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TEST DRIVE MEME: MAY EDITION
TEST DRIVE MEME
A Confluence, capitalized, is the converging of one or more supernatural forces. Typically, a Confluence only occurs in one place at any given time. Typically.
These are not typical times.
Most of the Starfallen will arrive in Excelsior, Washington, slipping from the sky one by one, needing to be helped as they come floating down. To many citizens in Excelsior – individuals who are far from fond of metahumans – their arrival is a sign of bad things to come. It’s always a sign of bad things to come. This time, however, the bad things don’t come in the typical sequence. Instead, they’re dealing with a problem when the Starfallen begin to unwittingly arrive. What’s that problem? Plants with a rather problematic taste for flesh.
While Excelsior is hoping for spring to actually stick on the horizon, they’re warding off plants left and right. At least none of the plants seem to be able to spit fire – uh, yet?
In the midwestern part of the country, a huge barrage of rain has begun to settle over the land. Rain like this isn’t normal. Stormfronts usually keep moving forward, but this isn’t. And while rain isn’t a bad thing, this rain … is a deluge. A flood upon floods. Some Starfallen individuals will be showing up in the middle of this, arriving in both Little Love and Central City. Hope they can keep their heads above water!
Making matters worse is that everything seems a bit – planned? No, that’s not the right word. Like it’s all happened before. Or happening again. People all over are definitely noticing a strange uptick in déjà vu. Most worrying is how it seems to be happening everywhere.
These are not typical times.
Most of the Starfallen will arrive in Excelsior, Washington, slipping from the sky one by one, needing to be helped as they come floating down. To many citizens in Excelsior – individuals who are far from fond of metahumans – their arrival is a sign of bad things to come. It’s always a sign of bad things to come. This time, however, the bad things don’t come in the typical sequence. Instead, they’re dealing with a problem when the Starfallen begin to unwittingly arrive. What’s that problem? Plants with a rather problematic taste for flesh.
While Excelsior is hoping for spring to actually stick on the horizon, they’re warding off plants left and right. At least none of the plants seem to be able to spit fire – uh, yet?
In the midwestern part of the country, a huge barrage of rain has begun to settle over the land. Rain like this isn’t normal. Stormfronts usually keep moving forward, but this isn’t. And while rain isn’t a bad thing, this rain … is a deluge. A flood upon floods. Some Starfallen individuals will be showing up in the middle of this, arriving in both Little Love and Central City. Hope they can keep their heads above water!
Making matters worse is that everything seems a bit – planned? No, that’s not the right word. Like it’s all happened before. Or happening again. People all over are definitely noticing a strange uptick in déjà vu. Most worrying is how it seems to be happening everywhere.
EXCELSIOR
Ah, Excelsior – the city that doesn’t ask “why” something should be explored, but how quickly it can be explored. If only someone there had developed a swift measure to deal with a sudden influx of killer plants! The good news is that these plants haven’t killed anyone – not yet, anyway – but there is all the time in the world for that to change.
As the Starfallen arrive, they’re unlikely to notice the plants, and instead will see technological marvels all around them. Although Excelsior isn’t fond of Starfallen, they like the idea of welcoming them and getting them the hell out as quickly as possible. This philosophy results in all of the Starfallen being guided down to the ground, with further instructions awaiting them once they’re on two feet. (Or four. No one’s judging!) But once they land, they’re likely to notice that things aren’t the way they’re meant to be.
After all, someone in Excelsior failed to ask “why it’s bad to create an incredibly unlikely strain of plants that is genetically inspired by snapdragons, the flowers from those plumber games, and piranhas,” and instead went ahead with “how quickly can I do it?” Their experiment proved to be far too successful, aided by cutting-edge bioengineering technology.
Even though all Starfallen are encouraged to depart for the Midwest after they receive their teleportation devices, it’s apparent that the people of Excelsior need help. Right now, their chilly reception can easily be written off as a symptom of what’s happening. Dealing with newcomers at a time like this? Preposterous! People are injured from wild, flesh-eating plants. Obviously!
So, kind Starfallen – whether you’ve just arrived or came by when you heard word of the Confluence of trouble – will you give these dour folk the hand they so desperately need?
As the Starfallen arrive, they’re unlikely to notice the plants, and instead will see technological marvels all around them. Although Excelsior isn’t fond of Starfallen, they like the idea of welcoming them and getting them the hell out as quickly as possible. This philosophy results in all of the Starfallen being guided down to the ground, with further instructions awaiting them once they’re on two feet. (Or four. No one’s judging!) But once they land, they’re likely to notice that things aren’t the way they’re meant to be.
After all, someone in Excelsior failed to ask “why it’s bad to create an incredibly unlikely strain of plants that is genetically inspired by snapdragons, the flowers from those plumber games, and piranhas,” and instead went ahead with “how quickly can I do it?” Their experiment proved to be far too successful, aided by cutting-edge bioengineering technology.
Even though all Starfallen are encouraged to depart for the Midwest after they receive their teleportation devices, it’s apparent that the people of Excelsior need help. Right now, their chilly reception can easily be written off as a symptom of what’s happening. Dealing with newcomers at a time like this? Preposterous! People are injured from wild, flesh-eating plants. Obviously!
So, kind Starfallen – whether you’ve just arrived or came by when you heard word of the Confluence of trouble – will you give these dour folk the hand they so desperately need?
THE MIDWEST
Elsewhere, both Little Love and Central City are experiencing a flood of problems. Most of the problems are the result of the flood. While Little Love is known to be the quieter of the cities in this Confluence-ridden world, it finds itself dealing with a torrential downpour that it’s never seen before. Meteorologists quickly note that this is unnatural. All the way from Kansas to Illinois to Michigan there is rain, rain for as far as the eye can see. Flood warnings have no end in sight, and the people in these cities have asked for help from outside. If this rain doesn’t stop, all summer crops will be at risk!
The source of these problems? A Confluence. More specifically: a five-year-old girl who was born in Little Love just got news that her father died in an accident. Combine that with the incoming Confluence and the girl unwittingly unleashed her sadness upon the land.
Anyone investigating would learn that the rain began in Little Love, right before it began to spread upward and outward from the little town. Soon, Kansas, and then the entire Midwest, would feel the impact of her grief. Even when she sleeps, it doesn’t go away – her pain is a constant, after all. Finding her is key. No one can truly prevent a child’s grief, but perhaps they can help her realize her impact on the world and get her newly-arrived power under control.
The source of these problems? A Confluence. More specifically: a five-year-old girl who was born in Little Love just got news that her father died in an accident. Combine that with the incoming Confluence and the girl unwittingly unleashed her sadness upon the land.
Anyone investigating would learn that the rain began in Little Love, right before it began to spread upward and outward from the little town. Soon, Kansas, and then the entire Midwest, would feel the impact of her grief. Even when she sleeps, it doesn’t go away – her pain is a constant, after all. Finding her is key. No one can truly prevent a child’s grief, but perhaps they can help her realize her impact on the world and get her newly-arrived power under control.
DIADEM HOTEL
Whether you’ve gone to investigate the rather moist trouble or you’re just looking for some shut-eye, you’ve got a place that’s waiting for you. Need to clean up some plant-induced wounds? It’s time to hit the LUXURY HOTEL to ease any concerns.
The DIADEM HOTEL is usually reserved for the obscenely wealthy. Its rooms are enormous, the beds quite literally enchanted to offer the perfect night's sleep, and the food would usually cost your life savings for just a small taste. But given the circumstances, the Guilds feel its the least they can do to aid your transition into this world. EVERYTHING is complimentary, and everyone gets an ALLIANCE CREDIT CARD to spend on entertainment, clothing, and whatever other necessities they might need. The cards have an obscenely high limit and there doesn't seem to be an expectation for you to pay it back... though if they catch you abusing it, their accountant will be coming for your head.
There's a shopping center immediately across the street. It has an impressive array of outlet shops that cater to your every need. Food, clothing... and swords? If you can think of it, it's for sale. Although anything clearly supernatural or metahuman seems to be at a minimum and offered under the table. You can grab clothing made to withstand any superpower and a surprisingly mediocre Taco Bell order while you're at it. There's a Super Cinema in the shopping complex across the street that's showing a film called BARKS OF THE DEAD, a story about a zombified dog who protects a small family during the zombie apocalypse. Despite its taste for other dogs’ brains, this dog is fiercely loyal and will do anything for its owners.
The DIADEM HOTEL is usually reserved for the obscenely wealthy. Its rooms are enormous, the beds quite literally enchanted to offer the perfect night's sleep, and the food would usually cost your life savings for just a small taste. But given the circumstances, the Guilds feel its the least they can do to aid your transition into this world. EVERYTHING is complimentary, and everyone gets an ALLIANCE CREDIT CARD to spend on entertainment, clothing, and whatever other necessities they might need. The cards have an obscenely high limit and there doesn't seem to be an expectation for you to pay it back... though if they catch you abusing it, their accountant will be coming for your head.
There's a shopping center immediately across the street. It has an impressive array of outlet shops that cater to your every need. Food, clothing... and swords? If you can think of it, it's for sale. Although anything clearly supernatural or metahuman seems to be at a minimum and offered under the table. You can grab clothing made to withstand any superpower and a surprisingly mediocre Taco Bell order while you're at it. There's a Super Cinema in the shopping complex across the street that's showing a film called BARKS OF THE DEAD, a story about a zombified dog who protects a small family during the zombie apocalypse. Despite its taste for other dogs’ brains, this dog is fiercely loyal and will do anything for its owners.
EVERYWHERE: DÉJÀ VU
Less obvious and more innocuous are the strange stints of déjà vu all over. At first, it might seem like it’s a familiar thing you’ve seen before, but then you’re certain that you’ve ordered those chicken tenders before. Wait, you haven’t even been to this city before, much less this restaurant.
The feeling of déjà vu isn’t just that. Whole days will begin to feel like they’re repeating – surely they’ve solved that rain problem? Or the plant problem? Didn’t you hear that it happened?
Anyone keen to take notes might want to – assuming you haven’t just gotten that you did and they’ve been lost to time.
The feeling of déjà vu isn’t just that. Whole days will begin to feel like they’re repeating – surely they’ve solved that rain problem? Or the plant problem? Didn’t you hear that it happened?
Anyone keen to take notes might want to – assuming you haven’t just gotten that you did and they’ve been lost to time.
CLIFF NOTES.
➢ New arrivals will be appearing in Excelsior, Little Love, or Central City – with the bulk of them arriving in Excelsior. Their arrival will be expected and handled by a number of odd pieces of technology that help them as they fall from the sky itself. None of the locals will be happy to see the arrivals, but they’ll be so frazzled that they won’t be able to give them their usual chilly welcome. Vicious plants are on the loose and it’s not a meta’s fault. This might be meaningless to newcomers, but anyone who’s old hat at this will know that Excelsior can cause its own problems just fine, thank you.
➢ Arrivals who land in Little Love or Central City will arrive to a lot of rain. This much rainfall can impact the climate, daily life, crops – you name it. Arrivals will also be very, very soggy. If they’d like, they can ignore the trouble in favor of getting answers or heading to the hotel. No one’s obligated to lend a hand.
➢ Current Players are welcome to treat this as a bonus event. These events are canonically happening within the game but can be largely ignored if you'd prefer to use the month for personal plots. You can tag into the TDM, reference these prompts in network posts, or use them in your own logs.
➢ As for the time stuff, feel free to treat it as a wobbly time event! Mess with memories, get a character caught in the same day, or even just make someone feel like they’ve suddenly acquired precognition as a power. The sky’s the limit!
WILDCARD.
Metaheroes takes inspiration from all walks of comics. Take a look at the CITIES to get an idea as to what day to day life is like in the other cities. Perhaps you've encountered a supervillain (or hero) who needs to be thwarted, or a metahuman with unusual powers creating bizarre effects.
cw: blood and injuries
the sound of relief that leaves him when the armor's pulled off... suddenly he can breathe a little easier than he had been. the damage done to the suit is nothing he can't fix— well. back in gotham, that is. however, there's old gashes and marks littered across the suit. a telltale sign of the breaking in of the suit that's already been done.
the damage done to his body is a little more severe.
bitemarks run along his left side. four of them, from the looks of it. three a little more deep than the fourth and he doesn't believe anything major to have been punctured. the wound still remains angry and bleeding, some blood having already dried around the edges of the bites, wet and oozing.
the newer one — the one at his chest doesn't run as deep as the bitemarks thanks to the chest plate armor, but it still leaves him with an angry wound just beneath his collarbone. blood drips a little more from this one, given how fresh it is, and he stares at the drops hitting the floor beneath him, watching the way they form a pattern of sorts with every drip.
eyes falling shut, a heavy breath on his lips, he winces some as he tries to move — tries to shift into a somewhat better position. )
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the chest wound concerns him the least, which also pisses him off. it's not even jason's fault bruce is in shit shape, he just happened to be around when he fell apart. )
Good news: you're not gonna bleed out. Even if you're being a baby over a couple bites. ( the sass just comes naturally: jason doesn't know how to shut up. he sits back on his heels for a moment, moves a hand up to shove it against bruce's chest. not where the spike-wound is, but close enough to jostle it a little. he said this is a temporary truce, he didn't say he's going to be nice about it. )
Down. My bedside manner isn't even close to as nice as Alfred's, so you're just gonna have to suffer through it.
( while he sifts through his jacket again, pulling out the first aid kit. he'll get the bandages later. )
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the way jason talks about alfred... yeah. alfred's always been good at patching him up when he needs to be. also good at kicking his ass, both literally and figuratively, when needed. it's always either be himself or alfred when it comes to first aid, so to have it be someone else — someone who supposedly knows some... other him... it's new and he doesn't know how to feel about it. probably why he keeps the mask on. even if jason here knows who batman is.
which is something he'll have to revisit when he's not bleeding all over the floor of this building, being patched up by the guy who can't seem to figure out how he feels about him. there's history with some other him, that much he's gathered. but him. where's that going to lead? if anywhere? he wonders. how true is it that he would leave him here to bleed on his own and isn't just using the excuse of this nightwing being furious with him if he did? he doesn't know. but he does wonder.
eyes are lazy in the way they watch jason do what he needs to do. he's not about to drift off again as he had on his shoulders. but the break is nice. even if it's just for a little bit.
as probably expected, rather than say anything in regards to jason's chattering, he just watches him. in silence. )
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might still. he'll see where the next few moments take him. the antiseptic gets sprayed onto wounds, before he drops it down onto the ground and takes out the tissue forceps, needle driver, the needle and thread--already threaded through, because jason knows he can stitch himself up damn fine regardless, but getting the thread through the needle isn't something he wants to have to fuck with while bleeding, thanks.
jason hunches over to work at the bite wounds first, fingers careful even if the stitches aren't--great. they're efficient, but not neat. and he's still not shutting up. )
You've really gotta get some lenses on that cowl, y'know. Works a lot better without the eyeliner. You're just gonna get people calling you-- ( who was it. this would probably be easier if bruce was standing or laying on something so he could reach better, but this is fine, he can use this. ) don't remember. Pete something.
( punk rocker bruce wayne is funny as fuck. he'll laugh about it later. )
Or they'll just stab you in the eye. Throw dirt in 'em.
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complicated. that's what this is for jason, he's realizing. this whole relationship with batman — with bruce wayne. it's complicated for him.
keeping his breathing slow and steady, he only swallows down a couple pained sounds, eyes falling shut every now and then as a means to try and will any sort of ache away. he's had worse — he knows he has. but that doesn't mean it still doesn't hurt in the moment. still isn't a pain to deal with.
the bit of advice thrown at him has bruce open his eyes then, but he doesn't look to jason. instead, he's glancing off across the room. taking note of how everything in here looks... escapes that can be used. )
Thanks for the tip.
( finally, he speaks. though it's more gruff than a genuine voice of appreciation. )
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I can see you looking for an escape route, y'know. Window's your best shot, but as fucked up as you are an' as new as you are at this, ( the scarring, it's not nearly as extensive as he would have anticipated. it's bad, but it's not bruce wayne, mid forties, all i care about is the mission bad. ) I'm betting I can take you out before you get that far.
( he said this once before, when he was angry. he's simmered down a little, which means he's less reacting and more calculating. jason doesn't look up from the stitches, knows bruce has his back if he's focused down on patching him up. it's fine, this is fine, this isn't fucked up at all. )
You've got a hoard of us here. ( idly, between shoving the needle through bruce's skin, tying stitches off, moving on to the next. ) Six by my count, we've lost a few. 'm usually second oldest, but the baby had to go an' show up here all grown up.
( rude of damian, really. )
We've got two of me, two of the second youngest--one's fourteen. I don't give a shit what you remember, when you're from--most've them look up to you, to B, ( the softer, teasing tone. for bruce. ) like you're someone they need to strive for approval from. An' I swear, if you fuck over any of 'em, I'll kill you. I don't give a shit what Nightwing does if I do. Say the wrong thing, break any of 'em down, and I'll break you. Got it?
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selina... he's not sure yet and he's trying not to think too much about that. about her.
another wince, a stretch of his neck, he tilts his head some. stares off across the room they're in again. should he even be hearing any of this from jason? does it even matter? he's taking his frustrations out on him and bruce is just letting him. well, with a purpose. it lets him figure jason out — lets him pinpoint a motive and reason for his actions and the things he says. the things he does. again, he'll have to go back and revisit all of this when he's not on the floor bleeding and in a certain amount of pain. because trying to wrap his head around all of this right now when he barely understands much of where he is to begin with and how he got here... he needs to take it step by step. not all at once.
make sense of it in some way.
all he can think of is the mayor's son sitting there on his bed after his father's murder. just a kid. just like he was once, dealing with that very same tragedy. he can't help but wonder if that's the start of all this... of, apparently, taking in orphaned kids who've lost their parents in an equally brutal way. because he knows that pain... that darkness.
a glance down to jason's handiwork with that needle and thread, he drops his head back against the floor, sigh on his lips. )
You're not too bad at this.
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( it's said with an ugly snort, finishing off the second bite. the venom leaves his tone once again--an easy back and forth jason's accustomed to when they're. . like this. anger, heated and rough, to something a little gentler, familial. this isn't his bruce. this bruce doesn't even know what the hell he's talking about, if the non-answers are anything to go off of. it's fine, he'll get it eventually. bruce will file away all of jason's chatter to analyze later, to figure out what he wants to do with it. and as the rest of their crew finds him, meets him, he'll figure out the purpose behind jason's threats. )
You've been dropped into another part of the multiverse. You know anything about that yet? Universes and universes on top of each other, all with little changes that make 'em unique. Little fuck ups that change the entire course of history. Went to one once where I was Batman, if you wanna hear 'bout really fucked up. ( another stitch finished, eyes still focused down. ) Did try that once back home, too, but I'll tell you--it was stupid, an' I was being an idiot.
( anyway-- )
Here, confluences've been happening for a while. Used to happen more frequently, then they slowed down, an' started up again where people like us started popping up--bout a year ago. You fall out of the sky, you get given fun superpowers if you didn't already have 'em, and labeled as metahuman. There's guilds where metahumans're supposed to sign up with--Alliance, for goody two-shoes types, an' the Society for villainy types. If you don't, you're shit out of luck and on your own.
( second bite finished, and he's off onto the third. )
Public opinion's mixed on us. Currently leaning more towards the we're the big bads. 'cause from what I can tell, people've been idiots loudly. ( and, well, ) Not that I've helped that any, but that was Rook's fault for starting shit first.
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still. he takes it rather well. or maybe it's the fact that he's so out of it and tired. either way, things to, once again, think about on top of everything else. the biggest takeaway for him with all of this is that, contrary to what he originally thought, it seems he's not alone. even if they're people he doesn't know. yet.
all of that, however, is going to take time. for all of them and currently, bruce doesn't have it in him to focus on any of that. not in this very moment. not when he still needs to figure a lot more things out. figure himself here out.
another glance to jason, he lets his gaze trail across the ceiling above, following the lines and faint cracks running through it in various spots. )
Guess there's no particular criteria for who they bring in.
( seems to be a mixed bag, from the little he's gathered. )
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Nothing that I've found. Lotta hero-types get dragged in, but not everyone fits that criteria. Age ranges from fourteen to--fiftyish far as I know. Gods, humans, aliens, everything in between.
( third bite done, and he's reaching for the gauze and bandages. )
You know Green Lantern? Superman?
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a slight wince, he eyes jason at that question. two more names to add to the list. )
No.
( short and to the point. like always. )
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jesus christ what's going on with this bruce. the last bandage gets taped on over the bites and jason just. looks down at him. raises a brow under the mask. )
How old are you?
( how far back is he supposed to go with his explanation to catch bruce up here. )
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Twenty-eight.
( though some— most days, he doesn't feel like it. )
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Explains a lot.
( how much smaller he is than jason's used to, how he doesn't know anything. the scarring. )
Nightwing's gonna lose it, holy shit. You're just a baby.
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he doesn't bother to look at him — doesn't bother to say anything. just starts the annoying process of putting this back on with fresh dressings on him and still not entirely cleaned up. )
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he'd been waiting for more of them to show up, they always do. another tim, maybe a nine year old, freshly robin'd up dick which would have been terrible but--that's something he almost expects. tiny, little freshly bat'd bruce had never even crossed his mind. it complicates things in a way but also makes bruce's arrival so much easier. this jason can handle. this he can laugh over. this is has to take a minute to recover from laughing over, even, but once he does-- )
This's great. You've never even heard of Robin, have you? Just a little baby bat.
( fabric re-extends out to his fingertips with an easy gesture of his wrist, and jason uses the fabric to smear the blood he'd gotten on his face trying to wipe away the tear tracks. jason looks up to bruce, eyes bright. )
I'd been working with Bats since I was thirteen. Almost eleven years. You ain't got shit on me.
( which is clearly, absolutely hilarious. )
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another wince, another breath taken, he does up the armor and figures he'll deal with whatever else on his own. the bulk of it's been taken care of, thanks to jason. but his patience is wearing thin the more the other talks, and so he reaches over for his cape, connecting it where it needs to go in three places, before he gets himself up with a grunt.
positioned on bended knee, arm draped over, head hung, he lets out a breath and looks over to jason then. eyes cold through the dark makeup. )
You're no one to me.
( just a punk kid with daddy issues in the shape of a bat who's looking to take it out on him.
pushing himself up, he moves then, footsteps heavy as he does. )
I haven't got time for this.
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( mask back on, using fingertips to smooth it over skin. jason pulls himself up to his feet, brushes hands down his thighs as if there was dirt on there he needed to remove, even if the suit's still plenty clean. the sharp grin's back on his face, but it doesn't reach eyes hidden under lenses. see how useful these are and how stupid the eyeliner is? it doesn't matter if this bruce doesn't know who he is. it doesn't matter that he's young, barely older than jason himself, clearly still getting used to life in the fursuit.
it still hurts, because it's still bruce. )
Stay the hell away from me. Got it? I'll give you a pass this time, but if I ever see you on my turf, if you get close enough I catch sight of you, next time I won't be so nice.
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he doesn't bother to respond to that — doesn't bother to look back to jason. there is, however, a brief moment — a blip more than anything, of a thought, and he stands there at window, back to the other. )
How did you die?
( that's his second question. )
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luckily for bruce, coming down on him hard isn't anything jason has ever had a problem with. he knows how to soften the blow. knows the right bits of the story to make it hurt less, even if it's only slightly. jason doesn't include those. takes a moment to pull in a breath, slow, through his nose. tips his head so he's facing bruce. )
Joker. I was fifteen. He caught me off guard, knocked me over by slamming a gun against my skull. Kicked me down, beat the hell out of me along with some of his goons. Picked up a crowbar, told me how it was gonna hurt me a lot more than it'd hurt him. He kept going and going, couldn't even tell you how many bones he'd broken, everything hurt. I thought B would come an' save me, you know? How he's supposed to. I got back up, tried to get out the door, realized too late there was a bomb--not that it'd've mattered. My hands were fucked. No one came for me. I remember the moment the building went up, the moment I'd given up on being saved.
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it's difficult for him to not feel some sort of way about this. about knowing that it was joker who'd done this. that he was so capable of doing such a thing to get at him. because that's what it was, wasn't it? there's nothing bruce fears more than losing those he cares for. to have to feel that pain again... it terrifies him. and that age just sticks there in his head. fifteen. he wasn't even the batman at that age. fifteen is just... all he can see is the mayor's son sitting there on the bed after his father's brutal murder. the way he looked to him. for help. for something. and he's trying... he's trying to stop this riddler from killing anymore, even if some part of him feels conflicted about the ones he's going after.
he's unable to look at jason, too much happening there in his eyes, but. after a moment, he does lift his gaze and he stares to him. really stares as if trying to look past what he presents to him — past red hood here and see who it is beneath that mask. beneath that rage.
here he'd been guilty of thinking the worst of him. like he always does.
when he finally speaks, it's soft and with genuine remorse there in his tone. )
I'm sorry.
( for assuming the worst of you. )
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it's the quiet retellings that always hurt him the most. because it's not yelled, it's not in the middle of a fight, when he's hurting bad enough to be angry all over again. he's throwing it at bruce, but the ricochet comes back just as hard. and jason falls right back into it, hears the joker's laugh, feels the impact of the crowbar as it slams into his skull. remembers the livestream joker had done here when he'd had tim tied up, beaten and bloodied. the one goddamn thing jason wanted his death to prevent: more kids getting hurt. and yet.
his voice betrays the hurt, cracking around the edges. )
I woke up in my grave--who knows how long after. Used what little air was left to call for Batman, an' no one came. Dug my way out with a belt buckle. Everything between that an' getting dunked in a Lazarus Pit's real fuzzy, probably 'cause how fucked my head was. But I remember the EMTs, too. I remember calling for B. ( the tone shift again, a softer B. jason doesn't give a shit about giving his name, he's used to it meaning nothing. no one looks for a dead kid under a mask. they might look for bruce wayne. ) They'd asked who he was. I told them my father--but no one came for me. No one saved me even after I'd died. If Talia hadn't thrown me in that damned Pit and driven me half-mad, who knows where I'd be.
( hands clench tight at his sides, shoulders tense. )
And Joker's still alive. I am no one to you. We're keeping it that way.
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he doesn't entirely take it to heart, the things jason says. this wasn't him — some other version of him that he's still trying to wrap his head around, but. will it be him? he can't help but wonder. for everything that differs, how much remains the same? or is this really just his future he's meeting face to face years before it even happens? trying to inject logic into any of this right now is difficult and he's not so sure he can. not yet anyways.
gaze dropped again, he lifts it after only a moment, stares to jason for no more than a few seconds, then slowly begins to move past him, creak of his suit filling the silence between them as he does. )
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I meant it. You stay the hell away from me.
( his voice is still a little shaky, body leaning half towards following after bruce like he's--tried to do, even all these years later, and fucking off in the opposite direction. he hates how complicated this always feels. )
I don't want your brand of bullshit.
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maybe things could be different...
even still, he stops there near the other window he walks to, cape slow in the way it drifts behind him. he doesn't know where to go after this — what he's going to do with himself here but... he'll figure it out. he always does.
slight tilt of his head over his shoulder, he doesn't look back to jason, but doesn't look away either. it's with another long pause of things left unsaid, that he unsheathes his grapple there on his gauntlet, and shoots it, taking his leave through the window. )
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