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green-eyedfirework · 11 days

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Dick slowly pulled the longsleeve on, keeping his movements even to avoid flinching or showing a grimace of pain on his face. His teammates wouldn't care if he was injured--would, in fact, sneer at him worse, though Dick could feel Desmond's eyes on him, relentless in smug satisfaction.

The Bludhaven Blockbusters had lost, not that it mattered much to them in the standings. It was a well-fought game--the Blockbusters had a great offense, courtesy of Dick, but the Jokers' defensive lineup was no, ha, joke. The score had been close, no team getting more than a two-point lead, until the last period, where Desmond let in an astonishing number of goals.

Almost like he'd been paid off to do so.

"Ready to make up for our loss, Grayson?" Someone wolf-whistled from the other side of the locker room. "You have to be good for something, and clearly winning isn't it."

Dick had scored four goals despite the Jokers' defensemen attacking him like a school of piranha on chum. The fact that they'd marked him so closely had let the rest of the line-up score as well. Desmond was the one who lost the game.

Not that Dick was stupid enough to say that out loud. He was well aware he had no friends here.

Dick finished changing into the longsleeve and sweatpants and closed his locker before walking out of the room. His side throbbed with fierce intensity on every step and he had to force himself not to limp. He was pretty sure he'd broken something when he'd been shoved against the boards, elbow slamming into his side, but there was no way he was going to go to the medic to get it checked out.

He'd get this over with and ice it in his hotel room. Along with the rest of his injuries. And whatever else he picked up along the way.

"What took so long?" Redhorn barked the moment he stepped out. "Come on, they're waiting." He marched off, not looking to see if Dick was following, and Dick had to jog to keep up.

His whole body ached, but nothing as much as the hollow inside his chest. Dick loved hockey. He loved the ice. He loved the game, as brutal as it was, didn't mind limping away with a broken rib or five in exhilaration. He'd been prepared to accept the messy politics of the game, the omnipresent corruption, the money, the paparazzi, and even the more unsavory aspects, like the winner's room that was all but an open secret in the league.

Dick didn't think he liked hockey any more.

The ice was no longer an escape, winning didn't bring any joy, and Dick could feel a part of himself get leached away as he fell over and over in the same trap, stuck in the mire instead of skating above it. And all because of one scorned woman.

"Richard," the low voice called out from the darkened corridors. Dick flinched, but he managed to suppress the hiss as his chest tightened. Redhorn paused as the woman unfolded herself from the shadows, striding forward with a bright red smile. "Mi amor, you played so well today," the woman hummed, catching his face and kissing both cheeks. Dick didn't move, carefully frozen still. "It's such a shame we lost, no?"

Dick didn't say a word. In a world of sharks, Catalina Flores was the biggest one in the shiver. Desmond's orders had probably come directly from her.

"It is a shame," Catalina murmured, voice dropping even lower as a manicured fingernail stroked down his cheek. "I wish you did not have to do this, Richard." Lie. "Won't you change your mind, mi amor? Come with me and I promise you'll never have to do this again."

Dick stepped back, controlled so it didn't look like he was jerking himself free of her grip. "No," he said, the same thing he said every time she made this offer. Even the first time he could tell she was bad news, but he didn't realize how bad until he'd seen the consequences of spurning her.

Catalina's smile dropped away to a hard look and flashing eyes. "Very well," she said, voice cold. "Enjoy your time with Wilson, then."

Dick had to fight not to blanch. Wilson? Slade Wilson? One of the oldest players in the league, still at the top of his game, strong and fast enough that rumors of doping had swirled unconfirmed for years? The Jokers' star defenseman, and the very same defenseman that Dick had outwitted with a flashy trick to get his fourth goal?

He could still remember the seething fire in Wilson's eyes. The man had checked him twice as hard after Dick had shot the puck through his legs, and he was the reason half of Dick's left side felt like it'd been crushed. And that had been Wilson on the ice, with restraint.

Dick felt faint. But Redhorn was moving so Dick had to follow behind him, leaving Catalina and her burning glare behind. The numbness was coming on fast this time and Dick welcomed it, cocooning himself in the fog so he didn't end up hyperventilating.

It had been a couple of weeks since the Blockbusters had lost a game, since Dick had been on the receiving end of hatred and not just scorn, and a part of him wondered how long he could survive this.

Catalina wasn't going to stop. She clearly wasn't getting tired of him, and his frequent rejections were just making her angry. Maybe he should give in, accept whatever protection she offered and sell his soul.

He was already in hell anyway.

They approached a plain door and Dick suppressed the panic and hung on to the numbness. It was getting easier and easier to draw himself down into it, and harder and harder to come out. "Get to the hotel when you're done," Redhorn growled, turning away without a glance. "The team's leaving at six in the morning."

That was it. No instructions on how he was supposed to get to the hotel, or what would happen if he was late, or any kind of support at all. Just abandonment in the middle of the Jokers' stadium. Dick luckily knew his way around Gotham, but he wasn't sure how many pieces Wilson would leave him in.

Dick waited until the sound of Redhorn's footsteps had faded away before he reached out and knocked on the door.

The sound felt muted. Disconnected. Everything was moving a step behind his mind and Dick blinked when the door opened to a silver-haired man nearly twice his size.

Part of Dick was fascinated by the disparity. As a winger, Dick was smaller than his teammates, built for agility and not so much for slamming people against the boards. Wilson was clearly built for his job, a steel wall of muscle towering above him, with ice blue eyes scanning over Dick before settling on his face. "Come inside," Wilson said.

The room was tamer than most others Dick had seen, looking more like a hotel room than a sex dungeon. There was a drawer set next to the bed that was clearly for supplies, and a mini fridge, and what appeared to be an attached bathroom. Dick followed Wilson all the way to the bed and stopped when Wilson turned to face him.

"So, Bludhaven's hotshot new left wing," Wilson said. This time, his scan was more of a leer, gaze dragging over his body. "Think those flashy tricks of yours are cute, kid?"

Dick didn't answer. He knew better than to engage. Wilson already wanted a punching bag, he didn't need to make things worse.

"I'm surprised no one's beaten that out of you yet," Wilson mused. "Though I suppose it's my turn to give it a go."

Dick didn't back away as Wilson stalked closer, no matter how much he wanted to.

"You shot four goals," Wilson said, eyes burning. "How about we start with payback for each one?"

Wilson's grip was stronger than Catalina's, easily shoving him back against the bed as he bent down. His kiss was equally aggressive, harsh and plundering, and Dick retreated deeper into the fog and let it happen.

There was no point to the fear, it wouldn't save him, it didn't tell him anything he didn't already know. All Dick could do was try to brace for the pain that was going to follow.

Wilson shoved, hard, and Dick fell back on the bed, sinking instantly into the soft material. He barely managed to struggle up on his elbows before Wilson crawled on after him, straddling his thigh and shoving him back down, big hands wrapping around his ribs.

Dick couldn't help the gasp of pain.

The grip disappeared immediately, but the throbbing pain was high and searing and Dick instinctively, ineffectually, tried to curl up, hand pressed to his ribs and blinking against his prickling eyes. Fuck, that hurt, and Dick was suddenly concerned about his ability to take this punishment. They hadn't even gotten started.

"What happened?" Wilson demanded, still straddling Dick. "Are you injured?"

"I'm fine," Dick said thickly, or tried to say, the pain made everything even more disconnected.

Wilson just scoffed, tugging at his shirt. "Get this off and let me see. I don't want your team to accuse me of damaging their precious star forward."

The numbness made it hard to muddle through that sentence as Dick obediently tried to pull his shirt off. Was Wilson saying he wasn't going to injure him? Clearly he didn't know the priorities of Blockbusters' management very well, which was great for Dick if it meant Wilson wasn't going to be that rough.

Dick hissed as he tried to pull the shirt up, it was more difficult when he was practically pinned to the bed, and he ended up letting go and trying to breathe past the black spots in his vision when the pain grew too large to ignore.

"Christ, Grayson," the harsh voice said as Dick stared at the ceiling and tried to blink the stars out of his eyes. "Why didn't you get this treated?"

"It's fine," Dick said, and had to stifle a gasp as Wilson pressed down against the throbbing ache.

"You're black and blue all over, and you haven't applied anything. Why didn't you go to the medic first?" There was something approaching alarm in Wilson's voice.

"I'm fine," Dick repeated. Amy would've slipped some painkillers in his bag and he could ice it when he got back. "Why do you care?" Dick couldn't stop himself from saying. "You're the one that caused it."

Silence.

That was a stupid thing to say. Especially when he was flat on his back underneath the defenseman, utterly at his mercy. A slow, creeping cold slithered in past the numbness and Dick couldn't even shiver.

Wilson hadn't moved. His fingers were still resting lightly on what was probably a black splotch on Dick's chest, just waiting to dig in. Dick had the sudden--and chilling--realization that the state of his body probably gave Wilson a very clear picture of how little Blockbusters' management cared about his injuries, as long as he could still skate.

"Look, can you just get on with it?" Dick said, brain-to-mouth filter completely on vacation.

The fingers moved up, skating across his ribs up to his collarbone. "I didn't cause this," Wilson said, quiet.

Dick didn't know what he was pointing to. He tried to crane his neck past the balled-up fabric of his shirt to see, but the movement just pulled at his ribs.

"The one that looks like someone tried to take a bite out of you," Wilson clarified. "What the hell, Grayson? Got a vampire partner you haven't mentioned?"

"Don't have a partner," Dick exhaled, flinching as Catalina's image popped before his eyes. He thought he knew what Wilson was pointing to, but a lot of the Blockbusters liked to use teeth. Liked to mark him.

"Then who the hell did this to you?" A pause, and Wilson's voice grew darker. "The Blockbusters haven't lost a game in weeks."

Dick exhaled and reached for the numbness again. It flooded him, stronger than before, until it no longer mattered that he was pinned underneath a man that intended to fuck him as payback for scoring past him. "Doesn't matter," he said, voice light and almost floaty.

"What doesn't matter?" Wilson sounded thoroughly pissed off now, but that was a problem for Future Dick. Present Dick was dissociating too hard to care.

"Winning or losing," Dick said. Introduce the idea of sex for punishment, normalize it, and people would twist it for all manner of things. Winning just meant that Dick would go to the person on the Blockbusters' line-up that wanted him, and there were a lot of people that wanted him.

Wilson's fingers disappeared and his weight shifted off. Dick waited for him to come back, another hard kiss, more bruising touches, more pain. He wondered if he could get back to the hotel before six. He wondered about how Bruce was doing, whether he watched Dick's games or just blocked out all mention of him after Dick had left his coaching to make it on his own. He wondered if it would be this bad on any other hockey team.

He wondered if he could go back in time, to little eight-year-old Dick Grayson who loved the ice, and shake him and tell him not to go into hockey.

Wilson was taking an awfully long time. Dick lifted his head up, and lifted all the way up to sitting when he didn't spot the defenseman anywhere in the room.

A bang of the door showed where he’d gone. Wilson was glowering now, fury roiling off of him like a stormcloud, but Dick could only stare, unconcerned. He didn't even flinch when the man advanced on him.

"Get up," Wilson ordered harshly, pulling Dick to his feet and tugging his shirt back down. "Come with me."

Dick didn't try to fight the casual manhandling and merely trotted after Wilson.

They were leaving the room. Dick didn't understand why, and everything was moving too slow for him to form the words to ask. Wilson seemed to know where he was going, darting frequent glances back as if to check that Dick was still there, and Dick followed him, confused and unable to care.

The hallways weren't familiar, but they were starting to get noisy and when Wilson pushed through a door to the sound of loud conversations, Dick realized he'd brought him to the Jokers' locker room.

The thought should've caused shrieking alarm. Instead, all Dick could feel was a dull pang as he obediently followed Wilson inside.

"Done that quick?" someone jeered as they strode further into the locker room--the majority of the team was still here and Dick's gaze skipped past faces, deliberately not counting them. "Oooh," there was a chorus of wolf whistles as they spotted him behind Wilson. "Did you bring him to share?"

Everything felt so far away. Even the ground. Dick felt like he was falling and falling.

"Shut up," Wilson snapped. "And go get Fries." Wilson turned back to Dick and pushed him back to an empty bench. "You, sit down."

There was another round of heckling. "Did you break him already?" someone laughed, followed by crude comments about their relative sizes.

Wilson ignored them, crouching in front of Dick. "Can you raise your arms?" he asked. Dick started to lift them but they started trembling the moment they reached shoulder level and Wilson grabbed his arms and pulled them down. "Never mind," he said, "lean forward and duck your head."

Dick did as he was told, forehead hovering next to Wilson's shoulder as the man curled his fingers in the back of Dick's shirt and pulled it up. He managed to get it off without any input from Dick, and Dick watched as his arms speckled with gooseflesh.

He didn't feel cold. He didn't feel anything.

Dick didn't hear laughter anymore. There was a low whistle and footsteps and suddenly a small crowd surrounding Dick and Wilson. Their faces were all blurry. Dick didn't try to make them out.

"Damn, Wilson, what did you do?" someone asked, hushed, and there was a minor scuffle when Wilson aimed an elbow at the speaker.

"Fries is on his way," another voice called out.

"Why didn't you just take him to his own team?" someone else muttered.

"Couldn't find them," Wilson said, voice hard and flat.

More silence.

Another voice, quiet. "Jones said that he didn't see any of them still here when he left."

A round of sharp inhales and low what the fucks. "They just left him?" someone asked, sounding horrified.

Wilson was watching him, stare narrowed and intense. Dick held his gaze, still and quiet, waiting pliantly. His eyes were a cold blue with flecks of gray. He had wrinkles on his face. His hair wasn't actually all gray, some of it was a blonde so light it was indistinguishable at first glance.

"Something's wrong with him," someone said abruptly.

"Uh, yeah, we can see that something's wrong with him--"

"No, I meant, look--" something snapped in front of Dick's face. He blinked but didn't move. "See? He hasn't said anything since he got here. He hasn't even twitched."

"Wilson, what the fuck did you do?!" the tone was higher, harsher. Wilson broke his stare with Dick and straightened to turn on the speaker, an argument of growls and hisses.

Someone else settled in front of Dick, bald, with a crinkled frown on his face. "Hello, my name is Victor Fries," he said, voice slow and calm. "Can you tell me where you're injured?"

Where wasn't Dick injured was a better question. Dick mutely pointed to the giant developing bruise on his side, because that was what had caught Wilson's attention.

Dick didn't flinch when Fries began prodding at the wound, tiny jolts of pain fizzling out in the numbness. Fries frowned, and then frowned even deeper when he met Dick's gaze. Dick didn't realize that the volume of the argument between the Jokers had risen and fallen until someone abruptly sat down on the bench next to him.

He turned, blinking at Wilson. Wilson glowered back. "Well?" he rumbled, turning the glare to Fries.

Fries looked upset. "Richard--can I call you Richard?" He waited for Dick's slow nod to continue. "Do you know where you are?"

Of course Dick knew. "Jokers' locker room," he rasped. There was abrupt silence, which was the only reason he realized how noisy the room was before then.

"That's great," Fries smiled tightly. "Are you feeling cold?"

Dick looked down at his goosebumps. "No," he answered honestly.

Wilson made a low growling sound. There was a scuffle of movement and something soft hit Dick in the face. It was the purple and black of the Jokers' colors and Dick stared at Wilson when the man wrapped it around his shoulders.

"Richard," Fries said, and Dick's gaze swung back to him, ignoring the towel. "Judging by the bruising, I think you have some broken ribs, though we'll need an X-ray to make sure. I've been informed that your team has already left, so I can drive you to the hospital and you can call them to meet you there--"

"No." Dick's fingers were trembling. He stared at them, lost in the shudders.

"Excuse me?"

"No hospital." Dick had to clear out his throat. "I'm fine." He was so tired. Everyone was staring at him, and he didn't know why. He just wanted this night to be over.

"Richard, you really need to get it checked out--"

"I said I'm fine."

Wilson scoffed loudly at that. "You're not fine," he said, daring Dick to argue.

Dick had to let go of the numbness, pushing up to his feet, but exhaustion swooped in to take its place, leaving him ragged and still distant. Clearly Wilson didn't like the bruises, but there wasn't anything Dick could do about that.

"You don't get to tell me that," Dick said evenly, watching Wilson's eyes flash and knowing he'd be paying for that soon enough. "You won. You get the night and nothing else. So either take your spoils or leave me alone."

The locker room was dead silent. Dick realized he had a towel around his shoulders, one of the big, soft, fluffy ones, and he suppressed the urge to huddle further in it. It was cold and he had to fight not to shiver.

There was probably a more diplomatic way to play this, he could've gotten that ride and then ditched them there, but Dick was so very tired. He just wanted it over with.

"Fine," Wilson snapped. Some of his teammates made protesting sounds, but Wilson levered up, shooting them all dark looks. "Fries, give me some painkillers and an ice pack." The medic mutely did as he was told, shooting Dick undefinable looks. "Come on, Grayson, let's get back to the room. Can't miss out on my spoils."

He twisted the words into a nasty sneer. Dick would've felt afraid if he had the energy to, but he didn't even have enough to imagine what Wilson had planned. He just followed the man silently back through the same hallways, focusing on putting one foot in front of the other, until they were back next to the bed.

"Take these." Wilson handed Dick the painkillers and a bottle of water. Dick thought about pointing out that Wilson didn't have the authority to drug him either, but lost the impulse under the exhaustion. He swallowed the pills.

"Now get in bed."

Dick crawled up on the bed. "Do you want me to take off my pants?" he asked, trying to stifle a yawn.

"No." Wilson casually manhandled him until Dick was on his back, on a pillow, watching Wilson draw the covers back.

Wilson got in after him, and pressed the folded towel to Dick's ribs--Dick hissed at the sudden shock of ice, but then gradually relaxed as the numbing set in.

"What do you want me to do?" Dick said, or thought he said. It was getting more and more difficult to keep his attention focused on Wilson. The man was shifting on the bed, sitting next to him, drawing the covers over them, a warm, burning presence at Dick's side.

"Close your eyes," came the order. Dick followed it. Maybe it would be easier if he wasn't watching.

He didn't know when the darkness slipped to unconsciousness.

#my snippets #sladick #hockey au #winner's room #dubcon #protective slade

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lorkonsghost · 17 days

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another post okay giant Jason relationship with the bat family.

Dick Grayson/nightwing

Talks about as decent brother when around other,

Dick

when they talk about jason like he's a baby a big angry baby who can do no wrong and everyone thinks he's crazy since Jason is easily the scariest thing they ever met

Bruce

it's similar to Canon but Bruce is more active in trying help get along with him and the family since Bruce thinks fighting as he has is enough.

Cass use Jason as a jumping off spot when they fight together it pisses Jason off but Cass doesn't care also Cass as shortest BatFam after Damien is not a fan of fighting Jason since if she gets grabbed its game over so when she fought Jason she was playing defensive in this au

Tim if titans tower happens is terrified of Jason for how easily he was beat tossed around like a rag doll in this au and but when gets over his fear their probably the closest siblings.

Tim if titans tower doesn't happen he is Jason number one defender simply because a few dead or fight Jason again is easy decision in his book like he remembers when in this au when Jason was fighting multiple bat at a time every week like it was nothing and he would rather not.

Steph has the most fun teaming with Jason since that means the brick house can take on most fodder no problem so the only real problem are big bads and they have craziest prank wars

Duke is weird since dc wants nothing with him at all. Though I think he has the most potential character growth in dc comics along side Cass and Jason of course if dc gave a shit about any of them dukes powers are so intriguing and dc does nothing with him sorry mini tangent but him Jason would be bound over being protectors of the daylight and crime ally respectfully

Babs is a weird character in general when it comes to Jason but I feel like though in this au she had the hardest time accepting Jason was red hood because while Bruce was in thick of it so he had to face it more directly and dick was just glad he could finally make with up Jason. Babs was watching from sidelines and the difference between kid Jason and adult Jason can give you whiplash but that sweet little boy is now bigger than a brick house a kills people so yeah although she helps Jason the most when she comes to accept that their the same Jason

Damian respect for Jason is a lot since he easily one scariest fighters on earth all though you could argue certain people are better and more skilled fighters but Jason used his powerful build with all skills he's learned over the years let's Damian a certain respect for him

Honorable mentions

Talia al-ghul / Ra's al ghul

Are terrified of Jason if he finds out how much of the truth they manipulated so he could attack Bruce because if Batman needs back up then so they

Short king dick au

That's his baby brother godamit he doesn't care what others think

Justice league

What do you mean a human is justice league level threat Bruce what do you mean he has access to almost all of your contingencies what do you mean you can't track him Bruce what do you mean he rules most Gothams crime bruce answer us bruce

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a1307s · 6 months

Text

Very Good or Very Bad

(Jaime Reyes)

[Art is not mine! Credit to PollyGuo]

Requested by: Aiko424

Keys:

Y/N: Your Name

Word Count: 6880

Warnings and/or Pre-notes:

Cursing

Super long, so my bad

Cállate. Por favor, cállate tu molesto bicho: "Shut up. Please, just shut up you annoy bug"

———————————————————————

"You're shaking," I say to a twig of a guy nervously looking down at his phone. Ever since I not so accidentally blew up an abandoned building a few weeks ago Wally - my older brother - won't let me walk myself anywhere. Given, I blew up the building to save the lives of innocent - and stupid - citizens of Central City but he didn't want to hear any of that. So, I've been stuck on a leash ever since.

Most of the time Wally himself, Artemis, or Dick pick me up and walk me home, but Dick is on medical rest and Wally and Artemis left for Gotham this morning to visit her parents. You'd assume that would get me off my leash, ya? No. Instead of letting me go to Gotham too or trusting me to watch myself they asked Dick to watch me for the next week.

Since he's on medical leave, all Dick can do is relax so no hero work and definitely no patrolling Blüdhaven. Since Wayne Junior got himself injured, he's not allowed to leave Mount Justice so that Barbra and M'gann can monitor him. Also because of this, I'm stuck being walked home by the league members and being stuck in a rock box with Wally's old - and new - team mates, which doesn't seem like a fun time.

By lunch Richard texted to tell me 'Jaime has a half day so he's coming to pick you up'. After a quick description - skinny Hispanic boy that talks to himself and has a beetle on his back - I had an idea of who to look for after school.

"I'm not shaking," Says - hopefully - Jaime. "I'm just cold."

"You're just a lair," I say back, taking a sidestep to look for this beetle imprint Grayson mentioned before. An imprint is present so I'm pretty sure this is the right guy. "Why are you shaking?"

"I am not shaking and even if I was shaking it might - or might not - be because I'm terrified of Nightwing and what will happen to me if something happens to you," Jaime races out, constantly glancing down at his phone.

"Mmkay, a little paranoid of you," I say, grabbing the guy's wrist and heading towards the school gates. "I don't know where I'm going," I tell him, dropping his wrist and reaching into my bag for my phone.

"Umm... that way... I think?" He says, glancing to the left after burning holes into his phone with his eyes.

"Let me see," I say, tilting his phone to look at the directions. "Do you not know how to read a map? A google map, nonetheless? We got to go to the right."

"Oh, okay" Jaime says, moving to my side to start heading down the street. As Dick mentioned, he constantly whispers to himself as we walk down the road.

"So, like do you talk to yourself cause you're crazy or?" I ask, glancing at him before turning back to the sidewalk in front of us.

"I'm not crazy," Jaime answers before continuing to whisper to himself. "I'm not crazy," he repeats.

I hum in response before turning to walk backwards so I'm facing Jaime. "People that aren't crazy usually don't have to state it," I say, locking my eyes on him. His eyes are a brown color whereas I got the signature green West color.

"In my defense, you asked," he says, constantly moving his head around as if it's on a swivel.

"Touche," I answer, folding my hands behind my head as I continue to walk. "So, Jaime Reyes, what's so big and bad about you?"

"Big and bad?"

"Ya, like why are you a hero and all? What's so special about you that Batman was like 'oh ya this kid can totally beat the shit out of villains'?" I ask, amusingly watching Jaime having a mini freak out.

"Um... There's an alien parasite on my spine I guess," He answers nervously, glancing down at his phone before doing another environment check.

"You guess? There either is or isn't and I feel like you would know," I voice, rethinking if he really is a hero or if Bruce just happened to adopt another kid by accident.

"Yes, there is one. What's with all the questions?"

"I just like to know who's hanging around my brother and uncles is all," I answer, going to turn face front again.

Despite me counting my paces, I'm closer to the street than I thought, which leads me slap dab in the road. "Be careful," Jaime snaps, grabbing the hood of my hoodie and pulling me back on to the sidewalk. "Nightwing would kill me if you got ran over."

"One, Nightwing wouldn't kill you. Artemis might but Nightwing would just lecture you and me. And two, there isn't any cars coming so it's not like I would have gotten ran over," I tell him, slightly smiling at the distress on his face. "You're like super stressed out about this. Why are you stressing so hard?"

"I'm not stressed out," Jaime answers, not letting go of my hoodie as we walk across the street.

"I've known you for like five minutes and you've already lied twice. Batman must be having a field day with you."

"You don't know me," He answers, stopping once we are safely back on the sidewalk to check the directions again. "And I've never met Batman, so I don't know what he thinks of me."

"He thinks you have emotional regulation issues," I say, repeating what Bruce told me last month about the newest member on Nightwing's hero squad.

Jaime glances up from his phone to me a few times before pulling me in the direction he decided on. "Did he really say that?"

"Ya, but he didn't mean it in a 'I'm better than everyone' way. It was a more of 'Yo, Nightwing your underling has this issue and here's how to help with it' way I guess," I answer, focusing on Jaime's face. He's quite a pretty boy when he's not in the middle of a panic attack.

"Well Nightwing says you're a reckless air head," My escort says, pretty upset about the information I've shared with him.

"I know I am. I take after Wally." I shift the collar of my hoodie to get more comfortable with Jaime tugging on it. He notices and drops his hold on my clothing.

When Jaime figures out which way to go, he grabs on to my wrist and starts walking again. "Ya? You take after Wally in any other ways?"

"Not really. I mean I have his humor but that's about it."

Jaime suddenly stops, causing me to bump into his back. It's a lot more toned than I thought it would be and there most definitely is a beetle attached to his spine. "You're not a speedster?" He asks, turning his head to look at me.

"Hm? Oh, no I'm not. I'm more of a retro hero like Nightwing and Artemis," I answer, moving myself to stand next to him instead of being dragged behind.

"Why aren't you a speedster? Genetic skip or something?"

"Well we don't really know how it'll work with Barry and Wally's genetics yet since neither have had kids. Barry got his abilities in a freak accident and then Wally got them by coping said freak accident," I explain, taking in the soft coloring of Jaime's skin.

The phone booth portal thingy Bruce invented is sat in front of us, so I take the chance to say, "You're really hot," before wiggling out of his hold and slip through the phone booth.

"What?" Jaime voice echos through the empty training room when he slips in after me.

Unlucky for him, I'm already in the living room and in Richard's grasp. "You're getting so big," my make shift Uncle cries, squeezing me in his arms and covering the crown of my head in kisses.

"You literally saw me last week," I murmur, rolling my eyes as I try to wiggle out of his grasp.

"And since then you've definitely gotten taller," Richard says, followed with a whine when I mange to get out of his hold. The tantrum doesn't last long though. When Jaime enters the room, Nightwing's attention is switch from me to the beetle boy. "Jaime! Good job not losing Y/N on the walk here!"

"You really paint me out to be some teenage dirt bag don't you?" I ask, swinging open the fridge in search of a snack.

"No I don't! You're just... a lot like Wally."

"You mean I'm a reckless air head?" I tease, pulling out a cheese stick before plopping myself on one of the arm chairs.

Nightwing's masked eyes get bigger before he sneaks a glance at Barbra. "Bsh... no... I would never call you that. That's so-"

"Out of line for a grown man to insult a young girl?" I finish for him, watching as he accuses Barbra of spilling the beans through his eyes.

"Just go do your homework or something," Richard says, using his crunches to storm out of the room. It was quite a funny sight, watching him trying to storm out with a broken leg.

————————————

"Oh it's you again," I say, sneaking up on Jaime who's waiting at the front gate to walk me home again.

The blue of the beetle armor pokes out from under Jaime's sleeves before disappearing again. I must have really scared him then. Since Mr 'you don't know me' avoided me all day yesterday I decided to check Bruce's file on him. It was an interesting read to say the least.

"It's me again," He repeats, doing a look up and down of me before pushing himself off the gate he was leaning on. "You're not wearing a hoodie today," He comments, shoving his hands into his pockets.

"Ya, I don't like people using the hood to walk me like a dog," I answer, holding the straps of my book-bag as we walk. "You have another half day today?"

"No," Jaime answers shortly, his head back to being on a swivel.

"Then why are you walking me again? Isn't El Paso like 700 miles away or something?"

"Something like that but Mount Justice is even further away from here but it's only a ten minute walk for us," Jaime answers, stepping around me so he's closer to the street.

"True, but you wouldn't have time to get out of class and get here to pick me up even with the Zeta Tube," I comment, watching as Jaime's eyes lock on the street corner begger. His name is Connie and he chills on the street corner around this time and during the before school rush in the morning. Connie is an okay guy but he is quite quick to anger.

"What does it matter?" Jaime asks, switching which side he's standing on so that he's closer to the begger. His hand wraps around my wrist as we past Connie and cross the street.

"I'm just curious," I answer, constantly glance at Jaime's hand on my wrist.

"Curiosity killed the cat. Also, how'd you know I was from El Paso?" Jaime asks, glancing around the new stretch of sidewalk. His hand stays very much latched around my wrist as he does so.

"Barbra mentioned you were from Texas, so I just took a guess at one of the bigger cities within the state," I answer, holding my breath in hopes he'll buy the lie. He does, luckily, and leaves our conversation to die off. "So.... you get in trouble at school or something?" I ask after a couple minutes of silence.

"I got suspended," He answers, tugging me in front of him as a group of other teens walk past. The mix of holding my wrist and walking so close to me causes Jaime to bump into me every couple steps. His chest is hard, even harder than Bruce's. When I glance down his fingers are coated in the black armor I recognize from the photos in his file. Does he feel threatened by me or by the baseball players walking past? It has to be me, right? I'm a trainee of Kid Flash, Nightwing, and Batman himself. How the fuck would my school's baseball players threaten him?

"For what?" I ask, glancing up at my repeated escort. Jaime's jaw is tight, and his eyebrows are squinted together.

He makes whispers in Spanish under his breath - which I don't understand, before he answers me. "Does it matter?"

"Why are you so pissy today? For someone that was bitching yesterday about me not knowing them, you're not very open with me." Jaime glances down at me but doesn't say anything in response. Instead, he lets go of my wrist and shifts himself between the road and me again.

The rest of the walk is uneventful other than a cardinal crossing our path. Jaime did not find my excitement over the bird very interesting though. He just mumbled to himself and dragged me the rest of the way to the phone booth. When we get to the hidden zeta tube, I go to step into it but Jaime pulls me back. "Hey, what did you say yesterday?" He asks, eyes locked on me and hands locked around my wrists.

————————————

Jaime's POV

What the fuck? What the fuck?! Why am I the one picking up Nightwing's niece? Nightwing's arsonist niece. Who blew up a building. Heroes blow up buildings all the time. Heroes around my age do not blow-up buildings! Except Kid Flash's little sister apparently!

I nervously glance at my phone again, re-reading Nightwing's description of his niece for the hundredth time. What if I can't find her? What if I mistake another kid for her? What if I bring another kid to the mountain on accident? That would definitely get me kicked off the team. Or murdered! Do heroes murder? I don't think so... well.. Arsenal does. Would he kill me? Nightwing wouldn't let him kill me... right? Artemis's parents kill people and she's technically this girl's sister-in-law, right? Would Sport-Master kill me for accidentally abounding Artemis's sister-in-law?

What if some freak accident happens on the walk to the Mount? Nightwing would defiantly kill me if his niece got hurt on my watch. Or Wally would... or Artemis... or Batman. Oh my God I forgot about Batman. I bet Batman would throughout his no kill rule for this chick. I mean his son refers to this chick as his niece. That like technically makes this girl his granddaughter.

"I will not let Batman - or anyone else - hurt us," Scarab says, which does not help my train of thought. I'm totally going to get murdered.

In retaliation to my thoughts, Scarab tries to activate my armor. "We do not need that right now. Not needed," I whisper to myself; Well technically to the Scarab but might as well be one in the same. "Can't you just like scan people and let me know who does fit the description?"

"Yes. Please read the description." I whisper the description out loud a few times before a bell rings. "Scanning has commenced," Scarab says as I look around at the different people spilling out of the building. "Jaime Reyes, your high epinephrine levels have caused you to start shaking," the parasite adds.

"High levels of what is causing what?" I ask, glancing down at my phone to read the description again.

"Your high levels of epinephrine has called what humans have named 'anxiety'. Your body is trying to release this 'anxiety' by shaking," the bug answers. "Suspect has been-"

"You're shaking," A voice says from behind me.

"-identified," Scarab finishes. Way too many noises are going on right now, both inside and outside my head.

I turn to look at the person behind me and wouldn't you know, she fits the description perfectly. "I'm not shaking. I'm just cold," I answer, taking in the girl in front of me. She's the spitting image of Wally. Her eyes are the same green as his and her hair is red but not the same red as Wally's. Maybe it's dyed or maybe she just got different genetic pigments than Wally.

"You are shaking Jaime Reyes, and you are not cold. Your body temperature is ninety-nine point four degrees Fahrenheit. From the high levels of resorcinol in her hair, the girl does not have natural red hair," Scarab says, answering my question.

"You're just a lair," Y/N says, taking a sidestep and decking her head to get a glance at my back. Ya, this definitely has to be her. "Why are you shaking?" She asks, setting herself back in front of me.

She has freckles. Really cute freckles. How old is she? I glance down at my phone again to read Nightwing's description again. From his explanation Y/N is only a year younger than me. "Jaime Reyes, suspect is waiting for you to answer."

Oh shit, ya, I haven't answered her yet. In my rush to answer her without it seeming like I ignored her; I blurt out the first thing that comes to mind. "I'm not shaking and even if I was shaking it might - or might not - be because I'm terrified of Nightwing and what will happen to me if something happens to you." What the fuck kind of answer was that? That was such a loser answer.

"Jaime Reyes, you are shaking. You're shaking because you're scared of Nightwing, Wally, Artemis, Sports-Master, Arsenal, and Batman," The Scarab says, making me even more annoyed with my own name.

"Mmkay, a little paranoid of you," Y/N says before grabbing my wrist. Her skin is super soft against my own. This can't be the touch of an arsonist, right? It's too soft, too smooth, too gentle. I willingly follow her as she walks away from the building and off the school grounds until she comes to an abrupt stop.

She drops my wrist, causing a tinge of sadness to rise in my chest. Why am I sad that she's not touching me anymore? I don't even know this girl with cute freckles that dyes her hair red to match her brother's. "Subject has caused an increase in your phenylethylamine levels. When subject let go of you, your phenylethylamine dropped which is causing the human emotion of 'sadness'."

"I don't know where I'm going," Y/N says, messing around in her bag. After a couple seconds she pulls out her cellphone. I take the chance to type the address Nightwing sent me into my phone.

I keep glancing between my phone and Y/N as she checks her notifications. She doesn't answer any of them and instead slips the phone into her hoodie pocket. She stands there, staring at me. Her eyes are bright and so full of life. "Subject's levels of catecholamines has slightly risen," Scarab says, replacing my thoughts with their voice.

"I don't know what that means," I mumble, looking down at my phone again to try and focus on the directions.

"Subject is experiencing 'annoyance' from your lack of answering."

"Umm..." I mumble, glancing at my phone again. "That way... I think..." I say, glancing to the left. Why is it so hard to focus right now? She's just a girl. I'm around girls all day. I go to school with girls all day, and then go fight crime with girls all night, and then go home to a house full of girls. She is just a girl.

Y/N takes a step forward and reaches out towards me. "Let me see," she says, her fingertips pressing against my phone so she can view it. Her nails are black, but her ring finger has a blue stripe on it. That's cute. It reminds me of Nightwing's suit. Oh shit, Nightwing is going to kill me if our walk keeps lagging from my lack of awareness. "Do you not know how to read a map?" She asks, looking up at me with those big fucking beanie baby eyes. "A google map, nonetheless? We have to go right," she says, turning right and starting to walk in that direction.

"Oh, okay," I peep out, taking wide strides to catch up to her.

"Subject is effecting your chemical balances. Recommendation: Illumination," Scarab says, in their nonchalant way.

"Illumination? Illumination? Maybe let's not 'illuminate' Batman's granddaughter, ya? Batman is not an enemy I want to have in this lifetime or the next," I fight back, trying to keep my voice low so Y/N doesn't hear me.

"Recommendation: Illuminate subject and Batman."

"The fuck you mean 'illuminate Batman'? How about we illuminate no one? That sounds like a good recommendation."

"So, like do you talk to yourself cause you're crazy or?" Y/N asks, sneaking a peek at me before her eyes focus back to in front of her.

"I'm not crazy," I rush out.

"Subject is now causing a re-rising in your epinephrine levels," The parasite glued to my spine says.

"You are causing the rise in my epine-whatever," I answer back, glancing at Y/N. "I'm not crazy," I repeat, worried she didn't hear me the first time.

Y/N hums before turning on her heels. "People that aren't crazy usually don't have to state it," she peeps out, as her eyes look me up and down. She's now facing me as she takes steady backwards steps. The fuck is she doing this for? She's going to trip or get bumped into or fucking kidnapped easier cause she's not paying attention.

"Subject is waiting for a response," Scarab says, causing me to mentally roll my eyes for the hundredth time today.

"In my defense, you asked," I finally answer back, constantly looking around for any possible threats. Heaven rest my soul if I bring Y/N to the Mount with a scratch or a bruise on her. Nightwing - and then Wally - and then Artemis - and then Batman will skin me alive if she gets hurt in the ten minutes, she's in my care.

"Touche," Y/N says, a bit of a whistle squeaking out with the word. She folds her arms behind her head as she opens her mouth to speak again, "So, Jaime Reyes, what's so big and bad about you?"

Maybe I'm not annoyed with hearing my name today. She should say it again. Why the hell do I want her to say it again? And why the hell did she fold her arms up? That's making the situation even worse. What if she trips? She won't be able to catch herself. "Big and bad?" I ask, a bit confused after I register her words.

"Ya, like why are you a hero and all? What's so special about you that Batman was like 'oh ya this kid can totally beat the shit out of villains'?" She asks, a soft smile gracing her face. A cute, soft smile that I can't enjoy because she can't walk like a normal person, so I have to be aware of every stupid thing including possible rocks on the freakin sidewalk!

" Um... There's an alien parasite on my spine-"

"Jaime Reyes! People should not know about us! This increases our chances of harm!" Just kidding, I'm back to being annoyed at hearing my name.

"- I guess," I finish, mentally rolling my eyes again.

"You guess? There either is or isn't and I feel like you would know," Y/N says before spacing out.

Why is she spacing out? She should be focusing on walking and not tripping! She should be focused on getting to the Mountain unharmed. "Yes, there is one. What's with all the questions?" I ask, getting a little annoyed with her carelessness. Doesn't she realize her safety determines my safety?

"I just like to know who's hanging around my brother and uncles is all," Y/N answers, turning on her heels again to face forward.

'Uncles'?! So, she's related to more than just Nightwing? Who else is her uncle? That's the fucking road! As Y/N is turning around, she steps directly into the street. Panicked, I reach forward and grab the first thing I come in contact. "Be careful!" I yell at her, dragging her back to the safety of the sidewalk. "Nightwing would kill me if you got run over," the words spill out before I can stop them.

I soft smile returns to Y/N's face before she speaks. "One, Nightwing wouldn't kill you. Artemis might but Nightwing would just lecture you and me. And two, there isn't any cars coming so it's not like I would have gotten ran over. You're like super stressed out about this. Why are you stressing so hard?"

"I'm not stressed out," I answer, looking back and forth on the road before tugging Y/N across by her hoodie.

"Subject is correct; You are stressed Jaime Reyes." Ya no shit. My mentor - the Nightwing - entrusted me to walk his niece to the Mountain. His niece who is actively trying to get herself - and me - killed. Nightwing who won't murder me. Oh no, but his teammate - his best friend's girlfriend - will.

"I've known you for like five minutes and you've already lied twice. Batman must be having a field day with you," Y/N says, glancing at me with mischievous eyes.

Oh, ya Batman likes me so much that he hasn't met me. Everyone likes me so much that half of the team can't remember my name. Before I can stop myself, I answer her in anger, "You don't know me. And I've never met Batman, so I don't know what he thinks of me."

Once we're back on the safe sidewalk, I take a chance to check the directions again to ensure we're heading in the right way. "He thinks you have emotional regulation issues," Y/N says, looking at the tree in front of us.

He? Who's he? Is she talking about Batman? The old guy that dressed up as a bat because he can't deal with the loss of his parents thinks I have emotional regulation issues? I glance at Y/N throughout my thoughts before focusing us in the right direction. "Did he really say that?" I ask, even though I know there's no way an adult furry thinks I have issues. I don't have issues. I just have murderous alien technology attached to me.

"Ya, but he didn't mean it in a 'I'm better than everyone' way. It was a more of 'Yo, Nightwing your underling has this issue and here's how to help with it' way I guess."

The fuck does that mean? Once again, before I can stop myself, I answer in anger, "Well Nightwing says you're a reckless air head." He sure was right. Who walks into the road without looking first? What a stupid girl, a stupid person.

"I know I am. I take after Wally," Y/N says softly, lifting up her colored nails again but this time she messes with her hoodie. I'm holding it a lot tighter than I mean too so I drop it, letting her walk freely again. Hopefully, not freely into the road again.

"Ya? You take after Wally in other ways?" I ask her, actually curious if she has superspeed as well. I mean, she has too, right? Her brother is a speedster so why wouldn't she be one too? I take second to double check our direction again before starting the walk back up again. I make sure to grab her wrist instead of her hoodie this time because I'm not confident she won't walk into traffic again.

"Not really. I mean, I have his humor but that's about it," Y/N says from behind me, a sad undertone buried in her words.

I stop walking, taking a second to process her words and trying to get the Scarab to shut up so I can think clearly. From my unwarned stop, Y/N bumps into my back. She feels really warm against me and the smell of vanilla envelopes me. "You're not a speedster?" I ask, glancing behind me to take her in. Her eyes are wide, and cute, and very green. How are they so green?

"Hm?" She asks, looking up at me, slightly softening her face. "Oh, no I'm not. I'm more of a retro hero like Nightwing and Artemis."

Y/N moves herself so she's standing next to me instead of behind me like before. "Why aren't you a speedster? Genetic skip or something?" I ask, continuing to lead her forward again.

"Well, we don't really know how it'll work with Barry and Wally's genetics yet since neither have had kids. Barry got his abilities in a freak accident and then Wally got them by coping said freak accident." What is up with these heroes? Are they all crazy? Am I going to go crazy too?

I stay trapped in my thoughts until we are slap dap in front of the portal tube thing. I think Beast Boy called it a 'zeta tube' or something. "You're really hot," Y/N says before loosening my grip on her and disappearing into the tube thing.

"What?" I ask but she's already gone. I follow her through the phone booth before re-asking my question. Unlucky for me, she's already gone from the training room. At least I lost her in the Mountain, I guess. I stand in the empty room for a second, replaying the moment a couple times. She definitely called me hot. Is that a good thing? It has to be a good thing.

I shake the thought out of my head before walking into the common area of the Mountain. Great, there she is, right there, again. "Jaime!" Nightwing calls. "Good job not losing Y/N on the walk here!" Y/N responses but I don't stick around to hear how it plays out. I spend my time in the Mountain locked away in my assigned room so I could think over the events of the walk and the feelings I'm not sure I'm happy I'm feeling.

—————————————

Today has not been the best day. I'm still a bit off from walking Y/N home yesterday, which drizzled into my day today. Some guys at school were talking about her, well about her hero identity, not her specifically. They were still talking about her though and not very nicely. For whatever reason, I couldn't just let it go and ended up starting a fight about it, which got me a suspension from school. Mama is not going to be thrilled about that.

Nightwing on the other hand, seemed quite amused that I got suspended over his niece. So amused that he asked me to pick her up again. Instead of waiting on the school grounds, I decided to wait outside the school gates. I don't want to be picking up Y/N again. She messes with my head and causes the Scaran to go all haywire.

Before getting thrown out of school for a few days, I talked over yesterday's experience with Paco. He seems to think I have a crush on Y/N. Maybe I do. I don't know. I don't know what I feel or what to think. Nightwing says it's hard to have a relationship wellbeing a hero, but Wally and Artemis have been together for ever and they're heroes. Maybe it would work out since Y/N and me are both heroes too. I don't know.

"Oh, it's you again," Y/N says, poking her head around the gate.

Since I was lost in my thoughts, her sudden appearance manages to scare me. "Self-defense activating," Scarab says, as my armor starts wrapping around me.

"Don't do that," I hiss, keeping my tone low. I don't need Y/N thinking I'm crazy or accidently hurt because Scarab thinks everything is a threat. "It's me again," I say once Scarab chills out. I glance at her, taking in her outfit. She's not wearing a hoodie today so I'm able to take in more of her figure. Her figure that would feel really nice against mine own. What? No, do not think like that. I stand up straight and shove my hands into my pockets to stop myself from touching her like I want too. "You're not wearing a hoodie today," I comment to try and see if she did it on purpose or not.

Y/N's hands wrap around her bookbag straps as she matches my strides. Her hair bounces as she walks, sliding around to frame her face. "Ya, I don't like people using the hood to walk me like a dog," she says, poking at me for my actions yesterday. "You have another half day today?"

It takes me a second to connect what she's saying. I'm too distracted by her hair, and face, and body, and I need to look at something else. I glance around, looking at all the different people and scenery and anything but her. "No."

"Then why are you walking me again? Isn't El Paso like 700 miles away or something?"

El Paso? She knows I'm from El Paso? How does she know that? I didn't tell her that. "2018 Toyota driving at dangerous speeds. Recommendation: abolish vehicle," Scarab says, causing my eyes to snap to the road.

"Let's not do that," I whisper to them, shifting my position so Y/N is further away from the road. "Something like that," I finally answer back, taking a second to process the rest of her statement. "But Mount Justice is even further away from here but it's only a ten-minute walk for us." How does she know I'm from El Paso? Why does she care that I'm picking her up again? Does she like that I'm picking her up again?

"True, but you wouldn't have time to get out of class and get her to pick me up even with the Zeta Tube," Y/N says, moving closer to me.

Is she moving closer on purpose? Why would she be? I look around again and notice a homeless looking man on the street corner. Is that why she's moving closer? "Scarab, can you do a scan of the man over there? See if he has anything dangerous or whatever," I whisper, keeping my eyes on the man.

"Scanning commenced," Scarab says as I move my placement again so I'm between the guy and Y/N.

"What does it matter?" I ask Y/N, glancing down at her for a split second before going back to sizing up the guy. It can't be that hard to take him if he tries anything... I think.

"I found three knives on the subject," Scarab says, popping the images of said knives into my mind. It still trips me out that this thing can do shit like this. In response to Scarab's findings, I wrap my hand around Y/N's wrist. I don't need her starting issues, or getting hurt if this guy starts anything.

"I'm just curious," Y/N says, looking down at her wrist.

Does she like that I'm touching her? "Scarab, can you scan for Y/N's lovey chemical thing?" I whisper, trying to catch a glance at Y/N's face to see how she's reacting. "Curiosity killed the cat," I say, trying to get her to look up again. "Also," I start, letting my own curiosity get to me. "How'd you know I was from El Paso?"

"Barbra mentioned you were from Texas, so I just took a guess at one of the bigger cities within the state."

"Y/N has high levels of phenylethylamine and epinephrine," Scarab answers after their scan finishes.

"And that means what?" I ask, even more confused than normal.

"Phenylethylamine has been nicknamed the 'love chemical' by the human race. Y/N has high levels of said chemical that raised even more after coming in contact with you. Epinephrine is the 'adrenaline' chemical, often present when in distress, lying, or with high blood pressure. Recommendation: Reproduce in order to lower the high levels of phenylethylamine and epinephrine."

What is the issue with this stupid alien? I cannot 'reproduce' with someone I barely know. But that does mean Y/N likes me back, right? Maybe I should ask about what she said yesterday. Maybe I should ask her out. Maybe... or maybe she'll say no. Or maybe she'll say yes and then I'll have a target on my back with half of my own team aiming for it. Or maybe -

"So... you get in trouble at school or something?" Y/N asks, cutting off my thought process.

Or something. "I got suspended," I answer, glancing up and seeing a group of guys heading our way.

"If you plan on being life partners with Y/N I recommend doing it soon. 78% of the group ahead has high levels of phenylethylamine for your protentional partner as well, Jaime Reyes," Scarab says, causing my skin to crawl with anger.

They don't get to like her too. I already know parts of her they'll never get to know, and I've known her two days. No, not allowed. I tug Y/N over so she's standing in front of me. We're so close that she constantly bumps into me. Every time she does, sparks run through my veins. They do not get to be near her. They need to go away. In reaction to my unwarranted anger, Scarab tries to activate my armor again. Maybe Batman is right. Maybe I do have issues controlling my emotions.

I pick up the pace a bit to try and get Y/N away from them sooner and get their attention off of her. They not so secretively check her out as we walk past, which only pisses me off more.

"For what?" Y/N peeps out, looking at me with those big green beanie baby eyes again.

It's hard to hear her over than sound of Scarab trying to justify murdering a group of people. "Cállate. Por favor, cállate tu molesto bicho," I whisper, trying to relax my nervous and calm down. I should not be this jealous. Who cares if a group of Y/N's classmates are checking her out? Not me, I don't care. "Does it matter?" I finally answer her, but it comes out sharper than I meant it too. I really need to chill out.

"Why are you so pissy today?" Y/N asks, matching my snappy tone. "Fror someone that was bitching yesterday about me not knowing them, you're not very open with me."

I look down at her as she looks forward. Frustration is very evident on her face. She looks cute frustrated. With the group being out of sight and no more creepy guys with knives around, I decide it's safe to let her go. I drop my hand from her wrist, and just like yesterday a tinge of sadness fills my chest. I want her to get to know me. I want to me open with her. I want to get to know every inner and outer thing about her. And I really want to see those eyes looking up at me as she spread out on my bed. That's perverted. Like, really perverted.

Y/N's frustration falls from her face as she turns her head. I follow her eyes to see that sitting in a tree next to us is a bright red cardinal. Y/N steps off the sidewalks and slowly walks towards the bird. I stay put, watching her gush over the bird and talk to it like it's a baby. I'm going to ask her about what she said yesterday, I'm going to ask her out, and I'm going to make my perverted thoughts a reality.

"Jaime Reyes, your aphrodisiac levels are raising," Scarab says, once again confusing me.

"You really need to start explaining things to me when you say them."

"The chemical aphrodisiac controls arousal within the human raise."

"So, I'm horny? Really? Didn't notice," I say sarcastically, watching Y/N walk back onto the sidewalk once she's done gushing over the bird. The rest of the walk is silent, but I don't mind. It gives me time to build up my confidence to spit out what I want to say. I couldn't help myself, so I ended up grabbing Y/N's wrist again to walk her the rest of the way.

Once the zeta tube is in front of us, I make sure to keep my grip on Y/N and even go as far as grabbing her other wrist so she can't run off like she did yesterday. "What did you say yesterday?" I ask her, focusing on keeping my eyes on hers and trying not to throw up my nervous. This is either going to go very good or very bad.

#jaime reyes #blue beetle #Jaime Reyes oneshot #blue beetle one shot #young justice #young justice oneshot #jaime reyes x reader #blue beetle x reader

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the1entirecircus · 3 months

Text

The kind of Pokémon team I think each member of the Justice League would have and why:

Batman

Marowak- This one is obvious, but Batman having a Marowak seems like a no-brainer. They both lost their parents at an early age (or at least before Cubone evolved into a Marowak since age does not equal level) and they're both seen as angry fighters.

Crobat- another obvious pick, out of all the bat pokemon, Crobat felt like the best choice as it was the first.

Urshifu (Single-Strike)- I know some are going to feel iffy about me picking a legendary pokemon for Batman. But considering how much in common this pokemon has with the Dark Knight, I had to pick him. It mostly involves the one-punch it took for Batman to knock out Guy Gardner and the fact Batman can surpass most enemy defenses.

Zangoose- To compare his relationship with the joker, Zangoose has the natural rivalry with Seviper.

Dragapult- Dragapult reflects the combined elements of Batman's stealth, his batwing, and his Robins. Sure, batman doesn't launch Dick Grayson at supersonic speeds, but he has him along with the others fight alongside him.

Greninja- A stealthy pokemon which incorporates projectiles into its attacks

I can also see Batman having a direct access to his Pokemon Boxes so he can swap in other pokemon. Knowing him, he'd probably have an Annihilape, Tyrantrum, and a bunch of Zubat and other bat pokemon. He would also have various pokemon that would be useful for crime-fighting like Gumshoos (Although Jim Gordon would most definitely have one already).

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Superman

Solgaleo- Considering his alien origins, it would be of no surprise that Clark would have obtained an alien pokemon. Especially one that is associated with the Sun. Also, given that Solgaleo is prone to possession from Necrozma, it also reflects Superman's reoccurring problem of being used as an evil character in writing.

Infernape- Given that Infernape is based on Son Goku, the japanese version of Sun Wukong, and that Goku is based on Son Goku, it would be natural for him to have this pokemon.

Krypotnian Boltund- On Krypton, a variant of Boltund existed that could perform similar feats compared to that of the regular Boltund. Except instead of being Electric type, its a fire type. Superman has this pokemon as a reference to Krypto the Super Dog.

Palafin- This one is an obvious choice as Palafin is just a Superman Dolphin. I think Clark would have either been inspired by or found it humorous that its transformation method is similar to his own.

Dragonite- Another obvious pick, given that Superman is seen as an all powerful person, many tend to forget he's also just a nice guy. Dragonite is also a nice fellow that is very powerful.

Snorlax- Superman of course needs a Normal type pokemon to reflect his normalness, and I think that Snorlax is inherently the best option here. Snorlax is often seen as lazy and lethargic but is powerful when needed to be.

Superman would also keep many extra-terrestrial and other kinds of Pokemon in his Fortress of Solitude. He might even lend a few to Ma and Pa Kent. Imagine that! Pa Kent having Buzzwole help him with the farm.

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Wonder Woman

Themysciran Nidoqueen- A Fairy/Fighting type, Nidoqueen on Themyscira are more than capable fighters. Their bodily armor on its wrists can withstand many attacks due to a mystical aura they have. They have one of two abilities: Magic Guard or Battle Armor. They even have a new move called Wrist Clang, a special fairy-type move which hits all opponents.

Falinks- Wonder Woman's father is Zeus in the current continuity of DC Comics. Since Falinks is based on the ancient Greek Battle Formation called a Phalanx, its connection to Greece is perfect for Diana. Since, she is also a warrior taught in Greek combat-style.

Armarouge- Another warrior pokemon, Armarouge is meant to reflect the explosion attack Diana can do with her gauntlets.

Chestnaught- Yeah, I know theres type overlap, but Chestnaught is a living shield pokemon, of course I'm going to pick it to replace Diana's shield.

Kangaskan- Everyone remebers Diana's Kangaroo, Kanga, right? Because this is the only Kangaroo-Adjacent pokemon I could choose.

Zacian- On Themyscira, Zacian and Zamazenta are a two sisters rather than a brother and a sister (still genderless in the pokedex tho). In this island hidden away from man, Zacian is regularly a Fairy type, but with the Sword of Athena, her strength is increased ten fold. Different from her counterpart in Galar, this form of Zacian is referred to as the Wondrous Sword. With its new move, Warrior Strike, a critical hit is landed on the enemy.

Most of these pokemon are female as Themyscira is consisted of only women. So, the pokemon of the island would also consist of only female pokemon that would fit Diana's personality. A Salazzle, Tsareena, or a Hatterene wouldn't fit as they don't have attributes that fit Diana (unless we're talking the Frank Miller version, which we aren't).

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The Flash (Barry Allen)

Alolan Raichu- This feels like an obvious pick because Raichu's tail resembles the lightning bolt symbol on his chest. I would also say that his Raichu is a meta-pokemon with the Speed-Force Ability, which gives priorty to all attacks.

Midday Lycanroc- Not only is it a quick-moving pokemon, but being a wolf pokemon, its hunting skill would be useful for investigating a crime-scene.

Cinderace- Another pokemon that would be imbued with Speed-Force ability, Cinderace has similar design elements that remind me of the Flash (check his belt).

Pawmot- Barry Allen is often seen as slow-moving until he becomes the Flash in which he is lightning-fast. Its similar acts in battle. You also need to evolve it by walking with it. Barry would've evolved Pawmot in no time.

Linoone- This pokemon would probably be used when Barry is in his civilian form. Yes, Linoone is fast, but thats besides the point

Miraidon- Barry created the cosmic treadmil, which in an alternate universe was bike. Barry's Miraidon has that ability as well, and we're going to say he travels with the speed force naturally.

I wish I had come up with a better team for him, but this is the best I could come up with. I considered pokemon like Gardevoir and Gallade, but neither felt fitting for him to me. Zeraora was chosen because, while a fitting pokemon, felt too obvious to me. Suggestions for Barry's pokemon would be helpful.

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Green Lantern (Hal Jordan) (Yes, I'm picking him over the others, cry about it)

Garchomp- Being a pilot, Hal having a Garchomp made sense to me considering its also a fast-flying pokemon inspired by a jet plane.

Celesteela- Considering he's a space cop, Hal was bound to run across an Ultra Beast at some point. Celesteela was chosen because of its connection to spaceships.

Shiny Lurantis- Not only does this pokemon reflect the phrase of the GL oath "in brightest day" as this pokemon needs to evolve in the day, but it also reflects green lantern ring constructs. When it was first introduced, Lurantis was shown using its signature move: Solar Blade. a solid green beam which slices its enemies.

Gallade- Given that Gallade can sense thoughts and evolved from a pokemon sensitive to the emotions around it, it feels like a good pokemon for Hal Jordan to have.

Dusknoir- This is a subtle reference to the time when Hal Jordan had to be the Specter after his whole Parallax arc.

Gigalith- Considering that Gigalith is a waking laser canon, this would make sense for Hal. But due to its weak Special Attack, Hal's Gigalith is now a Meta-Pokemon now imbued with immense will power to achieve its new form. The green crystals on its body have provided a stronger special attack.

Like with Barry, this one was a little hard to do. Not a lot of pokemon share similarities with Hal or the Green Lanterns in general.

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Cyborg

Passimian- Due to the accident that gave Victor his appearance and abilities, it affected some of his pokemon. One of them being Passimian. Now a Steel/Fighting type, Meta Passimian utilizes spheres of energy to fight. Its new ability Cannon Hand increases the power of special attacks. This pokemon was chosen because of Victor being into sports.

Apokolipsian Bronzong- Bronzong from Apokolips are the ancestors of the Bronzong and Bronzor found on earth. They can open gateways to other worlds, including ultra space. They're a Electric/Psychic type with the ability Levitate/Steelworker. So because of his merging with both the Mother Box and Father Box, Cyborg has lots of cosmic power at hand. So much so that he can create boom and hush tubes as well as have a connection to the multiverse.

Leafeon- I wanted to give him a pokemon that's relatively normal but also reflected one of his powers. And wouldn't you know, Cyborg has the ability to photosynthesize (its a summary of one of his powers, but you get the point).

Golurk- Golurk is a giant machine pokemon said to have a source of infinite energy powering it. Cyborg is also capable of producing infinite energy.

Iron Hands- If you look at the origin of Iron Hands, you can clearly tell that the pokemon is based off Cyborg.

Mega Blastoise- A reflection of Cyborg's cybernetic abilities and his large cannon gun that he can form with his hand.

Initially, I partly struggled with making his team until I did some edits.

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Martian Manhunter

Beeheeyem- I wasn't initially certain if I should give this pokemon to J'onn because of how Beeheeyem are sentient Pokemon who can build their own space ships. Then again, humans have Beeheeyem, so why not?

Naganadel- Another alien pokemon, Naganadel's pre-evolution, Poipole, is said to be the starter pokemon of many trainers in Ultra Megalopis. Now, I know that place isn't on Mars, but given that its an alien pokemon, I would not be surprised if they found their way there.

Grappoloct- While not an alien Pokemon, Octopuses are seen as very alien-like animals. I could see M.M.'s Grappoloct being a meta-pokemon with great control of not only its muscular strength but its mind too, being capable of psychic attacks.

Ditto- One of Martian Manhunter's most famous abilities is his capability to Shape-Shift. Ditto is also iconic for this power.

Clefable- Another alien Pokemon, I can see Clefable being one of the first pokemon that J'onn obtained alonged with Beeheeyem.

Deoxys- The Mythical Pokemon Deoxys is known for its ability to change its form to improve its Attack, Defense, and Speed. While Ditto also reflects his ability to shape-shift, Deoxys reflects the form Martian Manhunter takes to better beat down opponents when he needs to get physical.

I'm overall satisfied with what I did here with Martian Manhunter.

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Aquaman (Almost forgot about him lol)

Kingdra- Everyone remember's Storm the Seahorse, right?

Wishiwashi- Aquaman's main ability is to command sea life, this ability is reflected through Wishiwashi's ability to form giant creatures.

Poliwrath- "Although its skilled in a style of dynamic swimming that uses all its muscles, for some reason, it lives on land."

Golisopod- Everyone's opinion on Aquaman was initially that he was a wimpy, pathetic, good-for-nothing superhero. That changed obviously

Swampert- Originally I was going to pick Empoleon for his starter, but I realized that Swampert made more sense given that it reflects how Aquaman is a child of both the sea and Land.

Kyogre- He's the king of the sea, of course he has this pokemon

Aquaman's pokemon were fairly easy to do. My only problem is that have type-overlap.

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Green Arrow

Decidueye- Oliver Queen's backstory fits very well with Decidueye's evolution line. Specifically with Dartrix being snobby and fussy to evolving into a more deadly pokemon.

Barraskewda- On Starfish island, Oliver gained sustenance from fishing. Given that Arrokewda is partially based on an arrow, this is a reflection of that.

Hitmonchan- Punching glove arrow

Sirfetch'd- Oliver considers himself more honorable that the other heroes.

More pokemon will be added soon.

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Meta-Pokemon: Pokemon that have gone through significant alterations during rapid environmental changes, exposure to certain elements, etc. Things that can change in these pokemon vary widely from small stat changes to the changing of types, appearance, and abilities. In the actual Pokemon continuity there are pokemon similar to this discription such as Blood Moon Ursaluna and Rockruff with the ability Own Tempo.

Comment down what you think of these.

Legion of Doom Pokémon Teams

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lostlightandfoundcrazy · 1 year

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It Began With A Run

Forgive me, for my mind as taken hold in a way that is foreign to me, yet familiar. New ideas, new stories, and far too little fanfiction, even if the phantom is very much not-dead :p

Enjoy loves! And may Clockwork be ever in your favor.

(I had to do it, I just had to)

This was not planned. Hell, Danny didn’t understand couldn’t tell you what was planned, because there wasn’t one. However, he can tell you how it began.

Telling my parents about being Phantom was not the best idea, but in my defense, they had been calm over the last year or two, and I’d spent more years dealing with their constant ideas and prejudice towards the other version of me than could be healthy. Deep down, I was tired, bone creakingly tired of being on constant edge, worried they would find out and what they would do to me.

I never meant to tell them but when you’re running on 2 hours of sleep over the last week and a half because school and ghost/heroism do not mix, no matter what the bats will tell you, it just sort of spills out. Puns are not the way to go, by the way, if you are trying to tell your parents you are half dead. Another thing, Fuck you, I know for a fact that those bats are kids, one of them is my twin brother. He just… doesn’t know that I know who he is. Listen, not my best brother moment, but I lost the rights to even be a part of that competition when I left Damian with the league.

Besides… he doesn’t recognize me anyway. I’ve changed too much, been gone too long, I don’t even look like him anymore. How do I know this? Because I just handed him his batburger nasty burger is way better and he just looked right on through me. He looks happy though, surrounded with Tim Drake and Richard Grayson, that smile glare was proof of that. His eyes are alight with so much more than I had ever seen when I was with him.

“Hey Demon, Pretender, Dick” I turned to the door, the perfect customer-service simile on his face. However, that smile grew into a real one when he saw who it was. Jason Todd, although, he wouldn’t tell you that, he’s got to keep a low profile, he is meant to be dead after all. I turned and ordered Jason’s usual, a red-hood burger. It is really good, much better than the regular bat burger, but I couldn’t tell you what it consists of, only Red Hood himself knows. Maybe I should just ask Jason, I’m sure he would tell me.

I turned back around now, his order in my hand and his drink made with ghost ice. What? It calms him down It keeps your drinks colder for longer without melting as fast and Jason always complains about the ice melting in his drink, this just shuts him up. I lean against the counter and wait for a minute, today is pretty slow so its just us in the joint, other than the cook but he just went on lunch break. Jason finally looks over at me and I hold up the order with a smirk on my face.

“I can’t believe you’re just letting your burger get cold like this. Maybe I should just eat it instead, it’s not the best but it will do…” I peak into the bag, skewing my face into something akin to contemplative. I hear Jason huff and the others stifle a laugh and tense ever so slightly.

“Don’t make me come over there Danny, I’ll make you regret it.” Jason threatens, but we all know that he doesn’t really mean it. At least, that’s what I though, until the others tense further and Dick steps in between us slightly.

“Alright Jason, I’m sure the kid didn’t really-“ Richard spoke, his voice calms and his hands slowly going up, but he gets stopped short when I pop up under his arm and between him and Jason.

“Yeah Jason, take a chill pill. It’s my job to be a hot-headed, angsty teen, not yours” I push the bag and drink into his hands and flick him on the forehead, pushing some of my ectoplasm into him. The effect is instant, even if no one else notices. His shoulders drop a little, his smile grows, and his eyes, oh his eyes, they went from a muted, dull happy, to a fiery swirl of joy and excitement.

“Alright Alright” Jason’s voice was soft like silk, “Hey death buddy, meet my family, that’s Tim, Dick, and that your look-alike Damian” Jason paused for a moment and tilted his head. “Damian, I think you have a clone, I mean, look at him” Jason made gestures at me, his eyebrows drawn together in thought.

Damian made a tt sound with his mouth and moved to rebuke Jason’s claims, or, he would have, if the name hadn’t struck a chord core memory feelings, thoughts, home home home. It hit Damian full force; I could see it. My twin, my brother who I love beyond all else and failed worse than any other, tried to hug me.

What can I say, this story began with a run.

#dp x dc #ghost king danny #danny phantom #damian wayne #batfam #batkids #red robin #red hood #Jason and danny are best friends #Danny and jason deserve to have each other to rely on #dp au #dp x dc crossover #dp x dc fanfic #dp x dc au #I went crazy with the tags I'm sorry

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sirenalpha · 6 months

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ok Batman Hockey AU (no capes or superpowers of any kind)

first the team

Gotham Knights (probably)

I want them to have like Pittsburgh Penguins financial problems like they nearly get moved because of it but Bruce turns his owed salary into equity post career and helps keep the team in the city

Philadelphia Flyers style team history though like they won their first cups through physical play not being highly skilled

currently have a monochrome uniform now but everyone likes their more colorful uniforms from the 90s

Bruce Wayne

nickname: Wayner

position: left winger

play style: power forward

drafted: 5th overall

50 goal scorer in the dead puck era

one of the last guys to be high scoring and have 100+ penalty minutes

retires due to back injuries

wins one cup in the 90s

and like I said before he agrees to get partial ownership of the team to keep it in the city post retirement

Dick Grayson

nicknames: Tracy, Mr. President

position: center

play style: playmaker

drafted: 1st overall

first sign of hope as the team has been bottom of the league post Bruce's retirement

I did consider making him a goalie because of flexibility but felt him being captain was more important so center it is

one of the youngest captains in the league as he's named at the start of his sophomore season as he entered the NHL at 18

only one to go CHL as he's not American so no US National Team Development Program

cheats at face offs because if you're not cheating you're not trying

can use heel to heel for puck protection and can get off the ice on his own if he loses a blade on his skate

no one thinks he's fast until he's coming after them on the backcheck

favorite thing is stealing the puck, second favorite thing is breaking ankles

doesn't fight but he can WWE slam guys to the ice

everyone thought he was a bust for the first two years because he had no one to pass to

third year he decides to start shooting and begins to rack up more points

chats with everyone teammates, opponents, refs

always stops to sign stuff for kids

Jason Todd

nicknames: Toddy, Hot Toddy

position: right defense

play style: offensive defenseman

drafted: 62nd

dropped in the draft because he was short

got into a car accident that destroyed his knee after the draft so everyone thought his career was over

rehabbed his knee to the extreme and came back a season later and suddenly 6'0"

went NCAA before NHL to get back into it and scored a ton

cannot play defense

thinks punching guys in the face is gap control

has totally had pucks go off his ass and into his team's goal

will jump into the rush

silent wrist shot for power play goals

never talks to Dick when he gets mic'ed up

Tim Drake

nickname: Goose

position: right winger

play style: goal scorer

drafted: 15th

also dropped in the draft because he's short

USNTDP to NCAA

actually not that fast

always loses defensive coverage in the offensive zone

deceptive shot, can change the angle on goalies

always squeezes out from getting hit

active stick on defense, good at poking the puck away

lots of high sticking penalties in the early years

did get checked into his own bench one time and no one will let him forget it

Damian Wayne

nickname: also Wayner

position: center

play style: goal scorer

not drafted yet still in USNTDP

Talia refuses to get into hockey even after being with Bruce but when Damian was three she asked Bruce if skating would wear him out and he said yes so she let Damian go skate

didn't learn to how to stop until he was six because going fast was more important so either fell down or slammed into the boards to stop

vicious in family games of floor hockey

definitely practices trick shots

gets both power skating and figure skating coaching

not even in the NHL and already annoyed with media as he's predicted to go high in the draft

he'll learn to pass and play defense eventually

#hockey au #batman #bruce wayne #dick grayson #jason todd #tim drake #damian wayne #I know there are more characters but this is already a very long post #and I could say way more for Dick because for some reason he translates really well to a hockey player #Dick and Damian also make old hockey men very mad #who is the audience for this idk #I feel like people can guess who I based their play styles on if you actually know hockey tho some are combos #long post #should this team be based on the new jersey devils? Maybe but fuck the devils #also this dedicated to the person that gave Jason like a cut out chest protector

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paladin-of-nerd-fandom65 · 3 months

Note

What are your top five personal hcs you have for Mari

Now time for Headcanons here for you Anon lol

1) Just absolutely loving and caring for her Baby Brother Jake since the day he was born and giving him the nickname of Stardust. Also…some many tickle attacks she does on him but dang it does Jake love them

2) Lian, Irey and her being a tenacious trio causing all sorts of lovely mischief and mayhem with lighthearted pranks on the Justice League, mainly Hawkman

3) Bursting into the master bedroom right in the middle of her parents about to become something resembling intimate with each other, asking for cuddles. She thankfully receives them

4) When asleep, her limbs are splayed out like starfish, some little drool comes out of her mouth and Mar’i is THE loudest snorer in the Grayson household. Even Bruce was once spooked by her snores when he once held her as a baby

5) Having Dick and Jake always have an instinctive defense of her whenever Mar’i does have a crush for a boy her age

#mari grayson #sfw #dick grayson #koriand'r #jake grayson #lian harper #irey west

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anns-works · 11 months

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If you ask the og members when it started, they would all point you to Elena.

The story is pretty normal. They were all hanging out in the kitchen when Elena unprompted just goes into her bulshit.

Elena: Ok, but like, what if instead of an angel and a devil, there's a lord of chaos and a lord of order on your shoulders. Wally, snickering: They both want you to commit murder but the argument will be over how you kill them. Elena, @ Wally: RIGHT???????

It goes around for a bit like it usually does for two days. Till Dick motherfucking Grayson, king of gags joins the fray.

Dick, having recently gotten a younger brother and is suddenly nerfed w/ the Cain Instinct™: I'm gonna now give in to chaos. Artemis: Whatever. I'm gonna sit here and listen to order and cook my ramen. You want some.

So now its back. And in the beginning its pretty normal stuff and innocent too. Till they're on a mission one day and Wally goes I'm about to go please chaos while running a distraction and Artemis just says ew dude take your kinks somewhere else. And then its all downhill from there.

I'm about to give chaos head. Gotta go give order a smooch. Bout' to go fuck chaos. These phrases have now become pretty common in the team.

Once during a Very Serious Mission they were teaming up with the Justice League. Kaldur was in charge of the report but (in his defense it was a very long mission) he was really tired and his filter wasn't on so accidentally told Superman they have served order some cunt. They never let him live it down.

Dick sends one (1) random "I'm gonna get pegged by chaos tonight" and just fucking disappears. No one hears from him. A few weeks later he shows up in a god-awful mullet and a slutty v-neck claiming to be on a journey of self-discovery and starts going by Nightwing.

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hero-nerd · 2 years

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Retrying this because I messed it up the first time but here’s my Batman essay

A young boy watches as his parents are gunned down in an alley and goes on to be a hero single handedly fighting crime in Gotham. Many know the story of Batman that has been told for generations. One common theme in this story is the idea that “Batman works alone”. However, that is not the case. Through Batman's alliances, the value Batman places on working with others, and Batman's early years, this essay will describe why the idea that Batman works alone goes against his character.

Batman has had many different proteges over the years. The first of which was introduced in 1940, only one year after Batman himself was introduced. This is Dick Grayson, the first to hold the mantle of Robin. Robin was not meant to be such a storyaltering element when he was introduced. In fact, he was simply a narrative fix. The writers were having trouble giving readers enough information when their main character did not speak much, and using thought bubbles was infringing on the mysterious vibe they wanted to give Batman. The solution was simple: give Batman a sidekick. Thus the beginning of the Robin mantle was born. Several characters after Dick Grayson held the mantle of Robin. These characters are Jason Todd, Tim Drake, Stephanie Brown, and Damian Wayne. Tim Drake and Damian Wayne both currently hold the mantle of Robin, depending on what comics are being looked at. Robin is not the only mantle that has fought by Batman's side, there was also Batgirl. Barbara Gordon, Cassandra Cain, and Stephanie Brown who has served as both a Batgirl and a Robin.

Even as these characters begin to move away from their original roles as Batman's sidekick, they continue to work alongside him. Two notable new identities are Nightwing and Oracle. Nightwing is Dick Grayson’s hero identity, and he operates in Bludhaven, Gothams sister city. However, that does not stop him from coming to Gotham to help out, like he does in Batman: A Death In The Family, a comic that will be talked about later in this essay. Barbara Gordon goes on to become Oracle after she is paralyzed by the Joker, and works as an informational hub and tech guru for not only Batman but many heroes. So even as Batman's sidekicks grow up and become their own people, Batman is not left to do his work alone.

Batman is also part of a superhero team called the Justice League. Within that group he fights alongside Wonder Woman, Flash, Green Lantern, and many others. These people are not his sidekicks or proteges, but instead they are equals working together to save the world. This team can be seen working together in the series Son of Kal-El. While this series is not focused on Batman, it gives us a good look at him working within a team. In issue one, there is an attempted alien invasion on planet earth at the same time Superman's wife is going into labor. Superman leaves the battle against the invaders at his teammates’ insistence to go be with his wife as she gives birth. When he arrives there, he finds that Batman is standing guard. When Superman asks Batman what he is doing there instead of the battle, Batman replies “I am receiving updates. I can protect your family and the planet at the same time”. This shows that Batman is willing and able to work with his team not just at the bare minimum of planetary defense, but going above and beyond to help his teammate during a time of need.

Another comic including both Batman and Superman emphasizes the value that Batman places on working together. This comic is Volume Two of Superman’s Rebirth. In this story, Superman brings his son, Jon Kent, to the batcave where Batman helps run some tests on Jon to learn more about his emerging powers. After that, Batman and Superman put their sons through tests together to teach them how to work as a team. Even when they are able to successfully complete the task on their own without the others' help, they fail the mission because they did not work together. Batman and Superman even go so far as to sage a fake attack to put their kids in a circumstance where they will have to work together. This dedication to teamwork shows that Batman places a lot of value on working with others.

In 1988, fans were given a chance to vote on whether Jason Todd, who was currently operating as Robin by Batman's side, survives an attack with the Joker. It was a close call, but in the end it was voted that Jason Todd does not survive that attack. This infamous vote could fill an entire essay of its own, but that is beyond the scope of this paper. Instead, we will look at the ramifications of the death of Batman's sidekick. After Jason’s death, Batman did not take a break from crime fighting. Instead, he threw himself into it more than ever. Without compromising his no kill code, Batman became more violent towards the people that he fought. He also became a lot more reckless. This resulted in him receiving more injuries. He was spiraling at an unsustainable rate, and refusing to take a break. This was noticed by someone named Tim Drake, a young boy who had discovered the identities of Batman and both Robins, his favorite heroes. Tim knew that Batman could not go on like this, so he approached Dick Grayson and revealed that he knows Dick’s vigilante identity. He explains to Dick what is going on with Batman, and asks him to go back as Robin, because Batman needs a Robin. Dick refuses to go back to being Robin, but he does go back and help Batman as Nightwing. During this, both Batman and Nightwing get into big trouble, and are saved by Tim Drake who donned the Robin costume to help save them. Batman takes him in as a new Robin soon after. This plotline is interesting because it really goes against the “Batman works alone” narrative that so many people like and instead it explicitly expresses the opposite. The whole moral of the story is that Batman needs a Robin by his side or he wouldn’t be Batman.

Until now, we have been examining Batman after he has established his alliances. While all of the Robins and Batgirls and the Justice League show that Batman works with many people in his career, there was a time before that. Bruce Wayne’s story begins one fateful night in Crime Alley as he watches his parents lose their lives in a mugging. He is left in that alley, and is found and comforted by someone named Leslie Thompkins. After this Bruce’s butler, Alfred Pennyworth, becomes his guardian. As he grows older, Bruce begins traveling the world to learn skills from all of the greatest masters that he would need in his journey to fight crime in Gotham. Batman Year One is a comic series published in 1986 that shows Batman's origins. His first night crime fighting, he is not Batman. He wears a disguise to look like any other civilian on the street, with a large scar drawn on his face to bring attention away from his identity. He gets into a fight with someone on the street, and loses. Somehow he manages to get back to Wayne Manor while bleeding from a gunshot wound in the leg. He lies there, weakened, wondering if this was all for nothing, if he should let the wound kill him, when a bat flies in through the window, sparking the inspiration for Batman. After that, he rings a bell to signal for his butler to come. This scene is referenced in the Robin 2021 series, when Batman's son Damian is asked to recall what Bruce's first step to becoming Batman was. Damian goes on to recount the journey that was just laid out from alley to world traveling and training to the bat flying through the window. The person asking Damian this says yes, that is what led up to Bruce’s decision to become Batman, but what was actually his first step? Then Damian realizes what the true first step was. In issue 9 of the Robin 2021 series, as his answer to the question of Bruce’s first step to becoming Batman, Damian says “The bell. He rang the bell… My father’s first step in becoming Batman was asking for help.”

We know the story of the boy who watched as his parents were gunned down in an alley who then went on to be a hero single handedly saving Gotham. However, I present a different take. A young boy who watched as his parents were gunned down in an alley, who was then comforted by another. Who went on to be raised by a man who accepted him as his own. Who trained under the tutelage of many greats, who accepted help to build the legend known as Batman today. As boy turns to man we see alliances form with peers, mentors brought to study under him, and soon step out from his teachings to continue working alongside him as equals. A man so entwined with others that without them by his side he cannot be who we know him to be. As shown through his alliances, the value he places on working with others, and his early years, we see that Batman is not the story of a solitary Dark Knight working alone to fight back the darkness of Gotham city. Instead, at its very core, Batman is a story about helping and being helped. It is a story of many.

#batfam #batman #actually autistic #bruce wayne #special interest #infodump

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