Rails and Sails trading cards - Topps (1955)

The sea always welcomes him. Sunlight dapples soft cresting waves, the last rays of dawn dashed upon the jagged rocks and burning shores. He can just catch the faint shimmer of scintillating scales deep beneath the murky waters. Frilled dorsal fins breaking tide, barely skimming the surface. 

Kingsley hangs onto the railing and leans over the edge. He always did like to peer too far into the deep, straining to gaze past the bleeding red tide on a Ruidus flare night. The Eyes were red too. Nine of them. Always staring, ever watching, gawking back at him in unblinking silence, phantom mirages of a red moon haze. The sight of those ghastly crimson eyes stirs something in his once dead heart, a voracious hunger from long ago. The numbing ache of all consuming Emptiness.

He hears whispers. Snatches of slithering words, an otherworldly hiss in some primal, ancient tongue from when the gods still walked this world.

Gustav’s caravan was a dazzling array of color in the bleak, dreary isles of Darktow. Peeling paint of silver moons and golden stars, tinkling little crystals and curious baubles dangling from the roof, all clattering together in a lilting chime. And he always kept the swaying lantern lit, even on nights when Kingsley was far from home. Even when there was hardly any oil left to burn. (The whalers don’t come to Darktow anymore, Desmond says. “They’re all dead, hunted down just like the whales,” someone who looked not quite like Desmond said.) 

“I made a deal with the devil,” he joked once, with a wry grin that was far too grim. 

Kingsley passes a handful of gold coins to Gustav over drinks, and his showman’s smile wavers in the harsh firelight. 

“Where’d you get all that, lad?”

“You know, here and there. Been shipping crates for Fjord. Go up to that wizard for trade some nights. The money’s been good, enough to get by. Might even be able to buy a real ship soon.” 

He doesn't mention the shadows that stalk Fjord's ship, the crates of cargo that vanish on moonless nights at high tide, swallowed by the starving sea. They always lose something, that shipping company. A crate of unmarked cargo. The first mate's ring. And on the last miserable job, one of King's very own tarot cards--not that the card itself was stolen, no. It was wiped clean, as though it had never been touched by ink. What was once the image of a smiling woman, her face beaming under the moonlight, warm and playful. Never to be seen again. The only remnant of her left was an empty title, the scrawling script in his own hand. The Maiden.

No matter how long he stared at the empty card, he could no longer remember her face.

He doesn't speak of the Hunger in the captain's eyes, or the temple lying forgotten in the depths.

Gustav’s keen stare makes his skin crawl—far too much like that damn wizard. The face of someone who knows you better than yourself, who can pick out a lie and pry it apart like a fish flayed alive. 

“You shouldn’t waste all your money on another man’s debts," he says, inflection cold and empty.

“We’re circus folk, and we stay together. Remember? You taught me that.” 

The haggard ringmaster reluctantly pockets his coin. And when King slips a bit more into his coat before bed, he mercifully doesn’t say a word. 

Kingsley sets off again at dawn, sailing back toward the one beacon he's drawn to again and again.

The Magician is beautiful. Kingsley was struck by those eyes from the moment they met—bright blue as the Lucidian Sea, lovely enough for the fairest merfolk to envy. His voice a soft, lilting calm of midmorning tide and warbling shallows, heartbreakingly gentle and trusting. 

The wizard’s tower is a phantom, a trick of the fog. It only appears on certain nights, emerging from the mists like a passing ship on the horizon. There one minute, vanishing into endless dark sea the next, swallowed up by the crash of void black waves. (There’s night, there’s darkness. And then there’s the vast emptiness of eternal abyss, when you set sail at the witching hour. It’s different, that hungry, pitch black nothingness. Darker, deeper; an all consuming, oppressive presence that blankets the whole world in suffocating silence. If you let the lights go out, there’s nothing. Just…nothing. Just you. Alone in the dark with whatever lurks beneath.)

The wizard is always waiting when he drops anchor and tosses his rope to the dock. Caleb keeps the lanterns lit for him from dusk til dawn. A copper kettle whistling beside an ancient cauldron, luxurious blankets and a warm bed. 

Kingsley remembers his first time stumbling upon the phantom manor, crashing into the dock amidst roaring thunder and torrential rain, a dead man washed ashore until the wizard found him. 

“Your vessel is in no condition to travel like this, and the storm will not let up for hours yet. I…I know I am a stranger to you, but. Please, stay for the night in my tower. I have plenty of room to spare, and…I swear it is far safer than taking your chances at sea.” 

“You’d let me wait out the storm for the night? What’s the catch?” 

“Nein. I don’t require any repayment, just—I have watched many foolish sailors perish on these waters, and I would rather not see you die on my watch.” 

Caleb waits for him at the edge of the water, a hand ready to haul him to shore, globules of light floating out to sea, flickering softly.

“Kept you waiting, did I?” King quips with a crooked grin, taking the hand at once. 

Even with his darkvision, he can't quite see the wizard flush. But it's an easy enough thing to imagine.

“Well? What did you bring me?” 

“I...found a book,” King says. 

Dark leather, decrepit pages. Bloodied, torn apart journal entries, chronicling a life lost at sea. Drawings of those nine red eyes, over and over, their omniscient, all seeing gaze boring into him night after night.

His skin crawls, itching and burning beneath the black leather gloves he never takes off. He hasn't let the Magician see the Eyes that brand his own skin. Not yet. It felt like revealing that would be...some kind of betrayal. Like the man with such gentle, haunted eyes would break if he knew the kind of person Kingsley really was. That some monster had walked in his skin before--and he himself had invited them in.

At the mention of that damned book, Caleb remains carefully neutral. Though King swears his eyebrows raise just a bit. How rare, to see his interest truly piqued. A spark of desire beyond the usual amusement at little baubles and trinkets.

“Oh? Well, there are many curiosities that get swept out to sea.”

"You'll buy it, right?" Moonweaver, he just wants to wash his hands of the damn thing. 

"Of course. Name your price--I assume it isn't coin." 

"You know me. I want something a little more interesting," Kingsley purrs, tail arching in a lax curl. 

A story, a song--and once, a stolen kiss, the wizard beaming as Kingsley pulled him in.

He remembers, faintly, the echos of a half forgotten dream. A deal with the witch, the fierce hunger in her eyes as she reached for her prize, a relic lost to the ages, begging to be reclaimed. A whispered promise between the soft rustle of turning pages, the allure of power beyond his wildest imagining, the stolen paradise that lies within eternal dreams. 

7 + balance for the ask meme 🐊🏜️🐊

(buy me coffee?)

Content warning for social pressures, religion mention, military mention, running away, theft.

Arthur Whethersfield wasn't a popular man.

Granted, he had never been the most liked of his peers. But now he found that others turned away from him, refused his company, and outright denied him basic courtesy.

Considering the emphasis on etiquette in Marleybonian society, it was jarring to suddenly be ostracized as such.

Deciding to become a magical practitioner, a wizard, was not an acceptable choice in the public's eyes. In high society, even less so. So many options, a scholar, a military man, a priest, even a sailor or dockworker, and yet he decided to choose the path of a charlatan and criminal.

At least, that is what Marleybone high society saw it as. The only son of a revered military man, all of that good upbringing gone to waste.

Arthur always knew he would never enlist, nor enroll at a trade school, nor the universities of Marleybone. None of that had ever been in the cards for him.

Magic was something most had the potential for, yet few pursued in Marleybone. Elsewhere, Arthur had heard tales of nearly every person in a world practicing some magic or other. It seemed like being a part of something far larger than he was. Having a real purpose, discovering more and more of what magic was capable of.

So he decided to go to the root of it all. He may or may not have stolen some of his father's fortune to do it, but purchasing a ship wasn't a cheap errand. He put the naval skills his father instilled in him to use, and sailed that little boat across the skyways, into the stormgates with nothing more than magic and one or two illegally obtained windstones.

It is not as if he ever planned on going back to Marleybone anyway. What did it matter if he were a fugitive in their eyes?

It took weeks of sailing, but one day he exited a storm gate into the dry heat of a desert world, and couldn't help the barking laugh that left him as he clutched to the railing of his boat.

Nothing was going to stop his pursuit of knowledge and magic.

Pirates of the Caribbean fusion edit & drabble for Klaroline AU Season, 2021 Week Seven: Fusions @klaroline-event

Klaroline ft. Ensemble Cast in... PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: HYMN OF THE HIGH SEAS 🌊

"The only thing that owns a pirate is the sea, but there is good reason as to why Davy Jones tossed his heart in a chest and lost it to the ocean depths."

In retrospect, merging crews with Captain Niklaus Mikaelson was a desperate move, but you know what they say about desperate times...

Somewhere in the Caribbean, circa 1736

Caroline lived a relatively quiet life until she discovered she was the infamous pirate William Kidd's daughter.

It had slipped out in a screaming match between her and her mother when she vehemently refused to be married off to Sir Tyler Lockwood in exchange for not losing a parcel of unarable land their family held for generations.

The man was a known salacious brute that was as taken with harlots as he was gambling. Once he set his sights on Caroline, noble enough to protect his reputation, he claimed he would stop at nothing to have her hand.

But nothing came without a price. When the taxes rose too high for them to pay, it was clear he had enlisted his father, taxman Richard Lockwood, to ensure this debt and came to them with a deal: if she said the vows, she would save the land.  

The land was worthless, and Caroline would not simply up and throw away her life if it would not help what was left of her family. However, Elizabeth was desperate for money. She believed she could sell and deliver them from hardships, having been a single mother for the past eighteen years.

Her reddened face crumpled with anger when she hastily flung the rebuttal, "Then leave my household and become a pirate like your worthless father!" The silence between hem was deafening. Seeing no other choice for her fate, Caroline did leave, of course—only after she gleaned the full story from her reluctant mother.

In a way, Caroline wasn't too surprised. She always knew her absentee father must be some sort of scoundrel, and the high seas had always called to her with a whispered promise of freedom and adventure rolling in their turquoise waves. 

Perhaps it's because there was salt water in her blood.

With no more than the clothes on her back and her old gray mare, Caroline roamed from city to city, doing random work like chores and housekeeping for pay until she gathered up enough money to leave the country.

How she landed in Port Royale, she still didn't know.

The bawdy city was comprised solely of colorful characters, loud noises, cheap liquor, dirty pastimes, and general debauchery, and for some reason, it made her feel alive. It flooded her senses as she realized there was so much of the world she hadn't seen.

As a barmaid, working by the sea only enticed her further to set sail and see for herself what kept her father from coming home to them all these years. Every day she passed by those waters, the sun on her shoulders and salt in the air, and she simply wondered as she stared out into that distant horizon. Maybe there was a piece of herself out there that she needed to find.

Somewhere in the middle of grappling with this existential dilemma, fate stepped in and Caroline met Katherine.

A comparatively upscale brothel ran across the street from Caroline's bar, hosting the nighttime company of all sorts of unsavory fellows, and she often witnessed a striking brunette coming and going at irregular hours.

Imagine her surprise when the woman came in and unceremoniously draped herself across the bartop, groaning in misery about her day.

Now Caroline was no stranger to listening to customers commiserate over a pint, but when she raised her head Caroline saw hues of purple and blue littering her olive skin, and she promptly pulled up a chair.

Katherine had migrated here several months ago, and after establishing her independence, she took up the job just to make ends meet. Caroline thought she would have been similar to the women Tyler thought irresistible, but one thing was clear: this woman could chew him up and spit him out before most people woke up for breakfast, and she unwittingly gained Caroline's respect.

There had been a tussle when a customer became too handsy after Katherine's insistence that she was on break, and as liquor obliterated his inhibitions, the man got rougher, angrier. Katherine was forced to defend herself and used a couple of quick moves that left him sprawled on the floor. That's all her boss caught of the scene and he warned Katherine that he would not tolerate a second impertinence.

She was miserable, and when Caroline divulged a little about her background, Katherine jumped at the chance of setting sail and never looking back. 

She leaned forward and whispered the rumors swirling around this seaside hotspot for pirates and common criminals, revealing that William Kidd actually used to hunt pirates before he decided a pirate’s life was for him, too.

And how was she ever going to know what the world was like if she never left this armpit of human civilization? Katherine pointed out. 

Before Caroline could protest or bring up her concerns, Katherine merrily strolled back across the street and quit her job.

Caroline begrudgingly took her up on the idea and was secretly excited to start this adventure. The two lived off of Caroline's meager tips as they formed a plan; it meant for nights of hungry bellies and too-visible ribs, but they made it work. (Caroline also found out that Katherine made a shockingly crafty pickpocket.)

The plan was to capitalize on the fine offerings right here in Port Royale and leverage their assets before setting sail to destination paradise.

After all, every pirate needed a ship and a crew.

Katherine was more than adept at rooting out the city's underground businesses, and finding the gambling houses was easy enough. More challenging was teaching Caroline to be a stealthy devil at cards (a common pastime from days at the brothel) and targeting a former regular of Katherine's, one of her wealthiest clients took a significant level of tact and discretion.

Caroline's stone-cold expression never broke until she beat retired privateer Alaric Saltzman, in a game, and she proudly flashed a victorious smile, much to the drunkard's grumbling dismay.

The girls' jaws dropped when they saw how vast the ship actually was, waiting for them at the docks as merchants coasted right by pandering goods. Caroline gave a loving kiss goodbye to her gray mare as she traded her for enough money and supplies to get them started.

That glorious first night, they slept on the deck under the stars before they hoisted the sails.

Katherine had exhausted herself dancing around until she was dizzy, placing a giant black pirate had she bought at the street market atop Caroline's blonde halo of hair, crowning her the captain before breaking off into a horribly off-key rendition of "O Captain, I Think I'm Madly In Love!"

With a faint smile, Caroline merely watched the moon hover above them, enjoying its gentle glow and listening to Katherine's quiet snores before dozing off as well.

It was remarkable just how satisfied Caroline felt at the helm of her ship.

They went on their way and collected a healthy amount of crewmates along their way, a collection of wayward souls looking for a new chapter in life. They indeed were a ragtag group of people, all with different backgrounds and reasons for why they chose to come aboard.

Katherine was happy to claim her stake as Quartermaster and enjoyed overseeing the daily operations. Of the rest, a few stood out to Caroline.

The puckish Lorenzo made for a fantastic Sailing Master and a rather delightful cook. Their lookout, Lukas, was jovial, and their Master Gunner, Olivia, was cutthroat in a way that you would never expect the two to be twins. The even-keeled Meredith came aboard as their surgeon and patched up the other guys when their friendly duels became too unruly.

Hearing rumors of valuable treasures and gems abounding in Tortuga, they decided to sail north and find a port. Instead of chests filled with gold trinkets, they found a rather unique treasure by the name of Bonnie.

The girl's bloodcurdling screams rang through the evening air, audible even as their ship was a considerable distance away from the docks.

Strapped with weapons, the pirates rushed to the location of the girl's shrieks only to find the townsmen attempting to burn her alive under the accusation of witchcraft.

Caroline immediately forged a line leading to Bonnie, clearing a rather violent path through the ignorant bigots taking longer than she liked.

Their mutiny provided just enough of a distraction in the commotion underway that when they turned back, they discovered that the witch was gone, disappeared. Katherine only shrugged and proceeded to loot the place without exception.

When they made it back to the ship, they happened across the unlikely spectacle of Bonnie, still clad in her ash-coated rags, getting herself obscenely drunk on their dewberry wine and delicately wobbling across the tightrope that was the ship's railing. 

Caroline immediately pulled her down before she could fall and asked if she wanted to join their crew.

While Bonnie made a mediocre pirate, who went out of her way to avoid the sound of clashing swords and wore a pinched expression when her crewmates became too rowdy, she made up for it as an exceptional witch. 

She was crucial to their navigation after particularly severe tropical thunderstorms, and she aided their raids when they needed a distraction or ward of protection.

However, the wards only worked when Bonnie was awake, which is probably why they were left vulnerable on the open sea when it all went down.

Caroline awoke to the sound of canons in the dead of night.

Jolting, she instinctively reached for her trusty cutlass and took off upstairs, a polished silver pistol discreetly resting in the leather belt around her hip.

Katherine was already at the helm, hollering demands at the top of her lungs from the forecastle deck as everyone scrambled, the sound of fighting clear as a lightning strike. 

April, a wide-eyed boatswain, rushed by with a squeak of, "We're being invaded!"

Naturally, Caroline deduced that the second she saw the ornate ship stationed next to theirs, unfamiliar men swinging over on ropes and descending with blades drawn. Blinks of fire lit up the darkness as cannonballs launched into the side of her beauty of a vessel.

Caroline yelled for Enzo to help Olivia secure the cannons below and round up the gunners, and she joined the chaos down on the main deck.

Right away, she could tell that the opposing crew meant business.

A foul mist of chemicals burned at their eyes as stinkpots were hurled upon deck. Caroline quickly kicked one overboard as it crashed right in front of her, allowing Meredith to sweep by, pulling an injured man out of the way as she cursed under her breath.

"Bonnie, can't you do something? Now would be a good time to give them something else to look at!" Caroline hissed as she fended off an overly confident swordsman.

"I'm working on it!" Bonnie answered through gritted teeth, her brows scrunched together as she carried a few magical materials in her arms, scurrying to find cover so she could finish a spell.

"Everyone, stay calm! We're only taking over your ship," a rather arrogant voice boomed above her. "Join me and consider your lives spared! If you'd rather go down with this pitiful piece of driftwood, however, who am I to deny a deathwish?"  

"Seriously?" Caroline huffed as she squinted up at the impeccably dressed rival captain. How the hell did that bastard climb the mainmast so quickly?

Cannonballs sailed overhead, and the roaring sound was louder than the blood rushing in her ears, almost too loud for her organized thoughts to surface, her heart pounding as grunts and shouts surrounded her. 

Caroline hardly had to consider the appeals of shooting him before she was raising her pistol. 

An ungodly screech disrupted the sky and drew everyone's attention, a spray of water descending upon them. 

Everyone's movements came to an abrupt halt as the planks trembled underneath their feet. The boat suddenly rocked to the right, tossing their supplies overboard as they clung to wooden posts to stay upright.

It was a monster of legend, wielding strength so great it was said to wrap itself around boats and drag them into the abyss.

Staring up at the slimy gray tentacles slowly winding themselves around her ship, Caroline could instantly see why it carried its famed reputation of terror.

"Seriously, Bonnie?!" Caroline shouted in defiant outrage, glaring up at the creature that just emerged from the ocean. "You summoned a Kraken?"

Said Kraken blinked its enormous eye in response as if she had personally offended it with her words more than the cannonballs she commanded be fired its way. The long axe someone lodged into its nearest fleshy limb only spurred its temper.

"It was only supposed to be a giant squid!" Bonnie growled back in frustration, "And don't blame me, blame the slack-jawed imbecile who interrupted me!"

"Such hurtful language, darling," a dark-haired man with a twisted smile leered back at her. "I think you'll find the Kraken more agreeable to being drowned by my brother's crew."

"Bloody hell!" Enzo cried, leaping behind a ferocious-looking blonde as he gazed up at the beast. "Get rid of the slimy git! Now!"

His blonde attacker laughed openly at him; he sent a momentary scowl her way. "I must have mistaken you for a pirate. You're clearly nothing more than a misplaced port authority stooge."

Enzo shook off his incredulity and gave her a rather amorous once-over. "Now, now. I would say that is no way for a lady to talk, however..." He ran his tongue across his teeth, lips curving into something almost coy. "You're no lady."

The tall and shapely blonde gave him a smile that was more teeth than anything. "Why, thank you."

"Are you all impaired?" Katherine made a face that told them how much she believed it to be true. "Run!" She frantically waved her pistol in the air before firing a few shots at the pissed-off Kraken, and people scattered accordingly. "Abandon ship!"  

Just as Caroline made her way to the enemy's ship, a man was plucked straight out of her path, screaming in terror as the spongy tentacle flung him into the air.

Typically Caroline was not a fan of abandoning her ship (because she was a good captain, thank you very much!); however, given the way the Kraken had taken to eating it, she wouldn't have a ship to go down with in just a few more minutes, and fleeing was indeed the best plan of action.

"Not all treasure is silver and gold, mate." —Captain Jack Sparrow

Taking shelter aboard The Hybrid's Curse did not win them any favor, only suspicious comments, and darting glances.

No matter how much networking Katherine and Enzo pulled off, there was a handful of men and women who would not offer their support.

On the bright side, most of her crew had survived the morning's attack; on the downside, the other crew seemed to resent their perseverance.

"We raided your ship in the search for treasure," Captain Klaus said rather petulantly, looking far too complacent for a man with gunpowder on his shirt, the victim of a spiteful wind. "Not to rescue a horde of whiny tagalongs."

Caroline rolled her eyes and finished cleaning her pistols. The only reason they needed rescuing in the first place was all because of him and his crew.

"Well, your prize is currently sinking in the depths of the Caribbean," Caroline appeared unfazed, "but by all means, if you plan to go fetch it..." she trailed with a derisive smile.

He merely smirked, inspecting every inch of her with a raw interest unique to any sentiment she'd ever seen cast her way. "On the contrary, love... I believe my prize is standing right here."

As the sun peaked over the horizon, the early morning light made for a pastel wash of his features, softening them in a way. He was disgustingly attractive, she decided, but she would not forfeit her rank now.

She cleared her throat. "I have a proposition for you." A charming smile crossed his maddeningly red lips, and before he could release the unsavory retort she knew he had on the tip of his silver tongue, she continued.

"You allow my crew equal reign of your vessel, and we give you access to our stores of wealth. It’s a simple deal, and I think the price is more than fair," she proposed in what she hoped was a professional voice. Truth be told, she wasn't used to sharing nor bargaining for power.

Klaus barked a laugh. Admittedly, it was a beautiful sound as he drank in her boldness.

"We, in all of our honor, saved your crew from a fate worse than death," he sent her a sideways glance. "Now you want to take my ship, too?"

"Co-captains," she blurted the first thing that came to mind and then cursed herself. "I mean..." she amended off of his curious look. "Just until we can find ourselves another ship. Escort us to the closest port, and we'll be out of your way. Plus, you get gold."

"We have gold. And we aren't heading towards a port anytime soon," Klaus said tersely.

She frowned at that.  

"Although I am feeling particularly magnanimous today," he continued before she could dwell on his statement, "I suppose we can put it to a vote."

A whistle gathered attention from his crew. "All those in favor of an alliance?"

"Aye!" A round of cheers sounded, and Klaus mentally tallied up the votes.

There was plenty of shifty glances and whispering as Caroline scanned the crowd for her people. The only reassuring part of this spectacle was that if Klaus went back on his word, the considerable number of seafarers would take note, and a skirmish might allow her group to escape.

He turned to her with a tilt of the head, held out a hand in a silent offer. "It's a deal, love."

It was rather unfortunate how warm and secure her hand felt in his. She chuckled, and he surmised her approval, cheeks dimpling as she stepped closer.

"If you try anything funny, I'll leave you marooned on the closest spit of land with nothing more than crushed barnacles for company," she smiled sweetly at him. 

A warm feeling blossomed within her as she felt his eyes follow her the entire way back to her crew.

Katherine leaned in and muttered conspiratorially. "If you desire a mutiny at any time..."

"Just say the word, Gorgeous," Enzo quietly finished with a wink.  

"Marcel, weigh anchor!" Klaus called. "Set a course for Isla de Muerta."

A few men spared him surprised glimpses, but they kept their feet moving as the ship changed route. The island posed many dangers, but with great risk came great reward.

Why not try to find the fabled Aztec treasure, too? The man who held that treasure became one step closer to the title of king of the seas.

His numbers just doubled, as did his resources. He wore a contemplative gaze as he watched Caroline go to her friends. Suddenly, a new world of possibilities opened up and invited him inside.

“Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore.” —Andre Gide.

It didn't take long to learn why the Mikaelson siblings traveled so sporadically and avoided docking: they were trying to evade their father, who condemned them and endlessly sought their deaths by any means necessary.

As an Admiral in the British Royal Navy, Mikael commanded intimidating forces and was last seen behind the helm of the HMS Dauntless. Thus, they always went to town in pairs and used aliases when they gathered supplies or collected intel.

Getting to know Captain Mikaelson's crew wasn't as unpleasant as Caroline first expected.

There was Kol, with his mischievous eyes and regaling tales of triumph and revelry, and he'd taken to pestering Bonnie about the grimoires she somehow managed to save from the wreckage. Finn held a stoic stare and tendency to sharpen his sword in times of dispute, preferring peace over quarrels.

Frizzy-haired Rebekah bemoaned her battle with the merciless humidity but offered the most dazzling smiles and humorous jokes at her brothers' expenses. Enzo quickly found that banter came as easy as laughing with her did, and the two often sparred to whittle away the dull hours.

Katherine became subtly besotted with the intensely handsome and refined Elijah, who appeared pleasantly surprised by the fire in her eyes when she rebuked his aid while tying knots in the long ropes. "I know my way around ropes, thank you," she told him with a derisive scoff. "If you really want to be helpful, you'll show me where you keep the rum."

Stored in white oak barrels with liquor made from cane molasses, one of the only redeeming parts of the Mikaelsons' ship was their bounty of exquisite rum. It often lent the crew a guiding hand on their quest to get blisteringly drunk.  

Elijah granted her an indulgent smile in return and offered his arm. Never one to back down from a challenge, Katherine linked her arm in his and listened to his tale of how they acquired their ship from a ruthless Spanish fleet off the coast of Havana. Spending time together soon became as natural as raising the sails.

Caroline leaned against the taffrails and listened to the ocean push them along their route, a vast array of stars speckling the blanket of darkness above her.  

The mythic Aztec treasure lay just up ahead, and there was a chance everything could go south very quickly.

Living in close quarters turns the two crews into one fairly quickly amongst the daily squabbles about food rationing and distribution of work. When push comes to shove, they all know what to do to keep the ship afloat, and their collective tenacity was a comfort.

All of this time onboard, and Caroline thought she would have had Captain Klaus more figured out by now, but alas, the man resisted simplicity, preferring to remain as puzzling as the day he set his pilfering foot aboard her ship.  

She didn’t dwell on how quickly she sensed him approaching, a natural awareness of him that she couldn’t seem to shake. 

"You could have tossed us overboard by now," Caroline said in place of a greeting. "Any other pirate would."

"A pirate such as whom?"

"My father."

He stopped at the edge and turned to gaze at her. The spun gold of her locks seemed absolutely disheveled, red rimming her cornflower blue eyes as she fought off a lack of sleep. A captain to her core, she did not rest when she could instead watch over her slumbering crewmates as they curled up on the deck, the only space suited to hold their numbers.

There was a weariness in her voice that he knew was not simply from restlessness.

"And who might that be, love?"

She bit back a humorless chuckle. "Ever heard of William Kidd?"

The shock that briefly crossed his face was enough to answer her soft inquiry.

Of course, he knew. Most people did. After all, sea shanties were written about the bloodthirsty pirate who betrayed his own for loot, glory, and anything that saved his head from the gallows.

A thousand questions buzzed in his mind, but he couldn't reconcile the enigma that was Caroline with her lively spirit, sunny disposition, and gentle hand with the cruel shadow of William Kidd. "I never would've expected that man capable of raising such greatness," he spoke honestly.

She shrugged, unbothered as they listened to the waves lap against the ship's siding. "He didn't. I doubt he even knows I exist."

She supposed it would be apt to regret everything that's happened since she left home. 

The nights she spent scraping away at unfulfilling jobs from her time on land, running off with a willful soul such as Katherine. The beckoning of wickedness that was the life of a pirate, being responsible for people she loved and inevitably lost as everything she built for herself sunk to the bottom of the ocean.

But somehow, she didn't regret it. Perhaps that made her an awful person. She felt how every day was an opportunity to craft a new story, carve out opportunities and live a new version of life she hadn't previously known existed. It connected her to people, places, things that challenged her and intrigued her, and she couldn't ignore the meaning of it all.

Pirates were known for sailing the seven seas, always looking for treasure. And sometimes the treasure they search for are helpless people trying to escape their lives and find their happiness at sea.

It's true, Caroline made a conscious effort to never become the kind of pirate her father was. The sea put a song in her heart, and she would not forsake it for heedless immorality.

Klaus's mouth quirked. "His loss, love."

She hummed. That much they could agree on.

"It's true, I could have sent you to the seafloor instead of giving you refuge," he agreed after a long but comfortable silence, "these winter waters and shark-infested reefs would not be much kinder to you."

She raised a delicate brow at that.

"Perhaps I consider you to be far more valuable alive than dead."  

It should have sent a foreboding chill down her spine, but she was oddly content as she replied, “What do you want from me?”

“I want what every well-witted pirate wants, my dear. Divine treasure." Klaus idly gave a final glance into the black waves sloshing before them, highlighted by the waning moon before turning to head back to his cabin.

"And there’s no fairer gem than you.”

Assemble

Chapter 3

Pairing- Loki x Reader x Steve (one side)

Warning- cursing 

Your thoughts and other characters are in italics.

Flashback Bold

The next day.  Y/n  is standing outside a gym trying to keep her powers under control but but it’s hard when your surrounded by people.

What’s in my fridge right now?....Do I have any milk?

I think I’m pregnant with my brother in-law baby’s

How come you never read about a psychic

winning the lottery?

Am I Ashy? I hope I’m not Ashy.

Why is  Batman a superhero when he brutally Beats up bad guys for saying hello.

When I get home I’m watching A Bug’s Life.

Calming down the voices she finally walks inside the gym and see Captain America. He’s beats the punching bag harder, like physically hurting it will repress the memories.

Hydra base, Captain America is running through a forest, didging mortar shells, gunfire and Tesseract energy blasts.

“There's not enough time! I gotta put her in the water!” Steve’s Voice echoed.

In the present, Steve's punches become harder and more violent.

Steve places the compass he has, featuring a picture of Peggy Carter, on the dash as the plane plummets towards the ice.

The present, punches become voilent and agressive.

“You won't be alone.” Peggy declared.

Red skull picked up the Tesseract, and vanishes.

In the present, Steve is beathing the bag with everything he has, destroying it and beating his fists.

“Oh my god!”

Steve is lying on a table, half frozen, and still partially trapped in a slab of ice. Two SHIELD scientists run equipment over him, checking for his vitals. Something flickers...

“This guy is still alive!”

Y/n  gets pulled out of Steve’s mind. “Wow. That one way to come backwards to the world.

“You punch any harder your fist is gonna go though it.“

Steve stops punching the bag and turns around and see Y/n. “Agent Munroe ma’am. Phil told me that you were coming.”

“Y/n. Just call me Y/n.” She said with a smile.

Steve starts to punch the bag again. “It's nice to meet.”

“Likewise. So how do you feel?” Y/n asked showing concern for a man she just met.

Y/n walks up to a punching bag next to Steve and, starts playfully punching it.

“Like I belong in a different time.....all of this is so strange. Flat screen TVs, cars that run on electricity.....” Steve trailed off.

“It’s understandable but look at the bright side you can have food deliver to your house.” Y/n said with a fond look.

Steve looks at Y/n confused.

“Pizza. Chinese food... Oh men we have to make some stops before we go to Shield.” Y/n  proclaimed.

“We don’t have time to make stops. They need us this is important.” Steve protested.”You’re right they do. But you need to experience this first and I know you're hungry.” Y/n insisted.

Steve sigh defeat. “Ok fine but only for an hour two at it’s tops.”

“Yes! You dont know it yet but This the start of an beautiful friendship.” Y/n said With a sincere smile as her and Steve walk out the gym.

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○

Inside the Quinjet, Steve is sitting down with a tablet, watching the footage of the Hulk's attack on the Army at Culver University.

“We're about forty minutes out from base, sir.” One of the pilots said

Agent Coulson stands up from his seat and wipe his face with a napkin.

Francis’s pizza is so good.

Y/n chuckles as Coulson and walks over to her and Steve.

“So, this Doctor Banner was trying to replicate the serum that was used on me?” Steve asked.

“A lot of people were. I was assign to stop some of them. You were the world's first superhero.” Y/n  replied.

“Banner thought gamma radiation might hold the key to unlocking Erskine's original formula.” Coulson informed Steve.

The Hulk roars with fury as he slams a jeep apart.

“Didn't really go his way, did it?” Steve queried.

“Not so much. When he's not that thing though, guy's like a Stephen Hawking” Coulson explained.

Steve looks confused.

Y/n leans over and whispers. “He's a smart person.”

“I gotta say, it’s an honor to meet you, officially.” Steve smiles at Coulson as he continues. “I sort of met you, I mean, I watched you while you were sleeping.”  Steve looks down then a Y/n. He stands up, closes his laptop and walks to the side with Coulson following. “I mean, I was... I was present while you were unconscious from the ice. You know, it's really, it's just a... just a huge honor to have you on board.”

“Smooth. Real smooth Coulson.” Y/n lied.

“Well, I hope I'm the man for the job.” Steve remarked.

“Of course you are you’ve done amazing things in the past. You’re the perfect person for this job.” Y/n said sincerely and with a small smile.

“Ya Absolutely. Uh... we've made some modifications to the uniform. I had a little design input.”  Coulson told Steve.

“The uniform? Aren't the stars and stripes a little... old fashioned?” Steve supposed.

“With everything that's happening, the things that are about to come to light, people might just need a little old fashioned.” Coulson stated.

As Steve takes in Coulson's sentiment. The Quinjet lands down a massive battleship known as the Helicarrier. It has two runways. One with direct access to a hangar at the rear is aligned along the spine of the vessel.  Y/n walks up to Phill.

“Does the name Ororo Munroe mean anything to you?” Y/n questioned.

“No. Does it suppose to.” Coulson lied.

“No I guess not.” Y/n remarked not hiding her disappointment.

Agent Coulson, Y/n, and  Steve walk down the ramp, meeting up with Natasha.

“Agent Romanoff, Captain Rogers.” Coulson said introducing the two.

“Ma’am?” Steve replied.

“Hi.” She looks at Coulson. “They need you on the bridge. They're starting the face-trace.”

“Nat” Y/n said happily. “I didn’t know you were going to be here Coulson doesn’t tell me anything.” Y/n hugs Natasha then they both look at Coulson like ‘explain.’

“See you there.” Coulson said walks away, leaving Steve and Y/n with Natasha, the pair walking towards the railing of the Helicarrier.

“It was quite the buzz around here, finding you in the ice. I thought Coulson was gonna swoon. Did he ask you to sign his Captain America trading cards yet?” Natasha wondered.

“Trading cards?” Steve asked confused.

“They’re vintage, he's very proud.” Y/n disclosed.

Bruce Banner is seen walking around the ship, trying to stay out of the way while people walk in his way.

“Dr. Banner.” Steve called out.

The three walk up to each other and shake hands.

“Oh, yeah. Hi. They told me you'd be coming.” Bruce began. “You must be agent  Munroe.”

“You can call me Y/n it’s nice to finally meet you.” Y/n replied.

“Thanks.” Bruce said in a casual tone.

“Word is you can find the cube.” Steve Inclined.

“Is that the only word on me?” Bruce questioned.

“Only word I care about.” Steve answered.

Bruce takes in the sentiment. “It must be strange for you, all of this.”

Steve looks off to where a group of men in training are running, remembering his days in the army. “Well, this is actually kind of familiar.”

“Gentlemen, you might want to step inside in a minute. It's gonna get a little hard to breath.” Natasha disclosed.

The Helicarrier starts to shake as it prepares to take "sail". Others abord strap down planes and Quinjets in preparation.

“Is this a submarine?” Steve asked Y/n.

“Really? They wanted me in a submerged, pressurized metal container?” Bruce Said with sarcasm.

“No no it not a submerged.” Y/n answered.

The two both move closer to the edge of the Helicarrier. Four huge lift fans mounted on the sides starts to lift into the air as the ship takes flight. Steve watches in awe while Bruce just smiles.

“Oh, no. This is much worse.”  Bruce said with mock astonishment.

The doors part and we enter the bridge of the ship. A flurry of activity, dozens of agents sit in front of their viewscreens. Agent Hill shouts instructions to leave. The camera turns to Nick Fury who is at the command chair.

“We're at lock, sir.”  Agent Hill disclosed.

“Good. Let's vanish.” Nick answered.

The Helicarrier rises high into the heavens. Suddenly the entire ship is covered in reflecting mirrors, which then camouflages in the sky. Steve, Y/n and Banner walk through the glorious, gleaming bridge

“Gentlemen.” Nick started.

Steve gives Fury 10 bucks, referring to his earlier statement about never being surprised again. “And agent Munroe what a Surprise I thought you were in Sydney.”

“Well I got tired of helping Umm Marlin look for Nemo.” Y/n said with fire.

Fury walks over Banner and extends his hand. Banner, reluctantly shakes it.] Doctor, thank you for coming.

“Thanks for asking nicely. So, uh... how long am I staying?” Bruce asked.

“Once we get our hands on the Tesseract, you're in the clear.” Nick replied.

“Where are you with that?” Bruce asked.

Nick Fury turns to Agent Coulson to explain, while Natasha eyes an image of Clint Barton on a computer screen.

“We're sweeping every wirelessly accessible camera on the planet. Cellphones, laptops. If it's connected to a satellite, it's eyes and ears for us.” Agent Coulson explained.

“That's still not gonna find them in time.”  Natasha mumbled.

“Couldn’t we use spectrometers to speed up the process?” Y/n said pondering out loud.

“Yes that could work. How many spectrometers do you have access to?” Bruce voiced.

“How many are there?” Nick asked Bruce.

“Call every lab you know, tell them to put the spectrometers on the roof and calibrate them for gamma rays. I'll rough out a tracking algorithm based on cluster recognition. At least we could rule out a few places. Do you have somewhere for me to work?” Bruce said with determination

“Agent Romanoff, would you show Dr. Banner to his laboratory, please.” Nick order.

Natasha nods and walks off, leading Banner down the hall. “You're gonna love it, Doc. We got all the toys.”

Y/n goes to leave as well but gets stop by the sound of Nick Fury.

“Agent Munroe my office.” Nick announced.

“No offense but I don’t think you want that right now.” Y/n said fire.

“My office now.” Nick hissed ordered

Y/n and Nick walks to his office in silence. Y/n is barely holding back her anger and this Conversation with Director Fury is not going to help but she needs to get this off her chest or she’ll explode.  Director Fury opens the door to his office and Motion for Y/n to walk in. She walks past him into the room and sit down in the chair in front of his desk. Director Fury closes the door and looks at Y/n.

“What are you doing here?” Nick asked.

“I’m here to help.” Y/n declared.

“You were supposed to be in Sydney.” Nick pointed out

“How do you know I was supposed to be in Sydney I haven’t called to do a check in.” Y/n teased.

I wonder if he’s going to tell me that he has a Tracking Device on me.

“Agent Coulson told me of your whereabouts.” Nick answered.

“Hmm I bet he did.” Y/n replied.

”Your assistance is no longer required we can we can handle it from here head home.” Nick ordered.

“Are you kidding me.” Y/n shouted. As she shot up from her seat. “I’m the only one here that knows anything remotely about Loki and you’re gonna bench me.”

”And how would you know that.” Nick questioned.

“re.....search.” Y/n lied.

Nick gives Y/n ‘the I’m not believing you’ look.

“Ok fine I was there ok I fought The Destroyer.” Y/n  confessed.

“I already knew I was just waiting on you to tell me.” Nick replied.

“Of course you knew why wouldn’t you know.” Y/n said dryly.

“I’m not saying you’re not best the person for the job I’m saying  it’s not safe with your condition.” Nick remarked.

“My cond- what is my condition?”

“It is not....it’s not safe for the people on this Helicarrier if you don’t have control your powers.”

“You want to talk about safety of the people, was you trying to keep me safe by not telling me my mother is alive or keeping me away from Gambit.” Y/n Stated.

The anger she felt roll off of her like a wave which made the room begin to shake.

“Y/n I didn’t tell you because-“

“You are afraid another November 18 is gonna happen.....ye have little faith. I want Gambit here now and if you can’t get him here I want a number. I’m not talking those stupid pills anymore.” Y/n declared as she throws the pill bottle in trash. “And I’m going to stay here and help and you’re going to allow it.”  Y/n finished as she walks out of the room not waiting for his response.

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○

Back in the underground lab, Loki is looking Looking through all the Shield Agent portfolios until he comes across one in particular. Agent Munroe’s portfolio. As Loki opens portfolios to read it he finds every page in there to be blank.

“Agent Barton a word.” Loki called.

Clint walks over to Loki like a puppet with strings.

“What do you know of Agent Munroe?” Loki asked.

“She is a powerful mutant that can control the weather and read minds.” Clint answered.

“Read minds hmm that will be all.”  Loki said smirking.

Erik and several scientists work around the CMS device. Clint walks in, holding a tablet.

“Put it over there!” Erik told Clint. “Where did you find all these people?”

“Shield has not shortage of enemies, Doctor.” Clint Stated as he holds up a screen showing information on Iridium. “Is this the stuff you need?”

“Yeah, iridium. It's found in meteorites, it forms anti-protons. It's very hard to get hold of.” Erik explained.

“Especially if Shield knows you need it.” Clint Mumbled

“Well, I didn't know!” Erik said gruffly. Then he Sees Loki walking in. “Hey! The Tesseract is showing me so much. It's more than just knowledge, it's... truth.”

“I know. What did it show you, Agent Barton?” Loki wondered.

“My next target.” Clint voiced

“Tell me what you need.” Loki replied.

“I'll need a distraction.” Clint said grabbing his bow. “And an eyeball.”

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○

That night in the Helicarrier bridge. As they are waiting to locate Loki using satellite facial recognition, Coulson is standing with Steve.

“I mean, if it's not too much trouble.”Coulson suggested

“No, no. It's fine.” Steve reassured Coulson.

“It's a vintage set. It took me a couple of years to collect them all. Near mint, slight foxing around the edges, but...”

“We got a hit. Sixty-seven percent match. Weight, cross match, seventy-nine percent.” Agent Jasper Sitwell announced.

“Location?” Coulson asked.

“Stuttgart, Germany. 28, Konigstrasse. He's not exactly hiding.” Agent Jasper Sitwell answered.

“Captain, you're up.” Nick disclosed.

Steve nods and walks off the bridge. Walking down the hallway he passes Y/n.

“We found Loki he’s In Germany.” Steve informed Y/n as he’s walking down the hallway.

“Radio silence  and now he’s making appearance that’s not strange at all.....You got this Cap now go show him who’s he’s Messing with.”  Y/n sincerely with a smile.

“Yes ma’am.”  Steve said with a fond look and a head nod.

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○

Outside the Stuttgart Museum, it’s night. Loki is standing in front of the museum, dressed in 21st Century attire with his scepter disguised as a cane. He walks up to the entrance of the gala.

A lavished gala with an orchestra playing is interrupted as the head doctor walks up to the mic.

Inside Helicarrier where Steve's locker is. Steve walks into the locker room. As he approaches to the steel cabinet, the doors already reveal the updated Captain America uniform, along with the famous shield. He stands in silence.

Outside the museum. German guards stand in their positions. One of them is standing on tip of the roof, scoping. He then hears a sound. He looks down. One of his guards is shot with an arrow. He raises his gun. He is shot dead by an arrow. Falls down. Barton and his crew arrive at the doors of the locked science building. Barton looks at the retinal scanner.

He pulls out a Shield eye scanner instrument. Inside the gala, Loki looks from above the museum and descends down to where the head doctor is. As he makes it down and near the stage, he flips his cane the other end. The guard there notices him, pulls out his gun, but Loki clubs his head in. Chaos erupts. Guests begin to leave the museum. Loki grabs the doctor and flips him over onto a marble table of the mythological creatures bilchsteim. Loki pulls out an optical torture device. He plunges down the doctor's eye. The doctor twists in pain.

Outside the museum.

Suddenly from Barton's instrument, a holographic eye of the head doctor appears and the image of the doctor appears on screen. The doors to the facility open. Barton walks in and finds in a cabinet, a glass thermos with a cylinder of iridium. As the crowd runs away, Loki slowly walks out and materializes in his gold armor and helmet. The police arrive and with no hesitation, he blasts the cars, flipping them over and over.

“Kneel before me.” Loki voiced but  crowd ignores him. Three more Loki's appear, surrounding and blocking the crowd from escaping. “I said KNEEL!” Loki yelled. While the crowd quietly kneels, Loki embraces out his arms with a wide smile

“Is not this simpler? Is this not your natural state? It's the unspoken truth of humanity, that you crave subjugation. The bright lure of freedom diminishes your life's joy in a mad scramble for power, for identity. You were made to be ruled. In the end, you will always kneel.” Loki declared.

As the words resonate to the kneeling crowd, an elder German man refuses to kneel and stands, heroic. “Not to men like you.”

“There are no men like me.” Loki specified.

“There are always men like you.” Elder German Man remarked.

“Look to your elder, people. Let him be an example.” As Loki is about to execute the man with his scepter as the light glows blue. Right as the energy beam shoots out, Captain America arrives, diving in just in time to block the blast with his shield, and knocking down Loki.

“You know, the last time I was in Germany and saw a man standing above everybody else, we ended up disagreeing.” Captain America explained

Loki Standing up. “The soldier. A man out of time.”

“I'm not the one who's out of time.” Captain America replied.

From above Captain America, the Quinjet arrives. A machine gun is pointed towards Loki, while Natasha speaks from inside the aircraft.

“Loki, drop the weapon and stand down.”

Like greased lightning, Loki sends a blast of blue at the Quinjet. Natasha maneuvers it just in time, giving Cap the time to throw his shield at Loki. They both began to duke it out. Loki flings Cap to the ground, and then Cap throws his shield, but Loki swats it away. As Cap is knocked down by Loki, the scepter is pointed to Cap's helmet.

“Kneel.” Loki ordered.

“Not today!” Cap flips and knocks him out with his leg. Loki grabs him and flips him over]

“This guy's all over the place.” Natasha mumbled.

Suddenly AC/DC's "Shoot to Thrill" overdrives to the Quinjets speakers.

“Agent Romanoff, did you miss me?” Tony Stark wondered. Both Cap and Loki look up at the sky. Tony flies over in his Iron Man suit and blasts Loki right back to the ground. Iron Man touches down. He stands up and pulls out every piece of weaponry the suit has. “Make your move, Reindeer Games.”

Loki puts up his hands and surrenders. His armour materializes away

“Good move.” Tony said in a level tone.

“Mr. Stark.”

“Captain.”

Part 4

A continuation of that POTC AU (previous part here) -- here’s Captain “Carey Weasley” (AKA Carewyn Cromwell), with Captain Orion Amari’s First Mate, the one and only Murphy McNully! This is my first time trying to draw McNully, and uh...DUDE. You make a SICK pirate, mate. <33 His outfit is inspired by Joshamee Gibbs’s (whose role he kind of fills here, alongside Quartermaster Skye), and his chair is inspired by this model used by Sir Thomas Fairfax in the 17th century, which was one of the first self-steering wheeled chairs ever made -- later in the 18th century, a nicer model called the Bath chair was developed and soon became the standard, though it remained only in the hands of the wealthy until the end of the century. (I could see Orion putting in the work to steal one for his buddy, once he catches wind of them, though. XDDD)

McNully’s carving himself a new prosthetic wooden leg, since when Orion’s pirate crew first moved to take over Carewyn’s ship, she cut Murphy’s left wooden leg off with her cutlass while trying to beat the pirates back away from her crew. (McNully lost both legs above the knee, so his wooden prosthetics are made up of two pieces with a metal joint secured together with two leather straps, sort of like this.) Fortunately things have been smoothed over a bit, now that Carewyn and Orion have realized who the other is and Orion has similarly let McNully in on the revelation too. McNully then assumed the responsibility of “watching the prisoner” while Orion, Skye, and some other crew members headed ashore to Tortuga for supplies. It didn’t take long for Carewyn to migrate up to the railing of Orion’s ship so as to get a better look at the infamous and completely filthy pirate haven, and Murphy rolled up beside her so they could talk.

“It’s funny, really,” McNully said with a wry smile. “It was me what suggested we try capturing you next.”

Carewyn glanced at Orion’s First Mate in surprise.

“There’d been a lot of talk about Carey Weasley, the youngest Captain in the entire British Navy, and the respect he’d garnered from the crown for his heroism fighting the Spanish,” McNully explained. “I reckoned capturing someone that well known would be a real blow to the Navy, and by extension, Cutler Beckett and his Company. Your capture on its own would likely hurt their morale by a good 35%.”

McNully’s expression then turned more thoughtful.

“...I almost regret it now, considering you seem to be a decent sort -- and I can’t reckon this whole thing will reflect too well on you. There’s a 42.5% chance you won’t advance in rank much further, and worse, a 15% chance you’ll be actively demoted, if they catch wind you surrendered without a fight...even if it was to save your crew, which was objectively a very noble thing to do.”

He smiled a bit guiltily. Carewyn offered him a small smile in return.

“If you hadn’t suggested going after me, though, I wouldn’t have ended up here and found out Orion was alive,” she pointed out reassuringly.

McNully smiled a little more fully. “True!”

He looked out at the horizon briefly, as if checking to see if the jollyboat was returning. Then he returned his focus to Carewyn.

“You know, though...there might be a way for us to use our new truce strategically, so that we both make it out ahead.”

Carewyn turned around, leaning her back against the railing and crossing her arms.

“Oh?”

McNully’s smile spread into more of a smirk. “You’re a well-respected officer of the Navy...and yet you’re no friend of the East India Trading Company and, more importantly, you don’t want Orion or any of us to die. We’re pirates, but our Captain is fond of you, and quite frankly, we could do with some allies, in the face of everyone trying to kill us. So here’s what I propose -- we let you escape. We sail through waters the Navy’s going to passing through, supposedly to go pick up medicine we couldn’t find on Tortuga -- and while we’re engaged in sea battle, you bust out of the brig, help the British soldiers ‘fight us off,’ and then swing over to their ship. We then retreat because we lost our ‘cargo’ -- namely, you -- and we can tell we’re losing. We keep the Navy ship from following us...but they still get one of their greatest heroes back, crashing onto the scene in a blaze of glory. If we play our cards right, I reckon there’s a 48.3% chance you might even get a promotion when all’s said and done...that is, if you think you can manage escaping the brig on your own.”

Carewyn gave a light scoff, her lips spreading into a small smirk of her own.

“Yours wouldn’t be the first one I’ve escaped. You should probably lock me in irons, for good measure -- it’ll be more convincing that I escaped, if I still have one on my wrist when I make it up on deck.”

The plan went into effect once Orion and the others returned to the Artemis and they set sail away from Tortuga. Although Carewyn had expressed confidence in her ability to escape the brig, it didn’t startle and impress Orion any less to see Carewyn up on deck after having been locked in a secure cell with both of her hands locked together in the heaviest shackles they had. She even ended up using the shackle on her wrist as a weapon, knocking out three of his men with it before she reached Orion at the ship’s railing.

Orion couldn’t help but think he’d never feel such vivication again as he did in that intense, wonderful sword fight they had upon the deck of the Artemis, parrying and slashing their swords at each other as they migrated up to the helm, leapt up into the rigging, and balanced on the edge of the Artemis’s railing before Carewyn finally got close enough that she could leap over to the HMS Dauntless.

Orion slammed his sword up against hers, pressing Carewyn back against the ropes. Although to most any clueless observer, it looked like they were still hotly engaged in battle, Orion’s voice was very soft when he spoke.

“This is your chance,” he murmured.

“Yes,” said Carewyn.

Orion’s free hand had grabbed onto the ropes to stabilize himself over her as their chests touched. His heart rate quickened, even as he kept his dark eyes squarely on hers.

Now that the moment had come for them to part, the little time they’d been able to share seemed far, far too brief...

Carewyn’s own blue eyes rippled solemnly.

“Be safe, Orion.”

And without taking another moment to breathe, she brought up her foot and kicked him full on in the stomach. The blow threw him off her with a grunt, and she leapt up into the rigging, grabbed a loose piece of rope, and swung over to the deck of the Dauntless.

Orion cradled his stomach as Skye ran over to help him up.

“Captain -- are you okay?”

A small, fond smile flickered over Orion’s face.

“Yes.”

He then shot to his feet with a much more grim and urgent expression on his face. He had to make this retreat looking convincing, after all.

“All hands, fall back! Fall back!”

Carewyn’s return to Port Royal -- as McNully had predicted -- was full of honors and acclaim, including a promotion to the rank of Commodore. It seemed that her being the only officer who had managed to escape the infamous Captain Orion Amari’s captivity made her a hero in the eyes of the British Empire. Portrait miniatures had been painted of her and sold both on and outside of Port Royal, and soon quite a few ladies were sending love letters and throwing themselves at Carewyn in an attempt to woo her, enthralled with her fame and handsome face. The overabundance of attention greatly amused Carewyn’s surrogate brothers Bill and Charlie, once they’d gotten over the anxiety they’d felt when she returned safe and sound. Percy in particular had taken Carewyn’s capture very hard, given that he’d been her Lieutenant at the time, and had resolved to make sure that no pirate ever felt bold enough to do something like that again.

The most prominent pursuer of Carewyn’s hand, however, was Port Royal’s Governor, Alphard Farrier, who was once again determined to arrange a marriage between her and his daughter, Jules. @cursebreakerfarrier With Carewyn now a well-respected Commodore of the Fleet known for breaking out of a heavily locked pirate brig and facing off against Orion Amari single-handedly, he knew it would be advantageous both to his family and to his own anti-piracy policies to have her in Port Royal permanently as his son-in-law. He even went so far as to have Jules arrive at Carewyn’s promotion ceremony in the fanciest, most fashionable dress he could get shipped in from London, in the hopes that it would catch the young Commodore’s eye. It did -- but not for the reason the Governor had hoped.

“Might I have a moment, Miss Farrier?” said Carewyn, inclining her head and back in a polite bow.

Jules rather quickly took Carewyn’s offered hand and let the new Commodore lead her away from her father. Carewyn didn’t speak again until they were up on the wall of the fort beside the large ship’s bell, looking out to sea -- in other words, when they were well away from everyone else.

“Are you all right?” muttered Carewyn. Her eyebrows had come together in concern.

Jules’s face grew much less lady-like and polite, betraying exhaustion and some irritation.

“...Not...exactly,” she gasped lowly. “But when you’re -- stuck in this kind of...torture chamber...I guess that’s -- appropriate...”

She indicated her chest, which looked quite a bit more restrained than usual, as she fanned herself a bit faster.

Carewyn’s eyes narrowed and she sighed in aggravation. “For goodness sake -- ”

She glanced around. Even if she’d managed to get them away from prying ears, she could still see plenty of people watching them, even if they quickly looked away when they saw she’d noticed them -- no doubt they were trying to discern if there was an engagement in the works.

‘Damn,’ Carewyn swore to herself. ‘I can’t try to loosen anything, while everyone’s gawking...’

“Try to focus on your breathing,” she advised under her breath. “We’ll talk slowly. Bit by bit. That way you can make sure you’re taking deep breaths.”

Jules smiled slightly in gratitude. “...Thanks, Carey.”

Jules, like the Weasleys, knew that Carewyn was really a girl, but couldn’t help but call her that, even when they were in private. She’d figured it out after mentally connecting “Carey Weasley” to a young red-haired peasant girl she used to hear singing in the streets outside her window in the Governor’s mansion in the evenings.

“You were always so far off, so I never got a good look at your face,” Jules had explained with a smile when Carewyn and Bill asked her how she’d figured it out, “but I remembered your hair and how much it sounded like you were smiling, when you were singing. I hear it when you’re talking a lot of the time, too. I don’t hear a lot of people’s smiles like that.”

After that, Jules had become one of Carewyn’s closest friends. It also prompted Bill and Jules to reach out more to each other, which resulted in Bill ending up head over heels in love. Carewyn suspected Jules’s feelings were just as strong as well, but given that Bill was a priest who didn’t even have a full congregation of his own yet and didn’t come from money himself, it was likely he was biding his time to court Jules properly, until he knew he had a chance of convincing her father.

Jules took several deep breaths. Once Carewyn was sure her friend looked a bit more steady on her feet, she folded her arms behind her back in standard Navy posture and spoke again.

“Bill sends his regards.”

Jules’s dark eyes sparked a bit.

“He does?”

She took another two deep breaths before adding, “...Is...that all he said?”

“Well, he did say as an aside that he couldn’t stop thinking about you during service the other day,” said Carewyn with a wry smile. “Apparently the mention of ‘the beauty of Heaven’s angels’ kept bringing your face to his mind.”

Jules’s face flushed. Carewyn chuckled lowly through a closed smile, so as not to cover her mouth with her hand like she might normally -- she knew the gesture appeared rather lady-like.

“It’s a shame your father has such tunnel vision on me,” Carewyn said coolly. “There’s a far better Weasley to select as his son-in-law, were he only to look.”

Jules grimaced.

“I know,” she said. She took a few more deep breaths. “And well...the only reason he is so focused on you...is because you were able to escape Orion Amari.”

“Captain,” Carewyn slipped in before she could stop herself.

When Jules blinked in surprise, Carewyn turned toward the horizon with the most offhand shrug she could manage.

“Captain Orion Amari.”

Sensing Jules’s discerning gaze on her face, Carewyn kept her gaze on the sea. Behind her back, she rubbed her thumbs along her healed palms absently.

“...Carey...” said Jules quietly, “...is something wrong?”

Carewyn swallowed. She hadn’t told anyone else the full story of what had happened -- after Percy had reacted so hostilely toward her being captured, she hadn’t dared tell Bill or Charlie everything while he was present, and she hadn’t yet had the opportunity to talk to either of them alone, with how quickly her promotion ceremony was thrown together.

Her blue eyes flickered over her shoulder at the bystanders behind them. They were far enough away that they wouldn’t be able to hear, even if they were still looking over so avidly...

“...Captain Amari...” she murmured as softly as she could, “...let me escape.”

Jules looked surprised.

“It’s a long story...but we knew each other once. I bandaged him up and hid him from the Navy, when we were young. When he discovered who I was...he and his crew agreed to let me go.”

Jules stared at Carewyn, her dark eyes wide with amazement. Then her gaze softened visibly and she smiled.

“...He must’ve been grateful for what you did for him.”

Carewyn’s blue eyes softened upon the sparkling sea. 

“It wasn’t gratitude. Orion...is simply a good man...pirate he may be.”

The memory of him bandaging her hands -- of his rippling dark eyes as they bore into hers -- floated again over her mind.

“I can’t act like I knew, or even thought seriously, that our stars would align again…but even with that…I’d imagined a life much better than this for you.”

“Well,” said Jules with a smile, “it seems like those two things...shouldn’t be mutually exclusive.”

Carewyn turned her gaze back to Jules at last, smiling wryly. “Better not let your father hear you say that.”

Carewyn and Jules talked casually for the next half-hour, with Carewyn taking care to make sure their conversation was spaced out enough that Jules could catch her breath. After a while, it seemed the length of their conversation had attracted the Governor’s attention (no doubt he was getting a bit restless, not being sure if things were going according to plan), and had asked Carewyn to give Jules and him some privacy. And so Carewyn reluctantly left Jules and the Governor alone on top of the wall of the fort.

It could only have been about ten or fifteen minutes when Carewyn was alerted by Governor Farrier’s screams. Jules -- clearly not having been able to catch her breath properly, while in the midst of a quick-paced argument with her father -- had fainted right off the fort’s wall and landed in the water below. Her heart racing with panic, Carewyn led a battalion of soldiers down to the dock below, desperate to reach her friend.

When they arrived, they found Jules choking up water on the deck, her fancy dress discarded, her horrible corset cut off, and three men standing around her. Two of them were red-garbed British soldiers -- the other was a man with dark brown dreadlocks under an emerald green bandana and black kohl around his rippling dark eyes.

Carewyn’s heart leapt into her throat when their eyes met.

It was Orion.

AEW Full Gear 2020: Review

Didn’t watch it live but I still have the time to review the next day, after the problems All Out faced Full Gear was definitely something fans were hoping won’t repeat the same mistakes, so it’s time to see if it delivered Spoilers for Full Gear of course

The Buy-In Most of the Buy-In was just the video packages save for a MJF and Kingston Family promo (though props to Alex for interviewing the Lucha Bros in Spanish, that was a nice touch), which I feel was a bad move. The promos were of course fantastic but my qualm was the video packages: the packages are on the countdown show anyway, there could’ve been 2 matches at least and a few segments that could’ve set up the TV feuds considering that it was over an hour. NWA Women’s Championship: Serena Deeb (c) def Allysin Kay (Submission via Serenity Lock) A solid pre-show match, Deeb and Kay are crisp given their veteran history. Kay worked on her height and strength while Deeb worked on her yoga-based flexibility. There was a lot of good chain wrestling as you’d expect from the NWA alums, a shift to an Octopus Stretch, Deeb working the Leg with a Dragon Screw and Kay still managing to muscle out of Deeb’s offence. After a Kay salvaged herself from what looked a bit like an elevated Styles Clash with a leg on the rope, Deeb forced her to tap with a Serenity Lock on the worked leg. While the match was fine the intrigue came after when Thunder Rosa wearing all the tassels she could to make Shawn Michaels blush came to the ring to challenge Deeb for a rematch. With Rosa gesturing the AEW ring it is clear that the AEW/NWA partnership and Thunder Rosa’s time with the Elite is far from over.

Main Card Of course with JR coming to commentary the main card is scheduled to begin. Unfortunately, I had been spoiled some results in advance (no thanks to Youtube or the 2 hour PC update that allowed the youtubers to reveal this while I was waiting to update) but a handful were in line to how I predicted them, so it didn’t fully harm the outcome. Don Callis though came out as well, they’ve hinted at it with Kenny but to actually see Don on commentary was definitely a surprise. AEW World Title Contendership Tournament Final Kenny Omega def. ‘Hangman’ Adam Page (Pinfall via One Winged Angel) Omega came out first the same way he’s done all the tournament, the cleaner dancers and the very long-winded braggadocios introduction. Pyro but no cosplay, Omega oozed confidence as proven by his plate as the leader in most victories in AEW. Page however paced towards the ring with nervous energy with the hilarious plate of ‘Focused Yeehaw Man’, less show but still drive, which really perfectly divulges the styles of both men as wrestlers. A snubbed handshake by Page did lead to back and forth, chops and counters as both men anticipated the stylist moves of the other. Hangman took over the early offence with strong moves, big boots, fallaway slams and a superplex did hint at some potential for the Hangman to gain the advantage. But then Omega with a moonsault from a railing put Kenny in control, Kotaro Crusher at 2 and a belated You Can’t Escape (he slipped after the first part but landed the sault after a pause) for 2 as well, then into the usual repertoire, the tope con hilo, the Back Head Missile Dropkick. Both men almost set up a One Winged Angel but then a V Trigger shut down a Buckshot but got bombed on the ramp after a series of counters, another pop-up bomb at 2 for Hangman.  Trading blows, a Rolling Elbow was broken even by a V Trigger and then a Tiger Driver at 2 for Kenny. Back and forth as both escaped Suplexes, both hit Rolling Elbows but Hangman then got the clothesline, he lands the deadeye...but does not get the 3. Buckshot reversed to a crucifix but Hangman sits the pin for another 2, Dragon Screw and V-Trigger on the ropes for Kenny gives him the energy to roar back, ducks the vicious swing of the Buckshot and hits 2 V-Triggers, Hangman tries to fight out of the One Winged Angel but the move hits and that’s 3.

Destiny comes true for Omega, he had to fight for it though. Definitely a physical match, the emotional layer didn’t all reflect on the match but Hangman definitely reels in disappointment afterwards, more isolated, more alone, and set to descend to new lows as Omega returns to the main event picture.

Orange Cassidy def. John ‘4′ Silver (Pinfall via Beach Break) Two cult heroes for AEW, Silver on BTE and Cassidy on Dynamite, fighting as a side story to the TNT title picture, JR gets props for calling Silver a “Human Bowling Ball” as both men enter with their respective faction members. Silver continues to play to OC’s jokes as he protests OC’s pockets, before being annoyed by OC’s counter wrestling - especially screaming ‘It doesn’t hurt!’ to OC’s monstrous kicks. Silver literally depockets OC for monster heat - no seriously he rips the pockets out of OC’s jeans! A lot of bravado follows from Silver’s power moves, throws and kicks to keep the heat going. Silver’s power also impressively suplexes out of OC’s swinging DDT attempt but the crowd chants definitely get to Silver as OC counters Silver’s irish whips with some turnbuckle shots, a crossbody and the swinging DDT, Silver though powers back, a one-handed Gorilla press into the ropes, a back head boot as he sets up the Spin Doctor, but then OC gets the headscissors, Michinoku Driver for 2 as the wrestlers at ringside argue the count of 2 or 3 (Heels and Faces kept either side). Silver rolls up OC trying the Orange Punch, counters again but gets hit with the stunner, counters again and lands the Spin Doctor but it’s another 2! Silver motions to homage Mr. Brodie Lee with a discus but it’s dodged into an Orange Punch and Beach Break for 3. Best Friends come to the ring to give the people what they want, the hug with the rainmaker zoom. A nice fun match, it really gave Silver some props to hang with OC as both characters shone through. I was surprised that Dark Order didn’t try to get involved and no post-match stuff.  TNT Championship: Darby Allin def Cody Rhodes (c) (via Pinfall) TITLE CHANGE! Allin rode in with a painted car and a half-painted driver before smashing his skateboard (with ‘The New Face of TNT’ emblazoned on it) into the windscreen. Sporting a veiny style of paint, no words are written on him like previous title matches, it’s all business. Cody (using his surname now) rolls in with his grandiose gates and pyro with Brandi beside him before being flanked by all the remaining members of the Nightmare Family - including Gunn Club and Lee Johnson. He’s also promoting a new shirt. Mike Chioda is announced as the Ref for this, giving a bigger fight feel to this title match.

Cody flaunts his strength advantage early on, knowing full well that Darby has never beaten him, but Darby is defiant to his insulting ‘politeness’ and cockiness - slapping Cody in the back of the head to wake the champion up. Encouraged to ‘muscle around’ Darby by Arn, he almost gets baited into a pin, he leaves the ring but gets suicide dived from his back (after a Ricochet-esque moonsault feint), in retaliation Cody just dumps Darby on back first on the ramp, harming Allin’s left elbow. Cody hones in on that injury with wrist locks and stomps, Darby also selling by being unable to use both his hands to pull the heavier opponent with an irish whip and being unable to lock the arm for a backslide - the latter getting him into another submission. Taunting the injury by exclaiming ‘that arm is trash’, Cody doubles down the arm, using it to ground any of Darby’s counter efforts. But every time Darby refuses, Cody grows more frustrated, an avalanche shoulderbreaker and a cross armbreaker attempt selling that Cody is using things outside of his usual moveset, but the missed moonsault gifts Allin a respite. Yoshi Tonic is Darby’s first signs of a rally but he’s shut down by a superkick, Darby pulls off the middle turnbuckle pad resisting Cody’s Cross Rhodes attempt and Cody is dazed by running into it but a rollup is at 2. Assured that he’s in control by Arn, Cody lands an Avalanche Cross Rhodes but Darby’s arm is under the rope, he counters a backpack sleeper by dropping from the turnbuckle which rolls Darby out the ring - Arn demands Darby stay down but he breaks the count. ‘Stay Down’ barks from Arn and Cody from continual powerslams but Darby refuses, even inviting Cody to continue. Frustrated, Cody brings that small white belt to the ring but is told by Chioda to not use it, dropping it behind him, Darby uses it to sweep Cody into a jacknife pin for 2, counters Disaster Kick with a Last Supper for 2, Flip Stunner and Coffin Drop follow, but also 2! Cody tries a Cross Rhodes but Darby counters with a Sunset Pin, Cody sits on him, 2, Darby rolls him, 2, Cody pulls back, 2, Darby rolls again, 3! Post-match, Cody hands Darby the title on one knee as Allin finally claims his first win over Cody and his main prize. Tazz however walks up to promo against the emotional moment as Cage and Starks blindside both men. However, dissension appear when both Starks and Cage both tussle for holding the TNT title, Tazz grabs it and gestures to Darby, with Cage carrying Darby outside of the ringside, Cody tries to fight back but fails, Darby thrown through a set piece and laid on the car he came in, they attempt to slam the door with Darby’s arm in between but Will Hobbs with a chair chases them down. It was a good title match, good narrative throughout. I think the finish could’ve been a bit more spectacular, Cody does seem to exude a Hogan-esque philosophy to losing at times, this one did feel like he wanted the loss to feel like a fluke. Darby’s win is deserved but the FTW shenanigans did dampen it, I expected Tazz and his crew to show during the match but in post-match it just kinda killed some of the wind in Darby’s sails. Interview Segment The Natural Nightmares - instead of backing up Cody - promo against Butcher, Blade and Bunny, specifically Allie for her using of QT to set up their Dynamite match, Dustin reveals that it’s gonna be a ‘Bunkhouse Match’. Dustin is a great promo but I have no idea what a Bunkhouse Match is, plus this is the segment you would see on the Pre Show. The Dynamite card is also revealed with Penta vs Fénix 2 as previously revealed and new match Conti vs Red Velvet. AEW Women’s Championship: Hikaru Shida (c) def. Nyla Rose w/ Vickie Guerrero (Pinfall via Knee Strike x4) Nyla rolls up with Vickie Bluetista style with a blue and cyan gear which really didn’t suit, Nyla’s gear has always been a mixed Bag The longest running Women’s Champion adds more colour to her Tifa Lockhart gear, her name plate finally on the belt (as detailed on her youtube channel, the name plate is more difficult to put on given its curved shape). Shida and Nyla are ready to go even before the bell as they trade blows, the Champion putting pressure on Rose with knee strikes and dropkicks but noticeably fails on the lift. Shida keeps her advantage of cutting Nyla down and landing the apron knee while Vickie screeches. The chair launch is cut off by a clothesline from Nyla but her attempts to pull a table is refused, giving Shida the chance to land the chair launch and sending her through the rail. Vickie though blindsides Shida’s knee with a kendo stick, giving the Native Beast the advantage she needs. Nyla uses the underneath frame of the ring to wrench Shida’s knee, then the ring post and a chop block to limit Shida’s use of the Tamashii (formerly called the Tamashii no 3 Count). Nyla continues to hone in on the leg, splashes and single leg crabs, even biting the knee to maintain her advantage. Shida rolls out of the senton and muscles a suplex for 2. The Tamashii is blocked by hitting the injured knee but Shida crossbodies, the knee continues to be the focus as Nyla keeps grasping and dropping Shida on it. My favourite Nyla Move, the Beast Knee is smashed into the injured knee for 2 as Nyla uses her weight against Shida’s injury. The champion pump kicks Nyla to the ramp after some turnbuckle shots for a corner dropkick, then a second in the ring at 2. The leg gives out on the Tamashii again so Nyla can powerbomb but foolishly pulls Shida out of the count, adding insult she lands the Tamashii, but only gets 1! A Back body press gives Shida the energy she needs, an Avalanche Falcon Arrow follows but Shida then breaks the pin, she tries the Tamashii but Vickie psyches her out (it was a botch but not a bad one), Vickie tries to kendo Shida while she’s hoisted and Shida just throws Nyla into Vickie. A half-hearted Falcon Arrow hits 2, Tamashii lands but another 2, second Tamashii and 4 Knee Strikes end the match. Being carried out of the ring by Aubrey, Vickie and Nyla are left in the ring as Guerrero screeches venom at Nyla, slapping the former Women’s Champion as she leaves.

In spite of it’s short build it was a good match, the final section was a little sloppy on the vicious vixens’ part but Shida sold her knee wonderfully. Expected Vickie to have more involvement and the post-match seemed to back out on Nyla turning on Vickie but maybe there’s more tale to tell. As a personal preference I hate when wrestlers willingly break their own pin, especially in a title match, it’s just a daft strategy but it was good to see that Shida’s stock has elevated to the point where she didn’t need the DQ stip to win like she did when she won the title, her early dominance would give her extra confidence and extra heat for who I think will be her usurper, Dr. Britt Baker DMD. Next time though, give Shida and her opponent Dynamite feud building. AEW World Tag Team Championship: The Young Bucks def FTR (c) (Pinfall via Superkick, Matt to Cash) TITLE CHANGE! With Matt previously cleared to compete, the Bucks strolled up in Black, Yellow and Purple to their usual money rain, but the pomp and confidence is limited, Matt noticeably slower up the ropes as he nurses his ankle. The champions roll up in White jumpsuits with Tully - who the Bucks protest on since he’s banned from ringside due to his prior attacks, he does leave on his own accord. A nice touch from FTR are the star colours; red, blue, yellow and gold, aka tag champs in Raw, Smackdown, NXT and AEW. Mind games of ‘Greatest Tag Team of All Time’ as well also there to get into the Bucks’ heads. Matt was confident to show that his ankle was fine by going first, Cash going for the injury but being out-wrestled to his frustration. FTR’s quick tag action is halted by the Bucks rushing them to a stalemate in 2s. Nick and Dax trade some chain wrestling with again the Bucks frustrating them, the Bucks almost seem to be playing FTR at their own game plan, until Nick is punched in the face. Both teams take to the ring leading to the Bucks doing a Rana into a ground pound on the champs before sending them out of the ring with their patented tandem offence. Dax busts open his hand hitting the ring post after Matt dodged, reeling from the ankle attack, the Bucks relish the opening to equialize on Dax’s hand for catharsis. A bit of a miscommunicated spot followed where Matt’s moonsault was ‘dodged’ by Dax not paying attention, and his throwing Matt into the ropes looked ugly as fuck as Matt nurses his ankle and Dax tags out for Doc Sampson to dress his hand. When he returns he quickly goes for vengeance on the ankle in mostly a same manner as Nyla did to Shida prior. Cash jumps for Nick to pull him away from the Hot Tag which grants Dax the opening for a Superplex but Cash gets knees from the follow-up splash. The hot tag again thwarted after Cash hit the railing but Dax throws him in ring to tag in, the two men stand between the brothers as Cash flies over the ring post to the floor and Dax is baited into the DDT, Nick storms into the hot tag, wriggling out of FTR’s grapples with kicks and the dual clothesline/bulldog but is eventually caught by FTR who land the Hart Attack. Nick regains advantage with a Cheeky Nandos Kick when FTR were setting up the Powerplex, blind tags Matt who spears the baited Cash and gets a knee in the face, but it’s only 2. Matt’s involvement leads to the knee giving out on a lift, leading to an Electric Chair bulldog combo from FTR, they go for Goodnight Express but Matt superkicks Cash, then Dax, Cash rolls out of ring leaving Dax alone to the Bucks, 3-D! Twist of Fate! Swanton! 2! Lovely homage to the tag team greats. Superkick Party is called, but Cash sweeps Matt’s ankle and Nick gets a rebound powerbomb, but Matt is legal and get 2 on a sneaky pin. Dax gets overzealous with the Dusty Punches and uses his injured hand, but Matt also gets overzealous and uses his bad ankle, both men use their injured limbs for a punch/superkick trade-off, but Dax beheads Matt with a lariat. Homaging DIY they meet in the middle but only get 2, they try the Spike Piledriver but Nick throws Cash off, a tandem move and a swanton onto the ramp leaves Matt room to use a Sharpshooter on Dax, Dax gets to the rope but Nick superkicks the injured hand before Sharpshooter on Cash, FTR clutch each other’s hands but get pulled away but Matt’s ankle gives out to continue the hold. Matt pulls a finger break on Dax’s injured hand (an awkward spot given the scrutiny Marty Scurll is under right now with the SpeakingOut movement) leading to the BTE Trigger, but Cash cannons himself to break the pin. Matt brings out the chair but it’s not legal, Dax goads Matt to hit him but Nick tells him not to, Matt relents and sets up the Meltzer Driver but Cash grabs Nick for a Powerbomb through a ringside table, a very well done twist by Dax leads to the Spike Piledriver but the leg Cash hooks drops onto the rope. Furious, Cash takes Matt’s shoe off, leglock and stomp leads to an inverted Figure Four and ankle lock, but Nick is rising and Cash sees it! He tries the suicide dive but Nick ducks it, breaks the submission with a 450 but Matt only gets 2. Cash superkicks Nick out of the ring, gesturing Two Sweets to Matt before another superkick, but Cash keeps looking at the top rope, he misses the 450 and Matt hits the unbooted Superkick for 3. Kenny came to congratulate the Bucks afterwards as Hangman hovered by the tunnel - wanting to congratulate his friends but still feeling isolated. This is one where I would’ve benefitted not being spoiled, but thumbnails are a bitch. With the narrative that Bucks needed to win to keep on competing and were already at a disadvantage definitely sold the stage to be for Matt to shine. Personally I thought time would run out and there would be some semantic fenagling but it was clean as a whistle. A great match as well, definitely delivered on its build, FTR definitely lacked the presence of Tully to keep their heads in the game in a narrative sense, it’s a shame their tag reign was short but the story has always led to this moment, there was no way Cody AND the Bucks would not be able to challenge for their main titles. I would have one criticism though, the early stages of the match did feel like it was just 1v1s, the tag match needed more tag team offence. Elite Deletion: Matt Hardy def Sammy Guevara (DELETION via Pinfall) The cameras shift to North Carolina where Sammy rides ominously on a golf cart to the Hardy Compound, but Matt also seems to be sorting out business on the phone saying that Sammy’s on his way - fearing that he may need backup if the numbers go against him. Neo 1 confronts Sammy, providing a hologram of Matt welcoming him to the compound and disabling the golf cart. Having crushed a toy monster truck on the way in, Sammy’s face drops at the revving of a full sized monster truck next to him helmed by BROKEN Matt, who flattens the cart before exclaiming that the act was ‘orgasmic’ and ‘now that was a squash job’. Setting the zany tone, Sammy goes all around the truck and hits Matt with a trash can to begin the match. Moonsault off the Truck’s tire as he hammers Matt across the woods. Commentary kinda took you out of it as they tried to fill the silence with their ‘state the obvious’ as the fight sprawled to the front lawn. Sammy doing some great taunts such as saying ‘it’s my house now, daddy’s home!’ and trying to drown Matt in the fountain but Matt grabs the ‘Scepter of Mephistopheles’ to hit Sammy with, missing only the headshot as they go to a backyard ring. As Matt reminds Sammy that he asked for this, Sammy takes advantage with the ring work until a Side Effect is hit and a powerbomb through the table. The pin however is broken by Santana and Ortiz, who double on Matt. Through a walkie talkie though Private Party are called for support to negate the former LAX - though Matt gets hit by a Street Sweeper and a Twist of Fate in the meantime. ‘Roman Candles’ are next on Matt’s mind as he and Sammy both grab a few to fire at each other while PP and Santana & Ortiz tussle in the ring, PP using some of the patented offence of  the Hardy Boyz. The latest ‘Sammy Run Away’ meme appears as Sammy is chased by fireworks before slipping in some mud, flattened by a Twist of Fate. As Matt prepares to throw Sammy into the Lake of Reincarnation, a Gangrel (yes, Gangrel! From the Brood) threatens The Hurricane (yes, Shane Helms, the Hurricane) as a hostage, claiming that Matt never gave him any loyalty while in the Brood, PP arrive to help free the superhero, who asked why it took 2 years - leading to Hardy to funnily quip ‘I’m sorry, long-term storytelling, I had to go to AEW just to finish this’ leading to Hurricane’s famous catchphrase. Hurricane almost gets Sammy with a chokeslam but he throws him in the lake, saying ‘What’s a Hero to a God? A Spanish God’ before trying to throw Matt in. Shane Helms the reporter then comes in, asking if the feud is cursed, but he gets thrown in too (this one seen as he flails around the shallows). Hurricane reemerges to help PP fight Santana, Ortiz and Gangrel but Santana saves Sammy by hitting Hardy with a pipe as the two wander into the darkness of the woods, the heel allies in control as they follow.  Sammy stalks Hardy with a hammer with his friends also in view, but Hardy calls for Skarsgard, Sammy quickly rolling out of the way from the dilapidated boat’s all-or-nothing dive, Neo 1 is also in sight though, and Hardy commands him to lock Hardy and Sammy inside the ‘dome of deletion’, locking Sammy’s allies out. A ring, tables, ladders, chairs, mowers of lawns, wheels of chairs, a pram, a casket, the dome has it all, but Sammy instead unhooks the ropes to hit Hardy with the Turnbuckle bars, choking him with the middle rope. Sammy lays Matt on a Table near a ladder as high as the roof, landing the swanton but only gets 2. Hardy gets a Twist of Fate which seems to hurt his neck, Hardy then spears him into tables outside the ring, where we see Sammy with a small blood pool behind his head (a worked one, the camera angle on the dive ensured you didn’t see the concrete so it was definitely safe) Sammy struggles to stand as Hardy sets up a chair, hitting him on the head with the edge like his legit injury, telling Sammy ‘You made me what I am’ he cracks Sammy with a Con-Chair-To for the pin. After the match, Matt calls Private Party in to ‘take out the trash’, putting Sammy in a wheelie bin, a cut to the outside allows Sammy to be swapped out for kayfabe, as the bin’s loaded into the back of Senor Benjamin’s truck (Benjamin getting a huge pop) as Reby ends the match playing the piano to some highlights.Matt, PP, Skarsgard, Reby and Hurricane then celebrate to fireworks. As cinematic matches go it was good for ending the feud and continuing the Hardy Compound narrative, commentary did sometimes take you out of it and there were less supernatural stuff going on in this one, it was more found footage than the usual cinematic Deletion matches, but lots of quips, lots of fourth wall winks and both men did really well, can’t complain. Intermission Promo After the deletion match, commentary is told about Lance Archer being on a rampage backstage, which leads to a promo by Jake and Lance as he is wasting some jobber against the wall. Jake notes how they are tired of training and that they’re demanding that someone stand up to Archer, Archer waxes lyrical about his intent to break everyone in AEW because Everybody Dies. Archer’s promo game continues to be on the up, which will make you wonder about how long can the Snake coil around him? Right to Join Inner Circle: MJF def. Chris Jericho (Pinfall via Roll-Up) MJF claimed that he would do ANYTHING to beat Jericho, he began with the mind games by doing the Y2J pose in a fairy light robe, getting the fake pop from the fans who were expecting the Demo God. Jericho does get the pop by cutting MJF’s music short in a skull-themed spiked jacket as Diamante wins the ‘Incoherent Judasing’ moment of the night using Ivelisse’s hand as a mic. The chorus of Judas echoing as the limited crowd echo the arena to Jericho’s subdued delight. Sparing a thought for Aubrey though, who has to call this match despite both of them hating her XD MJF tries to start by feeding from the crowd, but the crowd only boo him and cheer Jericho, he gestures to a handshake amidst ‘You Suck’ chants but Jericho slaps him instead. Jericho held an early advantage but MJF got some advantage with a few clotheslines, but his adversity to the crowd once again gives away the advantage. Jericho pulls his camera middle finger spot after powerslamming him on the outside (shout out to KiLynn King as well for all her crowd enthusiasm). Dodging a Judas Effect leads to an injured arm to Jericho after his elbow hit the very busy today ring post, which he focuses on since it’s key for his Salt of the Earth, biting (which has also had a busy night) also ensues between both men but MJF capitalises on his counters and submissions. The heel nature comes out in Jericho with an eye poke, shoulder barges and a lionsault fire up the crowd and a Frankensteiner turning back the clock. MJF though returns to the arm with that double stomp while Jericho’s holding the rope, shoving the veteran as he spouts insults at him, a back and forth leads to MJF locking in the Salt of the Earth on the injured arm but Jericho shifts him into the Walls of Jericho as MJF chews the crawl to the rope. Aubrey’s enmity of both men comes into play when MJF uses her to shield him from Jericho’s kicks, a failed Heatseeker leads to a mid-rope Codebreaker instead from MJF, followed by a successful Heatseeker for 2. He tries the Lionsault but lands on his feet, and instead gets hit with Jericho’s Codebreaker for 2 as well. An Inside Cradle for 2 leads to Jericho trying the Judas Effect, but MJF catches it and cinches in the Salt of the Earth, but Jericho makes it to the ropes. Wardlow was noticeable absent from ringside at the start, having left after MJF’s entrance, but he was called to the ring by MJF to give him the Diamond Ring, his presence distracting Aubrey, MJF misses though and Jake Hager (who was also noticeably absent from the Elite Deletion) reveals himself on the other side throwing the Painmaker Bat to Jericho, Jericho winds up but MJF gives him the finger and drops Eddie Guerrero style. Aubrey turns to see the supposed outcome leading to Jericho turning his back, roll-up by MJF with a handful of tights gives him the win and membership.

Post-Match, Jericho cuts the music as MJF offers a handshake again, Jericho though this time takes it, hugs him and welcomes him and Wardlow to the Inner Circle. Wardlow holds the ropes for MJF, MJF holds the ropes for Jericho but nobody holds the ropes for Hager - who continues to stare off with Hager.

As a wrestling match it was good, for the situation I felt it was a little underwhelming. MJF said he’d do anything but we didn’t see anything outside of his usual tricks. Narratively it works to see MJF and Jericho stick together and we can only wait and see what stories will come out of it. AEW Revolution promo & Best Friends Interview The first PPV of next year is hyped for a February 27th showing. Dasha interviews Orange Cassidy asking his thoughts on his win, OC replies that he ‘has no thoughts’. Miro, Kip and Penelope however roll up as Kip demands an apology from OC for almost putting Penelope in harm’s way during a prior Dynamite. OC does apologise but Kip slaps him, saying that it wasn’t good enough, OC stops the Best Friends about to jump Miro and Kip and says ‘cool’ before walking away.

AEW World Championship ‘I Quit’ Match: Jon Moxley (c) def. Eddie Kingston (Kingston quits via Barbed Wire Bulldog Choke) Kingston rolled up in a shirt saying something that cameras failed to highlight despite his gesturing, (commentary later reveal that it was in homage to the late Tracey Smothers who recently passed away) his eyes like vengeance. Moxley struts in a Goldberg-esque entrance without the security, once again coming from the side of the stadium - this time no dumbass fan trying to charge him. Kingston stares daggers and shouts bloody murder at him during his entrance as Mox tries to get in his groove. Bryce Remsburg is also reffing this match, adding the personal level since Eddie revealed after his last Moxley match that the three go back.

Moxley got the first part of the venom, hammering punches until Kingston got to his knees, chops were traded as Moxley tried a takedown, only to get his ear bitten (biting man...) by Kingston. Slap trades follow as Kingston works on throws and cutting Moxley at the legs, Moxley hitting a tope when Kingston went to get a chair. Moxley then twists Kingston’s fingers key to his finisher, a suplex on concrete leads to the first ask but Kingston refuses, a Crossface/Bulldog Choke is countered by Kingston biting the arm. Throwing 2 chairs into the ring, a busted Moxley retaliates with the Barbed Wire Bat before kicking down the chair setup. Eddie also is busted in the mouth, then the forehead when the bat is pressed against his head - Moxley claiming that he ‘don’t wanna do this’. Kingston disarms Moxley with some Backdrops and throws a chair at Moxley, Moxley then gouges both eyes of Kingston but the Mad King throttles him. A small botch at Kingston was meant to drop Mox on the bat was rectified with more chair shots, Kingston hurts himself by wrapping barbed wire over his hand to pound into Moxley as he laughs maniacally, Uranken and a Kimura follows so Moxley has to break the hold the best way to hurt someone at Full Gear - Bite Him! Kingston restores the chair layout he had before, setting up for a suplex, Mox swaps though and lands Kingston on the flat of one chair. Kingston clotheslines Moxley to get time to get a black bag, which JR quips ‘well, it’s not a bag of chocolate’ - I mean you don’t know that JR! But alas, it wasn’t, it was your traditional thumbtacks, those silver hershey’s kisses (so hey it is a bag of chocolate), after trading suplexes Moxley snaps a vicious clothesline all away from the tacks, Moxley tries a Paradigm Shift on the tacks but Kingston does a twisting Urinage, planting him back first into the tacks - half on the elbow, half on the back. Kingston returns to the Rubbing Alcohol from Doc Sampson’s desk after learning that Moxley didn’t quit, low blows hurt Moxley but the champion only gives him the finger, Eddie then uses the alcohol on the punctured back (which I said at the same time as commentary). Kingston again hurts himself punching Mox with a handful of tacks, he goes for the barbed wire a second time but again changes his mind, going for the Bulldog Choke, Mox refuses still, with thumbtacks still in his head as Kingston lays in on the head shots, he dodges a knee and hooks in the Rear Naked Choke, turns him into the Suzuki Piledriver and then the Bulldog Choke, knowing that Kingston needs to be conscious Moxley changes to a Paridigm Shift, locating the Barbed Wire as he tells Kingston there’s ‘No Other Way Out’, asking him not to make him do this as he wraps his hand around the wire, Kingston only gives him the finger. Moxley considers turning away, but then launches into the barbed-wire enforced Bulldog Choke, Remsburg pleading with Eddie to quit as a vacant expression covers Moxley’s face, telling Kingston that ‘it’s done’, Eddie finally quits and Mox immediately lets go, a somber look on his face as his friend lays fallen.

Post-Match, Moxley tells the camera that ‘that’s what makes a champion: heart, blood and soul - Blood and Guts!’, whether that alludes to the special we were meant to have pre-COVID is yet to be seen. He then pulls Kingston up but Kingston sways away, leaving the ring on his own. Omega then comes out to the ramp to remind Moxley of his presence and their championship match in the due future.

A hard-hitting match, you knew that Kingston and Moxley would deliver on the hardcore level and a little on the emotive level. Sadly this match did suffer from WWE giving fans an inch-perfect I Quit Match in Hell in a Cell, so the bar was very high and it unfortunately could not reach that level. Again I’m surprised that factions didn’t get involved, Kingston’s family didn’t even go with Eddie to the ring, a surprise PAC appearance was hoped but we can’t be too torn up about that. Overall it was still a good title match, albeit an inevitable outcome given that Moxley and Omega have more history.

Conclusion Though there were a few small mistakes, there was not a weak spot in this PPV. On the other hand there wasn’t a match that blew me away, it was overall a well-done PPV: worth the money but there could’ve been more. There was meant to be a tease of a debut as well but I guess that was just rumor rather than an actual promise by the company. I will critique the Team Tazz stuff again because it really puts down Darby’s championship win, some matches could’ve ended more emphatically and the Buy-In needed more matches. Also just a personal thing but they overdid the biting spots, spots like those have a 2 match threshold at best on a card. But narratively we got a lot going on, a lot of consequences for the matches on the card including the Buy In and the Bucks did make good on their FTR promise by being Match of the Night. Elite Deletion and Silver/OC was a bit of light fun, the Women’s Match was strong, the opener hard hitting and we begin our build to Revolution.

Bodyguard II: Familial Ties (Part III - Chapter 2) (Brendon Urie x Reader)

“So how’d it go with the big guy?”

Natasha drew in a deep breath at your question, shaking her head slightly.

“Great,” she chirped, “The soldier?”

“Oh, just peachy.”

The quinjet carrying Steve Rogers and Agent Coulson landed on the massive battleship known as the Helicarrier; it had two runways, one with direct access to a hangar at the rear aligned along the spine of the vessel. Coulson and Steve walked down the ramp of the quinjet, meeting up with you and Natasha at the end.

“Agent Romanoff. Captain Rogers,” you acquainted the two.

“Ma’am,” Steve nodded politely.

“Hi,” Natasha responded, then looked to Coulson, “They need you on the bridge. Face time.”

“See you there,” Coulson said as he walked off, leaving the three of you to walk towards the railing of the ship.

“There was quite the buzz around here, finding you in the ice,” Natasha told Steve, stuffing her hands in her jacket pockets, “I thought Coulson was gonna swoon. Did he ask you to sign his Captain America trading cards yet?”

Taken aback, Steve arched his brows and looked at Natasha in confusion. “Trading cards?”

“They’re vintage,” you added with a scrunch of your face, “He’s very proud.”

The three of you approached Doctor Bruce Banner, but he didn’t notice, as he was nervous as all hell. He moved around unsurely as people kept walking in his way.

“Doctor Banner,” Steve took the liberty of calling out, stepping forward and shaking the doctor’s hand.

“Oh, yeah. Hi,” Bruce responded, pointing at the soldier, “They told me you’d be coming.”

“Word is you can find the cube.”

Bruce laughed nervously and looked at his feet before meeting Steve’s gaze. “Is that the only word on me?”

Steve replied without missing a beat. “Only word I care about.”

Bruce appreciated the sentiment, and stayed quiet for a moment before piping up again. “Must be strange for you, all of this.”

“Well,” Steve looked around, catching glimpses of the various pieces of Stark Industries’ equipment, “this is actually kind of familiar.”

“Gentlemen, you may wanna step inside in a minute,” Natasha warned, “It’s gonna get a little hard to breathe.”

Suddenly, the Helicarrier started to shake, as it prepared to fly ‘sail’.

“Is this a submarine?” Steve questioned, looking around.

“Really?” Bruce scoffed in disbelief. “They want me in a submerged pressurized metal container?”

Both men moved closer to the edge of the Helicarrier. Four huge lift fans mounted on the sides started to lift into the air in VTOL flight. Steve watched in awe, and Bruce smiled to himself.

“Oh, no, this is much worse,” he remarked with a sarcastic smile.

~

Inside the bridge of the ship, there was a flurry of activity as dozens of agents sat in font of their view screens. Agent Hill shouted instructions before turning to Fury, who was at the command chair.

“We’re at lock, sir.”

“Good,” Fury said, “Let’s vanish.”

The Helicarrier rose high into the heavens. In a flash, the entire ship was covered in reflecting mirrors, which then camouflaged in the sky.

Steve and Bruce walked through the glorious, gleaming bridge. Bruce took his position at the science console.

“Gentlemen,” Fury greeted.

Steve gave Fury ten bucks, referring to his earlier statement about never being surprised again. The Director smirked in amusement, then walked over to Bruce and extended his hand. Bruce reluctantly shook it.

“Doctor, thank you for coming.”

“Thanks for asking nicely. So, uh… how long am I staying?”

“Once we get our hands on the Tesseract, you’re in the clear.”

“Where are you with that?” Bruce tilted his head and creased his brow.

The Director turned to Agent Coulson to explain, while you and Natasha eyed images of Aaron, Erik and Clint on one of the computer screens.

“We’re sweeping every wirelessly accessible camera on the planet,” Coulson explained, “Cellphones, laptops. If it’s connected to a satellite, it’s eyes and ears for us.”

“That’s still not gonna find them in time,” Natasha shook her head, crossing her arms.

“You have to narrow the field,” Bruce told them, stepping up to one of the screens, “How many spectrometers do you have access to?”

“How many are there?” you questioned.

“Call every lab you know, tell them to put the spectrometers on the roof and calibrate them for gamma rays. I’ll rough out a tracking algorithm based on cluster recognition. At least we could rule out a few places.” Bruce looked to Fury, wringing his hands. “Do you have somewhere for me to work?”

Fury happily gestured to Natasha. “Agent Romanoff, would you show Doctor Banner to his laboratory, please.”

Natasha nodded and walked off, leading Bruce down the hall. “You’re gonna love it, doc. We got all the toys.”

With Steve preoccupied with conversing with Agent Coulson, The Director was forced to deal with the moment he had been dreading the most.

He looked at you with an expression you couldn’t decipher, forcing you to ask instead.

“What?” you held your hands out in expectation.

Fury opened his mouth to speak, but decided against it, instead motioning for you to follow him as he exited the bridge and headed for the central part of the massive vessel.

You stopped in the middle of the large expanse, facing large metal double doors. There was silence for a while as you waited for your godfather to explain himself.

But he didn’t, so you were yet again forced to initiate the conversation.

“Are you going to explain what the hell is going on?” you huffed impatiently, “Why are we standing here when we should be… I don’t know, avenging?”

“We’re waiting for someone.”

“Another Avenger?”

“Yes,” Fury confirmed, “The most egotistical and difficult one of all.”

You frowned and cocked your head to the side. “I thought Coulson met with Stark already.”

Fury looked at you. “He did.”

In perfect harmony with The Director’s words, the doors opened with a gust of air, capturing your attention.

The newest Avenger emerged from the shadows, and you felt a twist in your stomach. Your mind began working overtime, and your heart was beating so loudly you could hear it in your ears.

“Oh, my god…” you whispered.

A cold, hard voice replied to you, igniting a fiery blaze in your soul.

“What’s the matter, sweetheart? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

_______________________________

Thank you for reading x

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I miss you!

It’s too late. It was only a matter of timebefore this happened. Out of cash, out of a job, out of my house, I only have thisplace where to vent out. I don’t want to supplicate for help, or bore you withmy sad story, I only want to open your eyes, be honest for once. This blog, andall the work published on it, was just a desperate attempt to fight back thegrowing insanity that overwhelmed my mind ever since I‘ve learned about thetruth…

And the truth, you shall learn, if you’rewilling to listen.

It’sa well known fact that Marvel experienced a terrifying financial crisis in themid nineties. Corporate greed and shady business practices saw Marvel’s stock value collapse; shares once worth$35.75 each in 1993 had sunk to $2.375 three years later. The market crashed.Retailers lost their shops, speculators jumped ship, and titles that soldmillions because they had twenty-three variant cover plated in gold and withattached trading card now sold only a few thousand copies. It was hell, and inthe back alleys of Wall Street, executives and editors were ready to cut eachother throat to salvage what little was left. Neil Gaiman compared it to thetulip mania, when back in the 17th century, the price of tulip bulbsexploded only to drastically collapse in 1637.

       Now, what happened after?How did Marvel survive? The official version of the narrative tells us theyremained afloat selling the movies rights for some of their biggest and mostremunerative franchises (Spider-Man, Fantastic Four, the Sub-Mariner), before finallyentering the Disney family in 2009, other meat for the unstoppable everconsuming grinder that company became. But that’s not the real reason. I knowthe real reason. I saw the real reason.

       I worked as an intern forMarvel from 2002 to 2003. It was a strange period in the company’s history.Modern classics like Grant Morrison’s New X-Men and Millar’s Ultimates were published side by side with stuff like Marville and that War Machine book madeentirely of 3D models. You could tell by entering their offices that editorsweren’t giving second thoughts to any idea, threw everything on the wall to seewhat stuck, a process that resulted in both masterpieces and ugly catastrophes.

       I said I was an intern, Iwas more like a glorified janitor, paid in food stamps to empty out the trashcans, make photocopies, walk out Perlmutter’s pet South Pacific cannibal, andstuff like that… I’ve never met anyone important, so if you’re expecting astory about certain famous writers being secretly lizard people, I’m sorry, thisis not it. I’ve only ever crossed roads with Joe Quesada, and aside form hisconstant need to gift me autographed copies of the issues of Ninjak he did in1993, everything was normal… everything, not everyone. There was an editor.This man… he’s why I’m writing this.

       Howard Gardner was his name,but you won’t find it printed in the credits of any book, I assure you. Yet hewas an editor, that was his role. Asking around the building, I’ve learned thathe had been working at Marvel since before the bubble burst, but only oversawfew, scattered books. Apparently he was the guy that came up with the basicideas for Avataars:Covenant of the Shield, Fantastic Four: Unlimited, and he hadghost written at least two issues of Uncanny X-Men… you know the ones.People didn’t like working with him, writers didn’t like talking to him,artists didn’t like the notes he put on their pages, yet, in an era of constantbudget cuts and people losing their job, he was still part of Marvel’s staff.

       He was a tall, lanky man,of an auburn complexion, maybe… I say that because there’re few things abouthim I can accurately describe. Something about him slips away from my mind, Ican’t put a face to a voice, can’t connect it all to a name, and I’ve met himseveral times. The harder I try to remember the less I do… or perhaps, I simplydon’t want to remember, as if my memories are protecting me from something. There was a certain oddness about the way he behaved, and the requestshe made at every editor’s meeting, all promptly ignored by the rest of thosepresent. Now, you think he was asking for something gruesome and horrifying,but knowing the graphic shit Marvel published in their MAX line, would youreally believe they wouldn’t have the stomach for something in particular? No,his requests were just strange.

       “I want Black Widow tofight iridescent orbs” he told a writer, “Make the furniture blue, it’s myfavourite colour” he asked a colorist, referring to an inconsequentialapartment shown during a fight scene. Just bizarre non sequiturs like those, atevery meeting when he wasn’t pitching some outlandish stupid book. He behavedlike he wasn’t entirely there, the best way I can describe it is that he actedlike a tourist from another country, that didn’t know anything about thecustoms of the area, but still tried his best to awkwardly fit in.

       Eventually I got used tomost of Howard Gardner’s strangeness, but one thing I just couldn’t wrap myhead around were his visits to Marvel’s “boiler room”. Sometimes he went downthere two or three times a day, sometimes once every few weeks, and neverfailed to announce it. “I’m going to the boiler room everybody!” he woulddeclare, sometimes in the middle of a meeting, standing up and marching out theroom. Nobody seemed to care, or at least, they pretended not to care. I triedto ask Quesada once, and he just replied “He’s a funny guy like that” beforehanding me over issue #3 of Sword ofAzrael.

       Such was my morbid curiosity, that oneday, after yet another announcement, I decided to follow him. He didn’t takethe elevator to reach the boiler room, but stairs. I waited five or six minutebefore chasing after him, as cautiously as possible. He was already about fourfloors lower than me, so I kept that distance, walking by the wall rather thanthe rails, only once in a while peering out to ensure he hadn’t notice me. So Iwalked, and I walked, and I walked… after several minutes I began to wonderjust how deep could Marvel’s basement be? We were already far below ground level,and yet we kept moving. I had no idea the building was that big, and thefurther down I went, the more the environment started showing signs of decay,and disuse, like nobody had been there for years, or decades…  It gradually shifted, looking more and moredecrepit, walls covered in incomprehensible, ruined graffiti, garbage coatingthe floor, huge, old stacks of Jim Lee’s X-Men #1 stuffed inthe corners. The air was filled with a stale and odd smell, a mixture ofvinegar and paper, it made my eyes watery and my mouth dry, but still, I moveddown, as an unpleasant, sweaty warmth surrounded me.

       Finally, the stairs ended, and only onelong, shadowed corridor appeared in front of my eyes, scarcely lit by orangetinged lamps. No trace of Gardner,he just vanished in the darkness. There was a noise, a rhythmic noise,reverberating in the air. The shuffling of pages, of a book, no, many books, anarmy of people skimming through hundreds of books, all at once. It wasstrangely hypnotic, and I began following it, carefully moving across thecorridor.

       The floor was wet. Puddles of a wateryblack liquid covered it. The intense smell I perceived in my descent was allaround, and I finally identified it as the acute scent of ink. Shreddedcomicbook pages were all around, so utterly cut up and ruined I couldn’t tellwhich issues they were from.

I proceeded across thecorridor, and it seemed to stretch out without end. The further I went, thedeeper the ink lake turned. I was in it up to my ankles, when finally, afterthe seemingly endless walk, I reached a single iron door, left ajar. The boilerroom. The heat was unbearable, coating me like a blanket in the summer. I wasviscous and sticky with sweat, so thirsty my throat was sore, yet, I entered,following the noise, constantly skimmingin the my ears.

       It was dark inside, Icouldn’t see anything, but still I understood, the place was bigger, muchbigger than it had any right to be. It was as if I was entering an entirelydifferent building, another place, better yet, another world. The floor was a dense, gooey swamp of ink and soaked paper, the airbasically unbreathable, polluted by the toxic smell of industrial paint. I tookjust a few steps forward into the alien world, and the marsh reached my knees. I stopped, gazed into the darkness… and I saw Gardner. He was far away,and the entire lower portion of his body, from the belt down wasn’t visible:he was immersed in the ink… I have to wonder now, was it really ink, orsomething else? And if it wasn’t, then what?

     I shivered, glaring at the scene. Gardner had his arms up. He was looking atsomething. I narrowed my eyes, looked up, saw nothing at all.

     Then, it moved. That nothing, was everything. Therewas a shape, filling the void, in its entirety. It was grandiose andstupendous, it was horrifying and atrocious. I couldn’t comprehend anythingabout its anatomy, it was as if a thousands sails moved at unison, shifting inspace, like billions of pages stacked one on top of the other. The rhythmicshuffling belonged to it, the supernatural, diseased sound of its existence.

     If it had eyes, I can’t tell. If it had consciousness,or it was just an endless sea of living flesh, I can’t tell. It was ancient andunending, primeval masterpiece of a bygone era. It existed long before anyonecould recount, it filled our dreams and our nightmares. It was the reason ofthe company’s endurance. It was its protector. The god they had swore to serve.And it, in turn, served them. It was Marvel.

     The moments that followed were a blur. I barely hadthe time to contemplate my insignificance in the greater cosmic theatre and wetmyself before I decided to run. Out of the boiler room, out of the building,out of the city, out of the goddamned country. Some would say I am coward, andit’s true, because in front of that archaic force, we’re all cowards.

     It’s been fourteen years. Itried morphine, I tried cocaine, I tried coke. I still cannot forget. The imagesare burned in my mind. Mocking the thing with silly internet edits was my wayof fighting its power, and maintain my sanity, but it’s not enough anymore. Ah!It was never enough to begin with, and anonymity only got me so far. I believethey found me. I realize now the truth about Howard Gardner. More than a man,more than an editor, he was an instrument of its hateful design. He saw meescape, and he’s been looking for me, hunting me down every waking moment hewasn’t busy green lighting projects like Marvel DIVAS and Curse of the Mutants.

       Theend is near. I hear a noise at the door, as of some immense slippery bodylumbering against it. It shall not find me. God, the hand! Thewindow! The window!

Together Now

Fuck.  People better start showin’ up soon.  Ate the tab too early.  Already did my Johnny Thunders makeup.  Shirt with a missing sleeve Dylan tore off.  And the classic shredded denims around my waist.  Even wore a dog collar this time.  Jake better have been serious about gettin’ people to dress up.  Hope he was able to find one of those oversized greeting cards.  Went to three places and couldn’t find one for Brendan.  Even rearended someone in the process.  Some Vietnam vet that didn’t even bother to take the cig outta his mouth while gettin’ my info.  That’s what I need to calm these nerves.  A cig.  Bought a second pouch in case I start chiefin’ ‘em.  That’s how the acid goes.

Take a shot of etizolam.  Half dose.  Don’t wanna kill the trip.  But definitely need to slow it down.  Would’ve been fine if I had waited another hour.  But wanted to peak during Brendan’s last Toeheads set before dippin’ for the Navy in Rhode Island.

Blink and the living room is startin’ to fill with bodies.  Jake’s orange wool hat clashin’ with his costume.  “Brendan isn’t here yet is he?”

“Nah.”

“Cool.  Pass around this poster board.  Have everyone sign a goodbye card for him.  Couldn’t find a real card.  So we’ll fold it in half.  You got any good photos of him?”

Tear the one off the wall.  Stimmed out in the cig room at the end of Summerfest.  Tape it to the center.  Not a bad turn out so far.  For a show thrown together in a couple days.  Luckily Wednesday is my off day at work.  Devil’s Night.  Fifteen minutes after start time.  Hour after load in was supposed to be.  Jake never did clarify what time music was gonna start.  Just asked to use Belmont for the occasion.

“We’re on first right?”  Chuck says from the front door behind me.

“Yeah.  Go ahead up and you can start settin’ up.”

Jake hides the card in the coves upstairs where 208’s gear is already tucked away.  KQ adjusts Jordan’s kit.  While Owen and Ben plug in amps.  Chuck sets a pumpkin on the ground.  “PHARMA” scrawled over the front in Sharpie.  A large pill bottle with the label torn off next to it.  They dip for the front porch for a preshow cig.  Cig room already hotboxed by Dee and everyone at Ham House.  They do this shit everytime.  Just need to step in for a minute.  And the second hand smoke smothers the urge for the cig you just rolled up.

Dylan is on the front porch with a sheet over his head.  Makin’ everyone guess who the ghost is.  Drew and Tina drinkin’ Buzzballs in the kitchen.  X’s on their foreheads.  “They taste like a flat Four Loko.  Not good.  But named appropriately.”  Pop the empties on the shelf in the kitchen with the memorabilia from after parties and other sets here.  Glad people actually wore their costumes.

Everybody’s here and the benzos are makin’ the night extra surreal.  Like this night is somethin’ from a dream we all avoided sleepin’ through.  The King of the Scene arrives.  Different pair than his normal octagon sunglasses over his eyes.  Stroh’s already cracked as he walks in.  Peter’s upstairs testin’ the projector setup.  His hazy visuals on the ceiling and the Peanuts sheets on my mattress propped against the wall.  Time to uncork the liter and a half wine bottle.

The feedback whistles from Owen’s cranked amp upstairs.  Whistlin’ everyone into the dark bedroom.  The neighbors only complain about the noise when the hardcore bands play.  So tonight might not be their favorite show.  But after this Belmont is closin’ for the season.  Gotta clean the bathtub for my landlord’s property inspection next month.  Can’t believe I’ve been here for two years now.  And averaged a show a month this past year.  Couldn’t pick a better closin’ ceremony the King’s departure.

The crowd stands anxiously against the wall as Pharma plows through their first song.  Chuck pacin’ around the room with mic in hand.  Scoops the pumpkin from the ground as KQ beats the sticks together.  One two three.  And on the fourth the orange splinters on the blue carpet.  Tyriq shoves Joey mid kick as Chuck’s screams clip the speaker.  Everyone’s flesh collides.  Oozes against each other before slidin’ off the sweat.  No amount of AC or open windows able to stop the humidity of body friction.  Bones crack and disintegrate to the marrow of our lives.  Rail the line and jump in.  Bottle in hand.  Joey’s skull makin’ contact with the base.  Spewin’ a geyser onto the wall from the palm of my hand.

The red wine paints streaks on the white drywall that still stands defiantly against our chaos.  Drops run down at a fraction the speed of Owen’s blurred hand makin’ the strings wail.  And in ten minutes, the masochistic treatment of our eardrums unfortunately ends.  Light flicks on.  Showin’ a mess of pumpkin guts.  Seeds.  And capsules of an unknown drug woven into the carpet by our feet.  When did that shit burst?  “Nips, you want me to clean this up at the end of the night?”  Chuck pants.  Red in the face.

“Nah man.  It really ties the bedroom together.”

He smiles as Kyle drags his amp from the cove for their set.  Shelby adjusting the kit.  Walks away as Jake towers into the room.  Emptyin’ a Stroh’s into himself.  “Thanks for askin’ us to play Jake.  Super stoked to get to play a show with Toeheads.”

“Man.  Thanks for comin’ here from Florida.”

“Well thanks for acceptin’ us into this.  We didn’t know anybody here when we moved out here.  But you all made us feel so welcomed into this family.”

Gotta get a cig in before this set.  Once 208 starts you’re gribbed in.  As tight as the stranglehold Kyle has on the neck of his guitar.  The reverb slaps back with the thud of Shelby’s drums.  Bouncin’ you from wall to wall.  Body to body.  Drowns out the thoughts reverberatin’ off the walls of your skull.

He’s gotta have the shoes off every show.  Release the hounds!  Let the brutalization of instruments begin.  The things we do for tone.  He mumbles almost incoherently into the mic behind shags of hair.  “This next one’s ‘Hotel California.’”  Shelby’s tom thumps in the background as Peter’s lights pulse on the walls.  Kyle droppin’ to the floor.  Body twitchin’ with each crunch of distortion he bends outta the amp.  Until it gives out.  Forcing a finale from the duo.

“I forgot the tambourine!”  Drew yells to Joey.

“Fuck.  Should we run down the street to grab it.”

“I got bongos.”  Pass ‘em to Drew while the three Toeheads debate their setlist.  Gonna play the full EP that drops at midnight.  Cassettes from Remove Records comin’ soon.

Grab a beer from the fridge.  Drew standin’ in the kitchen.  Joint tucked between lips.  Greasy hair falls on the shoulders of his bright shirt.  Tappin’ the bongos surrounded by women with X’s on their foreheads.  “That’s gotta be the most cult leader lookin’ thing I’ve seen in my life.”  Joey passes by.  Tosses a beer can in the sink.  And grabs a plate to set upstairs.

The ceiling and wall covered in shots of the trio performing on the front porch.  The same front porch I first spotted Brendan and Jake from at the first show I threw a year ago.  Just two goons sittin’ in a red Dodge.  Drinkin’ Labatt.  Heavy.  And the one hidin’ behind octagon shades tells me about this tape label he started.  Remove Records.  “King of the Scene!”  Drew yells perched on the head on top of Joey’s 8x10.  Jake cuts his goodbye speech off early.  Don’t wanna get too heavy before the heavy music.

The chords crunch under his fingertips.  The brass crashes under Brendan’s sticks.  Joey gettin’ some futuristic fuzz from the bass.  This is the future of garage.  Happenin’ right before my dilated pupils.  The noise ceases as Jake’s mumbled first line grows into a scream.  Then pounds faster.  Harder.  Sloppier.  How can Peter’s camera even handle this noise?  “With a knife!”

Standin’ by the stairs the group begins a cover of “Anna (Go to Him.)”  The crowd dances with each other.  Belts the chorus in unison as the peak takes my brain into this dream.  Everybody gathered in this sweaty bedroom.  Vibin’ together.  What more could you dream of?  One last night for all of us to be together.  Together right here.  Right now.  Hidin’ the makeup streakin’ under my eyes in the cig room from Rae and Kyle from the Waterheads.

The group ends the onslaught of feedback.  Screeches.  Of both instruments and vocal cords.  Reverb.  Thuds and crashes.  Hi-hats through the wall.  And every jarring sound your ears dream of bein’ berated by.  Joey trades the bass for a second guitar.  Yells for a pick.  While Jake begs for some noise to stop him from continuin’ a corny speech.  It is Devil’s Night after all.  Brendan trades his sunglasses for the pair of octagons in his leather jacket while takin’ a bow.

“Burn down Midtown!”  From Drew.

“Has anyone seen my wallet?!”  From Dee.

“It’s not fuckin’ workin’!”  From Joey who can’t rail a line through the humidity.  Gives it up before his ode to DMT and a rambunctious cover of “Blew My Mind” to close the set.

“Don’t we have a bunch more?”  Joey yells across the room.

“Well some of us working class folk have a job to go to in the morning.”  Evan jokes.

“Alright.  We’ll do an encore for Brendan’s last ride.”  Jake plugs back in.  Drew stands in the center of the room.  Pulls back up the bongos in sweaty, red hands.  “This one’s called ‘Demon House.’

“I’ve been livin’ in a demon house!”  None of the notes are distinguishable in the final barrage of sound.  But the bodies crash into each other.  For one last connection to the King that gave everybody somethin’ to show their parents.  I can still hear him behind the bottle of Stroh’s at Painted Lady before we bootlegged the Milk Bath gig at Outer Limits.  “Just somethin’ to say ‘you guys might not be into this.  But somebody out there thinks it means somethin’.’”

As the party filters out, Jordan video calls me on Snapchat to say goodbye to Brendan before he sets sail.  Says the broken hi-hat stand was the least he could offer in return to the King of the Scene.  Joey spills the bottle of wine next to me.  Looks up from rollin’ around on the floor.  “That’s the difference between me and Jay Retard.  I know when not to break shit.”  The words fill the holes the acid burns into my brain as he dips to prep Ham House for the after party.  Leavin’ his shoes behind.  The picture of me and him in his underwear will surface in a few days but doesn’t help fill the gaps in the night.

Sittin’ next to me, Brendan dents a Stroh’s can in his hand.  Hood over his head.  But no octagons to hide the tears in his eyes.  “It’s just…  For the first time…  I feel like I finally got a family.  And now that I have that feeling.  I gotta leave my home behind.  Over a mistake I enlisted in months ago.”  He sniffles and kills the can.  Somethin’ about the way that last drop of beer hits makes you puke it all up.  “And I don’t know how long until I’ll be able to get back to that feeling.”

“But that’s the beauty of it.”  Take a swig from the remains of the wine bottle.  “No matter what happens now.  You got the security of family.  We’re all still gonna be here.  And whenever you get back, the empty space you left will still be here for you.  Ya know now no matter what you always got a family somewhere.  Forever.  Maybe the scene ends.  Maybe Joey moves somewhere like New Mexico or some shit.  Maybe I finally clean the bathtub like my landlord and Jake keep askin’.  But no matter where any of us are or what’s different.  You’ll always be able to show up and have people and a place where you belong.  No matter where we are we’re all together now.”

One by one people nod to sleep at Ham House.  People find their way back to their beds.  And don’t have to dream about a home.  Cause they got a place to be free.  Like Manson sang about.  Brendan hugs me goodbye.  And I find my way to the after hours where my friend Josh asks sincerely if I’m doin’ alright tonight.  Cause he knows it’s not just the acid and benzos makin’ everything feel surreal.  But at least when I get home.  There’s a pair of octagon glasses in the explosion of pumpkin seeds and prescription strength anti-inflammatories.  I’ll end up losing ‘em in a few months.  Life’s cruel that way.  Even all the shit that means somethin’ to us will pass.  But at least we got it together now.

Flying Under the Radar: Iranian Alternatives to Suez and Belt and Road

By James M. Dorsey

An initial version of this story was first published in Inside Arabia

A podcast version of this story is available on Soundcloud, Itunes, Spotify, Stitcher, TuneIn, Spreaker, Pocket Casts, Tumblr, Podbean, Audecibel, Patreon and Castbox.

Iran together with India and Russia is pushing forward with a sea and rail corridor that could substantially reduce the time and cost of shipping goods from India to Europe. If successful, the corridor could challenge the Suez Canal’s primacy and give Iran a significant advantage as its rivalry with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates plays out in Central Asia.

As Eurasia’s geopolitical sands shift, Iran is touting a sea and rail hook-up involving Iranian, Russian, and Indian ports that would link the sub-continent to northern Europe as a viable alternative to Egypt’s Suez Canal and addition to China’s Belt and Road Initiative.

Iranian and Indian officials suggest the route would significantly cut shipping time and costs from India to Europe. Senior Indian Commerce Ministry official B B Swain said the hook up would reduce travel distance by 40 and cost by 30 percent.

The Iranian-Indian-Russian push is based on a two-decades old agreement with Russia and India to establish an International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC) as well as more recent free trade agreements concluded by the Russia-dominated Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) with Iran and Singapore.

The agreements have fuelled Central, South, and Southeast Asian interest in the corridor even if the EAEU itself groups only a handful of countries: Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Armenia, and Kyrgyzstan.

Exploiting the momentum, Russia has been nudging India to sign its own free trade agreement with the EAEU while the grouping is discussing an accord with the ten-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

If successful, the Iranian push, backed by Russia and India,  would anchor attempts by Iran to project itself as opposed to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates as the key Middle Eastern player in Russian and Chinese ploys for regional dominance.

Leveraging geography and Central Asian distrust of past Saudi promotion of its ultra-conservative strand of Islam, Iran expects that kickstarting INSTC will give it a significant boost in its competition with the kingdom and the Emirates for the region’s hearts and minds.

INSTC would also strengthen Iran’s position as a key node in the Belt and Road on the back of a two-year old rail link between western China and Tehran that runs across Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan.

India’s ambassador to Russia, D B Venkatesh Varma, told a webinar hosted by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Industry and Commerce that he expected to bring shipping and insurance companies as well as other businesses and stakeholders together to advance the INSTC.

The Iranian-Indian-Russian push suggests that Iran is playing multiple cards in the geopolitical jockeying for the future of Eusasia amid much speculation about a draft Iranian proposal for a 25-year strategic partnership with Beijing that if agreed and implemented would inextricably hook the Islamic republic to China.

The INSTC would link Jawaharlal Nehru Port, India’s largest container port east of Mumbai, through the Iranian deep-sea port of Chabahar on the Gulf of Oman, funded by India to bypass Pakistan, and its Caspian Sea port of Bandar-e-Anzali to Russia’s Volga River harbour of Astrakhan and onwards by rail to Europe.

Suez Canal Authority spokesman George Safwat dismisses assertions by Iranian and Russian officials that the link would cut shipping time from 40 days through the Suez Canal to somewhere between 25 and 28 days.

Speaking to Al-Monitor, Mr. Safwat said it takes only 19 days for a container shipped from India through the Suez Canal to reach the German port city of Hamburg.

A search on Searates, Dubai ports management company DP World’s search engine for shipping times puts the transit time at 21 days.

Mr. Safwat further insisted that INSTC would be unable to match the Suez Canal’s capacity to accommodate more than one billion tons of cargo a year.

The Iranian push was boosted in March by an agreement between Russia and India that would enable the shipment of goods through the corridor on a single invoice within a matter of months.

“Within three months, traders from India and Russia could move goods between the two countries through Iran,” said V. Kalyana Rama, the chairman of India’s state-owned Container Corporation (Concor).

Indian sources close to the Chabahar project said in interviews that the ability to issue one bill of lading that would allow exporters to get a bank letter of credit coupled with an agreement by state-owned Russian Railways (RZD) to act as the carrier had removed key obstacles for INSTC.

The sources said shipping costs were likely to be pushed upwards by the fact that much of the cargo traffic would be originating in India rather than destined for India. “Empty containers on one leg adds to the freight cost,” one source said.

The Russia-India agreement nevertheless takes on added significance as countries seek to diversify their supply chains after the experience of bottlenecks during the coronavirus pandemic.

If successful, the corridor could benefit men like Adar Poonawalla whose Serum Institute of India is the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer.

It may however not all be smooth sailing.

Chabahar, located in the Iranian province of Sistan and Baluchistan, is not immune to the fallout of renewed Baloch nationalist violence in neighbouring Pakistan.

The violence, effecting investment in Gwadar, the Chinese backed port 70 kilometres down the coast in the Pakistani province of Balochistan, may give Chabahar a leg up but raises the spectre of proxy battles with Saudi Arabia and India suspected of supporting the nationalists for different reasons. Saudi support targets Iran while India’s focus is Pakistan, it’s longstanding nemesis.

In a further twist, Iran this week denied Indian media reports that it had dropped India as a partner in the development of a rail line from Chabahar to the border with Afghanistan because of delays in Indian funding.

Iran’s IRNA news agency, however, quoted Farhad Montaser, an official of the country’s Ports and Maritime Organization, as saying that Iran and India had failed to agree on Indian participation in developing Chabahar’s railway infrastructure during the original talks that secured Indian support for the port.

This would have included a 1,000-kilometre line to Sarakhs on the Iranian border with Turkmenistan. Iran has said it would fund the construction of railway infrastructure.

Indian analysts said in interviews that the government in Delhi had put participation by a state-owned Indian infrastructure company on the backburner because it may violate harsh US economic sanctions against Iran.

"We are very much in the game, but progress is slow due to the current political environment," India’s Zeenews quoted government sources as saying.

That offers Gulf states at best temporary consolation. Uncertainty about the outcome of the November election in the United States that could sweep presumptive Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden into office holds out the prospect of an administration that would be more critical of Saudi policies and more willing to return to negotiations with Iran.

Dr. James M. Dorsey is an award-winning journalist and a senior fellow at Nanyang Technological University’s S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore. He is also a senior research fellow at the National University of Singapore’s Middle East Institute and co-director of the University of Wuerzburg’s Institute of Fan Culture in Germany.

“I told you you’d get sick.” with Val and Amon

I have no excuse for this, except that you gave me an opening to put it on a ship so I did. 

1500 words or thereabouts, set in some fantasy universe where the smarter members of our party could have been convinced to be anywhere near the ocean at this point.

Val propped herself against the starboard rail of the LadyMerryweather, leaning back on her elbows and relishing the feeling of openwater around her again. Between gusts of wind in the sails, she could see bluesky, cloudless and bright as newly polished steel, stretching out to thehorizon line and dipping down into the sea below. Long fingers of sun curvedthrough the canvas overhead, setting every inch of the deck aflame with warmhoney-gold. She took in a lungful of salt air like a man half-drowned for thelack of it, then heaved the whole breath in one long, pleased sigh.

Beside her, Amon’s claws dug pits in the wood as he retched overthe side again.

“I did tell you that you’d get sick if you kept up at Corners yourwhole first night at sea,” Val said primly, keeping her eyes aside. Amon justgroaned, and she felt something long and thin lash against her ankle.

“I thought you said that this happens to everyone at somepoint,” he grumbled as he slid himself weakly back over the rail. The usualbright red of his skin looked sickly and grey-tinged, even in the full light ofthe morning, and felt cold and clammy under Val’s fingers as she turned andbrushed his braided hair back over his shoulder.

“It does,” she said, with a sympathetic smile. “Just tends tohappen more often to people that play cards with friendly sailors, y’see.”

Amon just groaned again, dropping his head back back into the armsfolded across the top of the rail. Val stifled a chuckle as she fished herwater flask from her pocket.

“Here,” she offered, popping the cork free and holding it outtowards him. He picked his head up long enough to see it, then recoiled with awrinkle of his nose.

“Someone tried that already,” he muttered, and his wounded tonetold Val everything.

“Passed off more drink as a cure, did they?”

“Among several less appetizing suggestions, yes.”

“Well, you’re a lubber,” she said with a delicate shrug. “And youstill showed up their best topman out on the yards yesterday, nimble as youare. They’re gonna torment you as long as they can for that performance.” Shedangled the flask in front of him again. “But not me. Not with you in thisstate, understand? I actually give something of a shit about how you’re doing,believe it or not.”

Amon glowered up at her out of the corner of his eye, but seemedreassured enough to take the flask without any more griping. She relaxed backonto her elbows as he gave the little vessel an investigative sniff and foldedher hands over her stomach.

“So, did you at least win a few of those hands you played?”she asked, turning her gaze back up to the flutter of canvas overhead. Shewouldn’t leave Amon to his sickly fate, but she knew better than to face a manat the rail. “Always seemed to me like a day of nursing a hangover was made alittle better by heavier pockets.”

She heard a huff, almost like a laugh, and saw a flash of red andwhite out of the corner of her eye that dragged her attention to where Amon’stail was nudging at the ties of his coin purse.

“Ten gold,” he said over the lip of the flask, pride creeping inthrough the misery as the little sachet sagged open to reveal a small wealth ofgold clinking quietly inside. Ten crowns was a drop in the bucket for theirparty at this point, but it was a veritable fortune to win off of sailors inone night of cards. Val let out a low whistle and nodded her approval.

“Not bad. Haven’t asked how much you lost yet, of course.” Shefielded him an expectant look, and laughed when he grumbled and wrenched thebag shut. “But playing cards all night? Running around the topsails? If youwere in a better state to hear it, I’d almost say that you’d actually taken tolife in the middle of the gods damned ocean.”

Amon peered up at her around the flask with a skeptical raise ofhis eyebrows. “Even like this?”

“Especially like this.” She sank down further on her elbows sothey nudged playfully against his. “If you haven’t pitched your breakfast overthe side at some point, you ain’t been on the sea long enough to call yourselfa sailor.”

“You are not selling your line of work very well, Val.”

“Oh hush. You know this is only part of the job.” She lifted ahand to block the long beam of sunlight that had suddenly come slanting throughthe sheets, peering up into the cloudless sky. “And once you’re feeling alittle better, I’ll take you up top and show you what a real tar is like inthose yards.”

“That might be nice,” said Amon, sighing as he dropped his headback into his folded arms. “So far, all I have actually seen you do is pull onsome ropes and speak in tongues.”

“Speak in tongues?” Val shot him a sidelong grin. “What, you’resaying you don’t know what a for’topms’tays’l halyard is?”

“I will assume it is some kind of rope.”

She laughed and clapped him gently the shoulder.

“Tell you what,” she said. “How’s about you and I just start usingInfernal for everything? I’m pretty sure I can’t say anything more complex than‘go grab that rope over there,’ and then you wouldn’t be the only looking asthough he’s been struck dumb by perfectly plain language.”

“And you would still understand everything, of course.”

“Well, of course!” She leaned back into a long stretch and grinnedlazily down at him. “Near as I can tell, acting condescending and in control iswhat big sisters are supposed to do.”

Amon groaned and buried his head further in the cradle of his armsuntil it hid the weak smile creeping onto his face. “I am going to regretletting you come to that conclusion.”

“Oh yes,” said Val with a sagely nod. “One day, most certainly.But not today.” She plucked the flask from between his fingers and rattled itpointedly. “Today, you are going to finish as much of this as you can stomach,and then you’re going to go below and find a bed, because your sister has alsoalready pledged herself to your watch duties for the day.”

Amon’s head suddenly wheeled back, revealing a furrowed brow andone narrow white eye. “What?”

“Your duties,” said Val slowly, “I’m taking them. Gods, you don’tactually need me to start using Infernal, do you?”

“Val, you don’t -”

He had barely picked his head up from his folded arms before herhand closed around the base of one of his horns and pressed him gently backdown again.

“Sickness of this sort is an all day affair, Amon,” she said witha knowing smile, “Even for the luckiest among us. I know you’d suffer itwithout anyone asking you to, so I’m not even offering you the question. Go below.Sleep the worst off. Let me have a chance to flex some non-lethal muscles foronce, aye?”

She made a big show of tightening her hands to fists so the curveof her bicep showed through the fabric of her sleeves, and any arguments Amonmight have had disappeared into a thin laugh.

“I suppose I cannot say no to that.” he asked after a moment,shaking her off as he pushed himself upright.

“Not unless you want me to carry your scrawny ass the whole waydown, no.”

“Fine.” He sighed. “Give me the flask, then.”

Val dutifully handed it back, her grin fading into somethinggenuine as Amon pushed himself carefully away from  the rail.

“I think they broke into a water cask somewhere below if you getthe urge to fill it up again,” she said, gesturing to the stairs. “And Sarulamight have something to help you sleep if you ask nice.”

“If they are awake,” said Amon with a pointed look. Val winced.

“On second thought, just get yourself some water and a berth.Gods, I might be due for more ordinary work than I thought.”

“I told you, I don’t have to -”

Val suddenly wheeled towards him and jabbed a finger towards thestairs. “Berth. Now. Or so help me, I’ll drag you down there myself.Bound up, if I’ve got to.”

Amon staggered closer to the stairs, bearing his palms in agesture of surrender and struggling through a laugh. “Alright, alright! Sheesh,you would think you have done this before. Are you certain that you have neverhad siblings?”

“Not unless they were all invisible. Berth.”

“You have taken to it, then,” he said mildly, lingering by thestairwell. “I have never been so thoroughly bossed around before.”

He ducked inside the minute Val’s boots started thumping acrossthe deck after him, leaving her standing on the deck with the last few threads of thin, haltinglaughter echoing around her, and a faint warmth glowing in the pit of her chest that she wouldn’thave traded for gold.

B/L 9

Warning: Angst.

“James! Please don’t leave me. Please. Come back to me.” Linda cried as she thrashes in her sleep waking Steve up who runs into her room. 

“Linda its Steve, it's a dream sweetheart. Wake up.” Steve said waking her up. She bolted up staring at him with black eyes and hugged him tightly. 

“Its my fault, I could have saved him. It’s all my fault..” She cried into his chest.

“It’s not your fault sweetheart. What happened happened. There’s nothing we can change about it.” Steve said as he rocks the girl to calm her down.

It’s been a month and Steve and Linda are still having a hard time adjusting to the new time, when they woke up they realize they were 70 years in the future, all their friends are now all old and bedridden or dead.

“If I jumped down with him I could have saved him.” Linda cried.

“Sweetie, you would have died with him. No one could survive that fall even you.” Steve said “Yeah but we would have died together.” Linda whispered making Steve cry. 

  Linda couldn’t fall back asleep so she decided to go to the pool to swim some laps trying to clear her mind. 

Flashback

“Linda what are you thinking about?” Bucky said tracing random patterns on Linda naked back. 

“About what will happen to us once the war is over.” Linda answered snuggling closer to Bucky's naked chest. 

“And what do you want to happen?”

“I hope by then we are still going strong. Oh and hopefully we can go back to Brooklyn and I can officially meet your family. If you want me to of course.” She said 

“Of course I want to why wouldn’t I?” Bucky said lifting chin up to look at him, “I don’t think I can see myself with anyone else. You’re it for me”  

“Oh James. You’re it for me too.” Linda said scooting up giving him a kiss on the lips. 

Flashback end 

Linda felt like she was going to drown, with tears coming out as she swam faster refusing to come up for air until she felt a splash. 

“WHAT ARE YOU THINKING?” She heard Steve yelled as he pulled her up for air. 

“I am swimming what do you think I am doing.” She said pulling out of Steve grip. 

“YOU BEEN UNDERWATER FOR AT LEAST 2 MINS.” 

“I can hold my breath for longer Steve. I am not a child.” She said swimming over to the steps and grabbing her towel wrapping herself spotting a folder next to her towel. 

“Whats the folder?” Linda said opening it looking at the files inside. 

“Remember Hydra’s secret weapon?” Steve asked.

“Yeah the thing we gave up our life for.” She said plainly.

“Well Howard fished that out of the ocean when he was looking for us. He thought what we think, the ‘Tesseract’ could be the key to unlimited sustainable energy. That's something the world sorely needs.” 

“Great. Now get on with it.” 

“Fury told me that some guy not from around here name Loki took it. There's a debriefing package at our apartment, and told me to come get you.” Steve said before Linda hand him back the folder. 

“Of course they would fish that thing out.” She mumbled walking out of the gym with Steve behind her. 

  Linda was sitting in the quinjet staring at the tablet as Agent Coulson talk to Steve.

“I gotta say, it's an honor to meet you, officially. I sort of met you, I mean, I watched you while you were sleeping.” Agent Coulson said making Linda snicker.

“I mean, I was... I was present while you were unconscious from the ice. You know, it's really, it's just a... just a huge honor to have you on board.” 

“So what’s this thing that we’re about to land on.” Linda said walking next to Steve. 

“It’s a massive battleship called the Helicarrier. It has two runways, one with direct access to a hangar at the rear is aligned along the spine of the vessel.” Agent Coulson explains as the Quinjet lands before walking out off the ramp seeing a beautiful red haired lady coming to meet them.  

“Agent Romanoff. Captain Rogers. Agent Grey.” 

“Ma’am” Steve and Linda said in unison. 

“They need you on the bridge. There starting the Face-trace”Natasha said to Coulson 

“See you there.” He said before walking away leaving Steve and Linda with Natasha, walking towards the railing of the ship.

“There was quite the buzz around here, finding you both in the ice. I thought Coulson was gonna swoon. Did he ask you to sign his Captain America trading cards yet?” She said looking at Steve.

“Trading cards?” 

“They're vintage, he's very proud.” 

“Dr. Banner.” Steve walks up to Banner and shakes his hands.

“Oh, yeah. Hi. They told me you'd be coming.” Banner said. 

“Word is you can find the cube.” Linda said after shaking Banner’s hand.

“Is that the only word on me?”

“Only word we care about.” Steve said seeing Banner taking in the sentiment.

“Must be strange for you both, all of this.” Banner said with a nervous vibe coming off him.  

“Well, this is actually kind of familiar.” Steve said looking around. 

“Gentlemen, Lady,  you may wanna step inside in a minute. It's gonna get a little hard to breath.” Natasha said as the Helicarrier starts shaking “Flight crew, prepare the sail."

“Is this is a submarine” Steve said walking over to the end 

“Really? They wanted me in a submerged pressurized metal container?” Banner said walking next to Steve leaving Linda and Natasha standing there.

“And I thought they were smarter than that.” Linda said quietly earning a smirk from Natasha. 

“Oh, no. This is much worse.” Banner said making Linda roll her eyes as the Helicarrier takes off into the air. 

When Natasha walked them into the bridge of the ship Steve and Linda looks around in awe seeing the technology around them. Steve then walks over to Fury and hands him $10 making Linda smirk before Fury walks over to her. 

“It’s nice to see you again Agent Grey.” 

“Yeah I hope to say feelings mutual. Are you sure you want me here?” Linda said flashing her black eyes at him. 

“We will be fine.” He said before walking over to Banner. 

Linda was standing near the large window looking out into the sky when she heard Agent Sitwell, “We got a hit. Sixty-seven percent match. Weight, cross match, seventy- nine percent.”

“Location?” Agent Coulson said walking up the screen with Steve and Linda watching 

“Stuttgart, Germany. 28, Konigstrasse. He's not exactly hiding.” Agent Sitwell said showing them a picture of Loki. 

“Captain, Grey, you're up.”  Fury said toward Steve and Linda who nods before leaving the room.

 Walking into the locker room Linda approaches her updated uniform before trying it on loving the fit and the material. She wanders around the room looking at all the weapons they had laying around seeing United Cutlery GH 2033 Gil Hibben throwing knives. She picks it up twirling it in her hand a few time before sliding it into the holster on her belt. 

After selecting a few more weapons Steve walks in. 

“How do I look?” He said holding his Shield.

“Ready for battle Captain.” She said with a sad smile.

Secundus Sunday: Another Christmas Sneak Preview!

Hey, if I’m showing off a bit of “Fixing You” for Christmas this year, I may as well have equal time for my two biggest AUs and show off some “Secundus 2: Weird Weird West” as well! I’m not doing a full chapter for this one, though, simply because “Secundus 2″ is still in the initial writing stage (unlike “Fixing You,” which is midway through the first round of edits). I’m not even all the way through Chapter 3 yet! There’s a lot more that can change in this story right now, and it’s DEFINITELY going to take longer to put up in full than “Fixing You.”

So, yeah, no AO3 or FF.net links this time. Instead, you get a direct look right here at roughly the first three pages (according to LibreOffice Writer) of Chapter One. For context, it’s been about two years since the events of “Secundus,” it’s currently August 4th, and Victor’s busy in his conservatory lab when:

"Victor! Mail's here!"

"Just a moment!" Victor called back. He squinted through the combination of magnifying lenses in place before his eyes. A little extra nutrient glue here. . .and on the forewing. . .and – in!

He grinned as he sealed the new hindwing into place, then pulled up his goggles. "There we go," he said, releasing the butterfly from its temporary prison. "Wasn't so bad, was it? I'm sorry it's not an exact match for what you had before, but it was the closest I had."

The butterfly fluttered its wings, then took off, sailing easily to a nearby flower. Victor chuckled. "No gratitude," he teased it, standing. "I suppose that's what I get for working with creatures with such primitive brains." He watched as it balanced itself on a petal, and unrolled its proboscis for a drink. "At least it makes it easy to show you all."

"Victor?"

"Coming!" Victor headed for the door of the conservatory, ducking under some heavy leaves and picking his way around the vines creeping across the tiles. "Need to trim those. . . ." He pulled back the net, then slipped through the door as fast as possible, dropping it back into place once he was past. "Sorry, darling," he said, shutting the door behind him before kissing Alice's cheek. "I was in surgery."

"Ah – wouldn't want to interrupt that," Alice agreed, booping his nose. "Sorry to keep calling you, but you've got a letter from Doc and Marty." She held up the envelope with a frown. "Or, well, I think it's a letter. It feels awfully stiff for just paper."

"Maybe they've included a photograph?" Victor mused, accepting the possibly-letter. "Like when I asked what his shop looked like?"

Alice shrugged. "Only one way to find out."

"Mmm." Victor worked a finger under the flap. "You know, I don't mind you opening these," he added as he tore open the top. "They're your friends too."

"I know," Alice said, smiling. "But I like seeing your face light up when you get news from them. Besides, you're the one who was actually living with them for a while. I think that allows you first look at their mail."

Victor chuckled. "Fair enough." He felt around inside the envelope, then frowned. "No, it seems to be a – card?" He pulled it out. "What, did Marty find a funny–"

He stopped, reading the front. His eyes went wide. "Oh. Oh!"

Alice tilted her head. "What is it?"

Victor turned to her with a beaming smile. "He's finally doing it! Marty's getting married!"

"Really?" Alice came to his side for a better look. Victor handed her the card. "'Mr. and Mrs. George McFly and Mr. Robert Parker are pleased to invite you to the wedding of Master Martin McFly and Miss Jennifer Parker – September 7th, 1882, 8:00 A.M., at the Hill Valley First Congregational Church, Hill Valley, California. R.S.V.P. requested.'" She glanced at Victor with a playful smile. "I think he stole the design of this from Aunt Susan."

"Well, she did put together a very nice wedding for us," Victor replied, grinning. "And it's not like I mind." He fished around in the envelope again. "Ah, there's a note too. . . . 'Dear Victor and Alice – Hope you guys are doing well! As you can see, the big news of the month is Jennifer and I are making it official! Which means, hopefully, I finally get to see you guys in person again! Doc and I have really been missing you, and I'm looking forward to introducing you to Jennifer and the rest of the McFly clan. Unfortunately, despite practically begging him on bended knee, the Mayor's still refusing to let Doc fly the train out to get anybody. That guy can hold a grudge. . .Doc was able to track down a fast-travel airship that'll get you to San Francisco, though, and then it's just a day trip down to Hill Valley on the local earthbound rail. He's written down everything you'll need to know on the other side. Soonest one should get you here by September 1st. Let me know if you can make it! It wouldn't be the same without you. Sincerely, Marty.'"

Alice shook her head as Victor flipped over the paper to look at Doc's notes. "You know, they've been back in Hill Valley almost two years now. You'd think the mayor would finally realize they have no intentions of blowing up the place."

"Yes, well, we're long past the second anniversary of my arrival in Secundus, and you don't see my parents trying to make amends, do you?" Victor pointed out, looking up.

Alice's face went dark. "Point. Your mother's probably still convinced you're under mind control, somehow."

"I wouldn't be surprised if she was telling people I'd died," Victor muttered. "Better a deceased son than a Touched one."

Alice wrapped an arm around him. "That's their decision. They made their choice two years ago. Don't spare them another thought."

"I'll try not to." Victor ran his finger over the schedule Doc had laid out. "He's been exceedingly thorough, as usual," he said with a smile. "Times down to the exact minute – he's even estimated how long it should take us to get from the house to the docking station!"

"Would you expect any less from someone who's spent the better part of their life working on a time machine?" Alice replied, chuckling. "But it is handy to know, I suppose." She clapped her hands. "If everything's already in order, I'll go ahead and call them to book the trip. Better earlier than later, right?"

Victor eagerly started to nod – then stopped, frowning. "Ah. . .well. . . ."

Alice arched an eyebrow. "You can't possibly not want to go."

"No, no, I want to," Victor assured her, waving a hand. "I want to almost more than anything in the world! It's just. . . ." His eyes strayed downward, to the swelling bump of her stomach. "You're up for it?"

Alice gave him a Look – the Look, in fact. The Look he'd been getting right from when she'd announced she was with child, and he'd tried to – in her words – imprison her in an armchair. (He hadn't meant to pile so many cushions around her!) "Victor, I'm not a china doll," she said coolly. "I was working right up until last week. I'd still be working if Richard hadn't insisted I take some time off and promised to pay me for it."

"I know, I know," Victor said, rubbing his face. "It's just – it's a long trip. Right across both the Atlantic and the United States."

"And it's on an airship, which is generally noted as one of the nicer ways to fly," Alice responded. "Even a fast-travel one shouldn't be particularly bumpy. And I'll be sitting down for most of it. Given how often you tell me I should be sitting, you should be thrilled about that."

Victor blushed and pulled at his tie. "I don't – w-what if something happens, though?"

"I don't see what could. The doctor says I'm in excellent health, and the baby isn't coming until early November anyway." She grabbed his hands and held them tight. "I know you're a worrier, and I know it's a long trip, but – I'm fine. Really. And I want to go." She jerked slightly, then smiled and pressed one of his hands against her belly. "I think they want to go too."

Right on cue, the baby kicked against his palm. Victor's heart melted at the feel of the little life squirming and growing inside his wife. "Well. . .if all three of us want to go. . .I guess you should book it," he murmured, pulling her close. "I'm sorry, I just–"

"I understand," Alice cut in, voice gentle. "I really do. Why do you think I've been letting Mell Kelly hunt all the monsters in the city since we got the news? But really, I'm not that fragile. I'd hate not to see Marty's wedding. And I'd hate even more keeping you from it." She looked up at him. "I still remember the way your face crumpled when they got the letter saying they could come home."

Victor shook his head. "I – I know I should have been happy for them – and I was, a bit. . .just. . . ." He sighed. "If only it hadn't been so near Christmas. We were all so happy together, and. . . ."

Alice rubbed his hand. "I didn't like seeing them leave either. But you couldn't expect Marty to stay away from his girlfriend forever."

"Of course not," Victor agreed. He looked down at the invitation. "Funny to think he's twenty now. The same age we were when we got married."

"It wasn't that long ago," Alice laughed, poking his shoulder. "You sound like an old man reminiscing about the good old days."

"I can't help it!" Victor laughed along. "A lot has changed since then! When I first arrived in Secundus, I was camping out on Doc's couch!"

"I never got how you managed to live in his sitting room for so long," Alice remarked. "Of course, when we first met, I didn't think you were going to stay. You cut quite the terrified figure in your goggles and tattered coat."

"I was still rather overwhelmed," Victor admitted, smiling. "And it didn't help that I'd just bumped into the prettiest young lady I'd ever met."

Alice went pink. "Flatterer."

"Don't pretend you don't like it."

"Only from you." She looked down at his hand, still resting on her belly. "A lot has changed since that day," she said quietly. "If you'd told me two years ago that I'd be standing inside my own house, trading jokes with my Touched husband and preparing for my first child. . .well, I would have recommended you talk to Dr. Wilson from Rutledge about your overactive imagination."

"If you'd told me that I was going to end up living in the Mad Science Capital Of The World, married to a renowned monster killer, creating all sorts of new butterflies and preparing for fatherhood, I would have thought for sure you'd mistaken me for someone else," Victor agreed. "After all, I had my life all planned out for me before my accidental kidnapping. An arranged marriage to a woman of the nobility. . .following in my father's footsteps with the cannery. . .and never, ever leaving Burtonsville except to check on fish supplies or be dragged to this or that party by Mother."

"Sounds lovely," Alice deadpanned. A little more seriously, she added, "Do you think you could have been happy with that life?"

"I don't know, " Victor admitted. "The arranged marriage probably wouldn't have turned out too badly, since it was with Victoria. . .but. . .I think I would have gotten by, but I would have always felt like there was something missing. Something – better." He winced. "That is – if I didn't go Creative anyway one day from the stress and – I d-don't think it would have turned out well in Burtonsville."

"Probably not," Alice agreed. She snuggled up to him. "I think you ended up exactly where you needed to be, exactly when you needed to be there."

Victor kissed her forehead. "I do too."

Ding-dong! "Arf! Arf! Arf!"

A tan and white blur rocketed past their legs, bee-lining for the front door. "Ooops – looks like we have visitors," Alice commented.

"Hopefully of the sort that like hyperactive corgis," Victor replied, hurrying after the dog. "Lightning! Here boy!"

Lightning turned back to look at him, then hopped up and down in front of the door, barking. "Yes, yes, we know," Victor said, scooping him up. "We can hear the doorbell too, you know. Even without ears as large as yours."

Lightning barked one last time, then busied himself licking Victor's chin, stubby little legs beating the air. "One of these days, I am going to find your off button," Victor declared, laughing. "Silly little dog. . . ." Tucking Lightning firmly under one arm, he opened the door. "Sorry about that – oh, hello Victoria! And Christopher, and Emily."

"Hello," Victoria said, chuckling as Lightning yapped a hello and tried to run on air. "It's all right – you had to stop him running out again, didn't you?"

"He just gets excited when he hears people," Victor replied, looking down at the practically vibrating corgi. "He is doing a lot better at obeying 'sit' and 'stay.'"

"He's like a little perpetual motion machine," Christopher observed. "Your name for him turned out to be very apt, didn't it?"

"He's a cutie," Emily said, leaning down to scratch Lightning under the chin. "Yes you are! Yes you are!"

"Try dealing with him when he decides it's time to run laps in the middle of the night and see if you feel the same way," Alice retorted, waddling up. "I guess it's good practice for dealing with the upcoming bundle of joy, though. . .hello everyone. What brings you all by?"

The end of the Matchbox Fighting Furies (with full chronology)

Shipwrecked:

After the product line’s initially encouraging but relatively modest success its fighting fury future soon withered and after only five years – in total, worldwide - the figures and accessories were banished to bargain basements and clearance shelves where they lived on for a while and some even languished in their original warehouse packing cases for decades (only to be eagerly consumed by 21st century toy collectors). Those that loved them, loved them, but the pace of sales didn’t justify further expansion, with the original strategy of investing in cost-efficient but large initial stocks serving only to exacerbate the limited range and compromise any potential progress.

Ultimately the products failed to accrue the popularity and volumes originally expected and one anonymous but enterprising U.S toy distributor - where lingering stocks of the Adventure packs were increasingly irrelevant without the matching figures – even slid a deplorably poor-quality pirate figure (“inspired” by the Captain Patch figure of Mego’s Super Pirates product line – with this “knockoff” version placing the eye patch over his right eye instead) into the window packs in an attempt to help sell through the last of the outfits. The ‘patch’ figure was poor and wasn’t even the correct size - being noticeably smaller - but some toy collectors have contemptuously included this unofficial imposter within their Matchbox Fighting Furies collection!??

After Crazy Horse’s tomahawk formally came down on the entire Fighting Furies product line at the close of 1978 it seems happily fortuitous, as the era of Star Wars had arrived and cowboys and pirates – of the earthbound variety - felt particularly dated. But were our pirates, and their Errol Flynn swashbuckling “heroics”, extraordinarily progressive for their time with their obvious ethnicities, male makeup, prostheses, lessons in coastal geography, cultural ceremonies and an embracing of cultural dress? Probably not – and possibly the exact opposite along with fictional clichés stolen from the silver screen of a previous era - but for a short glorious moment these British toys flexed their jib climbing muscles and blithely went head to head with already entrenched and recognisable brands while being prepared to compete across all of the world’s seven seas and all from the humble address of Lee Conservancy Road in landlocked Hackney, East London. The figures had a superior specification, were better crafted and they boasted exceptional outfit accessory packs, but as confused late entries into a crowded market, already dominated by established players, the Fighting Furies have ultimately only become a footnote in the toy history of modern 20th century action figures; but unjustifiably so. Such was the audacious desire of Lesney Products to muscle their way into this lucrative market from a complete standing start, with no franchise tie-ins and relying only upon the claustrophobically generic world of period pirates and old-school westerns, the range was destined to remain small and would always struggle. Quality doesn’t always win out and on imperial seas you only ever got rough justice. But a rare honour is bestowed upon this long-ago toy episode, as Peg-leg, Hook, the original Sea Fury playset and all eight of their disguises now form part of the eminent collection of Britain’s Victoria and Albert museum; the world’s leading museum of art and design.

No self-respecting vintage ‘action figure’ collector can conceivably ignore these beautifully fashioned and exceptional examples which are surely destined to be afforded more and more retrospective attention.

Matchbox Fighting Furies blogs written and researched by Cap’n Blood Lust. (Aye-aye, me hearties).

                                     -----------------------------------

Across the internet, the years and lifespan associated with Fighting Furies products are consistently reported incorrect – here is a breakdown of their availability timeline:

Published product history (USA/UK):

The first two Pirates and six Adventure packs first launched in the U.S.A and were then quickly followed in the U.K in 1975. They were publicly promoted by Lesney Products in the U.S for only two years while in the U.K (and Europe) the products continued, and an additional Wild West series was released in 1976. All Fighting Furies products would eventually end with remaining stocks making a final formal appearance as part of the official Matchbox product range in the U.K/Europe 1978 collector’s catalogue.  (It is thought that Lesney Products – aka Matchbox - in the U.K may also have attempted to relaunch the Wild West series – serviced with legacy stocks – to the trade in 1980).

1974 U.S.A: The pirates and adventure packs appear in a public brochure for the first time in the 1974 U.S.A edition of the Matchbox Collectors Catalogue.

(The first two pirates, 6x adventures and the Sea Fury carry case also first appear in the U.S.A trade catalogue for 1974).

1974 U.K: Matchbox Collectors Catalogue; No Fighting Furies products.

------------------------

1975 U.S.A:  As previously/1974.

(Elsewhere, U.S.A national retailer Sears introduces the ‘full ship version’ Sea Fury carry case to their product line).

1975 U.K: The two pirates and 6x adventures are introduced in the 1975 U.K public Collectors Catalogue.

(Ghost of Cap’n Kidd, 2x adventure packs, 2x Disguise packs, the Wild West series – of 3x figures and 2x adventure packs - are presented in the U.K trade catalogue).

------------------------

1976 U.S.A: All Fighting Furies products disappear from the 1976 U.S.A Matchbox Collectors Catalogue.

(Elsewhere, the U.S.A retailer Sears introduces “Capt. Kidd” – the ghost of - to their range and continue selling stocks of Pirates, adventure packs, and playsets).

1976 U.K: The 2x pirates, plus the introduction of the Ghost of Cap’n Kidd are shown (with their “disguises and accessories” - 6x adventures + 2x disguises - mentioned in the text). The three Wild West figures are shown and described as a “brand new series”. (A “magnificent horse” is also shown, labelled as Sundance. Their own action sets and disguises are also mentioned, while Kid Cortez is labelled as Pecos Kid [sic]).

-----------------------

1977 U.S.A: Again - No Fighting Furies products.

1977 U.K: 2x pirates + Ghost of Cap’n Kidd, 2x action packs explicitly named and shown for the first time (Stockade Assault & Captain Kidd’s Treasure), 2x Disguises explicitly named and shown for the first time (Buccaneer Captain & Spanish Officer), 6x adventures (listed only), 3x Wild West figures and 2x Wild West adventure packs (Cattle Rustler & War Dance; listed only), are all featured in the public’s Collectors Catalogue.  

-----------------------

1978 U.S.A: Again - No Fighting Furies products.

1978 UK: Only the 3x Pirate figures and the 3x Wild West figures are shown. (No reference to any accessories, adventures or disguises). No Fighting Furies appear in the 1979 edition.

Products

1974:

Pirate series:

Figures:

Peg-Leg: (Capt./Cap’n). (U.S code: 10 00 01, U.K code: FF-100). 

(Supplied with hidden map, sabre, knife, peg-leg plug/stopper, grey breeches, one boot, white shirt, brown waistcoat, orange sash and ‘gold’ ring).

Hook: (Hook/Cap’n). (U.S code: 10 00 03, U.K code: FF-101).

(Supplied with a black wrist band, sabre, knife, purple breeches, shoes, socks, purple waistcoat, yellow sash and ‘gold’ ring).

Both figures released in corner window packaging with minor design variations and differing titles:

U.S versions. “Hook” & “Capt. Peg-Leg”: exclusive U.S release boxes. (With Matchbox logo at top of box).

European versions “Cap’n Hook” & “Cap’n Peg Leg”: exclusive European release boxes. (With Matchbox logo at bottom) *. (U.K codes: FF-101 & FF-100, respectively).

Both figures were also available in the U.S via retailer Sears in plain Sears branded packaging, as ‘Hook’ and ‘Captain Peg Leg’ [sic].

*Some boxes featured small “specification” statement at bottom rear. Some of which also used flat-bottomed inner inlay cards. Some boxes included the “specification” statement and a black key line around the lettering of the main promotional text on box front.

Not including the Sears packaging and including the U.S.A versions (and counting both figures as one) there are technically four versions with differing external details, but predominantly the USA, the European and European with key-line text versions.

Adventure accessories packs. (Each a mixture of clothing and general accessories):

The Captain Blood Adventure

The One-Eyed Sailor Adventure

The Hooded Falcon Adventure

The Spanish Main Adventure

The Redcoat Adventure

The Kung Fu Warrior Adventure

All 6 adventures were released in packs with design variants:

U.S exclusive standard packaging

European exclusive standard packaging (with language translations)

U.S exclusive ‘de lux set’ labelled standard packaging

All 6 adventures were also available in the U.S via retailer Sears in plain Sears branded packaging.

Playsets:

Sea Fury - Play set and carry case (standard Poop Deck design)

Contains: Vinyl foldout case with attached handle, Anchor with rope, Helm (wheel), 2x deck railings (often confused as one when stacked together), Chart Table, Chair, Decorative Decals (sticker sheet) and Instruction leaflet. Sea Fury retail packaging was a printed open-ended cardboard sleeve with a colour “photo-litho” on one side.

1975:

Pirate series:

Playsets:

Sea Fury - Pirate Ship Play Case (full ship version): U.S exclusive, available only via U.S retailer Sears

Contains: 3x red clips, mast connector, mast sail rubber O-ring (for assembly*); The vinyl foldout case/playset with attached handle, Anchor with rope, Prow section, Helm (wheel), wooden Mast (supplied in two parts, with skull and crossbones Jolly Roger fitted to one), suspended hammock, gangplank, ladders, white square sail and wooden Spar, ropes for securing Spar to stern and instruction leaflet. Sea Fury retail packaging was a printed cardboard open ended sleeve with a colour “photo-litho” on one side.

(*Clips trimmed and bridged together top sections of the front edge balustrades. Connector tube joined the two wooden masts together. O-ring on mast is double looped to slide spar through).

1976 – second wave releases:

Pirate series:

Figures:

The Ghost of Cap’n Kidd (Exclusively supplied in Europe in full colour “coffin” packaging. Codes: FF.102)

Capt. Kidd [sic] (as per The Ghost of Cap’n Kidd, above: exclusively available in the U.S via mail-order from retailer Sears and supplied in Sears branded plain packaging)

Disguise packs – Europe only product. (Clothing only):

Buccaneer Captain

(Contained: Tricorn Hat, Ruff, Blue Coat, Black Boots and White Breeches)

Spanish Officer

(Contained: Cloak, Helmet, Breastplate, Ruff, Brown Boots and Striped Breeches)

Accessory action packs – Europe only product. (Accessories only):

Cap’n Kidd’s Treasure

(Contained assorted accessories concurrently available in The Captain Blood and Spanish Main Adventure packs and the white belt and pouch from the Redcoat Adventure. Contents: Compass, Treasure Chest with Treasure, Telescope, Pistol, Shovel, Belt and Pouch, Tankard, Set of Keys and Treasure Map)

Stockade assault

(Contained assorted accessories concurrently available in The One-Eyed Sailor and Redcoat Adventure packs. Contents: 2x Belaying Pins, Rifle, Pouch, Pistol, Swivel cannon on gun barrel, 3x rammers, Axe, Grapple with rope, Powder horn)

Western Series:

Figures – Europe only product:

Black McCoy

(Included body-armour, black cattleman Stetson - with decorative red hat band, chin strap/cord and toggle - and a revolver handgun. Packaged with a brown handled knife – as like the other figures – but is omitted from box illustrations and Matchbox catalogues).

Kid Cortez

(Included body-armour, yellow sombrero with chin strap/cord and toggle, revolver handgun, brown handled knife and green cord for closing his waistcoat).

Crazy Horse

(Included two patterned hair bands, two head feathers, tomahawk and knife. There is a colour variant of his trousers: yellow or darker yellow/orange).

Sundance – the Wonder Horse (featured in promotional literature and series packaging, but not believed to have entered into production).

Accessory action packs – Europe only product:

Cattle rustler (Content: Rifle, Water Bottle with and Strap and Stopper, Camp Fire, Unrolling Blanket with straps, Pair of Initialled Branding Irons, Steers Skull, Pair of Chaps, Mug and Coffee Pot with Lid)

War dance (Content: “Peace Pipe”, Lance, Working Rattle, Drum with Drum Stick, Shield, Mask Headdress and Camp Fire)

 Inexplicably some Peg-Legs and some Black McCoys have the same black wrist band as Hook.

Shift to digitisation and e-commerce will fuel growth: Mjunction CEO

Company News

Mjunction, a 50:50 joint venture between SAIL and Tata Steel, has moved beyond its traditional strengths in commodities trade to embark on new businesses like real estate and sports solutions. It is also keen to partner Railways and its subsidiary companies to offer a platform for selling their scrap and idle assets. In this interview with Jayajit Dash, mjunction services limited's MD & CEO Vinaya Varma tells that the company eyes 40 per cent CAGR topline growth through 2023, betting on India’s e-commerce boom.

mjunction services has recently forayed into real estate vertical, auctioning commercial plots. Beyond UP, which other states are on your radar? Are you also looking at tie-ups with real estate developers?

mjunction entered the real estate sector with Uttar Pradesh Awas Vikas Parishad and currently, we are customising the platform for Uttar Pradesh State Industrial Development Authority (UPSIDA) where e-auctions will begin soon. After we consolidate our position in Uttar Pradesh, we will target other states.

How does mjunction intend to expand its sports solutions vertical? Beyond cricket, how do you aim to engage other popular sports?

There is a large opportunity for sports federations to bring in transparency and efficiency in several areas. We have a tie up with Sporty Solutionz to create digital solutions for cricket as well as other sports.

In the Railways sector, what bigger deals are you looking to seal? Any partnership on the cards with subsidiaries and Rail centric companies like Rites, IRCTC, IRFC or RailTel?

mjunction has worked very closely with Railways and RITES for successful completion of projects like jungle clearance, inventorying, valuation and e-auction.