I have no explanation for or defense of this fic. Other than my plunnie folder runneth over.

Seriously soliciting advice for dealing with persistent plot bunnies though. Really, this is becoming a thing for me.

So, timeline. Post Avengers on the Marvel side. Pretty much anytime after Friday Night Frights for Monster High. I will be blending elements of the book (for real world applications of certain things) with the animation (because I like the characterization better). Why? For one, sometimes you feel like a pun, sometimes you don't. As much of a language history nerd as I am some of the terms used in the animation I find clever but most irritate the shit out of me. Example: Bite-centennial = Bicentennial. So what's the equivalent of Tricentennial in the Monster World? They uses some wordplay so much it makes no sense other than being wordplay. The only time it does is as slang or teen speak. Its a really specific thing in a franchise designed to sell merchandise to preeteens and teens that bothers me.

I told you I'm weird.

Are you still reading this?

Really?

Okay, the usual warnings apply with me writing this thing. On with the show.

*WTF*

He was sooo going to rip the beauty jewel off of de Nile's face and take sadistic joy in watching as the absence of it's magic leaves her reanimated corpse to wither away to dust and bandages in designer heels. As soon as he was no longer staring down the barrel of several loaded guns. From behind his boyfriend who was making this utterly terrifying hissing/growling noise while keeping him behind his back; fangs bared, talons poised to strike. With one of the guys pointing a firearm at them trying to hide the fact that his knees were shaking from the sound and sight.

This was ridiculous. No, beyond ridiculous.

A minute ago, he'd been trying to apply his skills as a mad scientist to help a friend not be late for everything under the sun anymore. Robecca's internal chronometer had always been a bit wonky but after her accident it was basically scrap. Ghoulia maybe the smartest ghoul in school but he had the highest marks of any of the guys and was just as brilliant. She'd had no luck crafting a new one. He offered to give it a go. Mr. Hack overheard them talking and offered him extra credit if he proved successful. What self respecting nerd refuses E.C.?

The two of them shared a lab in the catacombs pretty well. Mostly because the majority of his experiments and projects were actually done at home whereas Ghoulia didn't have that option. Her folks were medical doctors but their house wasn't designed to accommodate the type of facility she needed. His basement on the other hand had been specially remodelled (to standards that impressed even ) in order to withstand a wide array of disasters that could result from his work. In hindsight, if he had been doing this in his own lab, the equipment he set up to monitor bizarre energy fluxes totally would have shut this shit down before it got going.

Then again Nefera would not have been in his god damned house to begin with...

Okay, let's back up some.

Over spring break, Deuce and Cleo split up. A big scoop for Spectra's blog and the talk of the school when everyone got back. The thing is it was entirely mutual. Both realized some hard truths about themselves and discussed them at length while in Miami.

For Cleo it was that she was attracted to Deuce's status-not him per say. It had been why she broke up with Clawd. The werewolf boy was athletic, smart (when he chose to be) and popular but not very wealthy or of particular influence outside of school. Deuce was all of those going for him. His family, like hers, was ancient and had accumulated a lot of valuables over the centuries. Unlike hers though, they weren't about flaunting it. And because of that she didn't know that also like her, he was royalty. Turns out their return visits to Greece were to where their family was still held in regal standing by monster and man alike. The reason he didn't talk much about it? "My dad and my granddad are both colossal dicks. Our history is complicated."*

When she found out she was ecstatic. And then she realized why she was so happy. Then felt terrible. All this time she's been trying to prove to her father that he was worthy to date his youngest child. That he wasn't some commoner she could do better than. Now she had something the couldn't snub his nose at. And it didn't feel like a win. Despite literally having it all, she had nothing in common with him when you really got down to it. She hated pretty much any physical activity or manual labor that didn't make her look good. He liked music, cooking and could not stand being in a mall. Neither gave a wit about that the other did for enjoyment. But the star athlete and the head cheerleader were supposed to date. Right?

For Deuce it was some of the above. And no longer being able to deny the fact that he was no more interested in ladyparts than Cleo was on working for a living. It didn't help that since Jackson transferred, he hasn't been able to stop thinking about the cute monster in a human looking package. The epitome of adorkable, having one of the world's worst cases of dissociative identity disorder only made him more attractive for some reason. So when he cornered said 'human' and kissed him in the catacombs, he was pleasantly surprised that he kissed back.

Then when Operetta and Johnny's latest duet filled the area, Holt punched him in the face. He and Frankie hadn't been a thing for a while. His issue was that Cleo and him were still together at the time, the week before spring break even started. Holt admitted both he and Jackson were attracted to him. He just didn't like the idea of the gorgon leading his other side or him on as a dirty little secret. The fiery monster wasn't exactly a fan of Cleo but he respected her enough not to go behind her back with her boyfriend. No matter how badly he wanted to jump his bones and ride him like a pony.

Of course Jackson was horrified to learn Holt told him about their crush in such a lewd way when school started after vacation.. Even more so that Holt's forceful attitude turned Deuce on. Just as much as Jackson's embarrassed stammering and flushed face. Which resulted in a study session turned makeout session on Deuce's bed during which...Deuce bit him. Hard.

"What the hell?!" He screamed, covering his neck. "God I'm bleeding!"

At first, all the gorgon did was watch him freak out. He licked the blood off his own lips, then pulled the flailing teen's hand away so he could lap at what flowed from the broken skin. Gently sucking at the wound. A not at all pained moan from the smaller boy make him snap out of the weird daze.

"Shit! I'm sorry!" It was his turn to panic. Why the fuck had he done that?! Biting people wasn't normally how one showed affection (he wasn't a vampire OR Viperine for Gods' sake!). There was also the issue that he knew his fangs contained venom poisonous to humans. Jackson was at least part human! He could die! Mama Hyde would beat him into a bloody pulp for hurting her boy(s). Who the hell was gonna to stop her?!

"D-Deuce? I feel really hot..."

"Oh man..." Jackson's pale skin was bright red, his two toned hair clung to his sweaty face. The poor boy's breathing erratic. The heat rolling off of him overwhelming his infrared senses as he clung to him panting. The Jekyll boy's temperature always hovered quite a bit higher than the human average, his Hyde side even higher but this couldn't possibly be healthy.

Alarmed, Deuce raced out of his room screaming for his mother. Embarrassment temporarily taking a back seat to the potential danger to his friend's life. To his confusion, she didn't call 911. Instead she hugged him and started gushing about her baby boy finding such a cute little lover. Then her pushing him back up the stairs to comfort his distraught little mate. Who's reaction wasn't due to poisoning but a rush of endorphins and oxytocin making him hot and bothered.

Apparently, he'd bitten Jackson to mark him. He'd found someone who earnestly returned his affections and his instincts kicked in, deciding the dual natured boy was a sexually desirable mate he had to claim as well. It only confirmed what he and Cleo had wasn't real. Not once had the urge to ever do such a thing occurred with her.

And that's how he wound up cuddling his half naked classmate, now boyfriend, in his room with his mother downstairs and perfectly aware of what was happening. Not only aware but glad about it. To be fair, nothing naughty happened that time. Jackson had sweat through his clothes and while they washed, he donned one of Deuce's shirts allowing the gorgon to notice just how small he really was. A shirt the greek grew out of last year covered a fair bit of his body. Compared to every male monster he knew and most human teenaged boys, Jackson Jekyll was tiny**. The same way Draculaura was compared to all her ghoulfriends. Holt was the exact same size but his presence made him seem bigger or something somehow.

But looking at him now, he looked like so fragile and delicate. Perhaps it was due their new bond; the urge to protect painting the other as helpless and in need of his protection. Whatever this was, it made him cuter.

Jackson and Holt's normal attire kept the mark hidden. Neither version's collar being wide enough to expose it. The It-Couple had been split for only 2 days and news that either had already moved on would be hot gossip; despite it taking Cleo less time to recover from her breakup with Clawd. Even though the monster world was leaps and bounds ahead of human society on issues like homosexuality, polyamory (let's face it, there were three people in this relationship) and a laundry list of things that just came with being a certain type of creature, individuals reacted to situations individually. The Taur family was very old school on gender and gender roles; the reason Manny never mentions his other sister Maxine who used to be his big brother Max. Heath probably would accuse Deuce of having some unsavory agenda- the elemental had long suspected the gorgon's feelings for his cousin. It's just that having it come out in a sensational way would look really bad. Especially since Deuce had been vehemently denying he had an interest in the school 'normie' at all. Burns didn't give a wit about Cleo but would probably attempt to incinerate him for playing his cousin like that.

Those with strong enough noses didn't really need to be told. Howleen had innocently inquired as to why Deuce reeked so strongly of Jackson when she hopped in his car. Trying to be a good friend when Clawd got his driving privileges suspended lead to Clawdeen discreetly trying and failing to get her to drop it on the way to school. The younger wolf loudly reasoned the two would basically have to be rubbing up against each other a lot for a while for the scent to cling to him that way. Just as loudly she wondered how that could have happened. Failing to notice her big brother sticking his fingers in his ears, her sister covering her face or their chauffeur contemplating dumping her on the side of the road. She eventually stunned herself into a brief silence then apologized promising to keep it to herself.

Naturally Murphy's Law saw fit to split the difference for the couple.

A new family moved to the area. Monster High being a school of immense diversity, the parents hoped to raise their children in a strong monster community with others their age since before they had mostly kept to themselves due to their location. Business was good on the New Jersey Shore. Year round someone was bound to be working out in Dino's Gym, getting their clothes cleaned and pressed at D'Angelo's dry cleaning or getting their glam on at the tanning/beauty salon salon run by the eldest brother Damiano and his wife Daphne. But they longed to be able to be who they are without having every yahoo from some cryptozoology site in their face when they did.

Unfortunately they hadn't counted on New Salem's veil being so transparent that humans and monsters interacted with one another without the benefit of glamours. The patriarch even less keen on the idea of a human teen contaminating the air his boys breathed at school. Though he dealt with them on a regular basis, that was purely business. The whole point of moving had been to be with their own kind. Even more unfortunate, he encountered the boy on his way out of the building while classes were in session. Having just registered the twins Domenico ( who preferred his middle name Duke) and Demetrio (who preferred his, Devlin, as well; his wife and her letting them 'get with the times'...) Damiano Demone known to humans back East as the Jersey Devil- which was interesting seeing as they were an entire species not just one specimen- walked right into a distracted Jackson in the halls.

"Sorry sir I-"

"What's a human doin here?!" his devilish face twisting in disgust. Accent definitely from the south end of the Washington Bridge.

"Um, I'm a student sir. And not actually hu-"

"What kind of scam does Bloodgood think she's runnin with joint?! Lettin a human attend?!" A clawed hand roughly grabbed the boy's arm. "I moved here to get AWAY from your kind!"

"Ow! Let me go!" the teen tried to pull free, only causing those claws to dig deeper into his flesh.

"Oh no. I want answers. Yer commin' with me." The man turned to drag the boy towards the office.

"I said let go!"

The next thing the hybrid was aware of, the hallway was being filled with startled students. There was a gaping hole in one row of lockers from which a now red eyed Jersey Devil emerged intent on murdering him. Charging forward, Mr. Demone was upon him too quickly for the dazed boy to react. But not for a wall of red, black and green to deflect and render the angry man unconscious. No one saw Deuce move to shield him. Since when was he so fast? Or strong?

No suprise the reason for the commotion made it's rounds by the end of the day. It turns out Jackson wasn't as wimpy as everyone thought. When he was small, under duress he experienced bursts of superhuman strength. Something he consciously suppressed for fear of hurting someone (most of his life was spent in the human world; moving to this side of the veil for good was quite recent) but was documented in his school record at Monster High. Now as a teen, it was becoming more and more common without a stressor but having a hell beast scare him shitless gave it a boost. Even more shocking, if Mr. Demone hadn't been KOed by that one hit (technically second), Deuce probably would have killed the older monster and there wouldn't be any legal recourse for the Demone family. It all boiled down to that mark and what it represented. The very idea that someone of no relation had touched his mate and drawn blood no less essentially triggered a psycho reflex in him. This made things very awkward around their guy friends who were a little scared of a friendly, innocent gesture possibly resulting in loosing a limb. Now a foot wide buffer around him usually occured subconsciously.

Which also explained why right now he was like half a second off ripping the nearest guy apart. Seriously if Mr. Shaky made the wrong move, those talons were going to tear him to shreds.

All because Nefera de Nile saw her sister's break up as some personal affront. How dare he refuse a de Nile! Nevermind that both she and her father hadn't liked their relationship one bit. But unlike her father who saw Cleo's decision as a sign of maturity and developing qualities worthy of a great future ruler, Nefera interpreted the situation as him thinking he was too good for them. Especially after learning he played for the other team. And such a transgression could not go unpunished.

Of course she sucked at curses harder than Cleo despite having more practice. The nature of the internal clock he was designing for Robecca probably interfered with the her plan as well. So, whatever the intended result of the spell was, Jackson was fairly certain being dumped on a military base was not it.

It was probably supposed to kill them.

"How is this my life?" Jackson murmured. Clearing his throat, he spoke up over the noise. "Um, excuse me? I don't know the caliber of those weapons but I guarantee they'll only piss my boyfriend off. Even more so if you hit me. Is there somebody we could talk too? This has been a really bad day for us and this situation is just a huge misunderstanding."

"Then explain just what the hell you are doing on my helicarrier. I'm all ears young man." A stern, one eyed black man demanded.

*WTF*

"I'm sorry what?" Steve blinked at Maria Hill. There was no way he heard that right. Thor's blank expression was nothing to go by but Widow's raised brow and Bruce's utter befuddlement confirmed what she said was odd.

"I said Thor isn't the only living breathing myth around. Approximately 3 hours ago, SHIELD detected an energy flux or unknown origin within the helicarrier. Upon investigation, it was discovered that two intruders were aboard."

"Someone got on Fury's precious floating fortress." Tony laughed.

"Yes. A human teenaged boy, apparenly a science prodigy." She cleared her throat. "And his gorgon boyfriend."

That. That was the part confusing Steve. He wasn't a mythology buff but weren't gorgons hideous female creatures that turned people to stone with their gaze? Adjusting to the modern world had been a bit trying at times but he also struggled with his upbringing that had no accounting for same gender relationships either. On the face of it he understood love was love but the idea was still new to him.

"Oookay. Thoughts on how they got there?" Clint coughed.

"It appears the gorgon's former girlfriend has a sister with an axe to grind. Her attempt to punish him for leaving her sister resulted in a interdimensional jump. In their world, monsters as we know them live among humans but only recently have begun to do so openly without disguise."

"Oh! But you haven't heard the best part yet! The human kid ain't exactly human, he's just packaged that way like Point Break. Guess what his name is. Just guess." Tony beamed.

"Really Stark?" Hill rolled her eyes.

"Oh come on it's funny as shit!" When no one made an attempt he pouted. "Party poopers. Science boy's name...is Jackson Jekyll."

"Like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde?" Clint asked, frowning. Why does this shit have to happen to them? First Loki then a parade of sad wanna be villain-of-the-weeks. For a while it seemed like they were stuck in a real life version of Power Rangers without the benefit of owning fighting robots. That seriously would have come in handy against the Chitauri, that guy who somehow got a hold of a set of AI enabled military drones, the building that inexplicably came to life and stomped down Broadway... Now an adolescent schizophrenic psychopath and one of greek mythology's most fearsome (re:hard as fuck to kill) monsters to deal with.

Awesome.

"That's his great grandfather, on his mother's side, but his partner stopped him from talking about his father's family. Now you see the quandary. Though there is indeed a containment cell designed for a being of the Hulk's ability, we are unaware of how effective it maybe in holding him should he transform. The fact that the gorgon, whose name is Deuce won't let us anywhere near his smaller lover and snaps at anyone who tries to approach without permission makes securing them difficult. Anything we do risks agitating him or triggering the transformation in Jackson. So, Fury has decided they will stay with the Avengers Initiative until we are able to return them home since we don't know what we're dealing with.." Hill finished.

"What, I did not agree to that!" Tony yelped. "Where are they now?!"

"Your lab sir." JARVIS announced. "My apologies young Mr. Jekyll seems to be naturally gifted in hacking. As of right now, he has complete access to the system."

"WHAT?!"

"I sense the situation no longer amuses you friend Tony." Thor gave a smirk of his own.

"You think?! Jarvis, what is he doing now?"

The boardroom screen displayed their Tony's laboratory where Jackson was perusing some of Stark's notes on a computer and Deuce wandered around exploring. I kind of hit them that

"...gonna make sure she stays dead..." The human looking boy muttered.

"Jacks, calm down."

"Calm down?! We're stuck god knows where for god knows how long! I don't like how these people reacted to us and keep reacting to you either."

"Jacks, I'm something they thought only existed in myths, I'm used to it. Plus they know I'm venomous. Look, you're pretty frazzled, maybe you should take a rest, relax your mind."

"And let Holt out? Are you nuts? They'll definutely shoot us."

"Come on, he's gotten better with impulse control and hasn't burned anything down lately. Though he still says exactly what he's thinking..."

"Fine. But if gets a hold of alchol again, HE"S dealing with the hangover."

The team watched him dig a pair of red headphones out of his singed backpack and connect them to an oddly shaped device. Bracing to have his precious lab trashed, Stark's grip on Thor's arm was beginning to alarm the god. A flash of flame later, a blue skinned version of the teen with no glasses, flame themed clothes and literally flaming hair stood in his place blinking,

"Yo, D-baby? Where the fuck are we? This ain't Jackie-boy's nerd dungeon or the catacombs at school."

"I really don't know. I do know Nefera's the reason we're here. Jackson's too pissed off to think straight and we don't need him taking his anger out on the nice trigger happy people. You two are fireproof but not bulletproof."

"Huh. Looks like Fury was worried about the wrong side. Since both are apparently dangerous." Natasha quipped.

No one had anything to say to that.

*WTF*

I repeat I don't know why. It's just a plunnie that would not be tamed.

*In my headcannon, Deuce's father is actually Perseus. Which makes Zeus his grandfather. Pick up a REAL mythology book, not one sanitized or reimagined to make the hero easy to spot. Both are goddamned dicks, end of story.

**The dolls are all the same size but the animation has this fluctuate. The only thing they seem to keep constant is the swap doesn't make either taller or shorter. For the most part though, both Holt and Jackson are shorter and more lithe than all the guys. On occasion, they appear taller than or the same size as Heath but just as often not true. I also poke fun at the fact that though it's explicitly stated in the doll line, animation and books that Dracula's daughter is the smallest of the main cast she too experiences odd growth spurts and shrinking spells according to the whims of the animators.

***The Demone family is expanded, comprised of very insular, business savvy, monsters with Italian history who run a gym, a tanning/beauty salon and a dry cleaning businesses. The sons are more open to genuinely fitting in than their folks and uncles. The clan is also originally from New Jersey before moving to New Salem. The father happens to have anger issues and poor impulse control. If you don't get the joke(s)...I don't know what to tell you. If you do and happen to be offended, again, I don't know what to tell you. Then the entire Monster High franchise should piss you off for it's caricatures I suppose. Fun fact: St. Damian, the root of Damiano's name, is the patron saint of hairdressers.

Love it? Hate it? Wondering if I've lost my mind? Let me know, reviews are like hugs! Sirensoundwave out!