AU where instead of getting ‘fixed’ by a psychic and then magically regaining all her old abilities through DC’s fucking stupid need to make everyone ‘normal’
Cassandra Cain remained the single completely mute member of the batfamily
And while she can understand most of what she’s told, individual letters make no sense to her uniquely developed brain, so while unable to read, she can learn basic words and communications in sign language and the like.
Because of constant complaints about there being guys in SkullGIRLS, Lab Zero decides to rename the game to “Skullpeople.”
But wait, what if we get a new fighter who isn’t a human, like Minette or Yu-Wan? Lab Zero fixes this by renaming the game “Skullcreatures.”
This causes another problem. What about fighters who aren’t technically creatures, but also aren’t people, like Andy? Lab Zero renames the game to “Skull Living Things” to fix this problem.
Except now we have fighters that aren’t technically living, like Ottomo. Lab Zero renames the game “Skull Things That Are In Some Way Existing.”
It’s too bad that name doesn’t work, because there’re characters like Venus and Aeon who you could have a lengthy discussion about whether or not they actually exist. Lab Zero, in an effort to stop having to rename the game every time a new fighter is added, change the name to simply “Skull”.
If only there weren’t some characters without skulls, like Samson. Lab Zero, in an effort to finally bring balance, renames the game to simply ” “.
But there’re characters who can still speak, even though the game is a completely silent noise! To deal with the problem once and for all, Lab Zero removes everyone off the cast of the game. Now, no one can say the game is named wrong, because there are no fighters to make the name wrong!
The game is finally not biased against any cast members whatsoever, thank to the tireless efforts of Lab Zero and the people who complained that there were guys in SkullGIRLS. Good job!
Drawn in the hotel room after ACEN with the shittiest pen I’ve ever used in my life. Might clean it up and add color if I feel like it later.
And the hours pass, and the Widow bites again. And again. And again. The odds had been a hundred-to-one against her when she started. Now they are seven-to-one.
Little Man: Stop her! Stop her! She’s only a lousy woman…
Three-to-one.
Natasha: Wrong, little man. I am the Black Widow…
One-to-one.
Natasha: …and that’s more than enough to handle the likes of you.Game, set, match.
Yeah, Natasha just took out literally a hundred guys. But I think this whole sequence works because it doesn’t make her invulnerable. We see her get captured at the beginning of the story, and spoilers: she needs Ben’s help to take down the last remaining bad guy. Natasha can’t fight them off by brute force, she has to use every scrap of cunning, she has to devise ways to corner them in small groups, she has to disappear when it’s convenient. Her weapons run out of gas, she has to make every shot count. But it all works because of that, because she’s taxed to the brink, because you need to be to make impossible odds count.
In short this is basically how Natasha should always be written. Not necessarily fighting off a hundred goons!! But her vulnerability should help reveal her strength, not someone else’s.
From Marvel Two-in-One #10, by Chris Claremont and Bob Brown.
You know, I’m a Marvel girl
But I still have the urge to roleplay this babe like burning
