Oh for that post that was like, "Let’s play a game. Send me a potential AU and I’ll tell you five fun facts that would happen in a story," I gotta reverse your Toxbert. I love reverse AUs so much.
So like... "Cradle Me" Toxbert but Robert is the villain and Toxic is the hero. What does that look like?? 👀
send me an au concept and i'll give you 5 headcanons! || open, but slow to answer
@allmxedup turns out someone had a similar thought to you! i literally got this ask within like 5 minutes of you sending this in lmao
anonymous: have you thought about an au in which toxicbert are swapped? Can be roles or powers maybe, my main thought was robert being a villain and toxic being a hero or alternatively robert having acid/toxic sludge powers and toxic being a normie
(cut it down slightly for space, but nonnie if you see this: you never have to apologize i love getting stuff like this!)
as always, i am too wordy so this is definitely like more than just 5 fun facts/headcanons but i do try to keep it to like 5 general points/topics lmao my bad...
so a reverse cradle me au, with hero!toxic and villain!robert~
mini note: idk if they would still go by these monikers, et cetera, in this and i'm to lazy atm to think of all that. so i'm just using their usual names lmao
also strangely enough i think a lot of the au just kinda. stays the same? tho i like to think robert is even worse off. rip, sorry bob-bob.
ironically, i think they meet the exact same way. like, even who ends up crashing on whose couch doesn't change. robert, as mecha man, tucked away in a quiet spot next to toxic's apartment. and he's definitely not like at risk of dying but in rough shape, when he is found by toxic. toxic (not in uniform or w/e so by all accounts just seems like a random citizen), being a good guy (or at least a like, better guy), is obviously going to make sure he is okay. even if this the infamous mecha man. and somehow, toxic is staring at the guy unconscious/asleep on his couch; wondering how the fuck he got here...
he also deeply distracted by the fact that mecha man seems to have freckles (they're peaking out from under the mask, which he smartly doesn't remove).
toxic is less traditional hero, more vigilante who likes to make criminals lives living hell. he might be a former sidekick to someone, to tie in the fact he is an excellent second-in-command; but he eventually left that behind for some reason. most people, nowadays, have no idea it was him- which is how he likes it. he's also still very much a rough-n-tumble, foul mouth boy! just yk putting his skills to use for good. a lot of people don't even know he has acid powers though, tbh, since it's not really... useful, most days? instead he relies on his flight, regen, strength, and durability as his usual skills. he doesn't pretend to be a normie in this au, at least not anymore.
hell maybe he is still even a former criminal, who decided (for whatever reason) to switch sides.
robert is a fucking mess, and he's just kinda... making it everyone's problem. he is a villain, but he also has standards. he tries to avoid killing when possible, his targets are also rarely people, he wont harm kids, et cetera. he's a villain, but he has some class, despite being a fucking disaster of a person. robert is still a legacy villain, though he operates very differently from his father's brute-force-of-nature methods... he doesn't even really enjoy the work, honestly. yeah the money is nice, and he enjoys a good cat-n-mouse, but he just... doesn't care. his heart isn't in it, never has been, but at least in the past he could fake it... it's harder to do that, nowadays.
idk if it's still the 10 years in or 15... but i like to think maybe in this situation, robert is a bit worse and even if it's only 10 years in, he's closer to the like 15 year mindset we see in game. just very much at the end of his rope. it's all the usual, but with the added thing of being surrounded by people, even just passively, who could not give a fucking shit about him and would gladly kill him. robert, even if he wanted a support system, is not in an environment where he could get it... also all his exes are even worse...
i think the reveal would happen earlier, though probably not on purpose (at least on robert's part). i think it probably takes a bit longer to formally start dating, but it is very much that one thing of like is it a 22 night stand or a relationship? lmao.
toxic's moving away from crime in the normal au, is subtle and slow. but i think robert's move away is fairly dramatic and noticeable to the public. it's very start-and-stop, but slowly the gaps between his appearances just get longer and longer... and then, one day, people realize they haven't seen mecha man in the news in... gosh, how long has it been?
robert, i think, still does a bit of freelance work. but it's like very, indirect/hands off, and anonymous. just to help bring in money, keep his skills sharp. it's definitely like, more grayhat. like it's not good but he's not hurting like average people or anything.
bonus: eli is also a hero, or was (perhaps retired by then). but he still had a relationship with robbie of some kind; and knew robert as a kid. eli is elated to see robert again for the first time in 10+ years. robert is... tense, unsure, expecting the worst. but the second eli is pulling him into a tight hug, he's just melting into his embrace, and he feels just like a vulnerable little kid again.
Saw one of the things you reblogged and finally thought up a toxmech prompt: What if they got hit with the ole power swaparooni? Jay goes full normie and Robert gets the Toxic treatment
@allmxedup
this isn't part of any au i have established for these two, but i am considering it like a spin-off or potential 'what if' for like my more domestic toxicmech au.
name note #1: my headcanon name for toxic, at this time, is jay. so i may refer to him as such in these two au's.
name note #2: in most au’s where they’re an established couple, toxic calls robert — robin — either as a nickname or full time.
other: for context, i'm comparing toxic's baseline acid that he produces to sulfuric acid! i'm not sure if it should be exactly that, or it's own special thing since it's produced via his powers. but either way, i'm comparing it to that. || also i mention toxic not using his powers much/pretending to be a normie, that's inspired by this awesome post by @fruitytrollroll where it indicates that toxic (in canon) likely hides his powers/that he has powers, and lets himself come off as a normie. (which makes a lot of sense to me, especially because unlike say something like fire or light, i doubt highly-corrosive acid is like, something really useful for more day to day stuff.)
now on ao3!
Power swaps are always a chaotic mess, even if it was two supers swapping powers. Unless they have similar powers — there was going to be a learning curve. But even then, it’s at least still two supers who are used to having powers, even if different ones.
But a normie suddenly gaining powers in the blink of an eye? And a supper suddenly depowered, usually (like now) mid-crisis situation?
That was just dangerous.
Toxic was caught and kept from falling out of the sky by the mech, but it was clear there was more going on than just his acid neutralizing and losing his flight— if given the panicked noise coming from the mech was any indication.
“Something is—” the robotic voice broke up, static interfering as the mech rapidly made course to settle onto the nearest flat surface it could find. “— hard — landi —”
Jay groaned as he pushed himself up, his body feeling sluggish and heavy. Normally a tumble and roll wouldn’t have left so much as a scratch; and he’d have felt about the equivalent to falling off a couch at best. But the rough landing on a building roof, let go by the mech’s large mechanical hand, had fucking hurt.
“J-Jay!?” Mecha Man’s — no, Robert’s — voice cut through his internal complaints, and he looked up.
It took a moment for him to recognize exactly what he was seeing. First, he scanned his partners face on instinct— the normally calm, if outright stoic, face was twisted into genuine panic. Robert’s armor and under armor was starting to get patchy in spots, revealing skin underneath. He’d stumbled out of the cockpit of the suit, the hatch still open to reveal the interior of the cockpit was patchily melted, if not still melting, as acid ate away at the expensive machinery.
Jay made his partner sit, kneeling in front of him. Hands up, close, but not touching. He couldn’t. He wasn’t acid proof anymore, if the stray drop of it burning his skin for the first time in his life meant anything. “Robin, baby, listen to me. You need to stay calm, or it will just get worse, okay?”
Robert made a pathetic noise, but nodded; swallowing hard. He shut his eyes, listening to his partner’s voice as he forced himself to breathe.
There was at least one benefit to the situation: Robert wasn’t enhanced like Jay was — the piece of Red Ring augmentation still sitting deep under Jay’s skin in his neck. His powers weren’t quiet so tied to his emotional state, like that of some other power sets, but it was still better to be calm. This was all so second nature to Jay, that he had to use the time while Robert calmed down to remember how the fuck he learned to control his powers.
“Jay,” Robert murmured, more collected but he could still hear the edge of panic at the edges of his voice. He took another deep breath as yet another small patch of his suit— along his elbow — started to be eaten away at by acid. “How do I make it stop?”
“You’re already doing great, birdie~” Jay reassured, and Robert looked skeptical. “Believe me, you are. Okay— I know this is going to sound weird, but I’m gonna try to have you make more. But– but– focusing it. If you can feel where it’s coming from and focus on that, you might be able to better reign it in.” He quickly explained. “Okay, take off your gloves.”
Jay was almost a little envious, Robert’s first attempts were certainly going better than his had when he was just some too-lanky, gawky pre-teen. But he chalked it up to Robert being both an adult and someone to actually guide him through it.
Robert’s eyes were screwed shut, as he focused on— well, focusing. He did as his partner suggested, imagining the acid moving through his body and to his hands. Under his hands, a random cinderblock they’d found on the roof, was the first victim to Robert intentionally using the new — but hopefully temporary — powers. The acid slowly ate away at the concrete.
Not too far away, on the ground and in the sky, heroes continued to fight the culprits. Though, if they stopped to pay attention, they’d see they were not the only ones dealing with the chaos magic being flung around.
They were in the SDN office. There had been a shuffle of clothes; Robert put into the acid-proof suit Royd had developed for Jay’s powers, and Jay back in his casual clothes.
“I don’t feel good…” Robert wheezed, not long later, the powers tentatively back under control. His stomach was cramping badly, and he felt bile threatening to rise. His body wasn’t used to — or built — to handle the increased acidity in his body.
Jay just barely got out of the way before his partner lurched for the waste basket, and hurled.
At least he could touch him now, and he carefully rubbed his boyfriends back.
Blonde Blazer walked in, looking frazzled. “Toxic? Blue?”
“‘Sup, boss?”
“Well, I’ve just gotten word that the battle is over, for now. One of the culprits is in custody, but she doesn’t appear to be the one who can reverse— this? At least as far as she says. But! We are in pursuit of her partner, and SDN has people looking into a way to reverse what their magic caused.”
“So, we could be stuck like this for a while?”
She frowned, looking sympathetic. “Potentially. In the meantime— oh!” She was cut off, startled as Robert bent back over and started to throw up the excess acid in his stomach.
“Look, I don’t have powers and he’ll need someone to look after him—”
“Ye-yeah, no I was just about to say, go head and take some time off. Paid, of course. You’ll still be considered on call in case of an emergency, but… go for it.”
“Thanks.”
“Thanks,” Robert managed to croak, wiping his mouth on the long-sleeve of the special suit.
“Of course… I uh, wish we could have met under better circumstances! But, it was still very lovely to meet you,” she said with an awkward smile. “I should, um, get back to the office. The line has been ringing non-stop since this started.”
“S’rry…” Robert mumbled, as Jay looked over the marred counter top. “I dropped a glass of water, it broke and the water—”
“Yeah,” Jay just offered a sympathetic smile. “The acid reacts to water well, it’s okay. It’ll buff out,” he said with a wave of his hand. “You alright though?”
“Mhm.”
“Robin, you’re doing great. Better than I did,” he chuckled. “I melted my mom’s toaster like, three times in as many weeks.”
“Hn,” Robert grumbled, shoulders drawing further up. The last two days had been… tenuous. Robert was scared of touching anything and everything, including Jay and Beef. Especially, Jay and Beef. At one point he’d started floating, the more minor powers of kicking in mid-shower; and he’d left a few random things with melted or warped pieces (when he didn’t accidentally just dissolve them entirely). All on top of his body not taking kindly to suddenly having it’s natural acidity jump a couple hundred percent in the span of a few seconds.
And when Robert wasn’t busy being anxious about that, he was busy stressing out over the Mech which had been taken to the SDN labs where Royd was trying to see what was salvagable. Robert hated not knowing what was going on with his suit, and having someone else he barely knew poke around at it.
They both hoped Chase, or Blazer, would be calling them soon with good news.
The call finally came on day four, and Jay let out an audible groan of relief.
“It’s been bad, huh?” Chase asked over the phone.
“Yeah, Robin’s in rough shape.”
“And you?”
“Eh, I’m used to pretending to be a normie. Not using powers I didn’t often use before SDN isn’t exactly hard. But I do have like, a million mystery bruises.”
Chase chuckled. “I bet. Well, anyways, they’re having to unfuck a lotta folks. But I got you two scheduled for eleven. We’re trying to prioritize those who are in particularly rough shape from this bullshit.”
“Thanks, man. We’ll be there.”
The bright, swirling magic faded around the two.
Robert let out a shuddering breath, staggering in his spot. Jay caught his arm, helping him steady. But even he felt almost off kilter as his powers re-settled into their proper home.
“Well, did it work?” Chase asked from where he stood off to the side.
The augment in Jay’s neck glowed red for a split second, and with ease, his body encased in green acidic sludge that glowed like it might be radioactive.
