham (4/7)

The Colony of Gotham is an urban legend that is whispered about in the dangerous city. It’s said the Colony is a family of demons and spirits that stalk the night, hunting for the souls of the guilty.

When Bruce became Batman, he’d never intended to be mistaken for a demon. He was happy to lean into it, though, and as he gained his partners – as his family grew – they all followed suit.

First Part ~ Previous Part ~ Next Part

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For the record: the Flash and Aquaman in the story are Wally West and Kaldur'ahm, which is why they're referred to as second-generation JL. Kon has also passed on the Superboy title to Jon and taken on his own name.

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Selina found Carrie Kelley when the girl was attacked on her way home from her gymnastics class by a group of older boys. The woman ran them off then checked the girl over. She asked why the girl was walking alone and was annoyed to discover the girl’s parents had forgotten to pick her up from class, and not for the first time. Apparently, she usually would have gotten a ride from her teacher after pretending her parents called to ask, but he had left early because of an emergency and the assistant teacher took the train.

As Selina escorted her home, she tried not to think about how much Carrie reminded her of herself.

She still found herself waiting outside the gym two days later when the girl’s class ended. She watched Carrie wait for nearly half an hour before Selina moved to talk to her. She was surprised when Dick appeared moments later. She’d known the gym was the one he worked at, but it hadn’t occurred to her Dick might be the girl’s teacher.

The two swapped notes after Dick drove the girl home and began an investigation. Selina was half-tempted to just spirit the girl away, but kept things to the legal side of the tracks in the end. Mostly thanks to Dick.

Soon enough, she was the proud adoptive mother of Carrie Kyle. She hadn’t planned on taking in the girl permanently when going into it, but she knew she trusted the system even less with the girl thanks to her own experiences with it. Besides, even if she didn’t know how to parent, she had a wonderful fiancé who had all kinds of kids. One was already even attached to the girl. It’d be a piece of cake.

That confidence lasted a week, at which point she heard a news report about some heiress getting kidnapped while Carrie was at school and the anxiety kicked in. She probably should have called Bruce to talk about it. Instead, she panicked and took Carrie aside when she got home to tell her about vampirism. She then asked if Carrie wanted to be turned.

Carrie, thrilled to have this in common with her new mother, agreed immediately.

Once the girl was sleeping through the transformation, Selina calmed down enough to realize she maybe overreacted and called Dick. Unfortunately, Jason had answered the phone for his brother and put it on speaker without letting her know, which meant he heard everything she said and proceeded to spill her sins to the entire Colony like the little hellion he was.

All of the Colony eagerly accepted the girl into her new life, except Damian.

Something had been gnawing at the boy, and Carrie’s turning brought it to the surface.

Damian was his father’s only child by blood. By right, he should be a vampire. But as his mother was human, he was born human. He knew that vampirism was no more important to being considered family than it was to being a competent vigilante, but it still felt as if it were one more reason he fell short compared to his brothers. He was not chosen as they were. They had had years with his father before he had even met the man, before he had even been born in Dick’s case. And they had all been claimed into his vampiric clan. True, neither Tim nor Duke had been turned by his father just like most of their non-sibling family, but they were still related through vampiric magic.

Damian was not.

Gathering himself up, Damian met his father in his study to request to be turned.

Bruce said no. He wanted Damian to be older before he made a decision like that. When Damian pointed out he and Carrie were the same age and Cass was younger while Tim had been the same age as him when he was turned, Bruce reminded him that none of them had been turned by Bruce. If he had had the choice, he would have made them all wait as well. Damian’s anger grew as his father refused to budge even under his arguments about the life experience he already had and the fact he should have been born a vampire to begin with.

Damian ended up marching off in a fury.

The next time someone saw him was that night when Wally, Artemis, and Dick got back to their shared Blüdhaven apartment from dinner to find the boy sharpening a dagger on their couch. Wally gave the boy a cheerful hello and ruffled his hair, not noticing when the boy was only held back from stabbing his hand by a look from Dick. He did hear Damian’s threat to eviscerate him, but laughed it off as he usually did. Artemis gave the boy a wider birth as she followed Wally into their bedroom.

Dick sat down next to him, but before he could ask him what was wrong, Damian demanded to be turned. While Dick would have been happy to help his baby brother, he had a feeling there was more to it. After a bit of digging, Damian admitted that Bruce wouldn’t turn him so Dick had to. Trying to play mediator, Dick told him he would talk to Bruce and if that didn’t work they could come back to the conversation.

The boy thankfully agreed as Dick knew he would -- he knew his brother really wanted Bruce to be the one to do it -- so Dick went to change while Artemis turned on a movie and Wally slipped into the kitchen to make Damian something to eat. Dick sent Bruce a quick message to tell him where Damian was and that they needed to talk. Afterward, once his brother was fed and Wally finished off the leftovers, they played a few card games until it was time to put Damian to bed in the guest room.

The next morning, Dick and Bruce went back and forth over the phone for an hour before Dick’s voice began to grow loud enough for Wally, Artemis, and Damian to hear him out in the living room. Wally stepped in at that point to help Dick calm down. Cuddled up to his boyfriend, he managed to stay calm enough to get his point across.

He understood that Bruce wanted Damian to be older when he made the choice, but there really wasn’t a choice for Damian at the end of the day. He was a child who wanted nothing more than to feel like he was accepted by his family and that family was made of vampires.

So Dick gave Bruce a choice: either Bruce turned him or Dick would. He gave his father until the end of the week before hanging up.

He then proceeded to spend the following fifteen minutes with his face buried in Wally’s neck.

“Bruce is going to kill me!”

All Wally could do was pat him on the back because honestly, Bruce could be really scary when he tried. Especially when it came to his kids.

Damian stayed with the trio during the week. Meanwhile, Jason was giving Bruce the cold shoulder and hiding out at Artemis Grace’s empty flat. Tim and Duke had made it clear they were siding with Damian, but otherwise kept their opinions to themselves. Barbara, Kate, the Kyles, and the Rows had elected to stay out of the argument altogether.

Stephanie and Bette had teamed up to leave a bunch of pamphlets and essays about the importance of teaching body autonomy on the desk of Bruce’s study, under his pillows, in the pockets of his suit jackets, on the desk in his office at work, and in the cowl of his suit.

Only Damian and Dick were at the apartment when Bruce showed up at the end of the week since Wally had work and Artemis had monitor duty. Both sons were anxious when their father first entered, but relaxed when he set his hand on Dick’s shoulder and squeezed it lightly. He admitted that he still thought Damian should wait, but if it was what he wanted, Bruce would support them both. Despite a bit of disappointment still lingering, Damian gave him a small smile before Dick pulled them into a group hug.

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It was nearly eight months after Dick turned Damian that Robin finally got his secret twin back.

People had whispered for years about a relationship between Gotham’s demon and the infamous cat burglar that pilfered its high-rises. Some said Catwoman had been trying to gain the Bat’s favor for years in a bid for immortality. Others said it was Batman who chased the Cat, looking to steal her away as his bride. No one could say for sure who was right in the end, nor was anyone sure when the hunter had finally caught their prey, but either way the result was the same.

It started with tales of criminals facing off with Robin, only to turn to find a cat waiting to step in instead of a bat. These tales led many to look back and realize the thief hadn’t been seen for months.

Some mourned her lost humanity.

The only sign of her descent was the way her eyes glowed in the dark behind her goggles, her irises and pupils large like a cat’s. She still had her claws and fangs, and she still knew how to use them. She hunted for blood now instead of jewels and watched over the demon child like he was her own.

And perhaps he was. Robin had come to develop a grace not unlike her own with the balance and reflexes she was known for.

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The first day of winter break did not go well for Thirteen. First, she had gotten woken up by her dad ranting about something or other. Next, they were out of Lucky Charms so she had to eat plain oatmeal. After that, she found out the Teen Titans were on a mission so she couldn’t go hang out with them to get away from her dad’s rants about… ghosts? She was pretty sure she heard something about ghosts. Then, when she finally decided to just do something on her own and took a zeta tube to Denver to go skiing, she ended up stumbling upon some wackjob sorcerer trying to summon a demon or monster or something from… Okay, maybe the day wasn’t a good day for Traci’s attention span.

The point was that the day sucked.

She watched the guy shuffle about the cave rambling to himself -- or maybe her, she wasn’t paying attention -- as she channeled power towards the summoning circle he was using in hopes of stopping his spell from doing whatever it was supposed to do. Apparently, it worked because when the guy raised his hands and started chanting in Sumerian, the resulting bright flash left a girl within the circle instead of some hell beast.

Carrie was confused when she went from watching a movie with her mother one moment to standing in the middle of a cave the next. She took in the shocked face of the guy in the puke green cloak and the nervous expression on the tied up girl and said, “I’m guessing I wasn’t the one you were expecting?”

When puke cloak turned towards his book, huffing and puffing about magic and teenagers, Carrie decked him. He was knocked out instantly so Carrie called him a wimp and went over to free the other girl using the butterfly knife she always kept on her since it was a rare gift from Damian. The two alerted the police then took off, collectively deciding they didn’t want to explain why they were there.

Since Carrie didn’t have her phone and hadn’t bothered memorizing any of her family’s numbers (something she knew would be corrected as soon as she got home), she couldn’t call someone to pick her up. What she did have was her wallet, which included Tim’s debit card (because he needed to keep a better watch on his wallet) and a fake Id claiming she was seventeen (instead of her actual fourteen, because she and Damian bonded by going to the movies). She used the card to buy herself and the other girl, who she learned was named Traci Thurston, tickets on a Greyhound. Traci, not wanting to leave the girl on her own, had pretended she had been taken the same way Carrie was and revealed she was from Metropolis. She tried to object to Carrie buying her ticket, but the other girl waved her off. Her brother wouldn’t miss a couple hundred dollars. And if he did, Bruce would probably pay him back.

The two’s serendipitous two-day road trip turned out fun. They played games and watched videos on Traci’s phone. Carrie bought a pack of cards for them to play with so Traci showed her some card tricks Zatanna had taught her. In return, Carrie showed her some knife tricks Jason and Damian had taught her during rest stops. Traci told her a few stories she’d learned during her magical education and Carrie told her some Gotham myths.

Myths like ones about the demonic bat-man who had slaughtered a child and stolen the soul of a woman so he could create a family for himself, the succubus queen that slit the throat of any man who laid eyes on her and fed them to her undead minion, and the false angels that stalked the daylight.

In Carrie’s defense, Dick was the one who taught her those stories and he’d been telling them to Wally for years. How was she to know that Traci would immediately call Zatanna after Carrie climbed into her cab to make sure demonic monsters had not, in fact, taken over Gotham? Wally just thought Dick was making stuff up! Besides, she didn’t even know Traci was involved with anyone from the Justice League until she reached home and -- after explaining where she’d been to her worried family -- was brought down to the cave by Dick to find out which hero her new friend was.

None of her siblings believed Traci could be a civilian due to their own experience, which turned out to be justified.

It wouldn’t have been a problem if Zatanna waved it off like she’d wanted to do, but instead, the woman had to promise to look into it to get the girl to calm down. She assumed it would just be a monster in the closet scenario.

She was not at all prepared to discover Batman existed, let alone his legion of demons.

Normally demons would be a situation she handled on her own, but the sheer scale of the situation combined with the lack of information on basically anything Gotham had her bringing the rest of the League in on the situation.

Wonder Woman, Superman, and Cyborg were there to represent the founders. Flash, Tigress, Troia, and Aquaman arrived together, representing the second-generation members. The five main Young Justice members came, Nightwing bringing Power Girl and Supergirl along with him since the two had been visiting the former Superboy when he got the call. Last were Green Arrow and Arsenal, who had both been on the Watchtower when the meeting was called and as such ended up joining in despite not being called.

Wonder Woman started the meeting, but quickly handed it over to Zatanna.

When Batman was brought up, Tigress went stiff and Flash frowned. When the magician started to list her findings, few as they were, he leaped to his feet. “Wait, Batman’s real?”

“Yes, and we need to find him.”

Tigress immediately stood and left. Flash was about to follow, but Cyborg saw it coming and caught his wrist. “Where are you going?”

“Far away from here. I thought all those stories were just that. Stories. I’d like to be able to sleep tonight without worrying I’ll wake up to find a bloody kid hanging from my ceiling.”

At the series of exclamations that came from that, Flash and Zatanna explained that Batman didn’t work alone and actually had a large group of spirits or demons that followed him. When Flash was asked how he knew about the Colony, he admitted that he and Tigress lived in the area and both she and their civilian partner had grown up in Gotham. He said their partner had been telling him tons of stories about the Colony since he was a kid, but he’d always assumed they were just urban legends.

The Young Justice members all shared a look, wondering why Tim had never said anything. Wonder Girl glanced at Supergirl, who shook her head. Stephanie and Bette hadn’t said anything either.

Arsenal spoke up, saying Artemis of Bana-Mighdall had never mentioned seeing any demons in Gotham when she stayed there to visit friends and Power Girl added that Hawk and Dove had a friend in Gotham and they’d never mentioned trouble there.

The rest of the members considered this until Aquaman asked Flash for more information. Reluctantly, he started talking. He told them about each of them in turn, putting off a certain bird until the very end and then skipping over giving his name when he did reach him. He tried to move the conversation on from there, but Troia cut him off to ask if the last spirit had a name.

Despite himself, Flash glanced at the former Superboy before he answered yes. Nightwing noticed and crossed his arms with a frown as he asked what the spirit’s name was.

Flash’s voice was barely a whisper when he answered, but that was plenty loud enough for the Kryptonians in the room. Superman went stiff, Power Girl glanced at Nightwing, Supergirl gasped, and Nightwing slammed a fist into the table just light enough not to dent it as he demanded Flash repeat himself. When he did, he did it loud enough for everyone to hear so sounds of confusion and shock filled the room.

“Now you know how we felt when Kon-El here decided to go by that name! I’d been hearing stories about the guy for years by that point!”

Nightwing began to explain that the name came from a Kryptonian myth, before cutting off and glancing at Superman and Power Girl. The latter reluctantly finished it by saying that the original Nightwing was a spirit sent by the sun god Rao to destroy the evils that hid in the darkness. He was a creature of shadows, which left him separate from the gods until he and a fire spirit named Flamebird met and fell in love.

A silence fell over the group until Hex pointed out the obvious. “So a shadow creature looking to wipe out evil has the same name as a shadow creature looking to wipe out evil? Are we entirely sure we’re talking about two different monsters?”

The group fell into an argument. The Kryptonians denied that their myth could be the violent spirit in Gotham (aside from Supergirl, who started panicking about Batman corrupting the original Nightwing) while everyone else was split between agreeing with the Kryptonians or arguing against them.

Flash considered sneaking out, but hadn’t made up his mind before Wonder Woman decided they needed more information and her eyes landed on him. Despite his arguments against it, he was assigned to get information about the myth. Arsenal and Power Girl were also asked to speak to their Gotham contacts, but everyone knew Artemis of Bana-Mighdall didn’t like Wonder Woman while Hawk and Dove were wary of the Justice League so they weren’t expecting much on that front. Flash sent a quick look Young Justice’s way, well aware all of them were friends with his partner’s little brother. None of them met his eye and they all kept quiet.

Rolling his eyes, he grabbed his nephew by the back of his suit and the two left.

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TFW I realize since no one realizes the Colony exists, no one realizes Nightwing's already technically taken so Kon can go the Chris route and call himself Nightwing :) Dick was very amused when he found out.

Vampires’ animal forms:

Carrie: Eurasian lynx

Damian: Azure-winged magpie