etcelsior | we're all reponsible here

TEST DRIVE MEME

Considering apping into MASK OR MENACE? Want to dip your toes into the setting and get a feel of whether your character will fit into it? Or maybe you're just cruising and want to play around? Then you've come to the right place!

Pick any of the following scenarios below or feel free to make up your own, but don't be afraid to throw yourself at anyone's thread, either!

And remember to have fun!

01. Your memory is hazy and you might feel increasingly frustrated or anxious, or maybe you're excited as soldiers march past, barely glimpsing you. One second you're somewhere underground, the next you're enveloped in blue light, and suddenly you find yourself directly under Flordia sun's bright and burning glare. A female soldier steps toward you with a wide smile on her face and directs you to a car, ready to debrief you. You realize you are not the only one, surrounded by equally confused or eager faces... and you're all sporting a digital tattoo on your wrist.

02. Welcome to Cape Canaveral, where the smell of the ocean is in the air and locals are more than pleased to see new imPorts roaming their streets. They wave, they cheer, they ask for pictures as politely as they can. The more inhuman you look, or if you're wearing a costume, the more likely locals are to approach. Hey, enjoy the moment! The popular malt shop is offering you a free drink if you need it.

03. The technology in this world is certainly something. The cars are clearly modeled after popular 50s cars, but they hover several feet above the ground as they drive down the street. There are digital jukeboxes in restaurants, motorcycles also hover through traffic, advertisements can be seen on a digital projector on the taller buildings. Even kids on skateboards appear to drift a safe ten feet off the ground while playing!

04. Wherever you are, you can hear the loud revving of an engine, distance at first before you finally see it: a hovercar bursting around the corner, going beyond the maximum speed limit and just barely making its sharp turn. It doesn't appear to be slowing down any time soon, not with two police cars trailing it... and uh oh. Those skateboarding kids don't have much time to get out of the way as the car comes speeding down the road. You've been brought here for a reason Hero — so you better act fast.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ He waits too, watches her, and after but a moment of making a reading that teasing challenge flashes back into his eyes, and he steps back toward her, reaching up to touch the shoulder with which she'd collided with the wall. It's a gentle touch, at least.

He understands--at least, he thinks he does. ]

I'm not the same man as the one you know. You'll discover that my compliments don't come with any reservations, at least where they're deserved.

[ Different different different. Bruce isn't used to giving critique. Self critique, yes, but he's no teacher. As a result, he's no taskmaster either. More importantly, though she sees him as her mentor, Bruce is acutely aware that he's no such thing. Assuming he even wants to pursue it, he recognises it as something that both of them would have to earn. ]

[ She flinches — not at his touch, but at the sudden reminder that, no matter what similarities she may see, this isn't the same person. Right. It's been too easy to forget that in the wake of the last few minutes. She glances away, feeling guilty for looking at one man and so obviously seeing another. ]

Right. [ Her voice drops to a mumble: ] Sorry.

[ It's a raw nerve. He doesn't take it personally; in fact he feels guilty that he's taken the place that the Bruce that Carrie knows might have filled, someone who understood her and could give her the support and training she needed. He can try to fill that space if she wants him to, but he'll never be a Bruce Wayne that's spent a decade behind the cowl.

And yet in many ways that's a good thing, too. He squeezes her shoulder gently. ]

It can be a good thing.

[ That's comforting, even if it's from a stranger. It puts her in mind of Robin's unofficial role, which has been almost forgotten in the disconcerting disorientation of arriving here. ]

Could be. [ A smirk tugs into place. ] Spud I know's pushing 60. Bet you 30's got way better moves.

Well that depends. What do I drive?

[ If he had a photo of the Tumbler on his phone she'd be so impressed okay. He's much lighter now than he was a moment before, letting go of her shoulder. ]

Sixty, and I'm still fighting crime?

[ Why does he have an image of himself, greying and wielding a batcane, waving it at a geriatric Harvey Dent as they perform the slowest footchase ever? ]

Few things. [ The smirk widens to a grin. ] The tank's pretty keen, but my favorite's the 'copter.

[ She steps back again when he releases her shoulder, stuffing her hands into her pockets and giving every appearance of being a totally normal teenager. ]

And anyway, he was retired for like a decade. Lucky me he came back, 'n just in time.

[ A helicopter. That sounds like a fantastic idea. He wants a helicopter. Or maybe something better, something that can maneuver more efficiently.

But he's still thinking like the Bat. ]

Just in time for what? What happened that was bad enough that it could bring me out of retirement?

[ Because it's relevant. Because he needs to know. ]

Mutants.

[ This is easier, with a little emotional distance between what she's talking about and who she's telling. She's Robin now, who can cheerfully roll with anything. ]

I mean -- they a gang, I'm not talking mutant-mutants. [ And speaking of, she slips pretty easily into the vernacular they use. ] Not that they ain't ugly enough for it. Anyway, big menace, crime rates on the way up, so Batman stepped in again. Saved me his first night out, too.

[ Mutants or mutant-mutants, both are somewhat wildly beyond Bruce's sphere of understanding, but he lets it slide like he understands, because this is still the Cliff Notes version, he's sure. It's...it's still something to think of himself as a 60 year old man out there fighting crime all over again--not what he had in mind in terms of retirement. ]

Sounds like good timing.

Was. [ that with an empathetic nod — but she quiets again and watches him curiously. ]

So... you got a plan here, or what? [ And could it include her? Possibly? ]

It's coming to me. There are risks I hadn't considered.

[ Multiple realities wasn't really something he'd taken into account, and it was a lot to compute even for him. There were too many levels, and he had a lot of catching up to do. ]

Maybe I'll stay off the network for the time being. There's no need to expose myself any more than I have to.

And if you'll have me, I think there's more than a few things I can learn from you. I'm a fast learner; bit set in my ways, but who isn't?

[ She nods, taking quick mental note — if he's off the network, then she'll do the opposite. No one knows who Carrie Kelley is, not even anyone who might be here from home. She can infiltrate. But Bruce Wayne, on the other hand... ]

If I'll have you? [ She snorts; it should be the other way around. ] Yeah, figure like I can find it in my heart. And anyway— [ She half spreads both arms. ] I'm an open book, anything you wanna know.

[ There's humor dancing in his eyes. It's a little of both, really. Bruce isn't as quick as she is, but he thinks he can learn that lightness from her. It challenges him too to push himself in other ways. The backflip, for example, wouldn't be a bad thing to adapt. He had the upper body strength to manipulate it into a handspring of some kind, which would make a flexible getaway...

And he's thinking like the bat. Not a decision he's ready to make yet, and it's already there, pressing on him urgently. ]

I can see that. You think you can hold off on the lesson plan for a while? I'm in Residence 27 for now, you can find me there.

[ OOC And I'll set up a thread for you! ]

[ Another nod, and she commits the number to memory. ]

20, here. [ A beat. ] Doubt I'll be much there — text's a better option.

[ One of the lessons that sank in the best, after all, was never to trust figures of authority. And definitely not ones that provide so much free stuff with no strings attached. She takes a step back, toward the exit — a tentative thing that asks 'anything else?' ]

[[ooc perfect, thank you! 8)]]

Edited 2014-07-10 18:05 (UTC)

[ It's enough. Bruce doesn't have much of anything to say, but as she takes a step back he cocks his head very slightly to one side, and finally says: ]

I'm glad I met you, Robin.

[ Here! ]

[ At that, finally, she smiles. Really smiles. None of the smirks or grins she's done so far, this one comes with full warmth. Because he's here. He's not the boss she knows, not even from the same universe, let alone point in time, but he's here, and she's not alone. She can handle whatever comes after that. Just like Robin should.

She fires off a jaunty salute and pockets both hands as she turns to stroll back the way they'd come, step noticeably lighter. ]

we're all reponsible here

/taps foot!

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