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queerbutstillhere-writes · 4 years

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Soulmate AU

Life had always gone by at 100 miles per hour, it felt like. Bart was always moving, always doing something, always reacting, always learning. He was constantly discovering new things, and even if he didn’t always remember them, and sometimes never used his knowledge, he was always learning.

But this latest discovery was the most astounding of his lifetime.

He had always known about soulmates. It wasn’t a secret thing, in the future, but it was easier to control, with all their access to tech. It was easier to know who your soulmate was.

Bart was never told who his soulmate was. He would later discover the reason for this, but not for years later. As a child, growing up in a simulation world, he never really thought about it or bothered with it. It wasn’t something that really concerned him. He had more important things to do.

So he was never really taught about the catch that came with soulmates.

He never really knew how you would stop aging, until you fell in love with your soulmate.

People stopped aging at different times. Some people stopped at sixteen, some stopped at eighteen, some at twenty-five. There was no way to know, except one day, you’d start noticing that you were never growing or maturing or anything. You were just . . . stuck. Until you fell in love with your true soulmate. Until you two truly loved each other, you wouldn’t age anymore. And then you could grow old together. It was a weird system that often got exploited. People who didn’t want to grow old would just refuse to fall in love, their lives would be full of work and lacking in love. But what people often forgot, was that soulmates weren’t necessarily romantic. Platonic soulmates, for example, also counted for this odd system the universe had. Your soulmate was someone who you truly belonged with. Someone you truly loved.

Having lived a simulation life, Bart never knew about any of this.

And then he was thrown backwards into the 21st century, lived a hectic chaotic life for a bit, jumping from adult to adult, working with other speedsters, causing havoc. Then the thing with Bedlam happened, and Young Justice formed and Bart was caught in a whirlwind of hanging out with them, working with them, doing missions, saving people, kicking ass and taking names.

It was Kon who first brought up soulmates to him. They were just hanging out one day, when Kon randomly asked out loud if they thought he would have a soulmate, since he wasn’t naturally born. It was just the four of them, Kon, Bart, Robin and Cassie, and they all sat there in silence.

“Soulmates?” Bart asked, softly, frowning at them.

“Yeah. I don’t know, Kon. That’s a really good question?” Robin said with a shrug.

They kept talking about it, but Bart sat there in confusion.

“Wait, what do you mean soulmates? Those are real?”

Everyone went silent, and then slowly turned to him.

“Um? Yes?” Robin said, looking as confused as Bart felt.

“Wait do you really not know about soulmates?” Cassie asked, frowning and leaning closer.

“No?”

Kon laughed. “Imp, stop messing around.”

“I’m not?”

They all stared at him for a moment before it seemed to click that he wasn’t actually joking with them. Robin took a breath and then turned to him.

“Bart. Everyone, as far as I’m aware, has a ‘Soulmate’. No one knows why this is how the world works, but oftentimes, people will reach a certain age and stop aging until they’ve met and fallen in love with their soulmates,” he explained. “Like . . . like, Nightwing for example, has met his. They live together, and are aging normally. But Batman, hasn’t, and isn’t aging anymore.”

“Wait, isn’t that weird? Is Nightwing older than him then?” Kon asked.

“Not yet? I mean, it doesn’t change Batman’s birth year, Nightwing just . . . will look older sooner, unless Batman falls for his soulmate like, tomorrow.”

Kon made a little grunting noise, looking back at Bart.

“. . . wait really, you’re not kidding me?”

“No, Bart. And you don’t, technically, have to fall in love with someone romantically. I know of some people whose soulmates are their best friends. But Superboy isn’t sure if he’ll have one, since he wasn’t born naturally.”

“Does Superman have one?” Kon speculated out loud.

Robin snorted and launched into a debate with Kon over this, Cassie joining in occasionally. But Bart was stuck there, thinking. If he’s from the future, wouldn’t his soulmate also be in the future? Would he just stop aging and have to live out the next however many years until he got to meet them?

“What happens if you never meet your soulmate?” He asked quietly.

“Well. . . not everyone can avoid death forever. Most people get sick or have something bad happen to them. But there are some people that purposefully avoid falling in love just so they can live forever, and have succeeded fairly well, so far. . . But when your soulmate dies, you’ll start aging anyway.”

“Who’s done the cheating death thing?”

“I’m pretty sure Lex Luthor is one.”

“Checks out.”

They all laughed a bit at that.

Bart didn’t bring up his other question. It wasn’t worth broaching. He’d find out sooner or later.

It ended up being much much later.

Because, you know, death didn’t exactly help his testing of soulmates and whether he had them.

It wasn’t a fun time, being dead. Well, being dead, coming back, becoming old, because apparently the speed force doesn’t give a shit about soulmate aging laws - Bart actually thought that this meant that his soulmate didn’t exist - and then dying again. It was just a really weird time for him, and he was still in therapy for it.

But now, back to life, with Superboy Prime gone, and the real true, prime Superboy back, Bart was starting to settle back into normal human life as a teenager again. Which was weird, having already aged to adulthood, had a boyfriend for a while, then a girlfriend, until he died again. It was weird, because he remembered having several relationships, but now for the life of him, he couldn’t locate Griffin anywhere. Which was probably for the best, because like. . . what would he do if he could. Griffin was a good few years older than him now, and had probably moved on anyway.

So he went back to school, worked as Kid Flash, and went to therapy weekly, and was managing. Things were getting better, he was starting to have less nightmares. Or well, no, not less nightmares, he was just learning how to get out of them faster. He also hung out with the old Young Justice team more. . . . Well, mostly Cassie and Kon. You could tell it was odd for Cassie, being around Kon and Bart. There was this fragile layer of glass everywhere, easily broken, easy to cut people with, and this layer of glass was the topic of their death, and Bart absolutely hated it. But, he was glad to be around Cassie, and he especially liked hanging out with Kon. They would play video games or watch movies or just lay together on the roof and look up at the sky and not say anything. Because they both knew.

They knew how weird it was, to have died and come back. To have watched their friends age around them, to watch their friends go on with life, to have mourned them, and then have to deal with them coming back. It was surreal and sickening and it wasn’t really something you got over easily.

And then their hanging out sessions started including a lot more touching. It started after Bart had a little breakdown that had caused Kon to pull him into a tight hug and just hold him close against his chest, and had only grown from there, to the point that they were cuddling while watching their movies and Bart was sitting in Kon’s lap and they were holding hands, a lot. And it wasn’t weird. It was really nice and naturally and Bart felt so drawn to Kon. He felt like . . . like he might love Kon.

But did either of them discuss it? No, of course not. They’re dumbasses, what do you expect?

But what they did talk about a lot was Tim.

Tim Drake, their old Robin. Their best friend who had been through so much in their absence. Their best friend who had changed his name to Red Robin because of some kid who was apparently Bruce’s biological son showed up. Their best friend who had been more distant since their return then he had been when they first met him, all those years ago.

Because they both missed him so much.

“What if we just go show up at his apartment?” Kon asked, idly rubbing his hand over Barts short spiky hair. It was still growing back from him having buzzed it.

“He has an apartment?”

“Yeah, he moved out after that one kid showed up.”

“Oh, weird.”

“Yeah, I’ve been by his place once, but he pushed me out pretty quick. . .”

“Yeah. It’s like. . . I dunno, he’s been through a lot but it’s like he’s a completely different person.”

Kon shrugged, leaning forwards and pressing his forehead against the top of Bart’s head. “I just wish he would talk to us.”

Bart hummed his agreement. Kon didn’t move away, and Bart didn’t want him to.

They did, in the end, just show up at his apartment a few days later. He wasn’t there when they got there, so they sat on the fire escape and chatted, like they hadn’t been together all evening. Kon suddenly turned and a few seconds later there was a thunk as someone pulled themselves over the edge of the fire escape. Red Robin was standing there, his cape falling around him to mask his body, and he eyed them for a moment.

“What are you two doing here?”

“We’re worried about you,” Bart said, not beating around the bush. He hopped up - causing Kon’s arm to hit the railing of the fire escape with a thunk - and walked over to Tim, not giving him an option before hugging him.

Tim stiffened under the hug and didn’t reciprocate.

“You didn’t need to stop by, I’m fine.”

“Yeah, that’s bullshit,” Kon grumbled, also standing.

Tim pulled away from Bart and moved to the window, pushing it open and slipping it inside. Kon exchanged a look with Bart, but the window stayed open, so they both followed. Inside was . . . dark, and a little dingy. It wasn’t terribly well decorated, but it was definitely functional. There were a few clothes here and there, but other than that and the dishes on the counter, it was fairly clean. Tim pulled off his mask and turned to them once Kon had closed the window and the blinds.

Bart could see pain behind his eyes.

“Are you hurt?” He asked immediately.

“I’m fine,” was the tense response, but Kon tilted his head.

“No, I can smell blood.”

They all but dragged Tim to the bathroom, sitting him on the counter top while they patched him up. The injury was nothing more than a good scrape on the arm, and had mostly stopped bleeding by now anyway, only restarted by them peeling off his shirt. He sat there and stared at the floor, not talking to either of them. But he kept glancing at Kon.

“I’m gonna go make something light to eat,” Bart said softly and stood up off the edge of the bath where he had been sitting and slipped past Kon, hoping that would give them some time to talk.

He just wanted his Robin back.

He quietly made them some cheese quesadillas because Tim had literally next to nothing in his fridge, and he could hear Kon and Tim talking, but couldn’t make out their voices. He just waited patiently. After a bit Kon came out and walked over, but Tim didn’t reappear. Kon came over and just slid his arms around Bart and gave a soft sigh.

“How is he?"

“Closed off? Defensive? Really fucked up? Pick a descriptive.”

Bart sighed and leaned back into him, staring at the cheese that had hit the hot skillet and was bubbling from heat.

After a moment, Kon stepped back and turned, and when Bart also turned to look, he saw the bathroom door start to open and Tim step out, wearing sweatpants and a baggy t-shirt, his hair pulled back into one of those half-buns. Everyone stood there and stared at each other, and then Kon laughed.

“Shut up!” Tim exclaimed, cheeks going pink.

“What just happened?”

“His stomach is rumbling. You made a good choice, deciding to cook.”

Bart grinned at Kon, and turned to flip the quesadilla, before going to get plates. Tim moved and slowly started pushing papers to one side of his small dining table in order to give them room to sit at it. Once food was ready and cut, Bart made them each three plates, and then sat at the table, Tim to his left, and Kon on his other side, and they fell back into awkward silence as they ate.

“So. . . What have you two been up to since you . . .” Tim trailed off awkwardly.

“Oh uh. . . I dunno, I guess I’ve been talking with the Kent’s more, and Clark. . . we’ve been. . . just getting closer?”

Tim nodded.

“I’ve been doing school mostly. It’s just. . . weird, ya know, because like, it seems like people don’t know who I really am? Or they don’t know I was gone? I dunno, I guess the Speedforce is probably protecting me or something.”

"Yeah that's weird, I've been wondering why that's the case because like . . . They revealed your identity in your . . . so why wouldn't people remember. . . "

"Yeah. . . Also like, I had a boyfriend for a while. Do you remember that? Did you ever meet him?"

Tim shook his head.

"Yeah, so I dated this guy for a while but now he just . . . Doesn't exist? I can't find him anywhere."

Tim made a little grunting noise and reached for a notepad.

"What's his name?"

"Griffin Gray. It's . . . It's okay, you don't need to look for him, we broke up before I-" Bart cut himself off. "And he wasn't my soulmate anyway, so it's okay."

Tim just hummed and continued writing.

"And where were you two living?"

"Keystone."

More nodding, then he pushed the notepad aside and returned to eating. Silence fell back over them.

"Hey, Tim."

"Hm?"

"We were going to go see that new movie Friday . . . Do you want to come with?" Conner asked, turning to face him a little better.

Tim looked up, then between the two of them.

"What time?"

"Like, seven?"

"I probably can't, I have wor-"

"We can come up here!" Bart exclaimed quickly. "I mean, we have super powers, you don't. . . It makes more sense."

Tim turned his gaze to Bart, and sat there, just looking at him for a moment. Long enough that it got a little awkward.

"Sure. Find out what time the showings are and text me."

"Uh. . . What's your current number?"

" . . . That would probably help."

They all quickly exchanged new phone numbers, and once more fell to silence, tension thick in the room. Finally Kon cleared his throat and looked at Tim.

"How have you been, Tim?"

"Eh. Yeah I'm fine."

"Not to be rude but uh . . . Bullshit."

"Huh?"

Kon waved vaguely around the apartment. "Bullshit. Are you at least . . . " He stopped and shook his head. "I know you've been through a lot of shit. Do you have someone to talk to about all that?"

"Yeah I do I've got . . . " There was a sad pause here. "Bruce and Steph and a couple others."

Conner made an uh huh noise.

"Tim," Bart started, reaching over the table and grabbing his hand, not letting him pull it away.

His hand was rough and calloused and a little sweaty.

"We're just worried about you, okay? We both know that it's weird for you, us being back here. But you . . . We all need to talk about it. We can't just let it become some taboo subject. It was something serious and major that happened and we're all messed up from it."

Tim swallowed, and even squeezed Bart's hand a bit.

"Okay? So. . . So you don't have to talk to us about it. But please, talk to someone. Please don't push away anymore. We miss you. I miss you."

Tim just nodded a bit, but Bart could tell from the look in his eyes he wasn't going to.

"Tim. Promise me."

"Bart-"

"Swear it on your soulmate."

Tim snorted softly and closed his eyes, tilting his head down towards the table.

"I think I should tell you two something."

Kon and Bart exchanged a confused look, but neither one spoke. Tim took a breath, then started speaking.

"When . . . When you two died, I started aging. I hadn't been aging for a few years, more or less stuck at fifteen."

Bart felt the breath sucked out of him, and he looked between them both.

"Wait but I came back, did you-"

Tim shook his head, glancing up at him.

"But . . . You weren't exactly you either, were you? And you weren't back long enough to have really noticed."

Bart frowned, he made a good point. Tim sighed and pulled his hand away to rub his face.

"So, I don't know who, but I know it's one of you two. . . So, can you see part of why I had to avoid you? I couldn't . . . Couldn't pick between my two best friends."

Kon and Bart just looked at each other.

"Tim . . . Tim we don't even know if I have a soulmate," Kon said softly. He slid out of his chair and knelt next to Tim, reaching out and touching his arm. "But we do know you and Bart each have one."

"Kon, you can't-"

Kon just smiled sadly. I'd rather watch my two best friends get to be happy together, okay, Tim?"

"But Kon-"

Bart felt something inside of him crying out, mourning, sobbing at the idea of Kon not being by his side too.

"Kon-" he breathed out, looking down at the clone.

Kon turned his sad smile to the ginger.

"I'll let you guys talk-"

"No!"

Bart jumped up and moved to intercept Kon, pushing him back down.

"You're both idiots."

"Huh?"

"I just figured it out. These dumb feelings of mine."

They both blinked up at him, twin expressions of confusion.

"Kon. I'm in love with you," Bart said, confidently, never more sure of anything in his life.

Kon's eyes went wide and he looked up at Tim, clearly startled.

"Bart, I-"

Bart held up a hand to silence him, and looked at Tim.

"But I think we're soulmates too."

"What makes you think that?" Tim was closed off. Cold and calculating, more Robin- Red Robin now then Tim Drake.

"Because I . . . " Bart scowled, turning to pace, trying to figure out how to get the words from his brain, the feelings from his heart, out through his mouth.

They just watched patiently, knowing how Bart worked by now.

"I've always felt connected to you. Like . . . Like there was something more we were destined for. Like, I can't explain it, but ever since I met you on that dumb ski trip, I've always felt like I needed to be around you."

They both looked from Bart, to each other, then back at Bart, and Kon gave a soft smile.

"Okay I'm glad I'm not crazy then."

"Huh?" Tim asked, as Kon stood back up.

Kon walked over, hugging Bart tightly.

"I've felt the same way, towards you two. I've always felt connected . . . Like there was this rope tied around my spine, tugging me towards both of you." He turned back to Tim, not speaking for a moment. "God, Tim, I'm-"

"Wait. Shush."

Tim held up his hand, and they both audibly clicked their jaws shut. Their leader had given a command, of course they'd listen. He frowned, laced his fingers together, and rested his chin on his thumb. They waited.

Silence continued.

Then, finally, he spoke.

"You really think it is possible for someone to have two soulmates?"

"Sure, why not?" Conner said, shrugging. "Doesn't seem that far fetched."

"And you two really think . . . That we're all . . . "

Kon and Bart exchanged a look, and then nodded.

"Yeah?"

Tim made a little humming noise, then stood.

"I need to sleep on this. I'll see you two on Friday."

He walked away, down a little hallway, and neither of them moved, just looked from each other, to the doorway, then back. Then Bart giggled and stepped forwards, leaning into Kon.

"Wow that really just happened."

"God I hope we're right."

Bart hummed. Kon kissed the top of his head, and Bart smiled into his shirt.

"So . . . You're really in love with me?"

"Yeah? I thought . . . I thought that was obvious?"

"I mean a little, but I wasn't sure."

Bart snorted lightly, and looked up at him. Kon smiled softly down at him.

"It's true though."

Kon's smile grew a bit. "I know."

With that, he leaned down, and gently kissed Bart, a hand coming up to rest on his neck, thumb on his cheek. Bart pushed up on his tiptoes, arms going over Kon's shoulders. It was soft and timid, with every bit of the nervousness of a first kiss with someone you really liked.

Kon pulled away first, grinning at Bart. "We should probably get out of Tim's apartment."

"Probably." Bart giggled.

They slipped out the window, closing it firmly behind them, and said goodbye on the fire escape with another soft kiss.

Friday was accompanied by another major crisis in Gotham, so Tim had to call off, and they didn't hear anything from him other than a confirmation that he was alive on Saturday. Four three days after that text they didn’t hear anything from him. And then randomly, they got a group text from him, asking if they wanted to come over for dinner. They had immediately said yes, on the one condition that Tim wasn’t the one cooking.

So Thursday evening, they got ready and met at Tim’s apartment, actually using the front door this time. Bart was there before Kon, and when he walked in, the smell of lasagna hit him.

“Whoa, I thought you said you weren’t cooking?”

“I’m not,” Tim said with a small laugh. “You just missed Alfred.”

“Oooh, that makes sense.” Bart walked over to the oven and peaked in, grinning as his mouth started watering. “This smells so good.”

“Yeah. It should be. You know how Alfred is.”

Bart nodded his confirmation and looked around the apartment. It was a lot cleaner and brighter than the last time he was here, and Tim was a lot cleaner then the last time he was here. His hair was clean, and from where it had been tucked behind his ears, it had curled slightly. He was still wearing what was probably work clothes, brown pants and a cream, tight fitting turtleneck. And he was smiling. Smiling at Bart.

Bart smiled back.

“How was your day?” Bart asked, stepping closer.

Tim stepped in, after a moment of hesitation, and hugged him.

“It was pretty good. We had some meetings, still working towards transfering most of the CEO work back over to Bruce,” Tim said with a small shrug as he stepped back again.

“What, you don’t want to keep being a teenage CEO?”

“Preferably, no.”

Bart chuckled. “I mean, that’s understandable. Are you done with school then?”

“Yeah, I took some tests to get my GED and I’m done.”

“Huh, Nice. I’m jealous.”

Tim chuckled, stepping away as the oven started beeping. He grabbed some oven mitts and quickly pulled out a big tray of lasagna, as well as a tray of Texas Toast. Bart’s stomach grumbled in anticipation. There was a knock at the door, and Tim looked up, busy sprinkling more cheese on the lasagna.

“Can you get that? It’s probably Kon.”

Bart nodded and zipped over, pulling the door open, to discover that it was in fact Kon outside the door. He grinned the moment he saw the ginger.

“Hey there, Bart.”

“Hi, Kon!”

Bart got a kiss on the cheek and a hug before Kon stepped inside, letting him shut the door as he walked over to Tim. Bart watched them embrace and share a quick greeting, and could help but smile. It was clear Tim was wary around them still, but he was trying and Bart was over the moon about that.

“I thought we told you no cooking,” Kon said, eyeing the lasagna Tim was putting back in.

“You did. I didn’t bake! Alfred was here a little bit ago, he did all this and just left me instructions when to take things out.”

Tim picked up and waved a sheet of paper. Kon snatched it and read over it, snickering the whole time, he shook his head, grinning at Tim.

“You really cared about this, huh?”

“Of course I did!” Tim exclaimed, then his cheeks went pink. “Uh. . . What do you two want to drink?”

After a bit, dinner was ready, and they were all sat at the, now clean, table, chowing down on steaming plates of lasagna, Tim watching in horror with how much Bart and Kon ate.

“I forgot about this,” he muttered, shaking his head.

“Forgot about what?” Bart asked, after gulping down his mouthful of lasagna.

“The whole. . . “ Tim waved at their plates. “Food intake. You two are gonna eat me out of house and home, aren’t you?”

“Maybe.” Kon grinned at him.

Despite the insane quantities of food, Kon and Bart both had fairly good table manners, so it took them a lot longer to eat then it would when they were alone. After, they helped clean up the kitchen, and then found themselves crashing on the sectional in the living room. Only the second they sat down, Tim immediately stood up again. He stepped around the coffee table and faced them.

“Okay. I have to tell you guys something, the reason why I called you two down- or well, up here.”

Kon frowned and leaned forwards, forearms on his knees. “What’s up?”

“I’ve been thinking . . . a lot, about our conversation last week,” he paused, and neither of them dared to interrupt. “About how I feel about you two. . . and- and about how I don’t ever want to be without you.”

Bart’s heart leapt into his throat, but he waited patiently. Well, as patiently as he could. He may have started vibrating a bit.

“I don’t . . . I don’t know how having two soulmates works, apparently it’s more common than I thought. But . . . If we’re right. . . Then I want to try it. I want to be with you two. Both of you.”

At this, Bart jumped up and dashed over, throwing his arms around Tim and hugging him tightly. Tim grunted slightly, but hugged him back, pressing his face against the side of Bart’s head. Then he pulled away, pushing Bart back slightly.

“But uh. . . I’ve never . . . with guys-”

“Tim.” Kon was right behind them now. “We can take things at whatever pace you need, okay? I don’t have that much experience here either, but we’ll take things one day at a time."

Tim smiled, nodding slightly, and looking between them. Kon stepped in and hugged him as well. But then Bart had a thought.

“What happens. . . What happens if we find out we’re not soulmates?” he asked softly.

“Then we’ll handle that when we get there,” Kon reassured. “For now, let's just focus on the dating aspect. One day at time.”

“One day at a time,” Tim agreed, holding out an arm for Bart, who immediately joined the little group hug.

Their group hug migrated to the sofa, which then just turned into laying on Kon, who seemed perfectly content with this. And Bart? Bart couldn’t be happier. It might be a rough road from here out. It would definitely be fraught with peril, injuries, and maybe even death. But if Bart had his soulmates, his two best friends in the whole world by his side? He would face that danger with a smile, because they were worth it. This. This was worth it.

@core-disaster-week-2020

#timkonbart week #core disaster week #timkonbart #core disaster #tim drake #conner kent #bart allen #prompt week #soulmate au #no aging soulmate au #queerbutstillhere #queerbutstillhere-writes

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my-abibliophobia · 7 years

Text

Young Justice Cartoon Quotes

Superboy: I live because of Cadmus. It is my home!  Robin: Your home is a test tube. We can show you the sun.  Kid Flash: Uh, pretty sure it's after midnight. But we can show you the moon.   Mark Desmond: Activate the cloning process. Robin: Pass. Batcave's crowded enough.   (this was the moment when I had to pause the show and laugh my head off. :) ) Robin: (admiring the ship) Incredible.  Kid Flash: (admiring Miss Martian) She sure is. I--I mean the ship. Which, like all ships, is a she.  Robin: Fast with his feet, not so much with his mouth. Kid Flash: Dude!   Kid Flash: Can you do that ghosting through walls thing that Manhunter does?  Miss Martian: Density shifting? No. I--it's a very advanced technique. Robin: Flash can vibrate his molecules right through a wall. (indicating Kid Flash) When he tries it, bloody nose.  Kid Flash: Dude!   (Superboy loses his boots to the lava) Superboy: Those were my favorite boots! This Nelson guy better be worth it.      Miss Martian: But you know who would make the cutest couple? You and Wally. You're so full of passion, and he's so full of... uh...  Artemis: It.   Red Arrow: The League of Shadows wants you dead. Lex Luthor: Doesn't every League?  Red Arrow: It's not just Cheshire. It's Sportsmaster, and Ra's Al Ghul himself. Lex Luthor: I can't say I'm surprised. Ra's is something of a... competitor of mine. Red Arrow: Then maybe I should stand aside and watch you take each other out. Lex Luthor: Your stab at pragmatism is, well, adorable.    Waller: Belle Reve's walls are thick enough to hold Superman. We know. We checked.    Kid Flash: It's the Brain. Artemis: Uh. I can see it's a brain.  Kid Flash: Not a brain. The Brain.  The Brain: In the flesh. So to speak.    Robin: (about Superboy and Miss Martian) You know they're a couple, right?  Aqualad: I believe I knew before they did.    Robin: (Kid Flash and Artemis enter the room arguing loudly) So when do we tell them? The Joker: Children. Children foiled our plan. Inconceivable. Unacceptable. Retributionable. That last one might not be a word. So sue me. Artemis: What about new girl?  Robin: I'm sure she won't tell.  Zatanna: I can't tell. Not if you kidnap me.  Artemis: Oh, she's going to fit in great.    Robin: Where are we going? Batman is the world's greatest detective, and he searched for Tornado and Morrow in every logical location. If we're gonna do better, we need an illogical solution. A truly dumb idea. (everyone looks at Kid Flash)  Kid Flash: As a matter of fact...    Red Volcano: You stand no chance against me, humans.  Superboy/Miss Martian: We're not human!  Red Volcano: Apologies. I suppose the properly inclusive term is "meatbags."    Red Tornado: We must stop him.  Red Inferno: Why? Once we believed we lived. Now, there is only Red Inferno and Red Torpedo. Why should we help save humanity when we are no longer human?  Red Tornado: The premise of your question is flawed. You were never human, but you were heroes.   Black Canary: So, you want me to believe that after everything you went through, including your own death from fiery explosion, you're peachy?  Kid Flash: I'm, uh, fairly certain I never used the word peachy. But I think you got the gist.    Black Canary: You're in denial, Wally.  Kid Flash: I'm comfortable with that.      Marie Logan: Where's my son?  Robin: I ordered him to stay inside.  Marie Logan: He's 8. He doesn't do orders.   Superman: I nominate Icon for League membership.  Green Arrow: Why? Because you suspect that Icon might be Kryptonian, like you did with Captain Marvel?  Captain Marvel: You thought I was Kryptonian? Cool.    Captain Marvel: Seriously? The Atom? How useful could he be at that size?  Batman: It's his size that makes him useful.  Flash: Absolutely. Still, we could always use more raw power. And Earth has a third Green Lantern, Guy Gardner...  Hal Jordan and John Stewart: No.  Flash: But we could really...  Hal Jordan and John Stewart: No!    Wonder Woman: I shouldn't be surprised, since you indoctrinated Robin into crime fighting at the ripe old age of 9.  Batman: Robin needed to help bring the men who murdered his family to justice.  Wonder Woman: So he could turn out like you?  Batman: So he wouldn't. Miss Martian: I feel so silly. Who knew a Martian could be vulnerable to a human virus?  Robin: Uhh, H.G. Welles.    Beast Boy: They still trying to capture us, or is it just a bitter revenge thing now?  Superboy: Either way, we discourage them. Game?  Beast Boy: Me? I'm big game. Aquaman: Nice aim.  Superman: X-ray vision. I cheat.    Blue Beetle: What is that thing?  Scarab: Appellaxian golem.  Blue Beetle: You know, I'm bilingual and I still have no idea what you just said.  Scarab: Irrelevant. Attack  Blue Beetle: Okay, that I get.    Robin: You're a tourist from the future?  Impulse: Why so surprised? Half the meat at Comic Con are from my era.      Red Arrow: Should I be concerned over the obvious delight our daughter takes in the ultra violence?  Cheshire: It's genetic.  Red Arrow: Great. Nightwing: Lagoon Boy, stand down!  Lagoon Boy: Sorry, you're breaking up! (makes static noises)  Nightwing: There's no static on the psychic link!

#Young Justice #quotes #Cartoons #DC comics

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superman86to99 · 7 years

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Superman: The Man of Steel #22 (June 1993)

REIGN OF THE SUPERMEN CONTINUES! Presenting John Henry Irons, a.k.a. Henry Johnson, a.k.a. Shaq-- uhh, STEEL. John is the big dude we saw emerging from the rubble of the Superman/Doomsday fight in Adventures #500. Now we find out more about his backstory: he was a military weapons designer who quit his job/whole life for some reason, and has been living in Metropolis’ Suicide Slum under an unfindable fake identity (he just switched his first and middle names around). A few weeks ago, John was saved by Superman after falling off a construction site -- so when the Doomsday battle broke out, John decided he should return the favor and save Superman. This didn’t go so well (for anyone), hence the whole “buried in rubble” thing.

(Note the “energy” being passed from Superman to John as he saves him. Artistic license, or something else...?!)

Anyway, once John is out of the hospital from that little incident, he sits down and tells the tale of his namesake John Henry to some Suicide Slum kids (including Superman’s pal, Keith the Unlucky Orphan, because this is a really small neighborhood). As the kids are leaving, they get caught in the middle of a gang fight and one of them is literally fried by some sort of hi-tech gun.

“You BASTARDS!” (Sorry.)

John chases after the gang members, and as they try to kill him for butting into their business, he recognizes their hi-tech weapons as his own design. When he gets out of the hospital (again), John decides to do something about it. With Superman dead, someone has to step up and protect the city, so John forges himself an iron-- uhh, STEEL armor designed for crime-smashing. John debuts his new heroic identity against the same gang from before after they come back to finish the job and firebomb his building.

John kindly asks the gang members where they got such sci-fi-esque weapons. Just as one of them is about to talk, he’s sniped by a mysterious lady with a big-ass gun, “The White Rabbit”. She seems to know John from before, and decides not to kill him because he might be "profitable” in the future. (I’ve got bad news for you, lady.)

Meanwhile, Metropolis is abuzz with news reports of John’s exploits. A psychic lady he saved when that building blew up explains that he’s not “a” man of steel but THE Man of Steel -- according to her, Superman’s spirit has returned from beyond and possessed the body of a man whose own spirit left him (John, after whatever happened that made him leave his old life). The still bed-bound Pa Kent seems convinced, while Lex Luthor Jr. is at least intrigued by the idea, and who knew Superman better than those two? No one. Welcome back, Superman!

Character-Watch:

The White Rabbit actually appeared briefly during John’s segment in Adventures #500, but I forgot to mention it. Here’s a gratuitous shot of her shorts to make up for it.

Plotline-Watch:

Futher evidence that John is the one true Superman: he says that when he was buried in the rubble, he saw "Fog. Angels and demons. I think my grandfather. He didn’t want me to die.” That sounds like a spot-on summary of what Superman’s soul went through in Adventures #500.

Poor Lois Lane’s life is bound to take a turn for the better now that the love of her life has returned: I mean Jeb Friedman, her douchey ex. To be fair, Jeb did wait like a week (comic book time) after Lois’ fiancee was presumed dead before putting the moves on her, so he’s not that bad.

I should also mention that Myra the Orphanage Lady has the hots for John -- she gets a new Halle Berry hairdo when she and Keith visit him in the hospital. You may now begin shipping them.

Lex Luthor Jr. orders his crony Dr. Happersen to find out who’s furnishing street gangs with futuristic weaponry. That’s his job, dammit!

And my job here is done, so click below to read the great Don Sparrow’s section:

Art-Watch (by @donsparrow):

Probably the most abrupt change from the Funeral for a Friend storyline comes in the pages of SMOS, where we’re thrown into an almost entirely new cast of characters (aside from the much loved Myra and Keith), a great departure from the Superman comics we know. We begin with the cover, which features probably the s-shield closest to the official one, with some slick, great looking Walk-Simonson-esque shading on the chrome of the insignia—this pattern will be a theme throughout the run of this character.

Inside the first page we get our first full look at John Henry Irons in full regalia, and it looks great. The colours help a lot in selling the metallic look, and I love the elements of his costume that are a cheat—There’s no way a metal mask could so closely follow the contours of John’s face, particularly as he speaks and emotes. But it looks awesome so we accept it.

As I mentioned, we can feel a bit lost being thrown into this story with a wholly unfamiliar character, so they subtly let us know which character we’re supposed to be following by helpfully putting him in the familiar red and blue as we first see him.

To my eye, in this storyline, Bogdanove abandons his usual slick, fluid, Fleischer cartoon look for a much hatchier, urban feel. The faces are more caricaturized (sometimes, perhaps, to a fault) and the action a lot grittier. Indeed, I don’t remember so much violence in the first couple pages of story since before the Doomsday storyline. The effect is intentional I think—we’re supposed to be horrified by the destruction these toastmaster weapons leave behind, but man, that smouldering skeleton of a teenager on page 4 is tough to take, as is the brock wall smeared with Irons’ blood at the bottom of page 5.

Still, even in his first appearance, Bogdanove has this character’s physicality and wardrobe very well established and down pat. The parachute pants go a long way in suggesting his athleticism, and also hint at a possible inspiration in the sports world, as Shaquille O’Neal was just entering the NBA (and rap and video game worlds as well) at the time. It might be a chicken or egg argument, but I suspect some of Irons’ look is based on Shaq’s, for better or worse.

The flashback sequence of Irons’ inspirational meeting with Superman is well-told, and there’s some interesting imagery as there appears to be some sort of beam transferring between them on page 8, lending credence to the “spirit walk-in” spin this book put forward. The full page splash on page 11 is a good one, as you really feel the heft of his hammer in his body gesture—though maybe a little more time could have been put into the face.

The low point follows soon after—no, not dead teenagers (though there will be more of them), something worse—Jeb Friedman makes his obnoxious return to Metropolis. Worse still, Lois dives into his arms knocking off his cowboy hat. Oh, yeah, apropos of nothing, he was wearing a cowboy hat, by the way. [Max: He seems more like a fedora kind of guy.]

Page 15 has a great look at Irons’ mask, as he perches, Batman-style, on a rooftop before jumping in to bust the gun-runners. More dead torsos follow as one of the gang gets disemboweled (and then some) in order for the Toastmasters to blast Irons. The cracked image of Martin Luther King is an effective way of relating some of Irons’ guilt—his actions in the past certainly haven’t advanced Dr. King’s noble causes. Rather, they’ve just made the streets a deadlier place.

We get a good look at Irons’ array of weaponry in the story as well, as page 19 features his gauntlet, which, appropriately for his namesake, drives steel railway bolts (I’ll just accept that Irons is a great shot, and ignore how utterly deadly that would be as a weapon). We’re then introduced to the White Rabbit, our apparent villain, in booty shorts as revealing as a code book would allow at the time. [Max: See above.]

There’s a LOT of exposition to get through, and the issue does a good job of all of it—Irons’ guilt at having dedicated his life to weaponry, and donning a costume to atone (shades of the first Iron Man film), some interesting issues with power, race and inner-city crime (with both gangsters like the White Rabbit and big businessmen like Luthor trying to take full advantage) some history on Irons’ own tragic childhood, and also some upsetting scenes with Lois and Jonathan Kent dealing with the emergence of all these new characters.

STRAY OBSERVATIONS:

Does John Henry have eyebrows? They seem to be missing in his closeup shot on page 4, and elsewhere.

GODWATCH: John Henry prays he’s wrong when he sees the what looks like an old weapon of his on page 4.

The story makes a couple mentions of Irons’ voice as being like Darth Vader, and later the voice of God. Emphasiszing someone’s voice is an interesting way to establish character in a silent medium like comics, but definitely does help us flesh out who he is.

I’ll admit, I’ve heard better pickup lines than “Superman is dead and Clark is dead.” Bizarrely, it seems to almost work.

I remember reading an article (I think it was in Wizard magazine) about the spirit walk-in idea, and either Simonson or Bogdanove saying that the psychic would decidedly NOT sound like Mike Myers’ Linda Richman character from SNL. In spite of their assertions (or maybe because of them), that’s how she sounds in my head, so they might have been better off not even bringing her up. [Max: Dang, now you’ve passed on the curse to me! Hey, maybe she was possessed by Mike Myers’ ghost?]

#superman #louise simonson #jon bogdanove #dennis janke #steel #keith #myra #jeb friedman #sydney happersen #pa kent #psychic lady whose name is given but i can't remember and i'm not even sure if she shows up again #linda richman #reign of the supermen

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