don't hold your breath

  ......     i never said I'd save you, honey and I don't want your money     ......    damian black | 24  

[damiancorp2]

kzedanvers:

Kara frowned, not really appreciating the boy’s tone. As far as she was concerned, there was nothing to be ashamed of. Then again, she was a Kryptonian so she had certain privileges her fellow out-of-world beings didn’t. The ability to blend in and reach God-like powers being the most important ones when it came to people actually liking her.

Nevertheless, he corrected himself and she eased up. “Superman kind of paved the way for aliens to be more accepted, I guess? I mean, there are still a lot of people here that hate the idea of aliens living on Earth but my cousin has kind of become most people’s hero so they don’t think all aliens are bad. Especially not the ones that fight crime, like me.”

She was really beginning to get curious as to where he was from. How could he not know any of this stuff? “Where are you from anyway?” she asked.

                   He needed to do more research. He’d been flying by on the assumption that their histories were relatively close because of how similar everything else seemed. Last time he’d gone reality hopping in the worst reality hopping vacation ever, nearly every version was wildly and radically different. This one was so close he chalked it up to a parallel reality more than a full alternate reality. Apparently he couldn’t have been more wrong.

                    “Would you believe me if I said the Upper East Side?” That wouldn’t explain why he was so uninformed but it wasn’t an outright lie. His parents did live on the Upper East Side. And he may not be living at home anymore but it was where he was from. Even if it wasn’t the Upper East Side in this reality. For all he knew it was a terrible part of town instead of the snobby rich neighborhood he was used to. Well, it wasn’t Upper East Side proper but... it was close enough.

[damiancorp2]

kzedanvers:

Kara’s eyes widened at the mention of magic. She had heard a bit about it and witnessed it a few times but she specialized in little crimes and alien threats so it wasn’t every day that she ran into magic users. Kal El had told her that magic was one of those things she should be wary of because it had the power to hurt their kind but this boy seemed harmless enough.

“Oh, we have heroes who use magic too! Usually they have to cast spells and incantations though,” she explained, thinking specifically of Zatanna. This boy must have been born pretty special if he could do what he did without words. “But no.. we don’t call meta-humans mutants… Seems kind of like a rude term.” She supposed it was scientifically accurate but something about it rubbed her the wrong way.

When he asked her about her own state, her eyes widened. He really didn’t know anything about Superman? It wasn’t like the source of Superman’s powers was a secret. In fact, it was well-known that Superman was Kryptonian. “No, we’re aliens from another planet… Completely different from humans.”

                 There were magic users here? So why hadn’t they picked up on the whole... bending of reality thing. Someone had to be on that? Someone had to be tracking down all the anomalies, unless the source of this wasn’t actually magic at all but that seemed... unlikely at best. The only reality warping he’d ever seen was magic. Science couldn’t do this. Even alien science. “I use... a kind of incantation but for small things I don’t always have to do it out loud. It’s, uh... a family trick.”

                  Okay, not mutants. Mutants was bad. Meta-humans. Still seemed kind of rude. A division between human and another group but who was he to judge how another reality handled mutants when his own reality had full mutant hunts. “You just... tell people you’re aliens? And people are okay with that?” With the number of deadly alien invasions on his Earth, anything even slightly alien was rejected very quickly and put into the ‘threat’ category unless it’s alien origins were kept on a tight lock-down.

                  He finally heard what he actually said to her. That was a little more rude than he intended to be to the girl who could stop bullets. “No-- sorry. I don’t mean like-- I’m totally fine with aliens. I’m dating an alien. It’s super cool that you’re an alien.”

[incorrectyoungavengersquotes]

Kate: Well, I manage my PI firm and I’ve been doing that for several months now, and I’ve learned a lot of life lessons along the way. Billy: Your PI firm is just you, right? Kate: Yes, but I’m not easy to manage.

[incorrectyoungavengersquotes]

Billy: I would never say this to Tommy’s face, but he’s a wonderful person and a gifted superhero.

Teddy: Why… why wouldn’t you say that to his face? 

[damiancorp2]

kzedanvers:

Kara blinked in confusion when it seemed obvious that the symbol meant nothing to the boy in front of her. Sure, she wasn’t her cousin so a lot of people didn’t often recognize or know her, but usually the symbol inspired some sort of reaction, worldwide even. Unless this boy was living under some sort of rock, she didn’t know how he didn’t recognize it. Nevertheless, he didn’t so she didn’t want to leave him hanging. “Well, I’m, uhh, I’m Supergirl,” she held out her hand for the boy to shake. “I’m Superman’s cousin and it’s kind of my job to rescue people that look like they are in need of help.”

She pointed to the boy’s hands, which were now no longer glowing. “What were you doing with your hands earlier? Are you some kind of meta-human?” she asked. If the boy had it handled, did that mean he was a superhero as well? Kara didn’t recognize him as one of the Justice League members, but he was also pretty young so maybe he was new? Ever since she joined the DEO, she was kind of out of the loop with the rest of the Justice League members so she wouldn’t be surprised if he was she she just didn’t know about him.

                   Superman’s cousin? Well, it wasn’t the weirdest backstory he’d ever heard. He didn’t really have room to talk. Considering his backstory was the soul child of one of the most powerful mages on his Earth that was rewritten into reality when she had a mental breakdown so... cousin made a lot more sense actually. She was related to Statue Guy With the S. “Good job. With the saving people thing. Thank you.”

                     Meta-human... seemed like it might be related to mutants? And technically mages were kinds of mutants since it was a genetic change that allowed them into access magical power. He opened his hand, turned his palm down, and then up again. In a soft blue light, he produced a daisy. “Kind of. Magic. I don’t know how you classify magic and mutants here.” There wasn’t really a point in trying to lie and convince her he knew what he was talking about. Every other time he’d tried to do that, he ended up caught almost right away. He just wasn’t a good liar. “So are... you and Superman meta-humans?”

[damiancorp2]

chxsingrunaways:

“Funnily enough, the creation and popularity of those blow up T-rex suits have helped. Completely ignoring the fact she isn’t a t-rex, most people just snort because they think it’s my shy cousin who loves his blow up dino suit. Which…says a lot about humanity, huh?” Chase asked with a snort, arms crossed as he listened to what Billy as saying. 

“Okay, so we know that it isn’t our reality. Nice analogy by the way, you ever consider writing? If this whole magical being thing doesn’t work out, keep that in mind.” But nodding, Conner stared down the street as if the answer would come running down towards them. “So if we know it isn’t our reality, what about going back? Or who brought us here? Because I doubt we had the same crazy dream right? the probability on that is too low.”

                   “Like I said... magical problem solving isn’t really my area of expertise. If Scarlet Witch was here... or Doctor Strange, maybe even Loki could do more for this than I can. Without the books I have, I’m not really an expert in the arcane or anything. And Google is really unreliable. Not to mention the government might be tracking searches for ‘how to escape from alternate realities’. I’m not really up for getting kidnapped by the government and experimented on. Again.” Billy sipped his coffee to buy himself a minute to mull that over. There had to be magic people here on it...

                     “I’ll keep the writing thing in mind. Where are you staying?” Finding housing had been... something of an issue. He could conjure up things that he needed but not everyone had that ability. Not to mention conjuring up food usually took about as much energy as the food could supply him. He had his wallet on him when he appeared here but... he was running low on funds.

[damiancorp2]

kzedanvers:

Kara raised her brow and looked down at the boy’s glowing hands. He was a meta-human? “Sorry?” she apologized, not sure what to make of the situation. It wasn’t exactly every day that she met someone who was disappointed she blocked a bullet from hitting them. “I just, uhh…” Kara had only been on Earth for a few months but she was pretty sure that she wasn’t the one in the wrong here. “I mean, when I see bullets, I just kind of jump in without thinking,” she explained, shrugging her shoulders. “It’s kind of a ‘Super’ thing.” She gestured to the very well-known symbol on her chest as if it was the perfect explanation to everything.

                  Billy looked down at his hand, still illuminating the night and quickly closed his fist, putting it out. “No-- I mean, I shouldn’t be mad you stopped a bullet or anything. Thanks. I think. I just... Hard to know whose on what side, sometimes.” She pointed at the big emblem on her suit like he was supposed to know what it was. A big S. He’d heard of a Superman flying around. Kind of a local god if things were to be believed, but he didn’t know there was a whole crew of super flying people. “Sorry, I’m not from... around here?”

[damiancorp2]

kzedanvers:

“Watch out!” Kara shouted before she dived in to block the bullet that was milliseconds away from hitting the person. She had just been on a regular patrol when she noticed a little commotion beneath her and decided to check it out. Once guns were introduced into the equation, she knew she couldn’t ignore it. Kara rushed forward and took the gun away from the masked individual, crushing it with her bare hand before pushing him into the wall, immediately knocking him out. She turned back to the person behind her and smiled. “Are you okay?”

                      Billy reacted on instinct. He saw a girl running, a man behind her pull out a gun, and put himself in between them. He urged the man to put down his weapon and the girl ran a corner, out of sight, and didn’t even look back at Billy. Good to know that people did that everywhere. His hand was glowing blue, magic surrounding it, prepared to shoot off a low, weak burst of lightning at the villain when the blonde in red and blue took him out before Billy could finish blinking. “I’m... fine. I had that, you know.”

[damiancorp2]

chxsingrunaways:

He couldn’t remember all the Young Avengers off the top of his head, the last time their paths crossed was a long time ago, but he remembered Billy. The magical one who could wish things into being. Memories of their first encounter bounced through is head, but he blinked back to reality when he heard him speaking. “I mean, don’t be shocked at the number because there are a fuck ton of heroes here apparently.” He mused before shaking his head. “Haven’t seen any of them, Old Lace came with me though, which was a relief.” Hesitating, Chase looked at Billy questioningly. “Your power is dealing with strange stuff right? Do you have any idea of what’s going on?” 

                    “I’d ask how you’ve kept a dinosaur around here but... you would have the most experience sneaking a dinosaur into and out of places.” Billy honestly wouldn’t know how to start trying to keep anything larger than a small dog to not only stay with him in this strange city, but also not get people questioning the dinosaur dog he had. “I wish I could say I had any idea what’s happening but I have no idea. None of my stuff came with me and I’m not great at... magic puzzle solving or anything. Not really my magical area of expertise. But I do know that this isn’t our reality. It’s... different. Like when a company changes their candy recipe and you can taste it. It’s close but not... right.”

[damiancorp2]

anxoracle:

Babs wasn’t able to hold back a half laugh. “Three whole weeks? Very impressive.” Her eyebrows rose up. “So did you steal that from someone else? I assumed you’d just… made it out of nothing.” So his magic wasn’t like Zatanna’s? That was weird. “Nope, never heard of him or his company. Is it a new thing? Based on the West Coast?”

                   “What? No! No, I didn’t steal it from someone else I just...” How did he explain magical morality to, one: someone he had never met before, and two: when he was kind of still trying to figure it out as he went. “Never mind. It isn’t important.” He just rewrote reality so that he had a cup of coffee through sheer force of will. “Um. Yeah. West Coast thing. I’m, uh, new in town. Billy, nice to meet you.” He lived in California once. That could work.

[damiancorp2]

chxsingrunaways:

“Pity, was going to ask you to spike mine,” Chase said with a snort. He was turning to go into the Starbucks he was heading for when he froze. How did this kid know his name. Narrowing his eyes a little bit, he blinked twice. “Shit…Kaplan? Billy? When did you get here? Is your team here too?”

                    “Yes! I mean... no, well. Not that I’ve found. Cell service is... different here. I mean, I know Kate is around here somewhere but I haven’t gotten to actually find her yet. But how many archers in purple can there be in one city? What about you? The other Runaways?” He was taking stock in his head. Most of the Runaways would be fine on their own. A few probably wouldn’t. If Chase was here... was Old Lace here too? How had he gotten here?

[damiancorp2]

ofwcnderisms:

🔆 “You really think i’m gonna let you walk home all alone after this?” She asks, a small sigh following her words. “Nope. You’re stuck with me… until you’re safe inside.”

                  “I’m not hurt or anything.” Yes, he had been in the middle of what was basically a bank robbery. No, he didn’t think to switch into his costume before running after the guy. Yes, he did end up in the middle of a fight between the robbers and a woman who could deflect bullets. No, he didn’t manage to do much after she showed up. “Really, I’m totally fine.”

[damiancorp2]

chxsingrunaways:

Chase had no idea what this kid was babbling about. It was too early to focus. He hadn’t gotten his own coffee yet, but this guy was standing in front of him babbling about suspicious coffee? “Dude, are you trying to say you spiked your coffee? Because if you did more power to ya. As long as you don’t spike other people’s drinks. That’s not cool.” 

                   “No I didn’t... spike this coffee.” Maybe he should. Whiskey drunk first thing in the morning didn’t sound like a good plan though. Even if he was kind of overwhelmed by everything that was happening. He also didn’t want to try and magic up alcohol in case he did it wrong. “Wait-- wait, wait-- Chase?”

                    He knew this kid. He totally knew this kid. How did Chase end up here too?

[damiancorp2]

girlblundcr:

“i’m not going to die, okay. i have plans for creating a belgian waffle flavored ice cream, and i’m not dying before i get to taste that creamy, mapley goodness.” besides, she’d tried dying once. didn’t really like it. maybe next year “if i die, i’m haunting your ass for not doing your best to save me. and that means jumping off to catch me.” 

                  “They make maple syrup flavored ice cream. I mean-- not to get rid of your reason for living or anything but like... the waffle ice cream can’t be that much harder to make than syrup ice cream.” Billy sighed and figured there was no actual stopping her. He could catch her if she failed. Or get her down to the hospital at least if it wasn’t too bad. And if it was, he’d heal her and then say she just got knocked out and no other injury. That seemed moral. And not like... abusing his power. “Okay. So... I’ll stand here. A safe, normal distance, and let you jump. And if you die. I will jump after you.”

[donnatroi2]

So… I’m the Demiurge. This is nice. What can I do? Anything. Yeah, anything.

Billy Kaplan in Young Avengers Vol. 2

[damiancorp2]

spideyyup:

“i think literally no one thinks that,” peter tossed back, feeling a bit more comfortable with familiar banter in this otherwise exceedingly unfamiliar world. “oh, you don’t want to know. it would be a code toffee creamer with three sugars. serious business. you know that’s the second highest coffee alert there is.” he laughed a bit and slipped his hands into the pockets of the sweatshirt he was wearing. “who have you been in contact with?”

                   Billy laughed back because it was nice to talk to someone who actually knew him. It was so hard to feel comfortable when even the air itself seemed to smell different no matter where he went. A familiar face always brightened things up a little. “I just don’t want to cause a Code Half Soy Half No Fat Full Foam Drizzle situation before four o’clock. That might go on my permanent record and I’ve caused enough trouble as it is.” He took a sip of his coffee and winced. Burning. Fresh from the pot kind of steamy. McDonald’s scandal boiling. “I’m just saying... ow, this is too hot, ow, I’m just saying, I’ve seen Captain America before his first cup of Joe in the morning. There is a coffee related crime waiting to happen.”

[damiancorp2]

anxoracle

Entirely unimpressed, Barbara raised a single eyebrow at the guy. “You know, I might have actually ignored it if you hadn’t been so painfully obvious. You really should work on your lying.” She pursed her lips for a moment, considering her options before speaking again. “If you make one for me, I’ll pretend to buy your story, though.” Was she above bribing someone for coffee? Definitely not.

                   “I am... excellent at lying. I managed to stay in the closet for almost three whole weeks before everyone knew.” Well, three whole weeks between him coming to the realization and his entire class knowing. Mostly everyone knew right away. One kid was out because he was in a car accident. “It’s not really... I mean I shouldn’t... have even made this one for myself. It’s kind of a morality thing... Like how Tony Stark doesn’t choke out the entire technology industry-- you don’t know Stark Industries, do you?”