Extract from the play "The Last Avenger", penned by Arianne Euterpe
Act:2 Scene:3
King Arcturus, sorrowful: Though the cities fate is most dire, I cannot allow my daughter, my only child and future queen of my kingdom, throw herself into the fires of war
Alicia Arcturus, determined and resolute: How could I call myself queen when my people suffer and I refuse to fight? How could I stay safe behind these walls while my people suffer?
Notes scribbled in the margin: Perhaps we should offer Mary a permanent position as Alicia, as her Prim has lost much of her believability as she has gotten older.
Prim Fiorire, shocked and confused: But why must you fight this battle, good Sir? This is not your fight, these are not your people, and if my cousin's life were to end the future of Feoh will be most dire.
Sir Steven Rogers, heroically: For honor's sake will I fight. For the good of the people who call this land home. The knowledge that I had stood against the tide of evil and Sin is the only reward I need.
Alicia Arcturus, solemn: If my crown forbids that I protect my city, then let love triumph and crown be damned. Queen, I may be till my death, but tender feeling rules us all and the grave is no end to my passion.
Alicia Arcturus tosses the crown to Prim.
Alicia Arcturus, wise: Be you Queen then my cousin, for if my death is destined this day, your gentle hand will be needed to rule our home in my stead. Let honor alone be my crown, and all the gods be my witness.
Prim Fiorire, respectful and kind: I will dear cousin rule in your name until you return from the chaos of war. I will wait with bated breath for the crown will be worn uneasily until your return
Sir Steven Rogers, turns and places Alicia's hands into his own: Then lets us fly and show these wolves the folly of their lives work, and send them to meet their gods without haste.
Exit Alicia Arcturus and Steven Rogers.
King Arcturus, Whispering: May the gods show favor to those who would face these monsters without a moment's hesitation.
Notes scribbled in the margin: Replace that drunkard Victor as king! he has ONCE AGAIN missed out on yet another performance and this part is far too important to be given to someone so unreliable! also, could you tell Jon he must lose a few stones if he is to keep playing Sir Steven. He is supposed to be built like an ox, not like a cow!"
Extract from Joffery Lancastles controversial work "The Black dogs of the White City"
Historians must be men of reason and not be encouraged to write of fancies or conjecture, but we are men still. One must only look at the troubles of the past decades to wonder if a better world and a better realm might not have been forged, should but a few blades have swung where they did not.
Had Sir Steven Rogers, a legend he may be, not stormed the ancestral walls of House Beasly and had instead chosen another family to become the scapegoat for the incompetence of the Arcturus princess, we may perhaps not face the political strife we face today.
Had Alicia Arcturus not ascended the Throne of her father at such a desperate time, would the continent at large, let alone Feoh specifically, have been spared such turmoil? The wonton disrespect that the crown has shown the Noble families of Feoh over the years following the "Kuroinu Rebellion" has had an immeasurable effect on the social as well as the political climate of the country.
The council of nobles, once a powerful and influential arm of the Feoh Government, one that had served the people for hundreds of years, has slowly but surely been stripped and replaced by the representatives of the unwashed and uneducated.
Far too much power has been stripped from those of Noble birth, from those with who have proven their abilities and superior blood, and given to the peasant class.
The mud racking of Lord Beasley's character as well as his family assets being seized by the crown was but an excuse, a conspirousy formed by an inexperienced ruler to rob power from those around her for selfish need, and we all have suffered for it.
In response to the allegations made, the ruling family of Feoh has not made a public response but according to some sources denounces the collective work of Lancaster as" disrespectful" and "on the level slightly above the ravings of a mad man."
The reaction of the common people was similar, as massive protests erupted outside the headquarters of the Lancastle Publishing House. While many feared violence would erupt due to the heated words by those on both sides of the argument, the protest was viewed as relatively peaceful by those who saw it.
The public admissions of his opinions of those of the Kuroinu, especially that of Meyrn Beasley and the self-proclaimed King Vault, as unjustly "villainized" has caused Lancastle not only a great many public scandals but those of a personal matter as well.
Lady Beatrice Arc, Heiress of the Great Arc trading company publicly ended her engagement to Lancastle, In a statement, she was quoted as calling his opinions on both the amount of power of the common citizens of Feoh as well as women specifically in society as "beliefs that should have been left to die alongside the rebellion."
Private correspondence between Professor Armen Carrolton, head of the Ken historical society and former dean of students at the Ken college of history and Doctor Robert Kingsman, professor of history and political theory at the Royal Academy of Feoh
Professor Armen:
"You are an ignorant fool and your work clear plagiarism of my work "The eighth shield". Even your purported title is sheer stupidity. There was no 'sword of the white star'. Every child off the street will tell you Sir Steven never wielded a sword in any of the battles he fought in."
Professor Robert:
"History belongs to no man, you senile old bat! You might have gotten your degree by sucking Preston's cock but I earned mine by merit. There's a dozen plays calling him by this title all across the continent, one of which I will remind you was written by the daughter of a man who fought along-side Sir Rogers at the battle Feoh!"
Professor Armen:
"No woman could have ever written something as stirring as 'The Last Avenger'. It is just a sad attempt to increase tourist travel to Feoh during "The Festival of the white star" and you know it as well as I. It is fitting you take your title from mummers, though, for your book will be nothing but a joke when viewed against mine."
Professor Robert:
"At least people will read mine you pompous old bastard. Wading through your pages is like getting buggered by a too-talkative goat. I've met the girl and she has a man's wits, it was her that penned the play. As for your pride, all I have to write is that Arianne called your work derivative, and I quote "only impressive by that fact that he managed to make the life of Steve Rogers too boring to read!"."
32 C.E: Professor Armen initiatives a motion to strip Professor Robert of his position for 'behavior unbecoming of an educator', Stephanie Lavantyne refuses to comment publicly, but privately attends a showing of the "Last Avenger" at the Royal Ken theater with her several of her children.
And now for something completely different
~La Blue Girl: Along cum a Spider~
Peter Parker was in trouble
Like Big Trouble
Like dropping the take-home test from Mr. Armstrongs AP chemistry class into the Hudson River while fighting the scorpion type of big trouble.
Or Like accidentally blowing up Aunt Mays kitchen while testing out his prototype stun bombs type of trouble.
But somehow it felt like it was even worse than that.
Once again, the legendary Parker luck had taken one good look at him and thrown everything it could think off at him without a single thought of everything that he had been going through the past few days.
One moment he was fighting alongside the Avengers against the giant purple alien death god destroying the universe, the next moment he was waking up in some strange city in what he assumed was somewhere in Japan without any money, any forms of identification or even a normal set of clothes. And considering the tattered remains of his spider suit that barely hung over his frame, this last bit was going to be a bit of a problem to deal with.
Which was why he "borrowed" a set of clothes that looked to be about his size he had found hanging off a laundry line. Sure, it was wrong to take someone else's property without asking first, but what was he going to do? Ask a stranger to borrow their clothes while only wearing a mask?
Besides he justified it to himself, he probably needed more than whatever guy he may have stolen it from did.
...Borrowed... that's what he did. He borrowed it. He didn't steal, heroes didn't steal, and even if he's in a weird city on the opposite side of the word, Spiderman was a hero.
...Which is how he managed to get into such hot water so quickly.
Less than 24 hours after getting thrown into the black hole the Purple monster had made with that blinged out gauntlet appear over Avengers Tower and now here he was fighting something that looked like, well if he had to guess, looked like a cross between Donkey Kong and a Kraken, all the while dressed like a Japanese schoolboy.
Like seriously, could he maybe have a normal day to get him used to his new surroundings before something weird happened? Was that too much to ask?
It certainly didn't help that those tentacles were getting a little too friendly with anything and anybody it touched. He'll never look at calamari the same way again.
Unfortunately for him, however, he found that he wasn't the first to decide to try and stop the things rampage. The girl looked young, and that said allot considering he was pretty sure he hadn't fully escaped the perils of puberty just yet.
...the fact that she spoke like a Saturday morning cartoon while looking like a cosplayer didn't exactly help her cause.
But hell, she was good. Like really good. So good in fact Peter wasn't sure he needed to jump into the fray just yet.
She jumped and dodged like she was a trained ninja, throwing bladed weapons from seemingly nowhere whenever she saw an opening.
...wait was she a ninja?
Did ninjas really wear stuff like that? He expected all-black garb and face masks, not black Leggings, a green blouse, and giant pink bows.
Man was that disappointing.
She was doing well until like most crime fighters her age (he should know considering she looked to be the same age as he was) she got cocky. A tentacle had somehow gotten behind her without her knowledge and swiped at her from behind, smashing her against the back of her head and sending her crashing into the ground
The ninja girl was hoisted off the ground by her leg, the unfortunate pair of black leggings she wore was torn and ripped by the barbed tentacle showing off her...
No, no, no,nonononononononononono, he was not looking at that. He was not thinking about that. It didn't matter what he could see or not see at the moment and it certainly didn't matter that the girl in question was very attractive...
NO!
He had to do something, and if that meant fighting off a monster to save a girl from being violated without the use of his superhero persona then so be it. Thankfully he still had some web fluid he had saved, just for emergencies like this.
Well not specifically emergency's like this but you get the point.
Which brings us to the part of the story when Peter Parker, The friendly Neighborhood Spiderman from Queens was now standing in his now tattered borrowed school uniform, while holding a girl with long flowing purple hair tied in the biggest pink bow he'd ever seen on a person that wasn't in a Japanese anime, bridal style on top of the monstrous form of the villain he had just defeated, Pieces of the burning and wrecked car he had used to bludgeon the beast into submission littering the street
She looked at him with her big brown eyes like how Peter assumed a kid would look on Christmas day, as he easily carried her onto the sidewalk and placed her on the ground.
"That was a close one," Peter said, ripping a piece of his tattered uniform (he'll definitely need to replace the uniform now) and using it as a makeshift bandage on the girl's ankle, the same ankle that the monster's tentacle had wrapped around. Using every shred of will power he processed to not have his eyes travel further up.
She looked at him with some confusion, before she realized he had spoken in English. She must have been smart, as only after a moment of pause she answered him in perfect if not a little broken English.
"Thank you so much! But who are you?" she said in a soft yet excited voice, as she watched the body of the monster slowly fade away into strange black mist. An action that shocked Peter when he saw it, but if he went by the girl's reaction, this must have been a normal occurrence "And how did you do that?"
Because it didn't matter if you were a female ninja fighting off a tentacle monster in the middle of downtown and that was your definition of normal, if you see a guy you've never seen before swing around buildings and slam a car onto the head of a bad guy who was in the middle of groping you, you were bound to have questions.
Peter decided it was in his best interest to be as honest as he could be, considering his current situation. Heck, maybe his new friend would be able to repay the favor and help him out?
"My names Peter Parker, I'm... not from around here," he said with a smile, laughing slightly to himself at the bright red face the girl had. The fight, Peter reasoned, must have taken a lot more out of her then he had originally thought. Either that or her grasp of the English language wasn't as good as he had hoped, and he had said something to embarrass the girl.
Just his luck.
Whatever the issue was, she recovered quickly enough.
"I'm Miko Mido, Kunoichi of Justice and master Sex Ninja, at your service!"
...did... did he just hear that? no, he couldn't have heard what he thought he heard. It must have been another one of those weird miscommunications people have when dealing with a language barrier.
Peter smiled, a bit more awkwardly then he would have liked but hey, he was trying his best here "Well it's nice to meet you Miko, I'm glad I was able to help you in time, I-I don't want to think about what would have happened if I wasn't quick enough."
...yeah that... could have been bad. The way those tentacles were grabbing at the young women's body made him feel sick, it certainly made him a little angry at himself for not stepping in to help at the beginning of the fight.
But despite the horror of the situation, Miko seemed to take it in stride, which impressed and horrified Peter in almost equal measure. She got close to him, far closer than he may have been used to with a girl his own age before. So close he was sure he could pick the lavender and vanilla perfume she wore out of a lineup if he had to.
...Not like he was purposely smelling her of course, he just had a great sense of smell is all.
"You saved my life Peter-San, how could I possibly repay you?" she said, her voice dropping an octave like she was telling him a secret she didn't want the world to know.
Maybe it was a ninja thing. They certainly seemed like the type to be secret about things like that. Or maybe it was the fact that he was a boy wearing tattered clothing, and she was a girl not wearing anything below her waist besides her underwear.
Oh god, he thought about it again.
"There's nothing to repay," Peter said, quickly shooting his eyes away from the girl in front of him in hopes not to say or do something that would cause either of them further embarrassment. "I was just happy to help."
She grabbed at his hands, her small digits having a surprising amount of strength in them as she pulled him close to her.
"Will you always be there to save me if I need it?" she asked, her eyes shining like literal stars as she spoke.
Now Pete was confused. Sure he would, I mean he was a hero after all, or at the very least was trying his very best to be a hero. So of course, if he saw this girl in need of help again, he would help without question.
That's what she was asking about, right?
"uh yeah," Peter was cut off before he could finish his thought as he was enveloped into the sweet embrace by the girl as she cried tears of joys at his answer.
"This is the happiest day of my life!" the girl shouted, her voice slightly muffled by the contact between her face and his bare chest. Peter stood silent and still, trying in vain to understand what she was saying and why she was saying it.
Which brings us to the part of the story when Peter Parker, the friendly Neighborhood Spiderman, found himself in an enormous Japanese castle in the middle of the woods, being paraded by his new friend for the benefit of what he assumed was the devil.
He was huge, well over 7-foot-tall and built like Thor, with skin as blue as a smurf and hair that looked like it belonged to a B movie action star from the '90s, the two horns that sprouted from either side of his neck topped the look off, giving him an almost Noble demon vibe about him. All and all, he wasn't the scariest looking dude Peter had ever met who looked like he wanted to kill him, but he certainly was the scariest dude Peter had met since he was transported to this weird city.
"And What exactly are your intentions stepping foot into my home, with young Miko?" he said in a growl, sounding exactly how Peter assumed he would, as he stared down from his throne, A LITTERAL THRONE, like a shogun would in old school samurai flicks.
Now he wasn't an expert in Japanese, not like his buddy Ned who had taught himself the language when he was 13 after watching every anime he could get his hands on, but Peter liked to think he could hold his own in a conversation if he needed to.
Unfortunately for him, he gravely overestimated these abilities.
The fact that he was being watched by dozens of shadowy figures surrounding him didn't exactly help his confidence.
"...mmmm" he intelligently said sending sideway glances to Miko, hoping she would realize how just how in over his head he was, but it seemed to be almost impossible to get the smile off of her face.
He could still remember the advice Mr. Stark once gave him. "Remember kid, the best lies always have a grain of truth in them, but if you can't use the truth just use as many lies as you can, hide your lies under more lies and hope for the best."
He sounded so confident, Peter couldn't help but believe in him.
"Um well Sir that is a very interesting question," Peter said, stalling as best he could and trying not to anger the enormous blue monster who sat in front of him until he got an idea. A devious idea.
Peter got a wonderful, devious idea.
"but I fear my grasp on Japanese is limited and I wish not to say something that would cause offense to you in your own home while as a guest," he said, desperately trying to remember every shred of the Japanese language he could glean from his freshmen language class and all of the poorly translated JRPG's that littered his bedroom floor over the years.
Thankfully it worked, the Jolly blue giant seemed to accept the answer. In fact, if his body language was anything like a person, which why wouldn't it be right? It almost seemed like a look of approval appeared on its horned face.
...huh
The giant man turned towards Peters companion, its voice while still as deep and commanding as it was before, now seemed to carry an almost familiar warmness that reminded Peter of the tone of voice his Uncle Ben spoke with him when giving him life advice.
Rapid fire Japanese was spoken between the small teenager and monstrous man, and even when staring down the great bulk of the giant before her, the girl kept the same animated and excited speech pattern she had used since meeting Peter several hours prior. Heck, he didn't even know a person could say so many syllables so fast without their lips catching fire.
Then Peter noticed something off.
Not off as in a bad thing, But off as in a very confusing thing.
The people around them, people who peter assumed were either related to his new friend in some way shape or form, were smiling at him. It wasn't a sarcastic smirk of someone waiting for something bad to happen to him. It certainly wasn't the fake plastered on smile of someone who didn't want to be there but had been forced against their will to attend.
But true honest to god smiles.
Directed at the girl to his left...and towards him.
...wait
So, confused and out of it was Peter that when his new friend Miko slipped her hands into his own he didn't exactly realize what was happening. It wasn't until everyone in the room had erupted with applauds and that little guy who seemed to follow him around for some reason had started crying like a proud parent watching their child take their first steps had Peter finally realized something was off.
The cute, excited, now glowing red-faced teenaged girl, the same girl he had met just a few hours ago when he saved her from some kind of weird half octopus half gorilla man had her hands wrapped in his and was looking at him like he was the first sunset she had ever seen in her life.
...wait
Before Peter could vocalize his thought, he was cut off by the blue giant, as he stood up to his full towering height and raised his arms in proud exuberance.
"Let us celebrate my friends and clansmen," his deep voice spoke in broken English that Peter assumed was for his benefit." For today my daughter and the heir to my legacy has found the man who shall be her husband!"
...huh
"Oh, I'm so happy for you Miko!" a woman with long blue hair said embracing the younger women before her, the backless white gown swaying as she walked. "There is no prouder day in a mother's life than to see the day of her child's wedding"
Huh...
"Good job Miko, you really know how to pick em." a young woman with long curly brown hair said, as she sauntered down towards them. "I hope you'll remember your friends whenever your future husband proves to be too much for you!" the brown-haired girl finished with a laugh before giving him a friendly, or far too friendly slap on his but.
An action that both shocked Peter and pleased the young woman, as she then turned towards the group of women who continued to watch the interaction on with a smile and a slight blush on her face" You ladies have to cop a feel, the man has an ass like a god!"
...thank you?
"I can't believe it, my little sister married before me. Such a disgrace I am." another woman said with a laugh as she wrapped Miko into a warm embrace, as the Small man in ninja garb continued to cry while waving a surprisingly elaborate banner with a stylized drawing of both he and Miko embracing one another, with the words true love written in both English and Japanese, all around the room.
...how did he make that so quickly?
"He is certainly a FINE specimen." a buxom young woman with short green hair said as she stared at Peters still exposed torso as unsubtly as a person could do. "perhaps it would be best for the husband of the future Miroku Clan leader to "Spar" with all its members before Miko can claim him for herself."
Wait for what?
"Now, now, give the boy some room. I can't have my future son in law be devoured like this before the wedding ceremony!." the massive blue man said with a laugh, his voice booming enough to make peters knees begin to buckle, or was it just because he couldn't seem to be able to breathe properly from the anxiety attack he was in the middle of.
...no it was both.
"But now son," the blue man said wrapping his massive arm around peters shoulder and turning him around to face everyone present in the crowded room.
...why was every woman dressed like that!?
"Why don't you introduce yourself to your fiancés family!"
Peter looked upon the faces of the dozens and dozens of Mikos family and friends, most of whom he noticed were women and who were all staring at him like he was a piece of meat on display, or like he was one of those triple chocolate fudge cakes Aunt May would buy from that one bakery on fourth street.
He looked to the girl who had somehow become his fiancé after knowing him for less than a day, taking in the warm smile on her face and sparkling eyes radiating pure happiness and sweetness., so sweet in fact Peter feared he would get cavities if he looked at her any longer then he did. He turned back to the people surrounding him as they brought in dozens of dishes of exotic food and drink to celebrate and said the only words he could manage to find.
"...what just happened?"
~To Be Continued~